paper profit + $95 I have added one more filter to the existing method. Lets see if it holds true in forward testing. It worked today but today is not tomorrow
DAY 5 It started nice, I was ahead 2 points and the market was dropping like it had iron balls and then I fell asleep.... Woke up around noon and was in the hole -3. The market however, according to my calculations had already passed the worst damage, so I stayed the course. Bailed out once I got 2 points for the total of 4 points today around 3 PM. So, another day in positive territory. 4 x 50 - 4 x 5 = 200 -20 = 180 less 40% taxes = 180 - 72 = 108 NET So $108 for 4 hours of work and 3 hours of sleep. Good job!
saxon22, don't you use stop loss. I hate to say but you were very lucky 1) the markets went only -3 points and recovered. 2) you were on paper trade. This is very risky way of trading. I hope you understand. Ask yourself. Will you ever fall asleep if you have live contracts in the market ? When the real money is involved your heart will beat even more than normal, forget about a sound sleep. sleeping while on the trade without a stop is the like jumping niagara falls everytime you enter a trade and planning on exit if your alive. There is a limit to how much you will test your luck. After all its your decision.
I use mental stops and this is the first time I fell asleep. Had rough weekend, and just dosed off .... for 3 hours. When I woke up I noticed that the market did not move any lower and had strong resistance the -3 point level from my position. So, I decided to wait for the afternoon session hoping it would have to be a little bit of a rally, since the drop was so significant and he market went down and then stayed flat. I got lucky and survived.
Falling asleep without a stop is nothing compared to losing feed without a stop. It's like a nightmare you can't wake up from. There goes my account.....
Why would you trade without stops even in paper. Are you planning on just having fun with the paper account, or are you working towards putting up your real money with your systems. I do intend to move to my real account in the future, so I want what I'm doing to carry directly over to my trading methods with my cash on the line. If it's for fun, that's cool. If your serious than you better work your plans out front and back before $ DAY. I'd hate for that picture to be real! JIM
Who says revenge trading is bad? I couldn't rest with this loss, so I got back $1000 in after hours. I can't stand the thought of getting a paper magin call. Allen3, I am serious but undisciplined, thus the sloppiness with stops. That's why I paper trade. I want to have fun whether it's live or sim. I traded the same way with money and it cost me. I've not yet found the balance between discipline and enjoyment, and that's what I'm working on.
Sorry if I got a little preachy there. No offense meant and hopefully none taken. That said I wore out my stupid hat today. Could have played things worse. I churned myself with bad entries and sticking around in trades way to long and giving back profits. #1) + .1 #2) - 1.5 #3) 0 #4) - .8 #5) +3.1 #6) - 1.5 #7) - 1.5 #8) + .2 ------------------ (-1.9x100=-190)- (8RTx5.5=$44.00)= -234.00 Cum:+ $324.00 Nothing to blame but myself for today. The way I am supposed to trade makes money on the trend. The money is all there on the charts. I just screwed up. Yuck! I hate posting such an ugly sight. JIM