Sometimes maintaining self-discipline is need more hard work, the most enemy come from own selves greediness and fear of missing out, but important to keep discipline then learn how to be patience
I have my general plan that gives those triggers, for any of the index futures. The way the ES moves is a little different than the NQ, and I am trying to learn how my "ideal" trade set ups usually play out in ES. I will be focusing this week on answering your two questions and by the end of this week I plan to post a chart without indicators showing what I'm looking for as an ideal trade set up and exit. Hmm...I'll try to take the trade too and show it....but if I don't make any "ideal" trades, then it will be a chart without trades, showing a good entrance and exit. This should be a very helpful goal to work on this week. Thanks.
Not going to share my trades from today....although I am happy to say I did stop after 3 losses. I really, really need to get ingrained in my head the way the ES moves. I think I do like it. It looks like it's moves should be predictable. But I have to remember to enter on a retracement. It looks so obvious on this chart in hindsight...but I'm not reading it right in real time (yet). The trend at the open had a few good retracements that would have worked and then the ranging that took place over the next hour had enough structure that I think it could have been scalped for at least 10 ticks. BUT ONLY if I don't buy at the top of the range and sell at the bottom of the range. I know this is beginner's stuff. But it's usually what is wrong with my losing trades, so I'm posting this chart here hoping it'll help to cement it in my mind. Just a chart:
I just learn how to use Andrews Pitchfork, and I think this is a good setup, my opinion on the last price already break the top line, it could be a support line, if the price bounces in this area, might continue to rise
I prefer trendlines and channels because sometimes the starting point for Andrews Pitchfork doesn't always work to create the channel I want, but either way, I find them all useful.
I have decided to add trading the ES during the pre-market for a while and see how it goes. I don't plan on being super strict about a set stop loss and target size, but instead use what's going on in the chart for determining those. I want to see how well my sets ups do and if I can be profitable that time of day. I need to trade it in a separate demo account because otherwise I have no way of separating the trade logs and stats from the regular trading day so I can analyze them. Just an update on the regular trading hours: seems like I'm really close to consistency, but I'm not yet consistently profitable. The good new is that my losing trades are generally very predictable....they almost all have the same problems with them....today those errors were all buying after a small pullback instead of waiting for a large enough pullback where it was likely to actually move 10 ticks before pulling back again. My good trades all had the same consistency too....only they were bought AFTER a larger retracement in the trend up, so they worked nicely. (BTW...I'm just working on scalping to get entries down....it's not how I intend to trade....eventually I should be getting that trend and staying in it.) The agony of watching a trade get close to hitting it's target but then retracing and taking a full stop out is, hopefully, going to teach me not to buy at the tops!!! My last losing trade of the day went to 8 ticks profit 2 minutes after getting in. My target is 10 ticks and I'm NOT allowing myself to close trades early. 15 minutes after taking the trade it hit 10 ticks!!! But on demo (and probably real life too) it doesn't close it for 10 ticks just because it reaches 10 ticks....it needs to push through, I guess. Price retraced a little and a few minutes later it hit 10 ticks again...only it didn't get closed then either. It hung around 9 ticks for the next 2 minutes, then went down some. 25 minutes after the trade entry it went up to 8 ticks. Then retraced again. 38 minutes after the trade entry it hit 9 ticks....surely this was it....but NO, that was the last attempt to push up. Would have been a great place to go short. But I stuck to my plan and left the trade on and watched it tumble down. The trade closed at a full stop loss of minus 10 ticks 55 minutes after I had opened it. If I bored you with all those details....just think of how boring it was to sit through and watch it happen for 55 minutes! Seems like the NQ thinks of support and resistance as areas to plow through to make newer support and resistance levels. The ES, especially that 2nd hour after the open....where I always seem to get stuck in trading...can't seem to break out of support or resistance very easily, and when it does....sometimes only takes a few ticks before retreating again. I'm not used to that, but at least it seems like it's consistent behavior. Consistent price behavior is nice when trying to trade with precision.
The solution to this person's overtrading was different than I thought it would be, and I think I'll use it too.
Boring? Try watching a trade for 2 months. And if you don't like NQ or ES action, then do not look at tonight's charts. You will not be happy.