Didn't keep losses small enough today! Pretty upset at a lapse in discipline money management. Slightly profitable day $ wise, but -11 ticks. Looking forward to feedback on the video. What would you rather me talk about during it? I really want this thread to revolve around the trade recap videos. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/f2-K1BPOVDI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Recap was good, shows that this is real trading, nobody is immune to some losses on trades of course. Mental stops require ice in the veins. Props to you if you have been successful without hard stops , something not many can do including myself. Are you trading with a partner/team? I notice you say "we" in the videos? All the best.
Thanks for the feedback Zr1Trader, I may be successful trading with mental stops, but who knows, maybe I would be much more successful if I attached an OSO stop order with every entry. (I might just cancel it though!) It's just me trading by myself. The "we" is probably me, the good trader with discipline stop losses, and me2 the bad trader that sometimes chases the market and allows losers to get too big.
My focus for tomorrow will be on a disciplined stop-loss placement. Each and every stop-loss will be placed a tick or two outside the entry signal candle.
indextrader7 nice recap today... is there some reasoning/method behind the varying of initial contracts or with varying additional contracts when already in a trade? do you experience difficulty with limit order fills using that number of contracts and do you experience any slippage with market order exits with that many contracts. you started trading quite a bit later today... cheers toucan
One big positive point today: Honest self-critique. Those 2 losses happen but with your honesty with yourself you are already ahead of most of the competition. And thank you again for posting. (I had similar experience today. Got stopped out on my short early in the day in TF, but worked out better on ES later in the day.) Maybe 1 - 2 ticks are too tight. When I trade TF, I noticed fake outs before the big moves. I used to put my stop loss 2 - 3 ticks above/under S/R. It moves to trigger my stop and it then reverses for the big move. When I widened my stops to 4 - 5 ticks under/above, I don't get stopped out as often and only for a real breakdown. I lowered my position size and I tried to enter sooner once I get confirmation, to account the greater capital at risk. Earlier entry didn't really affect the probabilities, yet, and once it moves in my favor, I pyramid quickly thereafter on the next retest/breakthrough to counterbalance in case I have/had few failed entries on being early. Seem to have worked better for me. Good luck tomorrow.
toucan, There is no objective methodology for varying contracts or adding to trades. Purely discretionary, and based on how I'm "feeling" about the current trade. More times than not it's how pissed of I'm getting for the market not going in my favor immediately. (Terrible I know). I have much room for improvement, even as a consistently profitable trader. I would actually like to stop doing this, as I'm finding it only hurts my risk-adjusted return calculations. I'm not really generating any more alpha on those trades than the ones I take with much smaller risk. I have not experienced any significant slippage from the size I trade, but I am smart with my entry type given the market environment. If I'm chasing momentum, I'll hit the bid/ask to make sure of a fill, If I'm entering on more of a quiet zone, then a limit order shouldn't be a problem. For me, it's all about knowing what environment you're entering into. Yes, my girlfriend was off today, so spent the first half of the day sleeping in and grabbing brunch. Freedom with my time is one of the main reasons I trade. Note: I imagine too many people see the whole freedom/time thing as a benefit, but are lazy, so it doesn't work. I put in more hours trading, studying, reviewing/analyzing, growing every day, than most anyone I know does with their work. I love this stuff. It's 7:15pm here and I haven't left my desk.
Thanks for the kind words. Yes, 1-2 ticks would be way too tight for me, I'm going to place the stops 1-2 ticks OUTSIDE the entry signal candle, so it'll be more like 7-8 ticks on avg. "Earlier entry didn't really affect the probabilities, yet, and once it moves in my favor, I pyramid quickly thereafter on the next retest/breakthrough to counterbalance in case I have/had few failed entries on being early." Could you expand on this a bit for me?
Here's my MAE (maximum adverse excursion) chart. Does anyone see anything in this they could comment on? I'm very new to the concept.
"Earlier entry didn't really affect the probabilities, yet, and once it moves in my favor, I pyramid quickly thereafter on the next retest/breakthrough to counterbalance in case I have/had few failed entries on being early." Could you expand on this a bit for me? [/B][/QUOTE] Once I determine what levels should hold for the current trend to remain in play, I enter on retracement to that level with a stop under it. (stop is entered with the buy order). I used to wait for a confirmed bounce before entry, but TF is very quick and since I am discretionary I used to end up chasing it higher/lower. And since I set my stop based on price level, I exposed myself to too much risk. (Chase it 5 pts higher, with a stop 5 pts lower than the initial signal = too much risk) I don't change my exit based on entry, it is based on what the levels are. Entry before confirmation should in theory expose me to more losers, but I alleviate that somewhat with following the market though several time frames. Once that level is confirmed in 2 or more time frames, it adds confidence (at least to me ) to the trade. Also, like you, when I first started few years ago, I bought the CMT curriculum to study as much as I can about TA and indicators, and then I came back to price/volume. I only watch few indicators over the weekend; during the week price first, volume sometimes, but never intraday volume. I also use the method that Zr1Trader mentioned about points. I find that it disciplines me in the "hunt". Good luck tomorrow.