Fast Trader, I just came across this thread. Great idea! I will recommend this approach to a couple of Prop firms that I deal with. It is a great way for New Traders to stay focused and keep disicipline. Well done and Good Luck trading!! Risk Less
Brokers are people too...they have feelings just like the rest of us. Show the brokers some love -Fast
October 14th (Tuesday) Followed Trading Plan: Total trades: 1 (1 Short) 1 Winner, 0 Losers 1:54 PM - Short 1 YM 9755 2:22 PM - Cover 1 YM 9750 Result: +5 Notes: Entry was definitely late, but I had just gotten home for lunch and couldn't get TWS up fast enough to short at the 9760+ level. But the more important issue is; I broke my rule of not trading the YM. I should not have taken this trade. Overall: YM: +5 I went to sleep very late last night, and just couldn't get up this morning. I actually managed to wake up around 9:10 AM EST, but was too tired to trade so decided to sleep in. I know from past experience that I usually lose money when I trade while half asleep. Btw, today would have been a 1-star day, but I gave myself an extra star for having the discipline to go back to sleep this morning
October 15th (Wednesday) Followed Trading Plan: Total trades: 12 (7 Longs, 5 Shorts) 8 Winners, 4 Losers 9:43 AM - Long 1 ES 1051.00 9:47 AM - Exit 1 ES 1049.50 (Stop-loss hit) Result: -1.50 Notes: I should have entered short right off the open; that is exactly what my charts were telling me to do. But, then I glanced over at the TRIN and it was around 0.40-0.50 (bullish) so I did not enter short. What I didn't see at the time was that the TRIN was rising. I should have paid more attention to my 3 min. TRIN chart rather than the absolute value of TRIN. 9:49 AM - Long 1 NQ 1431.50 9:52 AM - Exit 1 NQ 1429.50 (Stop-loss hit) Result: -2 Notes: Same problem as last trade. 9:53 AM - Long 1 ES 1050.00 9:55 AM - Exit 1 ES 1050.50 Result: +0.50 Notes: Still not 'getting it'. Thinking it will turn around any minute now. 10:00 AM - Short 1 NQ 1433.50 10:00 AM - Cover 1 NQ 1432.00 Result: +1.50 Notes: Whenever I start the day with a loss, it totally changes my trading and I start going for very quick profits. I just wanted a WIN at this point. 10:04 AM - Long 1 ES 1047.00 10:05 AM - Exit 1 ES 1047.25 Result: +0.25 10:06 AM - Long 1 YM 9779 10:08 AM - Exit 1 YM 9777 Result: -2 Notes: Why did I just trade the YM? I am removing the YM from my trading platform tonight. 10:21 AM - Long 1 ES 1045.25 10:33 AM - Exit 1 ES 1045.50 Result: +0.25 10:37 AM - Long 1 NQ 1419.50 10:39 AM - Exit 1 NQ 1420.50 Result: +1 10:41 AM - Short 1 NQ 1421.50 10:46 AM - Cover 1 NQ 1421.00 Result: +0.5 1:49 PM - Short 1 NQ 1426.00 1:50 PM - Cover 1 NQ 1425.00 Result: +1 2:12 PM - Short 1 NQ 1426.00 2:13 PM - Cover 1 NQ 1427.00 Result: -1 2:22 PM - Short 1 NQ 1425.00 2:28 PM - Cover 1 NQ 1423.00 Result: +2 Notes: I actually had to get back to work, so I set a target and stop-loss and left. If I was monitoring it, I would have gotten a few more points out of this one. Overall: ES: -0.50 NQ: +3.00 YM: -2 What can I say....I performed really bad today! Did learn a couple of things, so will try to do better tomorrow. Not much to write; the trades tell the tale for today and it ain't a pretty picture.
Fast, Well, I noticed you gave yourself 2 stars out of 5 for the past two days. How did you do on your discipline? That still is the goal of your journal? Whatever happens stay disciplined and focused on following your plan, otherwise it may be to your detriment considering you're part-time. Good luck and I'm looking forward to future trades.
Probably should have been 1 star today considering I didn't really follow my plan. I always stick to my stops though, and that's the reason I don't have any huge down days. I don't rate the day based on points-performance, but rather on how I actually traded and not only missing but fighting the entire down move today was a lack of focus and misjudgements. I'm not sure if it was a discipline issue or a miscalculation in my analysis. I think I let my bias take over; because the truth is, I wasn't expecting this much of a drop right off the open. -Fast