I appreciate your hard work that has gone into this journal thus far and perhaps creating your posts helps you solidify your lessons learned and your strategy, but I think you should focus solely on developing your edge. Spend all of your time researching and coming up with a strategy that is profitable. If you have many that look promising, research 2 or 3 at the same time. Learn all about it, how it performs in all types of markets and conditions, and then trade that strategy. Most importantly, learn to recognize when you are wrong and create an action plan for dealing with this when the event happens. THE WINNING TRADES TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES, YOU MUST TAKE CARE OF THE LOSERS. A strategy that makes a few thousand buck a year on a single contract basis can earn you a substantial amount of money when you apply a money management strategy to it. I hope this is the year you turn it around!
Day 3 I need a CHECKLIST I need to pay more attention to take as well as to protect profits. It is one thing letting profits run, but it is also important to take and protect profits at those critical turning points. I need to trail my profits, and especially when it does look like a range day, I need to give an extra emphasize on keeping my profits so that I can stay above the water. I also need to put together a checklist of things to do before the market open, and also one for after the market close so that I can do homework for the next market day. Stay on top of everything. I also need to finish reading couple more books fast. I need to stay on top of everything, and I need to start out with a fresh slate everday.
Day 4 Get things DONE I need to get done with things today. Do not put things off for tomorrow. I need to be on top of everything, and that means, not having anything on top of my desk, and everything cleared away. I need to do this before I go to bed every night. So much things to do; yet only so little time to do it on.
Day 5 "I" must be better First and foremost, I need to clear my trading desk. I have so many things to do. .. it is a disaster. I need to return my trading related library books, before I incur more fines... which has to come out of my trading account? Every time I take one step forward, somehow I end up taking 3 backwards.
Day 6 Work Hard I still got a long ways to go. I am beginning to realize that the environment I am in, isn't really condusive to trading. Thus, I must try hard to set everything just right. Got a long ways to go. I am also tired of updating this journal. But, you have to do the hardest things. Thus, I will update it everday.
Day 7 you have to GO after IT Brokers, promoters, gurus.. all are after your money. Inflated commissions, education, disasterous trading platforms all take money away from you. Trying to survive truly is a battle. Only you can look out for your own best interest. You are the one that has to stay on top of things. Pay the least, keep expenses to a minimum and bargain hard and survive.
Day 8 need to BET BIG soon... 1) You have to have a great edge. You have to have confidence in your method. The higher the confidence in your method, the less the trade will go against you because you've been around the block. 2) Have a pre-defined risk point on each trade. Also, the reward expected on the amount risked should at the very least be 3x. 3) Bet BIG. PROFIT. Increase size.. repeat..
Day 9 Striving ONWARD 1) It is so much easier to lose money, while it is very hard to make money in the markets. There are 100 million different ways to lose it, and only around 98 or so to make it. 2) Adding to an already established position may not be the best thing to do. I need to play around with this concept and see, if I should keep on doing what I've been doing or not. 3) I need to go get them, I need to go make it happen. I must make it happen, or nobody else will.
Ripley, You should question everything. Donât blindly accept truism or trading rules because they sound good. My trading got a lot better after I decided to drop most of them.