I'm back! Here are links to my previous 2 journals. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20640 http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=41981 Reading back on these is pretty funny stuff. I was so clueless and arrogant it is embarrasing to read. Here is a recap of my trading history: Journal 1: I scraped together 3k or something like that and decided I was smart so the market was to be my toy. I jumped in to 4 methods right off the bat and got my butt handed to me. Journal 2: I came up with 5k, got on with a prop type deal where I could daytrade stocks, and jumped into it. I lost about $500 with a method that killed it on paper. For some strange reason, while papertrading made me rich, real trading lost money. Ha! Right around this time I discovered online poker. I got a deal propping(getting paid to start/keep shorthanded games going) and realized immediatly that this was a much more realistic way for me to make money than trading. Long story short, I played for a living for two years, barely scraping by at 5/10, until about 6 months ago. I then got a job painting houses making 15 bucks an hour. I was so burned out on poker I took about 4 months off from it. I now play on the side, and when I play I am always playing my best, and it is always fun! I've gotten to a point, skill and bankroll wise, that I am killing the 10/20 6/max game and making way more playing than I do working. I want to spend a while at 10/20 before venturing higher, So.... I figured it is now time to get back into trading. Fortunatly for me, I have developed a brain the last few years! Its funny reading my old journal I think I understand a lot more of the "fish" mindset. I had it! Now that I have actually gone from a point of novice to expert in something(poker) I realize how little I actually knew about trading. I also see the many similiarities between the two activities. Here are my basic plans at the moment. I most likely will get laid off from painting at some point in the next 6 months. If that happens I will take a few months to try trading before I get another job. I am in no hurry to jump back into it. I plan on trading 1 method, most likely no_pm's divergence method. I like it because it doesn't trade very often, and I really like the logic behind it. I can quite easily keep one eye on the chart while I keep busy at the poker table. I really want to get one method down cold, and then jack up the size as bankroll allows. I am extremely conservative in that area now after some rocky times in the poker world. I plan on setting aside 5k the next few months to do this. I figure that is plenty for one ES contract, and as I gain experience I will get a better idea of the swings involved in trading. I suspect it is much easier emotionally than poker! I can make a good living playing poker now that I have a big roll and what not, but I just don't like doing it for a living. I would really like to have two activities that provide income, and I would like the other to be trading. We will see how it goes I guess. Other stuff: I am married now and wife is pregnant! I am very involved at our church, and wife/kid/God are my priorities. Poker and trading are secondary, and I am working on getting my painting contractors license. That will give me a big raise! Why the journal?? Not sure. Mainly I don't have any friends that are at all interested in poker or trading, and just want to share ideas with other people that share these interests. Edit to add: Got my history a little mixed up. I started playing poker near the end of journal 1, and ran good at first, thinking I was hot stuff. Then it all went to crap(no suprise reading my postings from then) and I got a job to go with my humble pie. I then heard about propping around the start of journal 2, and decided to give it another go, doing it right. It went well!
Journals belong on the journals forum... why put it in the index futures forum? But, good luck with the trading. Perhaps you should consider the fact that it isn't your trading method that is not working, it's yourself that is not working. Trading is all mental. Hopefully you picked up some things that you can bring from poker to the trading game. Patience, execution, and discipline are important. Being able to execute on the signals you get is critical. I know this from experience and is the thing that is preventing me from my success in the markets. So be sure to make a good habbit of taking your trades and following through with them. Just keep at it.
Ah good point. Mod can you move this please? Sorry. You are right about the mental thing. That is what poker is all about. Take a 1k dip in 5 minutes and stay on your game. Fun stuff. This is the main reason I think I am ready for trading again. They are basically the same thing as far as I am concerned. Get your money in at an advantage, and manage your bankroll/account wisely.
The main point of this journal for now is to have a place to develop my plan, as I won't actually be trading for a little while. All in input is most welcome, as these days I acknowledge that I am not a good trader. So here is my basic idea. Ready....drumroll...................... Copy no_pm_please! No better way to get good at something than to copy someone who is good at it, right? I will probably use slightly different indicators, but that is insignifigant. The trade is based on locating a trend near its end and fading it. I plan on only trading the ES. I think I will use bollinger bands to highlight price extremes, and CCI to identify divergence. I don't plan on using ADX for now to identify strong trends, but I may change my mind. The reason for this is that in order for price to penetrate the bollinger bands it must be a fairly strong move. This is as opposed to using keltner channels. I plan on using rather strict criteria, as i have no problem going a few days without making a trade. So, things to do before I start trading. 1. Have exact trading plan, including exit strategy. 2. Choose broker. 3. Chose charting software. Any input on any of these is greatly appreciated. Charts to come, showing my plan.
After some thought I have decided to stick with no_pm's method almost exactly. I will use keltner channels, and use ADX as well. Here are the rules: 1. price must make a higher high or lower low and must be outside the keltner channel. In order for there to be a higher high/lower low there must be a valid pullback first. 2. ADX must be over 30. 3. If CCI shows divergence enter opposite the trend after the first bar that fails to make a higher high or lower low(depending on trend direction). 4. Set stop loss at 1/3 of distance between high and low keltner channel. 5. Use trailing stop based on parabolic. Will post charts soon, having issues with it so far.