Maintaining a journal won't do you any good unless you have reasons for doing, or not doing, whatever it is you do or don't do. If you're going to include a lot of couldawouldashoulda, then you won't have made the most of the time you're devoting to it. Do you have a plan for any of your trades?
C @ 1048 -3pt Made some mistakes that I had corrected before but have recurred. Could be adjustment to journal. Will take 2pt hit home with me (after commissions) and ruminate.
Thanks for the advice. i had initially figured it would be a good place to store thoughts. Plan - yes. I am trying to trade reversals based on volume. No big secret that volume tends to mark reversal points. Everything is discretionary though. This is an experiment. Trading has been comfortable for the past month ... so I figured I would explore the benefits of a journal.
By "plan", I meant something a little more specific. For example, what is it about volume that you're looking for? Are you also looking for a certain pattern? How will you choose an entry point? What will your stop be? Where will you take profits? And so on.
Its too bad we cant create an EliteTrader exchange where we can place our bets on how long it takes for the likes of DBPhoenix or NihabaAshi to inject their typical rhetoric... Random guy starts his journal...makes a few winning trades...then the slow bleed begins...DBPhoenix asks "Do you have a plan"...Nihaba Ashi then writes for about 2 hours about his plan or his advice... My question isnt why these guys start the threads, they obviously want/need an audience, my question is why DB or Nihaba have this constant need to "preach"
Anyway - I don't really want to get into a discussion about my plan just quite yet, because it is not mechanical. I don't trade TA indicators and I don't trade moving averages. I just look at price and volume and if it looks good, I take the trade. I suppose I am trying to train my eye for such situations. Journaling takes some getting used to, so as db said - I should figure out what I want to get out of it.
Maybe the new traders want some feedback or advice? If they don't then they can speak for themselves. Chris
Nothing to do with good or bad day...I have been on this site for a few years and without fail its the same old story...If you really think DBPhoenix is doing this to benefit others, I would say that is rather naive...In fact, with the exception of a few people, I think everyone knows that he does this to hear the sound of his own voice...Now, enough of me, I am going back to my little rock and will shut up...
Not preaching. I'm interested in whether or not there's a plan and, if so, what it is. Otherwise, there's nothing to say. Since you follow my posts so closely, you'll have noted that if the journalist doesn't have a plan, I stop posting to it.