Ok, here's what happened today: 1. Hardware glitch. Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro volume key apparently is HOT KEY for BUY in TWS... scary. 2. Buying on MACD histogram momentum. Unlikely trade, 3 tick stop on a long-shot. Stupid move upside was too limited, should have stayed out. Watch the TICK and DOW next time for confirmation. Or, at least an engulfing candle to confirm. 3. bought the MACD crossover. Bad setup, no clear stops anywhere near. Stupid. 4. Bought the engulfing candle. Closest stop got taken out. The choppiness begins... 5. hallelujah. unfortunately I can not tell you what I was thinking here. Dumb luck as best as I can figure. Took profits on MACD convergence. 6. Bought the same convergence with a tight stop. Shouldn't play the risky ones when I'm in the hole already... 7. Shorted the MACD crossover. Stop too tight. I know better, fear caused me to bring the stop in. Mental note: remember rule #1 = Buy the Exit. 8. Same. My stop should clearly have been 1032.50 based on prior resistance. Fear made me pull it too close.
FUTURES TRADES --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trade Time Exchange Description Qty Trade Price Set Price Gain/Loss * ----------------- --------- ----------- ----- ----------- ----------- ----------- - 02-06-20 10:36:39 GLOBEX ES SEP02 -1 1015.2500 1007.7500 375.00 02-06-20 10:44:44 GLOBEX ES SEP02 1 1014.2500 1007.7500 -325.00 02-06-20 11:21:53 GLOBEX ES SEP02 -1 1016.7500 1007.7500 450.00 02-06-20 11:25:47 GLOBEX ES SEP02 1 1017.5000 1007.7500 -487.50 02-06-20 11:36:20 GLOBEX ES SEP02 -1 1014.7500 1007.7500 350.00 02-06-20 11:38:32 GLOBEX ES SEP02 1 1015.5000 1007.7500 -387.50 02-06-20 13:03:35 GLOBEX ES SEP02 1 1016.7500 1007.7500 -450.00 02-06-20 13:45:39 GLOBEX ES SEP02 -1 1013.7500 1007.7500 300.00 02-06-20 13:48:53 GLOBEX ES SEP02 -1 1013.5000 1007.7500 287.50 02-06-20 14:44:24 GLOBEX ES SEP02 1 1018.7500 1007.7500 -550.00 ===== =========== 0 -437.50 =========== USD Total: -437.50
I don't know what kind of funk I'm in... it's obviously lack of discipline on my part. Anyway, here is a breakdown of the trades and my thoughts: NOTE: Added letters "L" and "S" to each trade indicating LONG or SHORT on the chart. Also, green indicates positive trades, red is negative. I hope this helps. S1 First and only positive trade of the day. Shorted the MACD histogram decline and penetration of short term support. relatively close stop of 1 pt. Feeling cautious after 4 consecutive down days. Out at plus 4 ticks. S2 Shorted declining MACD histogram. Close stop at short-term resistance 1017.25. stopped out when 1017.50 prints... should have opened up the stop 2 ticks above resistance. S3 Shorted MACD breakdown. Too greedy. Gordon Gekko made me do it! Blew right through my stop. All three of these were potential good trades, flawed execution. (BTW bring on the criticism if you have it, no need to pull punches here
... Here's the rest: L4 Bought the MACD histogram increase. Looking for a sustained rally. Deep stop at 1013.75. Ouch. S5 This was crazy. Shorted the MACD crossover (a little late on the execution.) Another deep stop at 1018.75 ... 4 whole ticks above last resistance. Some SOB took out my stop at 14:44:24. What was that? Program buy? Short squeeze? !@#$% up! Would have been an awesome trade.
I recommend you trade more with price action than indicator crossovers etc. I trade with nothing on my screen except for price action. I trade nothing other that new highs or new lows during the day and take all signals. I use trailing stops. I usually have no more than 3-5 trades per day. I also use the Dow or the Naz to comfirm the break out or break down to new highs. If they are not very close or have already confirmed, then I may pass. The point that I am trying to make is let price action tell you were the market is moving, not a bunch of fancy indicators crossing over and zig zaging up and down. Sean
Sean Juan, How close are your trailing stops? Do you get wiggled out often? What kind of profits are you taking from these trades? Thanks for your ideas!
jbyodston-- a little for what its worth... I trade similar to what you do .. I assume the BB are 20, 2 -- I use 20, 1.8 (make little to no difference) I set the MACD to 12,26,5 Rules include only take a long when the MACD is positive and only short when down, unless the histogram is showing divergence or is overbought. Helps to keep from fighting the trend. i.e. here are some thoughts for your L4, that I might have been looking for. When the price starts walking up the BB, if I am not long I would be looking for a short. Given the MACD is up (above the mid) and the histogram is showing divergence. The entry would come when price falls below the next green candle (the one after your L4 and line). Which is the low after the first, next red candle and the double top. Then it becomes a matter of exit management. The MACD then crosses over to CONFIRM the trade. Exit management says stop at the high, exit at the next BB touch or MACD crossover or point. However I trade this on the 3 and 5 min. On the 1 min I just look for 1 point, look for more on the 3 and 5. Hope this helps, if not feel free to ignore!! Make 'em pretty, Chris
FUTURES TRADES --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trade Time Exchange Description Qty Trade Price Set Price Gain/Loss * ----------------- --------- ----------- ----- ----------- ----------- ----------- - 02-06-21 09:32:33 GLOBEX ES SEP02 1 998.5000 992.0000 -325.00 02-06-21 10:26:05 GLOBEX ES SEP02 -1 1005.5000 992.0000 675.00 02-06-21 12:19:33 GLOBEX ES SEP02 -1 994.5000 992.0000 125.00 02-06-21 12:30:15 GLOBEX ES SEP02 1 993.2500 992.0000 -62.50 ===== =========== 0 412.50 =========== USD Total: 412.50
finally broke out of that losing streak! Not much to comment on here: Friday open after a down week, plus good news pre-market from QCOM = go long! defiantly didn't want to temp fate, locked in profits early and went home.
I would have to agree with Sean Juan. I too only use price action to daytrade. I let the price give me the setups and they are basic like breakouts, d/tops etc. I use 1pt stops.