Continuing the logs from this post and the screenshot of the trades... https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/and-they-have-a-plan-live.306838/page-10#post-4597910 I have been on the fence about this for quite a while, and kept being stubborn about not restarting this journal because of losing the 20K in February 2018. I wanted to wait until I got that lost profit back before restarting it. Then it became that I did not want to restart it until after I made that back, PLUS the 12K I lost in November 2018 from another swing that went bad. Then, this year, I started day-trading again after much practice and seem to be able to do it with success. It is not smooth for sure, but figure it is worthy of posting. In the meanwhile I noticed a severe issue in the NT journal that I have not been able to rectify, namely, an errant entry in the NT journal that shows a non-existent trade. A non-existent trade to the tune of -10K. Like, WTF Raymond DOODY? And then I noticed another errant entry that showed a loss of $2,300. These trades SIMPLY DO NOT EXIST IN SPACE AND TIME. It's like, huh? Thus part of my reason for not wanting to restart the journal again. I got the sense that I am spammishing other places with my crap, and I need my outlet back, and as I mentioned in the OP of this thread I ain't getting younger. I shouldn't wait. People, we can make a living trading! Day, swing, or otherwise! The cumulative totals as displayed in Ninja's journal can never be fixed to match my statements, so you'll have to do the math in your head... Hear me now and believe me later. Trade numbers 247 and 270 do not exist. They simply do not EXIST in this universe. Ninja or CQG or whomever seems to have had a problem on that Feb 6th 2018 reconciliation. I KNOW what I made or lost. I did NOT lose an extra $12.5K that entry day, Feb 6th. And I have to give a bit of credit to @Gotcha for me rebooting this as well, because of his analyses prowess in the BS sim journal I have in the Psycho section. He pointed out a glitch in these charts, and no shit, today I see it in my real trading charts. All these little bits kept me thinking, and well, when I think, I tend to get spammy. So better for me to have an outlet for my spooge. Teehee?
Great trading this week. Are you combining swing trading with daytrading ? B/c of the last few days looks like you are just trying to ride the trend for 3-20 mins and take profits. Was reading through your journal and it looks like you dabbled in some disastrous swing trading in months past.
In this journal, swing trading is defined as holding through the overnight session. With that said, if you read through the whole journal, and looks at the dates, you will see that most swing trading was great! It was only Feb 2018 and Oct 2018 that went awry. I have not been swinging since November 2018 when I took my latest swing loss, due to the heavy volatility that has ensued since the beginning of October 2018. As for "riding a trend for 3-20 minutes"? Nah, that is pure scalping in my mind. There are intraday trends, yes, but like last Friday, there was no intraday trend until noon on the long side. The first half of the day was just a shitty choppy cycling. And that is where I keep falling down. On choppy days. It was not great trading this week, believe me. Thank you for the kudo, but do not be impressed by it. It is embarrassing to be honest. But I believe in full transparency in my journal, so I post what I got.
I punched myself in the face for a while. It hurt. You'll note what happened from basically Valentine's day to Feb 20th. Bad juju. I went nuts trying to day trade. After a few more rumbling bits the next day or two, I calmed down, tried to read the markets a bit closer. FA, FA, FA. Oi This is the real, people. So if you see me out there in other sections, rambling about whatever...dudes, at least I'm putting my money where my ass is! Like a human centipede! Gah!
@Gotcha I finally figured out that fucking weird bug with the trade entry/exit marks on Ninja charts. It is a simple glitch when switching from one account to another. The trade markers shift to the latest bar when you move away from the trade account to another, and then back again. It is not a data issue, just a Ninja thing. That is what I love about NT. It has "character", hehe.
Wheee. Trading is still fun like "a thousand paper cuts sprinkled with lye while getting toenails slowly chewed off by a rabid marmot that's on fire." I miss algofy. A classic example of me not following my beliefs, and following a system I do not understand. The system I followed today was, "Data is bad. Let me short it. Uh oh, reversal, long will win it." So I recovered some loss with a long. After watching the day. I thought, ahhh, here we come with the Friday afternoon recovery. It didn't happen. After that it became dumb. If I had just stayed short, like my HEAD told me to, I'd be in a lot of money. But no, I used stops. Short at 7472, panic exit, and then watch it continue down. Did I do the right thing? I think so. Did I do it at the wrong times? Hell yes. Gave up all of yesterday's gains. Ferkackshe. Mind fuck it was today. Inverted yield curve? The markets have brushed it off before. I blame Trump.
I started digging myself out of the hole, started feeling good about myself...Then comes March 27th. FRAK! So it's taken me two weeks to get back to pretty much break even from the 22nd of March. FUCK ME! If you map out trade #9 on yer charts, you'll see how pathetic that trade decision was, to cut my loss short. Look at that entry point, and look at that exit point! I'm really GREAT at picking tops and bottoms; I just seem to have a problem of clicking the buy/sell button in the wrong direction at said tops and bottoms. Daytrading sucks as much as swing trading, but more? But then some of you will say, "But wouldn't you be happy if that trade kept sailing south? Well, Yes! I would, stout yeoman! The problem is, it DIDN'T! Barely a couple points before it reversed back north! THAT'S what gets me. I did that same shit in Feb last year. Cut the loss short RIGHT AT THE BOTTOM. At least in October 2018 I saved face on the Dec NQ 18 contract, by exiting in early November. That would have been a deeper loss had I held on waiting for the recovery before it's expiry. What I need is a future like YM or NQ that doesn't expire! Captain Terrence Duffy, make it so!
Is there a specific reason you don't trade ETFs(commissions, leverage, broker/platform), or it's just Futures is what you used to?