I was professionally trading the Betfair betting markets some years ago and my technique was towards scalping, so reading about an interview of a stock scalp trader sounded interesting. However I was totally shocked of what the stock scalper confessed in that interview given to the popular community web site for traders, trade2win.com. I was so amazed that I no longer wish to open a trading account overseas. I might have taken a shot at the US Level 2 stocks, or try scalping foreign financial markets, but he has convinced me otherwise. If you read the interview, you would probably be persuaded as well!

I started my trading journal this month, and with only one working day left I thought I should post my stock trading results. I have made 15 trades of which 4 are completed with minor profits, although merely one was a losing trading. The remaining 11 include a big winner gaining more than 15% that helped me end the month in profit. Here are all the stock trading charts of my trades with entry and exit points indicated in them.

It's already been 2 weeks since I started trading the Greek Stock Market. I have completed one losing and one winning trade, while I still hold shares of 10 more companies, 7 of which are profitable trades for the moment. If I sold today everything, my trading capital would increase by 1%. That is not the case though, as most of them have reached neither the take profit point nor the stop loss. However I'm pleased by the total performance and I'll be buying some new stocks today, maximizing my total exposure to the market.

It's been already a week since I last updated my trading journal and I must admit this week was a good one. Out of 10 stocks I'm losing money in 4 of them, while I have moved my stop loss at 3 stocks, making them risk-free trades. That fact allowed me to decrease my total exposure and buy more stocks if I found it suitable. Indeed, I bought one more stock this morning which moved 3% up until the market's close. Things are looking good for the time being.

Wednesday's update of the Greek stock data revealed many reversal formations in a couple of stock charts which led me to buy 5 stocks more. However OPAP didn't perform like the way I predicted and my stop loss was hit. That was the first completed trade of my personal trading journal and it was a losing trade. Fortunately I'm not superstitius!

Yesterday morning I bought two more stocks in Athens Exchange bringing my open positions of my stock trading journal to 5 in total. I now have 3% of my trading capital at risk allowing me to start up to 5 more new  trades in case the opportunity arises. One of the long entry was placed at a medium capitalization stock, although I prefer the big capitalization category. However I don't plan holding it much long. Let's take a look at the trading charts and discuss my reasons behind my trading orders.

In order to make money in stock trading, a professional trader applies correct money management to preserve his trading capital and sustain a drawdown. Money management strategy includes risk of ruin calculations, expectancy, position sizing, bet sizing and capital management. Today I'll be discussing the first basic steps a trader should take to become successful in stock trading and keep him in the game for a long time. We will be focusing on position sizing and placing stop loss orders.

Starting today I will be keeping track of my stock trading activities in the Athens Exchange via a personal trading journal. I will update it whenever I buy any stock or close any open position, explaining the reasons and possibly learn more about technical analysis myself in the process. I have already planned my money management strategy ahead and have allocated a trading capital, trying to make the most out of it. Of course my target is to make money but if I manage to break even in the end and beat commission and slippage, I will still be happy. In the meantime I will be studying more about stock trading and hopefully I'll keep improving my trading style.

Apparently financial crisis started from USA when Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. declared bankruptcy. Dow Jones Industrial Index was climbing over 14,000 before it collapsed following other banks' bad news. It broke yesterday the psychological barrier of 7,000 and everyone is speaking of major economic crisis and world depression. Does the Dow Jones chart justify the panic?

One month ago I wondered if the financial crisis was over and the Greek Stock Market had found support at 1,700 while trending down heavily. The question was whether the market would range between 1,700 and 2,200 or break out. A month later I predict that the market will break out below 1,700 and lower lows are to be expected. It seems that there is a lot of downward pressure and the trading graph show many signals indicating the downfall. Of course, I may be wrong after all!