Thanks for the suggestion. No, I have not looked at them so far. I will definitely take your suggestion.
Wow! When I first saw the number of trades you were taking and the size, I didn't quite know what to make of it. But hey, if nothing else, this is the first time I've EVER seen this technique, and while most guys would never trade it, if it's working for you and you are consistently profitable (which you certainly seem to be), hey don't fix what isn't broke. Best regards, you are definitely proving that there is certainly more than one way to "skin the proverbial cat"! ... Best, Jimmy
Good Morning Old Trader. Thank you for the question. It made me think and evaluate matters before I responded to you. Here are some observations about journaling as well as a direct response to your question. I realize that this is NOT a traditional journal. It does not contain all the parameters the EXPERTS suggest you need in order to benefit. But, it is my journal, and its goal is to help me do better today than yesterday and slay my trade dragons one at a time. SO I need to see what works for me, not whether it meets some theoretical standard. Having said that, let me continue with the rest of my thought process. Trading is a psychological game, and, it begins with awareness. I kept a private journal for quite a long time with much greater detail on what I was doing right or wrong with each trade. When I went back and looked at my journal, I found the same mistakes repeated over and over. This lead me to the conclusion that awareness is NECESSARY BUT NOT SUFFICIENT condition to initiate change in behavior. So, I initiated this semi-public journal, to see if this could unlock the key to changing my errant behavior. I don't know what you "saw" in my postings of trades, but I "saw" something of great consequence. Before I started this semi-public journal, I was more likely to give back a large portion of the gains from AM trades in the PM trades. While it is still true that my PM performance was poor (compared to AM), I did not give up anything from AM earnings. The key was the recognition that if my EGO was going to get in the way of my admitting that I was wrong when the market went against me, I can use the same EGO to get in my way of wiping out profits. The need to publicly state my performance helped me to get out quicker from a losing trade. One final comment about journaling. This is not a static exercise but a dynamic process. I will be changing it as I grow and it will will be growing as I change. Maybe good people like you will help us both along this path.
acrary, AMT, and Fast_Trader took part in a challenge (AMT traded in style similar to gd) a while back: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22589 or the easier to follow print version: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/printthread.php?threadid=22589 AMT was a trading machine. here's the post where he recaps his day (he posted his last trade at about 1pm Central, btw): ************ WARNING: Spoiler to follow *************** good times. enjoy! take care omni
Thanks Jimmy.... But remember, ONE DAY DOES NOT MAKE A TREND... I have a statement on my desk which I read every day. "We earn our wings every day" - this was the tag line for the old Eastern Airlines. (Am I dating myself here?) I rephrase it to read "I earn my trades every day". In this business, yesterday does not count. Today is ALL that matters. I have to earn it all over again.
bgp - I don't use KCs on the 1 min. As with many indicators, the KCs have more value on the longer term charts. I watch them on the 5 min and 30 min primarily. I use 10 period EMA, 10 period ATR, with 1.3 band multipliers. If you look at the 30 min yesterday with candlesticks, the candle bodies stayed within the upper KCs from the morning high, then they crossed and closed beneath the EMA, and stayed between the EMA and the lower KC throughout the afternoon (primarily hugging the lower KC with the lower part of the candle bodies. During decent trends, price will stay between the EMA and one of the two KCs, sometimes for several days on the 30 min (such as from 9:30 6/12 through 3:30 6/14) - especially after support/resistance is broken. As Alexander Elder professes, I find it useful to look at the higher timeframes (5x and 25X are useful - although 30min would technically be 30X) to look for trends. Sandy
Trades in 9.00-10.00 AM (EST) trade window: Short 110 contracts ESU Closed for profit of $3500.00 Flat.