Thanks, great comments. o don’t think I was over emotional. I think what annoyed me was I did the trades without the charts telling me to. by contrast, (and news flash) I did the same trades again this past Friday afternoon, but this time the charts told me it was a trade that made sense. And I’m less upset about it. and yes, trade size had something to do with it, although this time, I traded larger by 25% (added small cap, IWM.) thanks for the comments, very helpful
Here is an eBook I wrote - about 15 years ago. I am a firm believer in trading in a Discipline way - and keeping things as Simple as possible. My Motto is - "Discipline plus Simplicity equals Success". I was an Investor ONLY - until the early to middle 1990's. I heard about "day trading" - looked into it - and finally started to trade on the side - kept my job. After some time trading - I decided to trade full time - as I was making money - doing very well. Not long after I quit my job - my trading seemed to be going in the wrong direction. I would make several hundred dollars - in the morning - trade all day - and quite often - be Negative by the end of the day. I did have many great profitable days - but sometimes I felt like an idiot. I often thought to myself - if I had done my job - like I did my trading - I would have been fired. Without getting in this too deep - the type of work I did - during my career - if I made a mistake - and the mistake wasn't caught and corrected - lives could be at risk. I finally sat down one day - kind of had a talk with myself - and decided - I couldn't blame anyone else - not the Market Makers - the Brokers - etc. - I was the problem - I could only blame myself. I had thought I was Disciplined as a trader - but in reality - I was really just Gambling. Finally - I started establishing some - what I call - "True Discipline" - and when I did that - my trading improved immediately. My "True Discipline" - is based on "Strict and Specific Rules" - that I ALWAYS follow. I have my own thread on ET - "Scalping_My Way with ACV". My trading is based on keeping things as Simple as possible and trading in a very Disciplined way. I hope what I wrote in the eBook - may help you in some way.
Take a look at a stripped down SLB chart see if you see one of these? https://elitetrader.com/et/threads/bmy.367244/page-3#post-5606580
We’ll I see the breakout and the Doji and double Doji, if that’s what you mean. But not sure I understand your question if that’s not what you mean?
The following is a Range Condition - and how to trade it. Basically - that is a picture out of my eBook - was surprised to see it. Here is a current picture - from May 27- the ES - on a 7 Tick Range Bar - which I have used for years. I see Sideway moves like this - all the time. As I have said before - Sideway moves - are where I struggled - used to have a hard time - identifying the Real Breakout. By the way - I NEVER do a Breakout trade - based on Doji's - I will explain sometime - if any trader wants to come into a Zoom Room - or on Skype. I got burned too many times - with Doji's.
thats a Doji Best Friend trade. https://elitetrader.com/et/threads/...t-right-here-baby.335635/page-21#post-5368378
The Breakout for me - is the White Circle to the Right. Same chart - Top and Bottom - but with One Tick Range Bar - Green and Red Dots on the Bottom chart. And just because I get a Breakout - doesn't mean I will take the trade - as I also need to know where Support and/or Resistance is - in this case - with the 7 Tick Range Bar - if Resistance is within 3 Ticks of the High of the Breakout Candle - then I would consider a Countertrend trade - Short. I need to go for a bit - barbequing steaks. After dinner - I will be glad to bring you guys into a Zoom Room - explain things more. This is actually one of my favorite setups. If you see the Green and Red Arrows - on the Bottom chart - going for 2 ticks each - 14 Ticks total - not counting the Ticks that are available with the Head & Shoulders - and look at the Time Period below. This is the ES - I wouldn't try it on the NQ - too fast - but the ES is great for trading - Inside the Range Condition. Back in a bit.