Hi Viv, Nice thread you started here. Here is a concept for you to consider... I think its great that you have a plan and a system AND the discipline to follow it. That is really the only way you can determine the viability of your approach. Apply your approach without alteration over enough (25 maybe) trades to reveal the kind of results you can expect from following that system over a reasonably long period. If you jarble your system in with other variables the feedback/results you receive from your trades will be jarbled as well. If your interaction with the market is consistant you'll have useful feedback to decide where to make future improvements or adjustments. Then, make those adjustment and apply them consistantly without alteration over enough samples to ascertain the viability of this new adjusted system. I am simply saying it is important to be methodical as you use and develop your approach. Just a thought. Peace and good trades to you, Lar
there is a marvelous feature call ignore list that let you wipe out unpleasant post from your eye, click 'Your Account' at top then select 'edit ignore list ' cut and paste the name you don't want ever to see again in there then click update list and voila` no more garbage.
hi viv just want to let you know I would be a big tipper if you were my waitress ... you are really a pleasure to read about here compared to some of the whiners elsewhere on ET I guess next time you should not trade and try to block out thinking about the market when you are doing other things away from the market ...
today was a slow boring market to me anyway. my system went short first thing in the morning and it stayed short for the entire day. I have developed a few rules and I got to practice. my simple rules are: 1)im a programmer and have programmed some good algorithms 2)I am ready to place the trade when the program tells me 3)I will leave my hands off the order entry button when im suppose to and let the system do its job. I did lose a little today and im not discouraged a bit. Vivian
Vivian, just out of curiosity, have you gleaned any usefull info from this site to help you accomplish what you are doing; which, I assume, is to make money, and, not to churn your life away; I have debated about running a journal also, but the lowlifes that are always sniping at every post turns me off. Anyway, good luck.
i learned a few things from everyone posts especially the encouragement and the honesty. Lets face it, no matter how hard I tried to teach my sons and daughter, the only thing that really worked imo was to encourage and be honest and sometimes discipline. then they would take ahold of that. but nobody can cram anything down anybody throat. I don't think ive learned anything on making money but i have learned that if Im going to post ET that I better get a thick skin and ignore a few people. but on the whole, i have enjoyed most everyone threads. a few are pessimistic and just don't believe me and a few are misguided. my recommended coffer of the week, blend of costa rican and kenyan.
i didn't do very well today in the area of my disciplin. I was profitable but I didn't follow exit rules. in other words, I got out early. My system is still long probably until the end of the day. I don't like the way I feel for what I did. I didn't follow my rules. I feel like swearing at myself and calling myself a few names. Vivian
Vivian: It is hard to judge when to exit. One of the strategies that may help you get over that hurdle is to take partial profits and leave a little piece in the market in case it continues in your favor. Just remember to leave a stop in place so that you limit your max loss. As you get more confident, you can increase the size of that "little piece" that you leave in. Good luck Lefty Edit: by the way. one of the ways you can make life a little easier is to know the average true range of your market. Right now the S&P is trading up 8.25 pts. If you manage to get most of the move, leaving in just a single contract (with a good stop) can catch whatever is left and still protect you from risk.
its ok viv ... tomm is another day I am curious as to which is easier... trading e minis or raising a family ? ps ... do your kids know you are trading ?