This thread will be where I document my NQ trading. When it comes to forums I tend to be more of a lurker but I am going to attempt to maintain a journal so that I can reflect back later on my trading. I have decided to do so in a public forum so that others can participate if anyone decides to read along. I welcome any feedback, questions, or comments. My trading, whether right or wrong, is my interpretation of the AHG method. I will be using a 2500 volume chart for the anchor and a 500 volume chart for entry. I will use the anchor chart to determine the trend and look to enter on the pullback of that trend. I will also try to buy support and sell resistance in search of the birth of new trends. My goal is to be breakeven at the end of each week (after commissions). My winning % is terrible and I lose a lot.
I am going to try something and see how it goes. I don't know how frequently I will do this. I am jotting down thoughts as they go through my head during the day. They are mostly just quick one liners. This will help me recall what I was thinking before during and after the trades and will add more to the charts. I feel somewhat uncomfortable doing this and will probably show how clueless I am but here goes nothing. Thoughts from the AM....... 9:26 - Looking at 2328ish area as possible resistance. We have a flip and a test of a trendline from yesterday. 9:39 - Market didn't quite make it to 28 but did act as expected around the S->R. Expecting to see a LL made. 9:46 - going to try and document all of my thoughts. Right now I am thinking that it sucks when you have the analysis right but miss the trade. On this one though I wasn't even close to being able to enter. 9:52 - trade 1 -S18.50 : 22.50 initial stop 9:55 - moved to 20.75 - prob early on this trade. don't like PA. 9:57 - trade 1- stopped out -2.25 - will try again if warranted. 10:11 - lost right now so waiting.... 10:33 - fade 2340.00 if we get there? might be a dumb play 10:43 - action i wanted to see but never touched 40.00 11:00 - still cant print 40.00. However, congestion around this area indicates to me that it is important. If I had to guess it's going to take out the early traders that are short before moving (if it goes to the downside). That is where I will take my shot. 11:29 - trade 2 - s41.00 : 44.00 initial stop 11:31 -dead wrong. GET OUT 11:36 - now that it's BE of course i want to hold it. watch... full stop coming. Really looks like we are going to do a R->S flip. 11:43 - still at BE. still feel like I am on the wrong side. 11:46 - trade 2 - stopped out -3.00 11:48 - very rarely does price pop that hard against me and the trade work out. it means you have the wrong wave. I saw that I was wrong. I knew that I was wrong. I didn't do anything to protect my capital.
your second trade: price moved above 39.50 which had acted as resistance twice before . price breaks out. failed b/o or flip ? My limited experience is b/o that fail do so pretty quickly. in this case price held about 5 minutes above the b/o. given the big picture this looks like a new leg up. should have been thinking buy not sell. FWIW and consider the source. i'm not trading profitably yet myself.
Yo, glad to see you started a journal. It seems to me that most journals are somewhat similar to this. Post your trades, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Others will come on and comment on the hindsight action. To me that was just never that helpful. I take that back, it's not that its not helpful-it just seems to me that its not that efficient. Theres a million different ways to trade and trade well. With 1,000 thoughts running through your head and 10,000 opinions being shot your way it's just hard to master one aspect. You end up knowing a little bit about all different types of trading. Why not concentrate on one formation or concept right now. Keep it simple. I would pick pull backs OR s/r fades. Not both. After that, make a detailed plan. Write the plan so that you could send it to me and we would both make the same trades on the same day without speaking to each other. I'm not saying you can't be discretionary, I'm just saying for now tighten the plan up and concentrate on doing the same thing day in and day out. Who cares if its profitable. The truth is that trading profitably isn't that hard. What is hard is doing it consistently without getting in your own way. We traders are our own worst enemies. Take S/R fades for example. What could be simpler? Price gets to R, you short. Price gets to S, you buy. Before the day begins, post the s/r you have for that day from the anchor chart. As part of your plan tell us your entry and exit strategy. After you've been doing that for a while, if you aren't profitable it will be much easier to identify why. Stops to small? Do your S/R levels suck? Post the plan and keep it simple. Follow the plan, then evaluate. Just me two cents though. Good luck!