Frustrating when it misses your profit-take by a small margin before reversing.. a reminder that entry price is of the utmost importance and to be patient.
2016-09-27 Summary Daily P&L: +0.25 (2 trades, 1 loser, 1 winner) Trade Summary Trade 1: Took this short because the market was already up quite a bit after the morning rally, and it failed to break the intraday high of 4850.00 on the 2nd rally up after the morning pullback. Was in the money and had the chance to sell for +3.75 to +4.00 gain, however I thought the market would continue to sell off some more for a double-top formation. [-5.00] Trade 2: Took this long because the market continued to show support going into the afternoon with minimal pullbacks, and it looked poised for a rally. Had the opportunity to wait and enter around 4853 to 4854 (closer to bottom of range), which would have allowed me to exit at my full profit-take of +10.25. [+5.25] In hindsight, my system had two great long opportunities today. 1st opportunity was when the market broke the intraday high of 4850.00, I should have chased entry around the 4850 to 4852 levels. My stop-loss for my short should have been closer to the intraday high (or even at break-even for my trade), which would have allowed me to flip long sooner. This actually ran through my mind, moving the stop-loss on trade 1 and potentially having a stop-limit order around the intraday high, however I just didn't act upon it. 2nd opportunity was entering long on the pullback after the rally prior to the run it in the afternoon. This was trade 2 at 4855, however I should have played the range and entered at a lower price. Things to focus on: -More patience on the trade set up (wait longer until I take the 1st trade, for the range and chart patterns to develop) -Need to mentally visualize potential chart formations both to the upside and downside (anything can happen), and strategize my game plan -Protect profits (do not hesitate to exit and take profits at current levels when market is exhibiting signs of slowing down / utilize TIME STOP)