Keeping Records

Discussion in 'Journals' started by garage sale, Jun 28, 2010.

  1. Haha...no it wasn't directed at you. Of all my mistakes, this was the worst. I had a reason to do it but it was not part of the plan. My plan is to take 8 pts. and wait for another opportunity. I should have done that. Being postive (no matter how small) for the week would have been huge, but I cannot beat myself up over this any more. It's done, lesson learnt and will start new again. I just had to post that on my journal.

    Actually, there was one more weak set-up after my first trade and I did not take it because first trade was a loss and you had suggested to take the strong ones only.

    Thanks.

    I am not trading this but I have a stong long at 26.25, stop 25.
     
    #21     Jul 2, 2010
  2. The next time you post, would you mind letting us see all of all three chart screens? I don't think you're giving anything away. Looks to me like a classic "triple-screen".
     
    #22     Jul 2, 2010
  3. No need to beat yourself up. Learning to trade takes so long that you'll be a bloody pulp otherwise. Best enumerate what went wrong. Learn lessons from it. And end with glowing self-congratulations for what you did right. I always start my hotwash with:

    I got out of bed
    I got the computer on
    I got my programs up and running
    I never once fell asleep
     
    #23     Jul 2, 2010
  4. This would have been filled at 12.22 pst, price came down to 26 and target met at 12.39pst at 34.
     
    #24     Jul 2, 2010
  5. Excellent analysis.
     
    #25     Jul 2, 2010
  6. Here you go. The key is distinguishing between the bad set-ups, weak set-ups and strong set-ups.
     
    #26     Jul 2, 2010
  7. NoDoji

    NoDoji

    I'm struggling with this one as well. I'll vow to stick by my stops and targets, do well for a trade or two, then next day I'm back to micromanaging. Today I was positioned short crude oil @ 72.50. It moved in my favor several ticks below previous support and then bounced back up above my entry. It then dipped back down, but not quite as low and I committed the cardinal trading sin of moving my stop to break even. I was stopped out as it wiggled back up in this narrow range (and we all know what comes out of narrow ranges: fantastic breakouts), and then committed the next cardinal sin of trading which is taking a break instead of waiting for a re-entry signal or possibly even a reverse position if it broke to the upside. I returned from my break to see it breaking down hard and I ended up missing a $500-$600 trade depending on how I managed my exit.

    So Tuesday I'm back to "I will never change my stop or target mid-way in the trade."


    :cool:
     
    #27     Jul 2, 2010
  8. Thanks for that chart. It says to me:

    "One minute is screaming down making new 20 sample lows, and there is room to go on 5 minute and 30 minute before reaching their 20 sample lows."

    Is that how you see it?
     
    #28     Jul 2, 2010
  9. Here is how to "see" it.

    You have three fractals defined by their nesting.

    Trade anyone you wish.

    It is common to trade the middle one.

    By looking at the third move of the fastest fractal, after point 3 (of the trading fractal) you "See" the VE and "know that you know", when in the zone, there is an M1 and an M2.

    You reverse on the end of the M2's.

    So what is a target and a stop. Who gives you that info? When is it given to you?

    What IS the weak and the strong?
     
    #29     Jul 2, 2010
  10. I had a good reason too. I have noticed that when the market opens down and keeps going down (not in a straight line but slowly), it has a tendency to reverse sharply. Today it tried to rally in the morning but sold off but never went straight down. There were bids on the way. I was expecting a short squeeze and was looking for 20 points atleast. My mistake was that I changed the target for a long-view but trailed the stop based on the 5 min chart. If I wanted a bigger return, I should have trailed the stop based on 30 min chart and I would have gotten my 20 points.

    I guess we are all learning something new everyday.
     
    #30     Jul 2, 2010