Code: Day Trade # Type B/S Time Price B/S Time Price Quant. Gross Net Time held 11-Sep 1 NQ SLD 13:16 954.00 BOT 13:22 958.00 1 -80.00 -84.80 0:06:10 2 NQ BOT 13:23 957.50 SLD 13:25 959.50 1 40.00 35.20 0:01:44 3 NQ BOT 13:26 958.00 SLD 13:29 954.00 1 -80.00 -84.80 0:03:42 4 NQ SLD 13:31 954.50 BOT 13:32 953.50 1 20.00 15.20 0:00:27 5 NQ SLD 13:32 952.50 BOT 13:42 954.00 1 -30.00 -34.80 0:09:55 6 NQ SLD 13:43 955.00 BOT 13:50 954.50 1 10.00 5.20 0:07:12 7 NQ SLD 13:51 954.00 BOT 13:53 957.50 1 -70.00 -74.80 0:02:06 8 NQ BOT 13:53 958.50 SLD 14:08 959.50 1 20.00 15.20 0:15:18 9 NQ SLD 14:08 959.50 BOT 14:09 959.00 1 10.00 5.20 0:00:55 10 NQ BOT 14:11 959.00 SLD 14:18 955.50 1 -70.00 -74.80 0:07:10 11 NQ SLD 14:19 955.50 BOT 14:21 955.50 1 0.00 -4.80 0:02:50 12 NQ SLD 14:26 954.00 BOT 14:31 956.50 1 -50.00 -54.80 0:05:04 13 NQ SLD 14:43 959.00 BOT 14:45 958.50 1 10.00 5.20 0:01:55 14 NQ BOT 14:46 959.00 SLD 14:47 959.50 1 10.00 5.20 0:00:46 15 NQ BOT 14:47 960.50 SLD 14:47 961.50 1 20.00 15.20 0:00:20 16 NQ SLD 14:50 964.50 BOT 14:51 963.50 1 20.00 15.20 0:00:16 17 NQ SLD 14:52 963.00 BOT 14:52 962.50 1 10.00 5.20 0:00:11 18 NQ BOT 14:53 963.00 SLD 14:56 963.50 1 10.00 5.20 0:02:31 19 NQ BOT 14:57 964.00 SLD 15:00 964.50 1 10.00 5.20 0:02:55 20 NQ SLD 15:03 962.50 BOT 15:06 961.50 1 20.00 15.20 0:02:49 21 NQ BOT 15:07 958.00 SLD 15:07 959.00 1 20.00 15.20 0:00:17 22 NQ SLD 15:07 960.00 BOT 15:11 959.50 1 10.00 5.20 0:03:46 23 NQ BOT 15:13 961.50 SLD 15:21 959.00 1 -50.00 -54.80 0:07:26 24 NQ SLD 15:23 957.00 BOT 15:24 956.50 1 10.00 5.20 0:01:01 25 NQ BOT 15:25 954.50 SLD 15:25 955.50 1 20.00 15.20 0:00:24 26 NQ SLD 15:27 956.00 BOT 15:28 955.50 1 10.00 5.20 0:01:22 27 NQ SLD 15:31 955.50 BOT 15:32 955.00 1 10.00 5.20 0:00:43 28 NQ BOT 15:33 954.50 SLD 15:34 955.00 1 10.00 5.20 0:01:34 29 NQ SLD 15:35 955.00 BOT 15:39 953.00 1 40.00 35.20 0:03:59 30 NQ SLD 15:40 950.00 BOT 15:44 949.50 1 10.00 5.20 0:04:03 Total 30 -80 -224 0:03:18 T1-12: "Chart-looking" trades Took a short break, watched some "Spin City" T13-30: Now this is what I did. On my IB screen, I removed the P/L, the index +/- and the index % columns, now purely looking at future bid/ask and depth. I was very focused and tried to only concentrate on the task at hand, and it actually worked pretty good. I'll try to do the same tomorrow. Conditions might be different then, we'll se. Sorry no chart today - way to many trades. I'm not sure if I have enough $ to meet the margin req tomorrow.... aphie: Thanks for the good laugh. /JT
Wow, lots of trades today. It seems to me as if you are prone to take winners very quickly and let your losers get way out of hand in proportion. You have several 10 and 15 dollar gains and several 80-100 dollar losers. Your reward/risk is way backwards. The trades indicate that you are obviously "fearful" of losing what you have gained on a winner, and too "greedy" to let a losing trade go if it is not going in your direction. Look at your trades and figure out how much you would have made with no other adjustment except an initial stop of 1 point. Maybe then you can sell if your trade moves in your direction 2 points. Then your winners will be twice as big as your losers and you will be on your way. This does require a very strict entry method so the noise does not take you out. Keep in mind that the above statement is based solely as an example, not necessarily a recommendation or how I trade. I do however think that it could help you from taking profits too quick and letting your losses run. Also, keep in mind that with 30 trades, you need to make at least 7.2 points just to pay the commissions for the day to breakeven. Why not attempt to take 5-8 points per day on 2 trades? Just my two cents. Sean
I agree totally with Sean. I was guilty of that too - cutting off the winners quickly just to book a profit. You know the old story, you'll never go broke taking small profits. True but you'll never make money either. And you need large profits to offset the many small losses - and you better keep them small! Cut your losers as quickly as you're cutting your winners now. You made quite a few trades for a light day like today - a sign of overtrading. Adjust your trading plan so that your reward:risk is at least 2:1 preferably 3:1
torntech.com, I would like to hear what you use for your entry signals, what your rules are regarding stop-losses and how you manage a trade once you are in it.
Sean, can you please deposit those 2c in my account XR46539I. I need them.... What I'm trying to do here is to find my "style" or "trading method/plan". "Long term", i.e. 2 trades or so per day, according to my experience can only be done using TA. Now i hate TA, it doesn't work for me. This is why I have moved to shorter term trading. Now, my first 3 days of trading was pretty successful. Let's analyze: Less than 1 pts profit: 14 trades Between 1-2 pts profit: 12 trades More than 2 pts profit: 1 trade Less than 1 pts loss: 3 trades Between 1-2 pts loss: 3 trades More than 2 pts loss: 1 trades During these 3 first days, I used "intuitive" trading. Later I switched to TA. Now yesterday after 2.30pm I again switched to "intuitive" trading. These are the results for those trades: Less than 1 pts profit: 11 trades Between 1-2 pts profit: 6 trades More than 2 pts profit: 0 trade Less than 1 pts loss: 0 trade Between 1-2 pts loss: 0 trade More than 2 pts loss: 1 trades I find that I'm more successful using short term trading with "high % winners but small gains" (se hardcash's reply earlier). I realize that I need to adjust my trading to cut the losses earlier than I have in the past. That should also be "easier" with a short term holding period. If the trade doesn't go my way than I should get out. Perhaps I should have a time stop-loss and not a price stop-loss? Thanks for your comments - they helped me to think things though. /JT
Hi aphie, Entry: Mostly intuitive. If the future drops/rises like 1 or 2 points in a short time (< 1 minute) I might get in on the opposite side. Price: Most times a place my buy long orders at bid, and wait to be filled (and the reversed). However if there is a large momentum I might like to get filled right away. Exit: Mostly intuitive. If the future doesn't move for a while I will get out at profit if I can (no matter how small). Management: Place order quickly, so I will be first in line (to be filled) as soon as possible. Profit target: 0,5 or 1 pts, unless there is a big momentum in my direction. Stopp-loss: If the future moves > 2 pts in wrong direction shortly after entry then it should be closed. Note: I just started to apply these rules yesterday night, so they are under development. Will try today (if I have enough cash that is). /JT
JT, keep up the good work. I don't want to confuse your mind, but as you just added IB market depth to your toolbox I want to give you my opinion about it: My trading improved when I removed it of my screen. For 2 reasons : - The refresh time for the book was too slow (for ESTX50). My trading was based on some delayed informations. (I heard that is not the case for ES/NQ so may be I'm wrong on this one). - Many times I fell into the trap : Buy when big BIDS come into the book and SELL when big ASK come in. I should have been careful with that. There are many fakes. And very often, big sellers get in when they feel a good move up (and buyers get in on a relative weakness). With time I concluded that the only useful informations are : - Bid/Ask/Last Price/Size and their action/behaviour. - Charts (visual memory of past action). The less information (indicators) I used the better was my trading.
High TA, Thanks for your comments. Could you please elaborate on the reward:risk ration ("at least 2:1 preferably 3:1"). What does this mean, and how could it be applied in practice? Thanks. /JT
X-or, I'm sorry I was wrong. I don´t look at market depth only present size. Much like you do. Yesterday I even turned of my chart monitor most of the time, and only looked at the chart a few number of times. I used to write down my entry price on a piece of paper so I wouldn't forget it. However I noticed that while doing so (the short 5 seconds it takes) the market could be moving in totally the "wrong" direction. I don't do that any more, I only stare at the screen like a maniac. I found that removing the daily P/L column was really a relief for me. The market will only give you what you deserve..... X-or I would be interested to hear how long time you have been applying your system/method, and if it's profitable or not. Take care /JT