System Trading Journal

Discussion in 'Journals' started by ddefina, Nov 1, 2002.

  1. What's the plan for trading the system on the Fed day today?
     
    #31     Nov 6, 2002
  2. ElCubano

    ElCubano

    Do you normally trade fed days ??? I usually stay out, but have been sucked in at times....very hard to trade these days...very slow, then kabammm.....

    thank you for your reply.....keep up the good work...
     
    #32     Nov 6, 2002
  3. I trade it if it starts having some good moves. It is usually good for at least a couple of good moves. If it is just slow chop / congestion then I fold it up. There is often a good morning move or two before the afternoon slowness hits. If I'm in a position I get out at least 5 mins before the announcement is due. The 2:10 move (the pre-announcement first shockwave) lately has been pretty dramatic so might be best to be out a bit before that move.

    The day after the Fed announcement typically has a well defined trend move.
     
    #33     Nov 6, 2002
  4. ddefina

    ddefina

    Actually I put my stops 2 points beyond the pivot, so 914.50. The problem was I nudged my stop closer after the first spike failed, and went long at 913.25 on the next attempt. I should've left the stop at 914.50, but I was being aggressive and broke the rules. I didn't think it mattered because I was thinking the pivot was 912.25 or 914.25 for the stop which would've been taken out anyway. But later that evening I saw that I miscalculated the pivot, so had I followed the system, I would've saved $1,800 of my $2,400 afterall. I need to adjust the system stats to reflect that. No more screwing around or I'm going down to 1 contract again.
     
    #34     Nov 6, 2002
  5. ddefina

    ddefina

    I'm going to skip the first trade, but enter if I can get an entry around 910-911 going long. I'm going to two contracts for today.
     
    #35     Nov 6, 2002
  6. ddefina

    ddefina

    Missed my entry by 1 tick :(
     
    #36     Nov 6, 2002
  7. ddefina

    ddefina

    11/06/2002

    This market is wild, but it happens every once in awhile. Since my system had been losing consistently on it’s first trade lately, I decided to wait and try to get a better fill on the initial trade. I held until 911 but the market only came to 911.25 so I didn’t chase it. This trade would’ve been a loser for me anyway, being stopped out later in the day for a 2.75 point loss. I later stupidly took a gamble in front of the fed interest rate announcement and got whipped for –11.875 on 4 contracts. This was according to my system, but I should’ve overridden it and stood aside.

    Trade 1: Skipped

    Trade 2: Went Short at 909.50 on the breakdown an hour before the announcement, only to have my stops hit after the announcement for a loss of (11.875 x 4 x 50 = $2,375)

    My actual account is down 4% and my system is down 2%. I’ll be going to 2 contracts until things settle down.


    ACTUAL
    Daily gain/(loss) ($2,414.20) (inc. $39.20 commish)
    Monthly gain/(loss) ($3,976.40)
    Daily ES Points = (11.875) per contract
    Monthly ES Points = (19) per contract

    SYSTEM
    Daily gain/(loss) ($2,539.20) (inc. $39.20 commish)
    Monthly gain/(loss) ($1,987.20)
    Daily ES Points = (12.50) per contract
    Monthly ES Points = (9.25) per contract
     
    #37     Nov 7, 2002
  8. ddefina

    ddefina

    No trades today so far. I don't trade in the direction of the gap because all I've found in testing is many small losses on fakes offset by the occassional big gain (like today possibly).
     
    #38     Nov 7, 2002
  9. dd, i dont understand something. although im nowhere at the level that you are at but still i'll say this. i noticed the 'system' results are consistently better than your actual results.. How can you expect to get results similar to system results if you constantly cherry pick trades????? What's the whole point then? I don't understand especially since you know this stuff better than me.
     
    #39     Nov 7, 2002
  10. dbphoenix

    dbphoenix

    Have you done any backtesting on this with regard to Trap Gaps?

    --Db
     
    #40     Nov 7, 2002