Porgie, I didn't think you would post here anymore! How are you doing on the longer time frames? Not sure if it'll benefit me but if you find it helpful keep using it. Good luck with your trading because October will be a tough month.
You really did great today IMO! Keep up the great work!!! One thing you should try IMO... Try the 5 min chart for awhile and see if it works for you. The 1 min can drive a person nuts with what at times (well, all the time) looks like very eratic movement. See if this helps any for you, and If not then try the 3 min. TTYL! Chris
Awash, As you begin to see more and more how important to stick (discipline) to a trading plan (trade methodology)... you increase your chance for profits while allowing yourself an effective way to analyze your trading so that future trading problems are easily identified and quickly resolved. Also...as your probably starting to realize...trade management is key...all that stuff occurring after entry. Thinking outside the box. Good trading, keep it up and any setbacks should always be viewed as an opportunity to learn more. NihabaAshi
Early on I missed several opportunities (no excuses). I was able to focus on re-entering the market later in the session and I practiced a new technique of resetting my stop 1 tick above breakeven. I was successful at reentering but I realize I need to be flexible when resetting my stop. Trade#1 â [Long 992.00 11:03 EST & Stopped 992.25 11:08 EST] [ P/L: + .25 ] I finally decided to place a trade after numerous entry signals. I wasnât too excited about this trade thatâs why I reset my stop one tick above BE. In hindsight I probably should have waited to something developed. Trade#2 â [Short 1000.50 14:03 EST & Cover 998.50 14:14 EST] [ P/L: + 2 ] Heavy divergence brewing on my 3-minute chart plus overbought signals were generating. Went short at a good price and covered it at a good price. My game plan was to reenter on the next retracement! Trade#3 â [Short 999.75 14:30 EST & Stopped 999.50 14:45 EST] [ P/L: + .25 ] Divergence was still in play and this time I got too over zealous with my profit target. I wanted 3 index points and I sort of lost site of what price was doing because it wasnât going to break that fast (before a big reversal, price generally lingers a while before falling hard). I decided to reset my stop after being up 2 points. Like always price reversed and I got stopped out. In hindsight, I should have took what the market was giving me and re-entered again, if necessary. Taking profit and re-entering allows me to setup another trade! For tomorrow: Do the same thing as today but donât ignore entry signals!
I will not post trades for Wednesday 10-1-03 & Thursday 10-2-03. My journal will resume on Monday 10-6-03!
After reviewing Septemberâs trades this past weekend I realized a predominate number of my positions were short; under all types of market conditions. Today I wanted to focus on executing more trades and focusing on entering long & short positions based on the current market activity and signals generated. However, early on I executed more short positions than long (ignoring all buy signals). Trade#1 â [Short 1028.00 9:44 EST & Cover 1028.25 10:22 EST] [ P/L: - .25 ] A bit late entering on this trade, wanted to short at 1029.50 but finally entered at 1028. This trade went bad when I failed to cover this position after reversal signs came at 9:49 EST, decided to hold a bit longer. Bad trade! Trade#2 â [Short 1030.50 10:10 EST & Cover 1028.50 10:20 EST] [ P/L: + 2 ] Good signal and timing on this trade and decision making with a reachable profit target. Trade#3 â [Short 1030.75 11:56 EST & Cover 1032.75 13:00 EST] [ P/L: - 2 ] Started out as a good signal but not much confirmation on my 1-minute. I waited too long after nothing developed and I failed to cover this position. Poor timing on this trade! Trade#4 â [Short 1032.75 12:19 EST & Cover 1032.75 13:00 EST] [ P/L: 0 ] This was a completely poor trade because I tried to make up for my mistake in trade#3. I added to my short, which I donât do often, but I added with no trade signal and I failed to cover it after not much follow through.
Hi Awash, Yes, I am beginning to notice that you are starting to do adds after your initial position was still showing a loss. Now, this may be your new strategy, but still, Iâd be very cautious with doing that. My rationale is that if you entered an initial position and the market immediately moves against it by x-points/ticks, itâs an indication that your assessment of the market condition or timing was off. Just get out if it hits your stop, but don't add, and try to find a better price level to attempt a re-entry if your divergence signal is still valid. If the market begins to move in your favor, indicating that your assessment of the condition was more correct this time, THEN add to it. Anyway, thatâs just food for thought. Kermit
Kermit, You're right! I realize that adding more contracts will eventually ruin me. I think I tried to copy a few traders via the #FuturesTrades room but as of today I will no longer do this. Thanks for the advice! Goal for today: 1) Place more trades 2) Don't just open short positions 3) No Adds 4) Cover trades on all reversal signals (don't wait).
I was able to execute several trades but almost none of them were consistent with the market direction and today was a perfect day for trading the trend. My primary mistake is that Iâm trying to catch every reversal signal and Iâm avoiding the TREND. Reversal signals are good but they have a lower winning percentage when compared to trades with the trend. Iâm fully aware of what direction ES will move from my analysis of price; support & resistance; and other market breadth indices but Iâm focusing on reversals to heavily. Trade#1 â [Short 1027.00 9:38 EST & Cover 1027.25 9:46 EST] [ P/L: - .25 ] No divergence signal was generated but I wanted to test the strength of my support area by going short. It held and price bounced around; decided to exit quickly. Trade#2 â [Short 1029.00 10:57 EST & Cover 1028.50 11:05 EST] [ P/L: + .50 ] Divergence signal on 1-minute but I didnât have the patience to wait. I had a descent profit target in mind of 1027.75 but no patience; covered prematurely. Trade#3 â [Long 1031.25 12:37 EST & Stopped 1030 12:48 EST] [ P/L: - 1.25 ] This was a gutsy trade going into the lunch hour and I ate it on this one. I was able to set a hard stop to control my risk; wonât go long again in a consolidation range. Trade#4 â [Long 1029.75 12:59 EST & Exit 1030 13:21 EST] [ P/L: + .25 ] small divergence signal brewing on my 1-minute chart but price bounced around before it reversed. I waited over 20 minutes for this trade to develop but nothing happened until after I exited. I had a small profit target of 1031.25! Trade#5 â [Short 1032.75 14:32 EST & Stopped 1036 15:19 EST] [ P/L: - 3.25 ] false signal generated from 1-minute; no confirmation and price wasnât going to pullback after the strong move! The worst thing about this trade was I didnât exit at 14:53 (see trade#6). Trade#6 â [Short 1034.25 14:47 EST & Cover 1033 14:53 EST] [ P/L: + 1.25 ] Overall bad trade because I added to a losing position but I couldnât avoid the small divergence signal. Took quick profits but didnât cover the contract from trade#5. Trade#7 â [Short 1032.75 14:32 EST & Stopped 1036 15:19 EST] [ P/L: - 2 ] Horrible trade after another ADD. ES never showed anymore downside movement and I got stopped out!