0817 Bought 2 ZB's 105 31. Stop at 105 28. Will reverse at stop if hit. This will be a quick trade. Target is 106 03 to 106 05. Will consider shorting there.
0822 Expect something to happen here within 5 minutes. UPDATE 0829 Prices hit 106 00 within the 5 minute time frame, but I was expecting a pop to 106 03. Oh well. I've placed an order to sell to close out my 2 ZB's at 106 03.
0840 Sold 4 ZB's 105 28. 105 24 and 105 12 are targets (published last week). 0900 report coming up, but should have no effect. Tried to sell 8 ZN at 104 130. I wish I had dropped it down a bit!
Interesting. NN's are negative effective 0845, which means they are running a little late, or that 105 12 is a definite possibility today. FYI, we might be getting set up for the 0900 report, i.e. bring the mice down, and then spike up to where the cats can have a nice snack.
0853 If we hit 105 12 before the report, get out. As a matter of fact, consider getting out anywhere now between 105 22 and 105 12.
I'm at twice my daily profit target today so I need to consider exiting. Update 0857 Closed 2 at 105 21. Stop limit of 105 24 on remaining 2 ZB's for a 4 tick profit per contract.
0901 Bought the remaining 2 at 105 19. Excellent day. Definitely at the higher end of my statistical record for a profitable day.
Insight In the past I would now continue to trade, looking to make even more money. The problem is that in continuing to trade, inevitably I would lose, then the next trade was done to make up for the previous one, and so on. Where does it stop? I analyzed my performance over a period of the most recent 2 years, and discovered what I believe to be my edge when it comes to daytrading the ZB's and ZN's. My edge is in the morning, and on the first three trades of the day. That is it. Period. End of story. Discover your edge. Where and when do you perform best?