Book Flip Example I

Nice example from this morning’s pre-open trading in SGBX … I was not present to take advantage, but I know what to do when I see it!

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Stock Du Jour, Fri. Apr. 17, 2020, AMC

I’m choosing AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc as the HTB (hard-to-borrow) du jour even though GENE was more actively traded … AMC did 67,600 trades by end of day and the borrow cost was 2.06 cents ($206 per 10,000). If you didn’t catch the break right at the open, it woudn’t been much of a play, though you wouldn’t have lost anything in it, even with a late entry. Pretty quiet in HTB land on this Friday. SGRY was a latecomer and ETB, so not one to fight. DNJR was another one that was active, but very tricky as it was also ETB (easy-to-borrow). Until next week….

Stock Du Jour, Wed. Apr. 15, 2020, APDN

Applied DNA Sciences Inc (APDN) was the stock du jour … it did 76,800 trades and $119MM in dollar volume. There was also a latecomer HTB (hard-to-borrow), UAVS, which was a sub-dollar so off my radar, and the bookie broker didn’t have shares of it available anyway, but it did 124,000 trades — I didn’t trade it.

I paid 5.94 cents per share for APDN and have included my trade at the end of the recording.

Stock Du Jour, Tue. Apr. 14, 2020, SONN

I’ve picked Chanticleer Holdings (SONN) as the HTB (hard-to-borrow) du jour; it did 108,000 trades on the day. AIKI was also in-play and did 149,000 trades, but it is on the Regulation SHO Threshold List and my bookie broker had no shares available to borrow. Somewhat predictably, AIKI dropped a midday offering, during a trading halt no less, though without a borrow I could not get involved beforehand.

NURO was a latecomer nanocap HTB and did 94,500 trades. WORX and ICD were both “Day Two” plays and I did short ICD. The borrow cost for ICD was 4.97 cents, for SONN was 5.93 cents, and NURO was all over the place so I paid between 3.57 cents and 9.7 cents a share.

Watch the video in slower motion using YouTube’s speed controls. Pause it, rewind it, watch at slow speed then at normal speed, etc. for all key points on the chart. The CQC column on the far right shows the cumulative quote count for the chart range (also useful to study). I’ve included my winning executions at the end of the video as always. Go full screen, 1080p. Enjoy!

Stock Du Jour, Mon. Apr. 13, 2020, WORX

SCWorx Corp. (WORX) was the stock du jour, doing 361,000 trades … ICD came in second with 108,000 trades … CANF was on my radar early on and I did trade it, but it only did 39,000 trades by end of day. All three of these microcaps were hard-to borrow and I paid 7.97 cents for WORX ($797 per 10,000) and 6.5 cents for CANF ($650 per 10,000). You need to have a lot of confidence in your ability when you pay these kinds of fees upfront. (ICD was $537 per 10,000.)

WORX was a runaway, there was a good spot to get long after 10 AM, but of course I missed it and was stalking it short all day — have to “make back” those borrow fees after all! There was a very tricky spot at 14:45, it looked like it was going to break, but zing, straight back up. Slow the tape down, pause it, rewind it, study it at that point. (It’s also the thumbnail image for the video). Anyone who was shorting the usual “holes” got run over. I fortunately was unharmed, but this thing was a widow-maker for sure.

I was finally able to short WORX near the close and also once after hours … my executions are included at the end of the recording. Make sure to watch in 1080p, full screen, so that it’s clear.

Stock Du Jour, Thu. Apr. 9, 2020, CLSK

There was a lot of action in the microcap hard-to-borrow market today, but I selected CleanSpark Inc over ICD (Independence Contract Drilling Inc) since I considered ICD a “latecomer.” CLSK did around 60,000 trades today and ICD did around 94,000 trades. I paid 9.97 cents per share to borrow CLSK ($997 per 10,000 shares borrowed). I made nearly 30% on this trade all out (before fees).

Slow the tape and watch closely at key times … pause it, rewind, play at near normal speed (1/4 speed), pause, rewind, STUDY. I know it’s sort of intimidating to look at the order book like this, but once you know what you’re doing, you can’t live without it. Make sure you watch in 1080p so that it’s crystal clear.

Stock Du Jour, Wed. Apr. 8, 2020, MBRX

Moleculin Biotech Inc was the stock du jour … MBRX did 264,000 trades by end of day … it was hard to borrow and I paid 1.9 cents per share for the borrow ($190 per 10,000 shares) … I had an average of $1.468 on my short and covered at an average of $1.249. Gross day trading gains of around 15% are very pleasing, but of course there are losses and fees every day. Still a tough way to make an easy buck.

After my daughter started Kindergarten and I was able to resume day trading in February 2017, I bemoaned the lack of borrowable shares in microcap stocks at Interactive Brokers — for two long years! — before finally sending some money to a specialty broker who could locate hard to borrow securities for me. Hundreds and hundreds of opportunities missed, but that’s what happens when you’re stubborn and sort of simple-minded, like me. Water under the bridge, I guess.

Remember to slow down the footage using the YouTube player and pause, rewind, and study crucial points during the day. Bookmap provides a unique view of the book, infinitely better than staring at the Level 2 and time and sales, a.k.a., “the tape.” Enjoy!

Stock Du Jour, Tue. Apr. 7, 2020, AKER

There were three stocks du jour, all hard to borrow, but I thought I’d focus on Akers Biosciences Inc again since they did a midday stock offering and those are always interesting to view in the Bookmap. I paid between 8.93 and 10.35 cents per share for the borrow (ave. $964 per 10,000 shares) … I shorted at $7.93 ave. and had an all-out cover of $5.718 ($5.50 best), which was good. AKER did 122,000 trades today.

The other stocks du jour were DPW (127,000 trades) and YGYI (87,200 trades) … I traded both of them with less success, bungling the trade management on both really … I expected them both to fall much farther than they did, and I wasn’t vigilant about managing the balance of my positions after the initial covers (overconfident?), and got jammed out on both of them — scratches when they should have been decent gains, if well managed.

I’ve slowed down the tape right around the offering so you can take a hard look at how disastrous a midday offering is for those trapped long from above.

Stock Du Jour, Fri. Apr. 3, 2020, CEI

Camber Energy Inc was the stock du jour … hard to borrow, I paid between 2.88 and 3.78 cents per share (around $333 per 10,000 shares) … CEI did 144,000 trades today Again, it came on my radar a little bit late, but in plenty of time to be tricked and trapped several times before 10AM.

Stock Du Jour, Thu. Apr. 2, 2020, APOP

Cellect Biotechnology Ltd was the stock du jour … hard-to-borrow, I paid 2.16 cents per share ($216 per 10,000 shares) … it did 112,000 trades today with about 12,000 of those being mine (half kidding). I didn’t notice APOP immediately, so the data begins around 9:38 AM.