4 Trades today. Yes I tried very hard to short this damn thing. #1 Short was too early, followed rule, thus stopped out with a loss. #2 Long 1/2 size, followed entry rule, broke exit rule, took profit instead of trailing 'cos I have short bias. #3 Good short, followed rule, but not many points. #4 Another nice short. Entered late, and the trailing stop took me out. If I took profit based on instinct I would have closed near low. I still have short bug on, but the ES just won't close below 1370. Therefore, still need caution, and yes, I am quite frustrated these two days trying to short. That's another caution.
schizophrenic is the perfect word for the market. I shorted over night, and stopped out. This trade I broke a rule, 'cos I am only suppose to day trade futures. One would think after yesterday's head fake, today we needed more time to test 1370 support Well... no. Second trade was a long trade and gained a small profit for the day overall. Decided not to trade the rest of the day because we have gone up too much, and I have seen what a day like today that can do to shorts. I feel satisfied 'cos this is the third time in the last two months I have been able to leave a day like this alone. These are usually days I would end up with big losses. In theory 1370-1400 range is broken. So my bearishness is broken also. I will play it day by day.
Missed globex. Woke up right before market open as I was expecting yesterday's bullishness to continue. New lesson, possibly I should consider waking up earlier on reporting days. Today system had 4 signals, out of ordinary. First signal. Shorted at open. Small position since it is a huge gap down. Second signal, same small position. Broke a rule by taking profit because market went down 10 points in a very short time. Left 1/3 profit on table, and didn't re-short on the first bounce 'cos no signal from my system. After I see how much we bounced the first and second signal, I got a hunch market was in trouble. Third signal, I broke a rule, I doubled my position. My stop for the trade would have caused 1/2 profits from the first two trades to vanish. So this is a great today vs. nothing gamble. Instinct says days like these don't come often. Four trade. Broke a rule 'cos I shouldn't enter a trade after 2PM Chicago time, but instinct says days like this don't come so often. Shorted small position at 2:12, and covered at 3PM )))))) Need to regroup this weekend. Next week, maintain small size, and should be extra careful as the swings will be huge.
I was not suppose to trade today. But I did. Shorted while my system gave no signal in the morning, and stopped out for small loss. Missed the short during midday, and had to walk around a few times to tell myself I missed the trade and not chase. Plus, system was anticipating a late day bounce.
Ask yourself: "Why should I take a trade that is outside of my system?" Whatever answer you get is the secret to your being a consistently profitable trader. Good Luck
nimble -- You have all the moral support I could ever muster. I look forward to reading and learning from the thread and possibly contributing. THANK YOU and all the best. Ansare
Thanks for the reminder. I belive I have found the answer and I am reminding myself again below : 05-24-08 07:07 PM
not everybody has discipline,that doesn't mean you can't trade,spud web was 5'6" and played in the nba,he made tradeofffs for his height,get rid of the word can't and remember there are no problems only solutions
Spud had talent though, not everyone has the natural talent to trade profitably so they must create an edge from discipline and strict money management until years of screen time improve their ability. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZZWDyn5-CA&feature=related
7 Trades *DUH* System gave 1 long (4th trade) and 1 short signals. I tried to short the entire day not following my system. Missed the best short of the day because I wasn't at my desk (my system didn't catch it until it was quite late late) System had a long bias for the day, and I still have shorting bug. Therefore I went on to do my own little thing. Because I was doing my own little thing, I had stops in the whole day and didn't average. That's probably why I survived the day without taking much heat. Except for one decent long and one decent short later in the day, all other trades were small loss or BE. Even though the day had small everyday profit, it was tiring like heck and I wish I had just let it go without trading...