I placed 2 trades today. I was looking at the early AM high of around 4053 as a level to watch if we broke higher. Well we went up past that, and started to pull back a bit. I made an anticipatory entry of a HL at 4052 when the market came back down. We paused at this level, but I didn't wait for confirmation, and my trade was a bet that the move up would continue. Unfortunately it didn't, and I was stopped out for a 5 point loss. I notice that if I'm up money, I have no problem at all calling it a day and stopping trading. But, on the other hand, when I lose, it's a different story. The only thing I generally think about is getting back in to make it back. I know this can be dangerous thinking if I let my emotions take over and make bad trades. Well the market came all the way back down, and at that point the move down was larger than the move up. I knew I was going against the trend at that point, but I was playing the bounce. I entered long to play the bounce and the market rose and I was looking at a 6 point gain. I thought we might push higher and it would be one of those days that whipsaws up and down again. But to my horror, my 6 point gain evaporated in a matter of a minute or two, and I was back at b/e! I'll admit, at that particular moment, my spirits and mood wasn't all that great. As I was beginning to picture another quick drop and another 5 point loss, the market rose again and I took 5 points. Even though my second trade was a win, I still think that the first trade was the better trade, I just got unlucky. Or, as maybe ND might point out to me, I should have waited for confirmation that we would make a HL before I entered long. So I have a question or two surrounding this trade, and the entry. Was my anticipatory entry 'bad', or do they sometimes have value? I know it could just have easily worked and I'd be sitting here feeling good like I really picked a good one. I had to go today, so my trading was done, but I did pass up on the breakout above 4058 that happened around 11:15am EST. The 4058 high we set at 9:40am EST was a level I was looking at to see if we would again push higher. Unfortunately, I was starting to get ready to leave, but I did have time to enter if I really wanted, but I passed. I have a question regarding an entry like that as I was anticipating a breakout. Let's say that I identified 4058 as a breakout level. How would it be best to enter a trade like this today ? There weren't really any significant pullbacks, and there was no 'second mouse' entry on this breakout if I understand that right. So other than just jumping aboard at the first sign of a .5pt retrace, what other methods could you use to enter a trade like that? That trade was a bit upsetting for me because I had that level picked out long before, and I watched the whole thing play out pretty much exactly like I had thought, except I was on the sidelines and just about to leave for the afternoon. If it looks like it's going to be a slow grind or melt up or down, is it 'bad form' to just enter and monitor as you go? Edit: this question doesn't imply that today's rally was a slow grind, I just meant in general when we have days like that. Today's results: 2 trades 1st: -5.0pts 2nd: +5.0pts Net P/L -$7.56 Chart:
I've had some time to look things over for awhile and I see a few entries that I could have had on the 4058 breakout that I was looking at. I do see a few on the 1 min chart. I could have entered on the 11:15 or 11:20 EST bars. I should pay more attention to the 1min as we are approaching levels that I've determined to be ones where I may enter a trade. Another thing that stood out to me was that on the first trade, I didn't need to take the 5 point loss. I think once the market got to 4050 I could have bailed, saving 2.5pts. These are just a few things that I notice now that I've had a bit of time to take a step back and think things over.
Would it be possible to detail these modifications. Without that, it may become hard to comment on the advantages or shortcomings of these modifications.
^ That post is from awhile ago, but at the time I believe that I meant I was limiting my setups to HLs and LHs only for the most part. But that was when I was doing the 1:2 r/r trades, and things have changed again since then.
Not a good day today at all. I started off on a 4 trade skid that left me down -16.25 points and -$325. I had 3 point gains on my first 2 trades, but I let it go to see if it would go higher, but they reversed and turned into losses. I got emotional and made a series of mistakes. I was able to make back 16 points, and most of my losses today are commission. I am considering taking tomorrow off. Today's results: 11 trades 1st: -3.00 2nd: -5.50 3rd: -5.00 4th: -2.75 5th: +7.75 6th: +1.50 7th: +1.75 8th: +2.00 9th: +0.75 10th: +1.25 11th: +1.00 Net points: -0.25 Net P/L -$46.58
I think I just got lucky to be honest. The entries weren't all that well defined, except for the one RET that it seems like ND and Bon both took as well. And my exits were just fear based, so far too much was left on the table. I'm happy I didn't lose, but I can't make this work if I don't let the profits run. It looks like your first couple of trades were going against the trend if I'm reading it right in that you're going long in the down trend? It sure was surprising how far down we came, but I've seen myself that trying to call a bottom is tough. Better to just keep trading in the direction of the trend or stay out. ND posted not long ago that if you are in a well defined trend and think you're missing the reversal and just about to enter, go with the trend instead! Its works beautifully. It doesn't feel right, but none of this trading business feels right, so I think we have to learn to adjust to having to operate in a totally different frame of mind.
Hey thanks Slugar! And k p, yea, I went against the trend for the first 4 trades today. Things started off wrong and just snowballed from there. But the events of today along with a PM I got and Alpha Trader's question made me realize that I need to stop here, and get a solid plan together. When I first started this journal, I had a plan. As I went along things changed completely, and I drifted away from what I first started with. After my first two weeks, I've pretty much changed my strategy and methods almost every week. I already know what I'm going to do for the most part, it's just a matter of getting something in writing so I have some structure to follow.