Just got the AMP statement. My "net" day was far from great at $5, but at least it was above $0. If it were an E-mini it would be $50. Yes! That is how I will console myself.
That chart you posted above, with the funny? Delete it from your computer and never post it again. Now is not the time in your career to engage in that trading funny, because it is not funny. It is re-enforcement of what we go through every day. We don't need to see over and over again that we can fail.
Daily Report. I had a good day today with the big swings. Up $127. At 2.4% average, I am finally on track again after a couple mediocre days. Here is the official daily report from AMP: And now that I have some data, I will share my spreadsheet and graph: I want to stay above the 1% orange line and track the 2% green line as closely as possible. My purpose is NOT to see how much I can possibly get each day but demonstrate a sustainable method to grow small accounts by keeping the number of contracts realistic. (This also assumes good entries and exits.) Again, I am doing 1 micro per $500. At $5k, should I choose, I may elect to use 1 E-mini.
Here are my MYM trades from yesterday and my thinking. I will regularly post trades that I think are interesting or representative of the day, but because of work, I don't have time to do this every day or for all my charts (currently MES, MNQ, M2k, and MYM). Trades 1 & 2. Market rolling over after a big down day on Wednesday. I am expecting more down because we broke the low of Tuesday and are near the upper end of the overnight consolidation (see below). Ranges are tricky and you have to be really careful. I post this second chart to show that the action of the prior day is often a big factor in my decisions. Indicators may become obsolete, but Support and Resistance levels are showing us the very essence of emotion in the market. There is fixed (horizontal) S & R, and Dynamic S&R, as represented by MA's and trend lines. At this point, I indeed thought the market might break down hard, but the bulls have been in charge for so long my confidence in a down move was small. So I missed it. 3. My short was a bold move based on prior broken Support becoming Resistance. But I didn't hold it long, again for fear of the bulls. Notice that my 50 and 250 sma's were very green at that point. As you can see, the bulls have really messed with my head and I miss some great moves! That would have been another great short had I held it. 4 & 5. I saw a big pop that looked a bit extreme and I faded it. This is a risky move, but notice the big consolidation before the pop; this tells me that "value" is lower in the area of the consolidation. Also, we were close to the big downtrend line (second chart). 6. My one loss on MYM. -$17 on one contract. I got out before the stop was triggered. I knew it could keep going and going and just had to flatten. Notice where the price went not too long after. Yep, up again. Money management is so critical! Out of everything on this chart and this journal entry, this is the most important line: Set your stops and honor them. (And yes, I still have three fingers pointed at me!) If you lose your capital you can't play. And psychologically you are a mess. So take your losses like the professional that you are. The best baseball players in the world strike out 60% of the time. Most baseball players strike out 70% of the time! Imagine how they must feel after each game, especially if their team loses. Wow. But they keep at it. They know their overall plan is good. Notice that I had no longs here. There was a great setup at the double bottom of the day, but I was working at the time and missed it. But would I have taken it anyway? I don't know. My big bias right now is bearish because we are at or near all time highs. But I know this is dumb. We can just keep going higher and higher! And the bulls are looking for LOW prices to initiate their continued push higher. So why not join them from a perfect double bottom setup?!! I am clearly still merely a mediocre trader since I still let my big bias get in the way. This is something I am working hard on. I will succeed. To help me eliminate my biases, on Tuesday I actually closed all of my longer term charts and imagined NEUTRAL bias and followed a friends advice who reminded me "just trade what you see." It was hard. I felt like I was driving blind. But I did see the value in only looking at my fast chart. I got a long trade I would not have taken previously. After a couple hours, I did open my bigger time frame charts again and felt like I could breathe deeply again. LOL. Isn't trading an amazing adventure?
And now that I have some data, I will share my spreadsheet and graph: View attachment 217538 Is this your own spreadsheet idea or something that is available? Thanks
Just finished this LONG trade on MYM. If you read my last post you will understand how hard this was for me to put on. LOL. But it worked and I got $6.50 (like $65 on YM). Bullish rationale: After a big drop, especially in this bullish environment, I look for retracements. And we were getting a rounding bottom.