Thank you so much for your kindness. There is a LOT of compensation for the past that needs to happen here. And like you suggested, it is about more than just money. There is a lot of time and other things that need to be compensated for. I am optimistic that I can build this into something great. ... but I still have a long way to go. Two months is nothing.
I can't seem to get any traction today. Chopfest. I guess it's better than straight down. 10 shorts and 2 longs in this consolidation zone.
I am really tired of trading this craziness. The fed stimulus is just failing, failing, failing. And I am stuck in my house. It seems like 50% of my signals are false and I would do just as well tossing a coin on each trade. But still, I feel like I have a bit of an edge, so we press forward!! I ended mostly flat on Friday, fortunately, and up today, but it was much more stressful than normal. It is freaking hard to SHORT when it feels like any second we are going to get a rip-your-face-off stimulus rally. But I did get some good shorts today by focusing on the fastest chart and getting out quickly. And when I step back and look at the medium term charts I can see consolidations and trends better. This helps me scalp in the correct direction using the fast chart. So... Where to now boys and girls? IT DOESN'T MATTER!!! I have a related real estate story. Just an hour ago, I was about to broker a lending deal for a rehab property where the lender makes 10% backed by a first lien position. But my funder just bailed on me declaring, "I can make more than 10% in the stock market. The market will bottom in 7 days." Wow, such confidence!!! But IF he is wrong, then he won't be doing any lending in a while! So I wanted to tell him "Stay away! Keep your money safe for me to lend." But I didn't. Daytrading futures (and scalping for me) is the only sane way to do this game right now, in my opinion. I hope that your shorts drop and your longs pop - your accounts continue whole and happy.
Monday report: I took over 20 single contract trades today but the market did provide, so I received. Because of the volatility, I let my max stop go over 100 ticks today ($50) up from 60 ticks ($30). I still think it is better to just follow my "flatten immediately" rule when I get a strong adverse move, as I did with my two losses. I will do better with this. Most of my trades were pre-market on the MYM. As mentioned, I was frustrated, but still ended very well. Tonight I will review the AMP report. (newest at top)
Am I an emotionless trader? Hardly. Look at the two losses above at 6:30 and 6:31 mountain time. The second I closed them for a loss, the market went my way sharply. This is happening a LOT recently. And I don't have much more hair to lose! And I invent lots of new words that my kids would blush over. I guess this is one of the other reasons that I am fine trading with just one or two contracts for now. I need to keep things calm and collected so my mind is free to help me in the best possible way. I am in NO RUSH to reach the 2% average daily goal. I wait for high-probability setups. Notwithstanding my frustration at a loss, I don't go crazy and throw things or punch holes in walls. I know that I will recover. I know with my stops in place and my high win rate that I will NOT blow up any more. The expectancy formula is in my favor. I "expect" on average to get 10 ticks per trade right now. So I keep going... Here is my favorite trade of the day. (7:15 mountain time on the chart above.) A short on a pop into the downtrend line: Going short when it looks like everyone is going long takes a lot of courage (or loose screws!) But the down move was powerful, and I knew I would get out quickly if that trendline were broken.
looks like your best day ever so far at a glance. It also looks like you're running your winners for bigger gains hitting 20 or 30 instead of 7 or 10
If you're anxious you are over-extended -- TOO MUCH RISK Never be anxious man, it isn't worth it in the long-term. Stay small and let your numbers play out themselves. Also try to stop looking at trades in terms of money, and more-so like percentages on risk-adjusted returns, or maybe a specific tick target. When I am trading big I try to not look at the trade in terms of money, but its hard, as I'm always looking at my P/L Open/Day. Not sure about your last point: "Vol is a shady thing" umm, elaborate please? lol
Thanks, but it is not too hard when 40 ticks fly by in 10 seconds, LOL. But I asking myself more "does this have more room to run?" and not automatically bailing at the first signs of a profit.