Not sure what to say about today other then complete and total garbage. Old habits are definitely hard to break. Not sure what it is going to take for me to kick them, maybe banging my head against the wall will work!!! Anyhow, carried 2 news related stocks over the weekend. Had a chance in the first 1/2 hour of trading to get out with little damage. Woulda Shoulda Coulda, same old story. Well what could have amounted to a $500 loss within my risk parameters turned into -$3000 for the 2 combined. The only good thing I take away from today is I kept trading without letting these 2 bad trades dominate my day. I actually made some decent trades. Oh well, still learning after 3.5 years of trading. Net P/L -2700 on 22,200 shares
I suggest sizing down if you get emotional during trades. As for not following your plan, be tougher on yourself and everytime you don't follow it eat your feces. Everytime a trade where a rule is broken makes money, eat feces and punch yourself in the face.
So whats the deal? are you a day trader or a swing trader? or both? Personally I like not taking overnights as I sleep easy and every day is a new day. Of course sometimes its nice to take a position overnight that your pretty sure you can get out for a profit the next day but the risks are high. I may be out of place (as I don't know you strategy well) but it might be better to stick to one or the other... i.e. strictly day trading no overnights or just swing trading? Maybe this will help you get a bit of consistency. Just a thought...
It's a great suggestion. It will allow me to narrow down my focus. Once I get consistency with day trading strategies, I can tackle the swing trading with a clearer mind. Fwiw, I have been a mix in the past with pairs but trading one sided is definitely a different animal.
Agree on the sizing down. Has always been one of my weaknesses. I will pass on the eating of feces but will opt for a snap of a rubber band on my wrist.
Put a fork in me cause I am done. I am shutting down for the time being to reset. This is the 2nd time in the last 2 months that I have to do this. Something is seriously wrong with my mindset right now. Will not return until I address it this time. This will be my last post until I return. Net P/L -2300 on 18400 shares
Started back yesterday after the move and break. Going to take it slow with small size. If I feel myself getting heated about any trade or the market, I will get up and take a walk around the block to cool off and put everything into perspective. I did it today as the market rallied hard and a few positions pushed out on me. Funny thing is, they were not even close to my stops so that is how emotional I am about trading right now. Stepping away certainly helped and it turned out to be a green day. Goal right now is $500 / day. Very achievable in these markets. Summary of the last 2 days below: Mon Net P/L: +250 on 8600 shares Tue Net P/L: +250 on 23500 shares Jan Net P/L: -4300 on 290,000 shares Just a flat out disappointing month. Can't say much more other then taking the steps necessary for me to right the ship. The past is the past, all I can do now is learn from it and move on.
Slow and steady. Added pairs trading back into routine keeping size small and stretching out time frame. Other strats I am currently trading are options spreads and individual stock RTM and trends. From this point forward I will post weekly. Feb 2 Net P/L: +250 on 37k shares
Not much to write home about this week. Even though my results do not reflect it yet, I am glad to be back to pairs trading. It is definitely my comfort zone and allowed me to stay in the game this week. Without them, could have been much worse. Strange how getting back to basics allows me to at least fight when things are not going well. For some reason miscalculated my P/L beginning of the week so the corrected numbers are included below. Week ending Feb 4 Daily Net P/L: +250, +540, +260, -1400, -670... week total -1020 on 138500 shares