I've only been actively trading since May of 2016, on the grand scheme of things, I haven't really been in the market for very long. But I have to say, 2018 has proven to be the most challenging market condition I've had the pleasure (and displeasure) of trading. Much as it was the year of challenges, it was also the year of learning.
It's true that hardships are the ultimate muses for self-analysis and that they will always be part of our evolution as traders. I'm sure there are more to come, I really wouldn't have it any other way.
Here are a few of my 2018 trades. Happy dissecting!
ATN was my biggest missed trade for 2018. Missed trade because although I got to profit from it, I did not get to ride the entire trend. It was my setup, by all means, I should have been in that trade far longer than I was. This was when I realized how difficult it is to shuffle back and forth from a momentum mindset back to that of trendfollowing. My default is, of course, trendfollowing. But considering the market condition then, where plays expire within a day or two, I had to adapt and learn how to let go of trades quicker, hence, the shift to momentum. Then here comes ATN, I traded it with a momentum objective and failed to switch back to TF although the stock was already showing signs that it could do a monster rally.
I get quite a few messages regarding EOD trading, almost always coming from traders who are also working full-time, so I decided to save this particular trade for documentation because aside from it being my worst cut for this year, it is also a stark reminder of one of the disadvantages of end-of-day (EOD) trading.
My goal year-to-date gain for 2018 was set at 150%. Sadly, I fell 50% short of it. I ended the year at 100.03%, major thanks to BCOR for the December push. Still quite a feat for me considering I had way lesser trades this year than in the past years. 2018 was a lot of things but most of all, it was a reminder that we will forever be students of the market.