Since this comes up regularly, I'll post here that if one wants to be as successful as he has envisioned he must develop an indifference to the outcome of any given trade. If he does not, then his ego becomes a factor, and, at that point, emotions intrude. If one is going to trade emotionlessly, he cannot become attached to the trade in any way. The trader must view the trade as if he were watching a team sport in which he couldn't care less who wins. The degree to which he cares about the outcome is in direct inverse proportion to his ability to make rational decisions.
60 min Still no LH, but we are overbought and momentum has decreased. 5 min Small TR Plan: Take longs: REV at the bottom of the TR or RET after a BO of the TR.
9:35 Looks like a fakeout so far (break above 76). Lets see if sellers can take prices to S at 71 or below.
At first glance this morning, traders were strolling back and forth across a narrow range, but the closer in time to the opening bell, the wider that range became, as both buyers and sellers took turns pushing the range to both new lower and new higher limits. As was the case yesterday, the market opened and traders first tested the upper limits of the overnight range. The reversal was quick - too quick for me. I would have shorted during the 9:35 bar, but by the time I had a stop limit entered, price was below my intended entry and did not retrace high enough to fill it. I had considered a long during the 10:01 bar, but I "considered" it for too long, and I did not place a trade. My indecision was simply due to the fact that price had dropped right back into its overnight range, and I was unable to determine whether the odds favored a continued movement lower to test the lower extreme, or a reversal higher. If I do not see evidence that makes me think the odds favor one direction over the other, I do not trade. My next trade was a short during the 10:18 bar, which was exited during the 10:38 bar. My next trade was again a short during the 10:56 bar, which was exited on a limit order at 66.75. All in all, my best day since I started trading the NQ - the most points at +13, the most most relaxed as I was sure as I entered both of my trades that it was the right thing to do at the time. I do not mean that I felt certain of a profit, only that I felt certain that the behavior of the market at that time made the direction of my bet a higher probability than the direction opposite my bet. And of course, the best pay day, and I earned myself a draw, with enough remainder to put me just over 25% of the way toward a second NQ draw. As I finish this entry, I see a rally has developed which commenced from the midpoint of the next support prices I have marked (62.25 up to 66.5). I am finished trading for the day, but as I am still in learning mode, I will continue to watch. Of interest to me now is whether or not the NQ makes a lower high on the hourly bar interval chart. Any comments as always will be appreciated. Thank you for this opportunity, DbPhoenix. PS I just received Justin Mamis's three works - When to Buy, When to Sell, and The Nature of Risk. I started When to Buy last night, and I am thoroughly enjoying it, and I have no doubt that as I move forward, many of his lessons will be incorporated into both my understanding of how these markets work and my ability to trade them. While my current focus is on generating a plan that will allow me to replace my current income with income from day trading (I'm halfway there), I also have funds that have largely languished with my stock broker, and once I have my day trading plan in place and in action, I want to make a plan for longer term investment trading also.