For Hermit and any other followers of IncNow's EXTREME-HIGH ENERGY thread, I offer a view of how NoD's daily P/L would look if she wasn't grossly undercapitalized
Good day real money better than yesterday all my own signals, and I got in on that LOD trade with perfect entry that you mentioned, but did not let the winner run, I guess the problem being, I should have done more contracts to be able to scale out on this trade. I had some good confirmations on that trade that market was going to reverse there. Did 2 real long then 1 sim short, all winners. The 2nd trade which was the LOD trade was actually a little harder than the 1st trade since in the 1st trade, I saw price bouncing off of support, in the 2nd although I had confirmations, its almost felt that I was catching a falling knife as I picked it up with my limit order.
why waste time on paper trading? even you made 10M, 100M. you are still under-funded... "if I have 10M, why I need do day trading? " just a joke
77, do you really believe there is enough time to scale in and out when trading a 5 minute chart? Daytrading is about trading in a condensed time frame, never mind all decisions must be made in a single day.......to condense it even further to trade within a 5 minute chart is almost insane to begin with. :eek: In its purist form day trading should become automatic and precise. That is no easy task to say the least. Scaling in and out requires thinking and time to execute. I can understand a double down on a loser to attempt a quick way to get EVEN on a SMALL, repeat SMALL losing trade. I can understand adding to a winning trade because it increases your odds to get some more gravy out of the winner. (adding-on to a winner is a well known professional tactic.) Scaling in and scaling out seems to be a flawed tactic because it says the trader is not sure about the entry and also unsure about the exit point. What is wrong with BOOM...all in !!! or BOOM all out!!!? Less thinking required, less chance of error, less work, less temptation to play with the trade, less everything. when a trader gets in or out nice and clean he/she has a single decision to make once filled, no fuss, no muss. The sooner the trade is COMPLETE, win or lose, your mind is now completly free to focus on the next trade. Scaling in and scaling out is kinda like playing musical chairs. Each scale in on a winner means you missed all the profit before you liked the trade so much you wanted more and scaledm in for more. Scaling out means you exited a part of the trade and allowed some to continue on losing. I know there are other ways to explain what scaling in and out is about but those are what i come to understand. When you call a bookie and place a bet you give a set amount. When you go to the window and bet on a horse you place your bet and a time comes when the betting window is closed. Trade like you are betting on a single race at the ponies track.
Yes, you are right, that 2nd trade really should have just let it go to target no scale in or out since I got in at the best price anyway.
The 50 car ES trade was done for fun so I could post it on the BANG! thread. In a live account I simply wouldn't put on a trade BEFORE a market moving news event. The CL trades in sim have been incredibly educational for me. Although CL follows MA's, S/R and trend lines like anything else, it's quite volatile at times and I need to have a very solid track record of success in sim before I put my money on the line. My IB account size is VERY close to the PDT requirement and since I day trade stocks I need it to stay at that level. A few whipsaws through stops with CL and it's over. Also the option trades I've been doing in sim are to help me get a feel for potential drawdowns on large position trades in "worst-case scenarios" where I get impatient and put on the trade too early. I did that a while back and came out ahead on all of the trades despite the drawdowns. More recently I've only been taking the best setups and it's working out very well. I only wish I'd had a sim account and paper-traded before I ever went live in 2008. My friend is a professional pilot and has been for years. She has to endure regular recurrent training involving simulated high stress situations. Why? So that when there's an equipment failure and she has to use the weight of her entire body to land the plane safely (just happened to her 2 weeks ago), she is calm and clear-headed. When you ask me why I "waste time" paper trading, it reflects an attitude that finds no value in being well-prepared to handle a variety of situations, especially situations that go very differently than planned.
Hmmm...that about sums up how I feel at the end of some days My losing trade today put me back on track very quickly. After that I was a machine. Amazing when you stick with ALL your rules, how much easier it becomes.
This is just one of several situations I've practiced in sim that's been extremely educational. On a 5-min intraday time frame it requires quick evaluation of changing scenarios (have the chances of success with a double down improved or gotten worse) and quick calculation of proper price levels at which to make the move and get out without exceeding a max loss limit. I can just imagine the messes traders get themselves into doing this without ample preparation in a sim account.
being well prepared is very important. you may misunderstandthe difference between "prepared" and "planned". just like an examee, before he/she goes into the test room, what did she/he do? prepare the test! but not plan the test (that is the examer's job). you can not ask the market to follow your plan, but you are prepared to follow the market. did you notice the diference? I do not blame you for some entainment in 50 car gain in paper account, it may serve you relaxing function from a positive view. if they helps your trading, then it is not a waste of time.
LMAO! Just awoke to see the overnight low on ES @ 1052.50 and the following in my business news: NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks are set to slide Wednesday as investors remain cautious about the size of a potential economic recovery. Futures are lower. Overseas markets are falling, following weakness in the U.S. on Tuesday after a disappointing report on consumer confidence in the world's largest economy.