No, I was looking for a deeper pullback before I went long, and the action going up was quite weak enough that I looked to take the short, which I posted earlier.
JoshDance, Thanks for the reply to my questions. Out of curiosity, what does the lower candlestick graph (below the volume) on your charts represent ??? I'm sure someone must have asked before and I've overlooked it. Mark
Josh, Thanks for posting your trade and thoughts. That was a good analysis regarding the the turn in the CL. "being afraid to re-enter after a close stop-out." Don't forget every action is preceded by a thought, whether we are aware of the thought or not. Now all we have to do is change the thought so that it is in harmony with our desired result. Last week I got up and just started pulling the trigger in 5 trades I was down $550.00. My gut reaction was to shut it down and walk away. Instead I gathered myself and realized that none of those trades were part of my trading plan. I was just shooting from the hip. The temptation was very strong to just shut it down, but instead I decided to sit and wait for my setups and take them if they appeared. I won't say that it was pretty (left a lot on the table) but I was able to get back to breakeven. My point is that I was able to override my initial gut reaction to quit (something I do subconsciously when something is uncomfortable) and replace it with my logical thought. (refocus and trade according to my plan). Anyway, it really turned out to be a great lesson for me.
Mark, it's cumulative delta. I do not use it very much, but find it useful sometimes so I keep it on the chart. I'd like to be able to remove it from my chart at some point but for now I like it. -Josh
Good lesson learned Tonk--my stop got hit on the high tick on a short around 8:22 this morning (.78). Very discouraging, but I immediately re-entered short at .67, I think because I knew I had just been shaken out and the direction was clearly down. This afternoon, I suspected I had been shaken out on the short, but was not quite as certain and let my focus lapse enough that I failed to notice the glaring signs to re-enter. You're absolutely right that our psychology really is the key in trading, as long as we have some kind of understanding of technical analysis, a system, or whatever it is that creates our basic methodology. Our mind can get in the flow of the market, or it can linger on mistakes and keep us right out of the stream of opportunities.
excuse me, pls. may i put in my 2 pennies of thought.... too.... IF anyone like to become a consistently profitable trader in any market and under any condition and circumstance.... he/she would have to train and condition oneself to have nothing inside the skull at that trading moment, no mind, no thought, no emotion and no nothing.... EXCEPT REACTION.... the successful trader only reacts to whatever appears on the monitor, be it only one giant 52" screen or 4 or 8 smaller screens...., the trader reacts to info on the screen in conjunction with the predetermined setup, personal stats and detailed strats.... after all these preconceived and preplanned rigidities and considerations, the trader would select the entry and exit points with predetermined stop--the max amount a particular trader is willing to suffer, if and when the market turns against the trader and chews up any and/or all previously successful setups.... to trade for a living, there is no room for emotion, no room for thought, no room for nothing whatever.... EXCEPT.... WHAT IS IN YOUR TRADING PLANS AND WHAT IS IN YOUR STRATEGIES.... if you need more time, if you need more thoughts, if you need more lines to be drawn, if you need more time to do whatever you think you need to do in order to joggle for a better entry point, a tighter exit, a more circumventing stoploss or trailing tics.... then, my trading friends.... you ain't ready to trade live yet.... the attached chart will demonstrate that there is no nothing when trading live.... except REACTING TO MARKET INFO ON THE SCREEN, and PROCEEDING TO EXECUTE PREDETERMINED TRADING PLANS AND STRATEGIES.... down to the minute details.... with the ultimate agenda to prevent possible draw-down of any amount, if possible.... that is just one man's approach to trading live.... am very sure there are many others who are even much more successful....; but then it is another question.... if any would be willing to disclose and share their personal approach to successful trading.... wishing everyone good and profitable trading.
This is not possible as shown in many psychology/psychological studies although the studies weren't specific to traders. The process of reacting requires thought and emotions. Therefore, I think you meant to say that one must "control" or "manage" thoughts and emotions at the time of trading...such is very possible for discretionary traders. Same as above. Your attached chart is a trade summary. It does NOT represent your ability to trade without thoughts and emotions. Just the fact that you attempted to use your trade summary to represent such is very problematic. Therefore, here's something you should think about very carefully the next time you trade or attempt to do what you just said that's not even remotely possible for a discretionary trader or a mechanical system trader. * Does your resting heart rate change? * Does your blood pressure change? * Do you talk to yourself while trading? * Do your muscles get relax or tense when you open or about to open a new trade position? * Does your facial impression change when opening or closing a trade? * Do you get hungry or lose your appetite while trading? * Do you get thirsty while trading? * Do you have a routine while trading (e.g. drink coffee, twirl a pen/pencil with your fingers, gentle swivel turn back n forth in your chair, log in to a trading forum during the trading day to post a message, document your trades for your own personal records beyond what the broker does for you et cetera). Any of the above is a psychological manifestation of thought and emotion. Like I said, it's impossible to remove it because to do such...none of the above will ever exist for you. In fact, you wouldn't exist or you're dead Further, to prove my point...you made the following message post during the trading day. Please note the time of your message (during the trading day) and the content that contains thoughts and emotions. In addition, I like to remind you of several of your posts in the past elsewhere at ET where you've requested or you've asked nicely for a trader to revisit a discussed trade and tell you his thoughts so that you could learn from their experiences. I think you get my point by now that you yourself do not have the ability to eliminate thoughts and emotions while trading along with the fact that you have a sincere interest in the thoughts of others when they were in specific trades. You're alive and your messages are FULL of thoughts and emotions especially the ones that occurs during the trading day. In addition, be careful not to develop an illusion that you have no thoughts or emotions while trading and that you've eliminated them while trading. In my +20 years of trading, I have not seen one trader survive such thoughts (pun intended). In contrast, the reality is that you've learned to manage your thoughts and emotions while trading when very few can. Also, if you're going to post trade summaries, you should do such every trading day and for many years instead of once in awhile whenever you feel like it. Continue good trading too you. Mark
SnakeEYE, What thoughts and emotions do I have while trading? The same ones I get when I play a game of chess, navigating my mountain bike on a tough trail, playing sports...same ones I got when I was in college taking an exam...same ones I got when pursuing a women that my friends said was already interested in someone else...same ones I got when I was in a training exercise in the military. These past and current thoughts/emotions gives me an understanding of myself as a trader along with using it to trade at a level of control. Simply, trading is very strategic to me. Mark