What a shitty day. First I was up, then I was down, then I was up, then I was down. Towards the end of the day I had so many trades that my commissions just killed me. But I managed to be gross positive. I made $80 and spent $150 making it. What the hell is up with me this month? It's like I can't be consistent. I guess that will come with more experience..... Does anybody else remember their first year? How long does it take before you can just become a emotionless machine? I had 26 buy executions, 30 sell executions, and traded 72,200 shares. Tomorrow will be a better day.....
I'm not much of a trader really. I've been developing systems for years however, the daytime job is a pretty good gig, no big hurry to start trading. I had to put on some trades yesterday to answer a question about what the brokerage would do in different situations. I hit the buy button instead of the sell not once, no, I did not learn from the first mistake, I did it twice. I held overnight and got out of the situation at overall breakeven today. That happened when I was in some trades, one was pretty well chosen and the other one was looking a little like a mistake. Fear and anxiety took over. The thing about fear and anxiety is that they seem like they are predicting something but in fact they are absolutely uselss for prediction, they don't mean a thing. I don't think you want to become emotionless really. Maybe what happens is that your view of risk changes when you are in a trade. Before putting on a trade you are feeling good about things, you have a system, a broker, some money to work with, life is good, right? Then you put on a trade and everything changes because of the fear factor. When things go a little wrong you really feel awful because your confidence is gone and fear has taken over. I would say that you need to develope something that you do when you put on a trade. Maybe it would be taking a breath, reviewing what you are going to do if things go well, reviewing what you are going to do if things go wrong, thinking about something pleasant, etc. Personally I just like to watch the bid/ask and size and watch the market ebb and flow and hit resistance and bounce off it and what not, it just is something I enjoy watching. It takes my mind off the fear and anxiety. Visualization is cool. One woman I work with gets really frustrated and bummed out and gets crazy, I have her close her eyes and imagine she is at the beach, sitting in a cave just out of the sunlight, people are there playing and having a great time, the seagulls are doing their seagull thing and making noise, the waves sound pleasant. Might work for you. A person's emotions can undergo a complete change in way less than a second. Good trading fortune to you and a happy new year. Max
maxpi, your technique has worked for me before. In the future, I'll try to visualize the same thing. You know, as I was reading that, I imagined a peaceful shoreline, a soft high tide, bleach white sand, and a beautiful big breasted woman.....;-). Ahh..... Thanks! Good Trading!
Hey guys! Well, it was a shitty day. I didn't lose anything.....I think.....but as you all know volume is extremely light this week. I made $107 and spent ABOUT $90 making it. I really wasn't concentrating today. My head was in the clouds..... Tomorrow should prove to be better. I had 16 buy executions, 15 sell executions, and traded 48,460 shares.
The woman at work said "am I allowed to have young good looking guys in this?" the first time I worked with her. Pretty funny. Do you have some technical analysis or anything to guide your trading? One master of that stuff is Linda Raschke, you might get some training DVD's or whatever from her. Like I said, I'm not much of a trader, just developing systems and automation stuff but I watch all these training videos to see what traders have been doing in the past. I am surprised at how much real good info is out there. There are simple little systems that only use the last two or three bars, seems like they would be perfect for trading for somebody who was not a big technical analysis expert. Max
Good Morning! I feel a little tired this morning. I've been tossing and turning the past couple of nights and its starting to take its toll on me. On my way to work I usually read a book on the PATH train, but today, I fell asleep. Tired or not, I remain motivated. There are two trading days left this month and I'm determined to finish the month on a positive note. Good Trading!
hey guys! Sorry I didn't post a close to Thursday's entry but I only had 1 trade and it was for a flat. It was so slow and I couldn't get a fill. Over the New Year's weekend I got sick and I was out yesterday (monday). This morning I'm still sick. In fact, I feel worse. It hurts when I swallow. I'm starting to develop these little white spots on the back of my throat which has led me to believe that I'm developing strepthroat. I'm gonna try to get to a doctor this afternoon and get a shot of penicilin. The last time I got strep, a shot of penicilin had me feeling better in a couple of hours. Hopefully my misery won't effect my trading. Good luck! Good Trading!
Well guys.... I BEAT MY BEST GROSS!!!! I made $405.48 and spent about $140 making it. I thought that it wasn't going to be my day today because of the way it started out. I had about 5 flats this morning, but I shrugged it off. Well, as the day went on NT got REALLY volitale. If you take a look at a chart for today, NT tanked about 10 cents in the middle of the day. It was sweet! What a great way to start off the month! I had 24 buy executions, 35 sell executions, and I traded 154,676 shares. Goodnight!!
you're on your way.... tommorrow when you come in be realllllll patient, don't get overconfident. wait for your setups, don't predict anything.
thanks sakimonohito! I appreciate your advice! I also like the quote in your signature. Alright, Well, I feel good this morning. I think that after a day like yesterday I need to be careful, I don't want to feel overconfident or anxious. I'll concentrate on what to do right and what to avoid. I prefer to take flats than to take losses. Over the past couple of weeks I've been reading, "The Electronic Day Trader" by Friedfertig and West. There's definetly some interesting stuff in there. It gives a lot of insight to whats happening "behind the scenes." It's defintely a good book for a beginner like me. Good Trading!