No other clue's other than what you already noted. However, the Long you took was a speculative trade to SEE if NQ bounces from that point. It did not - resulting action given the already weak market would be to Short at the continuation of down trend, which you did not take. Do you look at the looser trades as Looses or Test Trades, they make a huge psychological diference in trading. That is the precise reason one should enter either half or 1/3 of the position in the first entry and then pounce on it when it works. This quite relate to my last post.
Yes i should have got short after the failure of that last b/o in the pullback. I'm trading too conservatively. It's intentional right now as i'm trying to build my confidence and get a string of profitable days together. Possibly not the best plan but i think it's working. I still find myself questioning some set ups so i don't want to overtrade and get frustrated. I do feel hesitant about taking some entries for FEAR of a quick reversal. I'm trying to remind myself to see the bigger trend and trust my ability. We'll see how that goes. And as i've said before trading involves uncertaintity and i need to remember and accept that. Soon i'll push myself to catch more of the swings on a day like today that had several of them. 3 trades today first BE 2nd short shown on previous chart +7 then the long -2.25 Net + 4.75 Profitable on a point basis 5 of last 6 days
Only thing I want to stress upon is that the one you mentioned in your Para... The only way i would have typed is fear of A QUICK REVERSAL. You see the if you dont put a trade to test ur theory u miss the trade anyways 2ndly if you do put a trade and it Reverses - you just paid BRIBE to the market to tell you where its going. So if you dont use that information (EDGE) then you missed out. NOw the very nest trade is also going to put you in the same category (trade wise) maret might go in ur direction or reverse. Again giving you the information. So you see you are not using the information you paid for and only are content with the one that move in your trade bet.
thanks JP guess i'm trying to catch all the moves without paying any bribes. but right , i need to listen to the market when a trade doesn't work out. It's telling me my analysis may be wrong.
I must say i'm rather pleased with the way i handled this trade. Couple things i did right were 1 ) patience after the entry. The ES YM were not confirming this move and the NQ was stalling. I almost exited with 1 point loss but price was still above a nice support area so i held. 2) I exited at my target without hesitation. In the past i would have probably held on to let my profits run but as noted on the chart there were 3 good reasons to exit. Also the ES & YM were still acting weak. I don't expect it will always work out this way but nice when it does. When i begin to trade 2 contracts I would have trailed a stop on the second one. I got in to office late today so missed the nice down move. I'll see what else develops today. +5 on this trade Chart attached showing how i picked my target exit
+3.50 on another long +8.50 for the day . I'm done. Thought this trade would work higher on more short covering. Stalled at resistance so took quick exit. If the rest of the month continues well I'll probably start trading 2 contracts in June and try scaling out.
1st trade -1.50 2nd +2.50 3rd -2.25 net -1.25 for the day . Had a hard time getting a feel for the market today. Last trade was forced a bit. Not sure if i should have taken it but no regrets. The 2nd trade had the potentional to make the day profitable IF i were trading 2 cars. I was thinking i would have exited 1 at + 3 when price stalled then held the other for at least another 4 pts. Woulda, coulda. I need to size up and put my PnL where my mouth is. I'll stop whining about it and do like i said the other day and wait till the month is over. I don't want to size up too quickly given my past performance of inconsistency but it's beginning to feel like it's the right thing to do.
A slight bit frustrated at the moment. 1st trade probably not a great entry but it resulted in a failed breakout which is the set up for next Long entry. Price stalled and i started thinking i should use a 'time stop' 'cause usually my trades work out pretty quickly. So i finally exit then naturally price takes off. Missed the re-entry 'cause i had a phone call. Lessons learned today. re -think time stops, price action wasn't great but it was still consolidating and holding pretty well. Be willing to take some heat when necessary. Stress & frustration are not conducive to good trading so i've taken some deep breaths, took a short break and now ready to focus on the next opportunity. And note to self: This is part of trading. You will miss moves. As you get better you will miss less but it will never be perfect. Accept that. Reply to self: Fck you i should have caught it. Breath, breath...