I sold 300 shares of AEM at $50.35 (entry at $46.85) for a $1050 gain (+7.4%).
I sold 200 shares of FCX at $107.50 (entry at $105.25) for a $450 gain (+2.1%).
I sold 200 shares of FWLT at $133.32 (average entry $127.88) for a $1088 gain (+4.3%).
Update (9:45am): I was stopped out of 300 shares of NILE at $94.55 (entry at $96.55) for a $600 loss (-2.0%).
I decided to close out some positions as I expect a dip that will offer better prices in the coming week. I still like all three stocks.
MS:The way I understand it the “falling knife” phrase can be applied to any situation where a trader is trying to catch a bottom of a pullback regardless of volume, instead of waiting for a bottom to be formed.Semantics aside, I think your trades illustrate my point well.NILE – Definitely no bottom formed there yet, I think you will agree that you rushed into this one.FCX – By your own admission, you should have been stopped out of this one at 102.5. By waiting a day here, you could have substantially reduced your entry price.FWLT – Your first entry was over 129. Again, had you waited for a bottom to form you could have gotten a much better entry price. As you know, I shorted this one around 129, and covered the next day under 126.Having said that, kudos to you for managing to score nice gains on 3 out of 4 of these trades. Regardless, I firmly believe you (and the readers of your blog) can further improve your trading results by keeping the above in mind.Keep up the good work.TC
LikeLike
I’m looking for Freeport (FCX) to test its July highs around $100. What do you think?
LikeLike
Great job MS, and kudos to TC’s 20/20 hindsight.
LikeLike
Regarding the 20/20 comment – If you take a minute and go back through this week’s posts and my comments (along with time stamps), you will see that I raised all of these concerns at the time of MS’s entry into these trades, as well as noting (for the record) when I shorted and covered FWLT.MS: Am I right?TC
LikeLike
TC, while I think your analysis is correct, I think you’re benefitting more from hindsight. Every trader trades on different timeframes and what you may see as a pullback without bottom confirmation on a daily timeframe, someone else might see a dip to support lines with a double-test on a intra-day timeframe. Your analysis may be very applicable over the past choppy week. However, using your approach on a trending market and on strong momentum stocks, MS would probably have missed out on a bunch of trades over the past few months.You mentioned your FWLT trade which was successful, please describe others so we can get a feel for your strategy/set-ups. I’ve learned a lot from MS but am always open to other strategies/set-ups.BTW, my buy-stop on FWLT triggered today at 131.50 so I’m back in on that one.-TVH
LikeLike
TC,I don’t see any point in arguing over completed, winning trades. However, I’ll discuss strategy.All of my entries were within 5 percent of support (which is a rule I strictly adhere to) and feature good reward to risk numbers. They were all setups that I have traded for quite some time and so far, work quite well. For example the HTF on FCX. Low risk strategy that has yielded me many a gain in the past. As I have said numerous times in the past, I am not a stickler for entries. I don’t need to buy 25 cents from support. Many times, if you wait for a “perfect entry”, you’ll end up missing the move. I’d rather take a small, 2-3 percent loss than miss a 5-10 percent gain. I’m all about making money, not making aesthetically pleasing technical trades (see AEM as a good example of this).With regards to NILE–no, I did not rush in. Support broke. I took a *small* loss. I move on. If you can time trades perfectly and squeeze every penny out of them, more power to you. I’m not willing to miss out on gains by trading scared. I know good setups on momentum stocks when I see them and don’t hesitate to trade them.Me thinks your are trying to hard to find things to criticize. I believe you have criticized just about every trade I’ve made for some time now. You may want to pick and choose your spots while you take that egg off your face 😉
LikeLike
no mention of AEM through all this.
LikeLike
I’ve got a sweet spot for AEM 😉
LikeLike
feirfactor,If the pullback is on low volume, and it actually gets there, I might be buying at $100
LikeLike
I don’t think there is an egg on my face or yours for that matter. Looks like both of us have had a profitable week, and that’s all that counts.There is no sense in arguing about past trades, but I still maintain that your entry would have improved by much more than a couple of cents with more patience.I can see by your reaction that you don’t see much value in my comments beyond pure criticism. I apologize for this – I was trying to do everything in the spirit of being constructive, as Pete said.It may be better if I just go back to being a reader of your blog.TC
LikeLike
Lighten up TC. The “egg on face” comment was in jest, thus the smiley face.
LikeLike
MS, your market correction might start today. I tightened my stop on the weakness and sold out of FWLT as a scratch trade. TNH, POT and FWLT could not hold their gains. This will probably flow into next week.TC, your comments come off as critical rather than constructive because you just point out the negatives. It would be nice to read about more of your set-ups to get a different perspective.
LikeLike
MS: No hard feelings here at all. If anything I got the impression that my posts were becoming a nuisance and a source of aggravation and friction for you rather than anything else.I guess it’s very difficult to provide criticism/disagreement and keep it constructive.As far as providing my setups and trade recommendations, I don’t think that would be fair to MS, because this is your blog – first and foremost, and it should stay that way.That’s why I thought commenting on your trades instead and providing another perspective could be valuable for all involved – I guess it didn’t work out that way.No worries, like in trading, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Gotta cut your losses and move on, it’s the best thing to do.Best of luck to all. Keep up the great work.TC
LikeLike
i think its time for the naysayers to start their own blog and bide their time that way.
LikeLike
I think TC should continue posting. There is no question that both MS and TC are great traders. It adds a lot of content to this blog to have opposing views, helping readers make better trades.
LikeLike
Paul J Singh 
Leave a reply to Anonymous Cancel reply