Here are three more scalps on MYM from today. Notice that the first one was a scratch. The prices stalled out, and I got a bit nervous about the trade. And this is when I hit "FLATTEN," as opposed to letting my stop get hit. My 40 tick emergency stop is for emergencies. My goal is to never let it get hit. Notice that the next two were similar to the previously posted trades - Longs on a down day. So what is giving me the confidence to try long scalps on a down day? Notice the three long tails on the daily ES chart. These are accumulation bars showing buying by the "big boys." Every day they have been net buyers below the 2,976 ES. This could change at any moment, but I am being prudent.
Last 4 trades of the day. The market looks like it is trying for a short squeeze into the close, but had a hiccup. After the hiccup I took 2 on MNQ and 2 on MYM. In each case I was far enough below the 50 SMA to try the scalps.
I got some good trades today. Here is my updated progress table. I may yet reach the $10k mark in 6 months total.
Friday. Today was a totally crazy day. And today was my newest "best day ever" with $91. The market was all over the place, and I LOVE VOLATILITY. Most of my trades were longs off of bottoms like yesterday. I am getting close to the first $500 profit mark, which will allow me trade 3 contracts at a time. I often trade both MNQ and MYM at the same time, so I will be able to trade 2 on one and 1 on the other, or all 3 on one. Or None at all! Or 1 on each, or only 1 on one. So many options! I have never had to think about these things quite this way before. At least I have finalized my scaling method = "NONE." Yep, I am doing "All-In/All-Out" so I can really focus on what I have been doing and not try to reinvent the wheel. Confession: The market was so volatile today that I decided to keep trading through my stated cutoff time of 11:30 NY time. But I think it is important to follow ALL my rules, so I will do my best on that next week, even when volatile. One of my purposes here is to develop good habits for a 2-hour per day profitable futures trader. And I can't say "I am disciplined" if I am bending rules.
As painful as this may sound to hear, just stick with what you are doing until you triple your original account. Yes, that means getting it to $3000 before making a change. That is the rule I was taught, and I think it has merit. It gives you an extra buffer of time (and buffer of NLV!) for changing market conditions.
I already gave up the greatly anticipated scaling idea at the recommendation of two excellent traders who are reading my journal. I appreciate the concern, but I don't think I can give up any more of the greatly anticipated benefits of trading the micros! I will continue forward with the original plan regarding the contracts per dollars in the account, and use 1 micro max per $500 in the account. Again, if things are extremely volatile, I will probably only use 1. But 3 would be the max at $1500. I have shown in the past 3 volatile days that I can get at least 2% per day on the balance. I want to keep pushing my advantage at this point. I think $500 per micro is a sufficient margin. Here are my rules (see page 12 of my journal). These will protect me by giving me 20 full days of maximum loss insurance. 5% per day max loss is the key. At $1000 that was $50. At $1500 that is $75. At $2000 it will be just $100. As long as I honor this, then I will be fine. Let's see how far I can go!
Fair enough. You have a well-thought out plan, and are sticking to it. It is admirable. I was just erring on the side of caution for ya'.
Had some great scalp trades this morning. Notice that I did one of my first 2-contract trades but got nervous and flattened. It was $8+ in profit but then prices quickly popped back up and we were at Resistance. Once that Resistance is broken I know the market could really take off, so I bailed fast. I do not want to hit my emergency stop loss at 40 ticks. The entry and stop in place: Initially goes in my favor over $8. I scratch the trade on a pop. I hate taking losses and scratches, but it is part of the game. I was up $8, but ended back at B/E (break even). Notice that the spike that scared me a bit was a false alarm, and the market actually went my way again, and I got another successful short. This morning I actually crossed the $1500 mark for the first time, and I am done for the day.
I really like you ideas here Steve. I have come to same conclusion. If we feel these amounts are limiting our trading maybe we need to reassess our risk and trade management/judgment.
Thanks. These amounts may be (1) just right or (2) too limiting or (3) too aggressive. These would be determined by market volatility and and daily profitability. Adjustment is encouraged! I have thought often about adjusting my stops and targets based on the daily ATR of the previous day, for example.