I'm not saying that this was the best idea, but here's what I was thinking. I had just lost a point on Trade 3, and there was still 30 minutes left. I knew that mentally I was in no position to go for a bigger move, but I felt that I could manage to scalp the price action for half pointers. As soon as I got filled, I immediately put in an order to exit with a half point. The only thing I had going for me was that the setups were extremely high probability.
SLD 1510 OPEN 10:42:37 Even though it's going up right now, the market action looks really weak to me.
The market is currently at 1512. I think that the main thing that I have going against me is that my trade was too close to the zero line of the day. I am somewhat confused right now. I don't want to fall into the trap of mistaking a good entry for a good trade, but at the same time I was under the impression that it was a good trade.
Well I guess I can longer call it a good entry. The only thing that worries me about this trade is the fact that I'm not worried. That is a dangerous position to be in.
Afterburner... before your blow up your account I think I have some advice for you because I trade similar to you in some ways. You have to change the way u are taking your gains and also change your time frame on the market. You raking these puny .5 gains on NQ.. but on the same position u are letting yourself be wrong by more than a few points. This is how I trade.. I form a bias on the market .. similar to what you do. Assuming my bias is short.. whenever market rallies I fade the rally with a scale short. Then if it goes up again I continue shorting. I pretty much average into a position.. and when the market is in my favor I just start unloading the position. What usually ends up happening is if my bias is right.. I clean up and make a nice coin. If market is choppy I usually end up making a liittle. If my bias is totally off I end up taking a moderate size loss. I rarely ever have huge losses and I dont have small losses either. My trades last for a few days... as my bias changes as the tape progresses. I keep an eye on old highs, pivots, etc. I see how the price reacts to it and how much volume is being done. I dont use fixed stop losses.. instead I get out when my bias changes. For most traders this is an easy way to blow up as they remain stubborn and average into losers and blow up. But if you are level headed and accept being wrong and taking losses.. its an excellent way to trade. Most importantly u have to know what type of day to expect. Usually Thursday and friday are more volatile and thats when the paper enters the market. This is based economic data. Today is just a bullshit day with little range because the paper is waiting on the side lines for the inflation data coming in tomorrow and friday. --MIKE
BOT 1511.5 CLOSE 12:43:03 I decided that if I was right about Trade 1 that I would be able to reenter later on, but that if I was wrong that this was probably the best exit I could hope for.
Afterburner, Do you happen to watch the semi-conductors as you trade the NQ? If not then you might want to start. Just a thought. Good luck with your trading and I'm enjoying your journal... PEACE and good-trading