Here's the ER for the same time period. (Anyone who can succintly explain to me how I could have posted both of these images side-by-side in the same post -- I'm no HTML expert?!) (EditAfter fiddling around, I did manage to get them to appear side-by-side in the above post. However, as far as I can tell, I still needed a separate post in order to upload the second image??)
Looking to buy 10 on a pullback to the bottom of the channel... stay tuned. <img src="http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=1059900">
Channel broke, MA turned down on V20,000. Staying put for now. <img src="http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=1059914">
Aggressive trade would have been to reverse @1317.50, but with strength of up move, caution seemed appropriate before going short.
In response to M1's PM: Thanks for your interest. Yes, family for me comes first -- although the juggling act isn't easy. I'm not going to tell you that there aren't times when trading's hot and heavy, and I simply can't tear myself away from the screen. Overall, though, building a family and bringing up kids is so incredibly fulfilling. Message to traders who let their monetary asperations hijack their lives and fail to marry and build a family: IMHO you are making a decision you may deeply regret later in life. Some day, you're going to be old, and trading and money won't be so meaningful any more. You'll look back at your years and wonder where they've gone, and what you've got to show for them. Without a wife and kids (and grandkids), life has a way of getting very lonely. Marriage and childrearing is a huge investment, and yes, there is risk involved. But as traders, we all know that the profits are highly correlated to the risk and level of investment. (Get's off his soapbox...) (As an aside, just before writing this post, I took a 15 minute break from trading [right after the channel broke down]. Why? My 2-year old was screaming in agony. Despite his mommy's repeated warnings, he continually chewed on hot peppers I picked up earlier today in "The Market". It took a while, but thankfully I was able to relax him (well, actually, he just fell asleep). That's him down below.) <H1 align="center"><img src="http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=1060002"></H1> As far as scaling in/out of trades starting with as little as one contract, and what you call "price discovery," for me, too, figuring out that trading that way suited me best was a "gem." I remember thinking one day, after I had been doing it for a little while, and was starting to experience some success, "Wow -- I just figured out what the difference between successful traders and the rest of us is..." Until then, I had been hung up on entering my trades in full size all at once. It caused me to miss a ton of entries, because I knew that at "full size", whatever that means for each trader, a stop out hurts. Many times, as ones trading prowess/experience grows, you get an intuition. It's not something that shows up on the charts (and of course it may be wrong -- remember that!!), but you're pretty sure you see where things are going. Yet you hesitate to put the position on, and rightly so. After all, you don't want to end up like some gunslinging video gamer that jumps in and out on hunches. But how frustrating it is when the market goes on to do just what you expected it to. Taking a very small position (like 1 contract) allows you to act on your intuition before confirming it with your charts/indicators etc. If you're right, you can add to your position as the market continues to confirm your original hunch. If, at any point, it doesn't, it may be time to get out, or tighten your stop. It sounds silly, but often having those original one or two contracts in the market make all the difference between "having the guts" to put on the rest of the position once confirmation comes, and between "chickening out" and staying on the sidelines. "Price discovery" will take place whether or not you've got a position. It's in how you deal with price as it discovers itself that having that small position makes the difference. Also: I find, and I've seen others post along these lines, that my "feel for the market" is greatly multiplied when I've got some kind of position as opposed to when I'm flat. I'm sure others have experienced this: Having money on the line heightens our sensitivity many fold. But, you don't have to put on a big position to experience this (at least I don't). And when you're convinced you're wrong, it's a whole lot easier to exit-and-reverse out of a small position than it is to do so from a large one. I hope some of this is making sense. It's not always easy to put these types of experiences into words.
In response to ILQ, who asked about compounding: I have been trading for about 8 (or 9?) years, but the vast majority of these I was doing so part time as I learned the markets and developed a feel for how I could (hopefully) earn a living from them. I have given compounding some thought. For now, I'm not looking to do more than to earn enough from my trading to support my family in comfort. I know this sounds altruistic. Often you see people in threads saying things along the lines of "if you can take those kind of numbers out of the market, why, by next year, you'll own Australia..." Inevitibly, some discussion ensues about the scalibilty of trading depending on which markets you trade -- as if that is our main concern over here. ("Can I flip 5,000 ES contracts without moving the market?...") Let's talk about something that concerns me far more than the scalibility of my trading. GREED!! Greed is an emotion that every trader must learn to deal with -- or it will 'deal' with him. "If you can make xxx trading 5-20 contracts" the logic goes, "you can make 5x xxx trading 20-100 contracts" etc. Except that unless you're emotionally prepared to take that leap, the experience of making/losing 5x - 10x - 20x the amounts you're used to will be your downfall. Sure, I sometimes get these grandiose dreams of making oodles of money (maybe I should chart how often they preceed a big loss!!). But, truth be told, if I can just make a comfortable living working out of my house and supporting my family doing what I do, I'm a very happy guy. There are other kinds of wealth besides just a huge bank account, fancy cars, jewelry, clothing, etc. I was once speaking to a very successful trader who only traded part time. After hearing how accurate his trading was, I said something like: "Wow--if you did that full time, you'd be making tons of money!" In all sincerity, he replied, "Yes, but that would be greedy."
D80: When I post my trades, I do so in real time. It's just not always possible to do so, and sometimes days go by that I can't update this thread. I do so in my "spare time" when the markets are trading in such a manner as to allow me the diversion to post on ET. Sometimes I'm busy brushing up on my trading in some other way. Sometimes I'm studying something completely different. And sometimes I'm here. I do trade every day, though, except Fridays.
Chart to accompany last trade: <center><img src="http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=1060095"></center>
<b>Sold 5 ES @ 1314.00</b> Loss on trade: <b>$250</b> Obvious break of <b>established trendline</b> )see previous post) has me sidelined once again, although I do not believe we are going to see a sell off now. <center><img src="http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=1060101"></center>