This has been one weird trade so far. I did not expect price to move sideways like this. Big move okay. Wrong way. -1.5
4 Postions Taken 2 Sucessful 2 Failed 50% Daily P/L = +1.75 Points 1 contract = $87.50 Not a great day. Skills need sharpening.
3.5 Days Traded 19 Postions Taken 12 Sucessful 5 Failed 2 Breakeven 63% Successful (Counting Break Even as a failure) Weekly P/L = +31 Points 1 contract = $1,550 Overall I am satisfied with the results this week. I am still learning the system. This is consistent with my backtested results. Add in slippage or whatever you want here. Your choice. Follow along make the trades yourself. Whatever. Take care. Have a good weekend.
What exactly are your entry and exit rules at this point. I guess they have been evolving as you have been writing this journal. Have you summarized them here yet or not? Are your results actual, simulated or papertraded only? Thanks and keep it up.
Thanks Wally. This ain't easy, but it is helping me believe it or not. Take a look at page 64. 3rd post down, my response to Gotta Trade and others. This should give you an idea of my entry. Also, other trades are described in the first few pages of the journal. I would point out that I am learning to filter my entries here and my success seems to be improving. I plan to post the filtered method as soon as I think it has merit. To answer your question about the results. I have a live account set up with TradeStation. At this time, I have the account frozen but am using the bid/ask buttons to get my entry/exit. I do not want to set up a separate simulator for this, as I trade live with the TradeStation Order Platform. I realize there may be a better way to do this (simulator), but that's not how I want to do it. I am actually clicking the buttons for the fills and recording the price. There is no accounting for slippage here, so factor this into any decision you make on the trades. I am making the trades in real time so everyone can follow at this point. (at least as best I can). There is more information in the first section of the journal on this, with pictures.
I wanted to put a plan out for all to see and comment on. This makes sense to me, but I would like constructive comments on whether this has any value. Initial Capital for plan $5000. Trade (1) Contract. For every $5000 that is earned, add a contract until 10 contracts can be traded. This would equate to: $5000 Trades (1) Contract $10,000 Trades (2) Contracts $15,000 Trades (3) Contracts and so on until... $50,000 Trades (10) Contracts In other words, in order to earn the right to add a contract the trader has to earn $5000. Does this make sense given margin requirments, or is it idiotic.
I am new to this thread. I could search through the settings for the macd and the stoch. Are these the current settings for macd? MACD 4/13/1 How about the Stoch...Is that the fast d line or the slow d line? on the setting 5,3,3? Michael B.
I agree in principle with your schema, though you will find rational investors on either side of the spectrum. In answer to your question, nothing makes sense regarding margin requirements - whether it's $5,000 per contract or $25,000, none of us are immune from an event which wipes us out. With that in mind, I append my rules which are very similar to yours, except for the "tightening up" as the trading capital increases. Maximum contract size (MCS) = Equity / 5000, rounded to lower integer for (Equity < $30,000). MCS = 5 for ($30,000 <= Equity < $42,000). MCS = Equity / 7000, rounded to lower integer for (Equity >= $42,000). Maximum value of MCS is 10. eg. for $18,000 account, MCS = 3. This is based on the CME Current Initial Spec ES margin requirement of $3,563 - any future changes will result in proportional readjustment of the MCS parameters above.
Thanks for taking a look at this. So, if I understand you correctly, I would need to grow the account to $58,000 to reach 10 contracts. What is your reasoning behind "tightening up" after $30K. Again, appreciate it.