Hey everyone, Ross Cameron here! It’s Friday and we’ve made it through another week of day trading! I hope you had a great week. For me, this one started off significantly better than last week, which—let me tell you—was an absolute disaster. Last Thursday, I hit my max loss limit, followed by a garbage Friday, and I found myself overtrading nearly every single day. It was rough. So, I had to reset with some new rules I put in place for this week. Let’s break it all down and talk about how my strategies shifted for the better.
Last Week’s Challenges
Last week was one of those weeks that felt like I was fighting the market at every turn. By Thursday, I had hit my max loss limit, and then Friday was just a mess of bad decisions. The thing about hitting daily losses is the toll it takes on you emotionally. It’s not just about losing money; it’s about falling into a negative mindset that causes you to spiral. I’m sure you’ve been there too. When that emotional snowball starts rolling, you tend to get reckless, overly aggressive, or even stubborn—none of which helps your profit line.
To make it worse, even when I recovered some losses toward the end of each day, the fact that I traded poorly was enough to drain my energy. Overtrading was a big part of my problem. I had a couple of “rallies” where I dug out of the hole I created, but that constant emotional roller coaster is exhausting. It’s hard to keep a level head when you’re making risky decisions just to break even. By the end of the week, I knew I needed to make some changes.
Guardrails and Boundaries
Last Friday, I made a decision: I was no longer going to let myself spiral emotionally. This week was all about setting some strict rules—or “guardrails”—for myself and sticking to them. First, I limited my position size to 5,000 shares. Doesn’t matter how good a stock setup looked; I wasn’t going beyond that. My goal was to just close the day in the green—break the red streak—and find consistency.
I also decided I would pretty much be done trading as soon as the market opened. The idea was to stop myself from giving back my pre-market gains, a mistake I made over and over last week. I noticed several times that I’d do well in pre-market trading, only to give it all back—or worse—just minutes into the open, which triggered overtrading. So instead, I capped my trading—get in early, get out early.
How the New Approach Played Out
What a difference some boundaries can make! Following these guardrails helped me avoid repeating the mistakes from last week, especially overtrading and emotional trading. By limiting my position size, I was able to stay more focused. I didn’t feel the same level of stress because I capped the risks I was taking, and by only trading around the open, I avoided giving back profits on false breakouts.
This approach worked four out of the five days this week. I only traded beyond the market open once, and overall, it felt like a much more controlled and focused week. The market definitely gave some nice opportunities today and most of this week, but the key here wasn’t just that the opportunities appeared—it’s that I was mentally in a place to capitalize on them. Looking back, I wish I had this level of patience last week.
Breaking Down Today’s Trades
Today’s star was ONCO, which popped up on my scans around 6:45 a.m. The stock had a post-reverse split squeeze, but at first, I wasn’t sure about the opportunity since it seemed like the float was too high. Then I realized that because of the reverse split, the float was actually low—around 500,000 shares—so I took my first trade right at 7:03 a.m.
I jumped in with 5,000 shares at $5.30, right around a micro-pullback, but the move didn’t give me the big push I was hoping for. I ended up selling for a small profit of just four cents per share. That was a $200 gain, but if you know me, you know I never go into a trade hoping to make pocket change, especially when risking 10 to 20 cents a share. It wasn’t great, but it was a start.
A few minutes later, I bought the dip again at $5.27 after seeing a big bid, then sold it when it popped up. This trade was better, bringing me up to $900 on the day. From that point on, it was rinse and repeat: I kept taking trades, making small but consistent gains. Eventually, I removed my 5,000-share cap and took a 10,000-share trade that added another $1,000 to my total. By the time I wrapped things up, I was sitting at $3,700 in profits.
Reading Level 2 to Avoid Traps
One of the most important tools today was the level 2 data. It allowed me to see walls of sellers, preventing unnecessary losses. There was a key moment during the ONCO trade where I observed a big wall of sellers at $6.50. When people see that kind of seller block, it’s tempting to think it might break and go higher, but reading level 2 correctly can reveal that a breakout isn’t in the cards.
Knowing when to pull back is just as important as knowing when to push forward. I share more of these insights in my episodes on trading, and specifically around the importance of level 2 in my Small Account Challenge. If you’re still not fully comfortable reading that data, I encourage you to check out episode 4 where I break it all down for beginners.
Missed Opportunities and Why I Said “No”
There were a few other stocks on my radar today, but I didn’t trade them. For example, DUO made a nice move, but I opted to sit it out. It just didn’t fit with my strategy, especially in the small account, and I felt focusing on ONCO was the right move. Sometimes sticking with one stock is more profitable than jumping between several.
Another stock that popped was CNY. This one actually became the leading percentage gainer at one point, but I remembered how choppy it was last week, and I just didn’t want to touch it. The only way to really make money on stocks like that is to take huge share sizes, which brings more risk than I’m willing to tolerate in trades like that.
Other stocks, like IQ and ATGL, just didn’t tick my boxes. High float stocks like these tend to be too choppy for good scalping opportunities, and I wasn’t about to put myself in a situation where I’d have to fight for scraps. Not all volume is good volume, and it’s essential to be selective.
Small Account Challenge: Progress So Far
Now let’s talk about my Small Account Challenge. So far, I’ve taken nine trades, with an impressive 90% accuracy rate. That means I’ve had nine winners and just one loser, with my average winner being around $600 and my average loss being $154. The account is growing steadily, and I’m really happy with how this challenge is shaping up.
My strategy for the small account is all about high-quality setups. I’m avoiding chasing after every single move and being okay with not trading every day. This has been key to maintaining that high win ratio and will be essential as I continue.
The Market and Looking Forward
Looking at the market as a whole, the S&P 500 is sitting near all-time highs. Of course, we might be due for a small pullback soon, which would be totally normal and even healthy for the market. It’s important to stay flexible with your trading in times like this, as we will no doubt experience volatility in the coming weeks due to the upcoming election.
For day traders like us, volatility is a great thing. It creates opportunities for solid trades. I plan to stay aggressive when the market presents good opportunities. The election is sure to shake things up, but I’m confident we’ll see some really exciting moves in the near future.
Wrapping Things Up
To wrap things up, this week was a huge win for me, both in terms of profits and learning from last week’s mistakes. I followed my new rules, kept my emotions in check, and made it through the week green. Not only did I hit my goal today with over $3.7k in profits, but I locked in consistency, which is just as important.
Before I sign off, remember this: trading is risky. My results are not typical, so always manage your risk and take it slow. See you on Monday!
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Warrior Trading was founded by Ross Cameron in 2012 and is now a thriving community of thousands of traders. You can learn more about joining the Warrior Trading community here
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Disclaimer: The results shared are based on my personal trading experiences and are not typical. Trading involves significant risk, and past performance is not indicative of future results. Always practice in a simulator before trading with real money.