Very interesting Kid. Thanks Do you experienced traders find this "Pace" thing to be valid some/part/most/any/it depends/etc/etc of the time?
I would but then i'd have to post in more than one place . I tried to start a journal for futures and then realized I was posting in here too often and just would have to copy and paste. Had one for equities and not sure if it made a difference for me although its nice to get everything in writing. Was able to take myself from consistently in the red to break even, to slightly positive - so I guess it did help a little in that time. As far as the plan from step a to z, I pretty much know every contingency for my futures trading with stops, early exits, profit taking, trailing the stop, r/w, entries, trend qualifiers. It's all in my head, but only reason thats true is because at one time or another i've written it all down and then i've put sticky notes on my monitor and wall telling me what part of my plan I should work on that given day, or if there's anything else about my trading i can improve. Although I think the disciplined trader is WAY more wordy than it needs to be, some of the good things in it revolves around knowing yourself and setting goals for self improvement. I'm carrying that forward into the coming weeks. Large post... hopefully not too off tangent. Vertigo: I have no idea what those scribbles are haha, but I understand what you are saying and yes, I've noticed the same things many many times. Some other things you can watch that I've never looked at before but now i'm realizing happens all the time. I remember someone mentioned a while ago that there is a high % chance that the 4th touch of a trendline will penetrate that trendline? Well, this is part of some basic wave theory concepts you can integrate into your trading. For instance, if you are on your third thrust up and the thrust's angle is smaller than before, you might want to take your profits even before the lower low or if your ballsy, take an early short. Also... if you follow Jack's stuff (which i dont, but i have a friend that does that I sometimes talk to about trading)... on the third wave you could start looking for the channel line (just as you are talking about, but a different way of viewing it)... if we don't reach all the way to the channel before we start reversing, then that's just more confirmation of an impending trend change. EDIT: woops as I read your comment, this is exactly what you are talking about. But, I don't wish to detract from the main purpose of the thread, which is pure price action.
Hope they were of some benefit to you, the notes posted were a rough draft so please read them with "a grain of salt". I have many other notes on Stealth which need to be consolidated, the current version is somewhat incomplete and in serious need of editing... I'll try to get them out soon...
Kid, JMHO, but if your intent is enhance discipline, then the very first step is to document your trading plan and rules. A dedicated thread also keeps your goals and progress in focus as opposed to being intertwined in a 1,000+ page thread, soon to be 10,000 The added benefit of posting a comprehensive trading plan is that others more experienced than you may make suggestions to improve upon it, and those less experienced may benefit from it... food for thought...
Hmm. I guess what the hell, right? It feels kind of weird closing a journal after one post and then opening a new one though haha. What the hell though... I've got some extra time finally because of winter break. I'll post all my inner thoughts and my total trading plan there when I start it on Monday. Might as well be sooner than later... Not sure who is interested in a paper trading journal though... but I do swing trades in equities so maybe that will be cool to post in there as well since it will be *my* journal. Anyways, thanks for the gentle push. Carry on, everybody. rverheyen: If you are struggling with this, I suggest you write down your entire plan somewhere just so you know it. If you don't have anything written down, you can use all the excuses in the world to not be accountable for your trading plan. If you have a plan, you have accountability and it takes a great burden off your shoulders ----> ie, if you are losing money and following your plan, it's ok because you're doing the best you can do with your experience level. O and by the way, FISH, your welcome. Since I'm doing shoutouts in my responses now wanted to make sure I didn't leave anyone out .
Will be missing in action for a few days, predicting massive hang overs during the upcoming days as the Bachelor Party of a good friend continues. See ya all when I get back from the dead. Anek