Yeah.. I just noticed it.. there is just so many "needs" on that last entry. And I have read "The Disciplined Trader." Is "need" a psychologically bad thing?..
Day 12 Master the BASICS ...with one contracts. Then, and only then should I kick it up one notch. I need to perfect my trading method. Trade it, gain experience and build up confidence and only then should I go for more. But, I am so because I now have an edge. I never thought I would ever get here. Sometimes I wondered, what if I just read a lot of books, traded for a long time and.. just what if I never found an edge? I was afraid. Well, all of that is just history. I found myself a way to take money out of the market and pile it into my pocket. # of Disasters: 2 1) I had so many opportunities to take so many points off the table. But, I held on.. for more... which kind of never materialized. Thus, I came up with a whole new way to take profits. Which is to, actually take profits when they reach 3X-4X the amount thats risked. The problem I had was holding on for even more. Well, sometime you have to settle for things, and I hope this will work out. 2) DO NOT PUT YOURSELF in a position to chase after the prices. That means, you have to PAY ATTENTION, and actually take the trades that you are supposed to take. PAY ATTENTION.....when you trade. Both eyes must be on the charts at all times.
Rip man, Definitely consider automating. Break down and try Tradestation or something. Lot's of reasons not to. Making money is a good reason to consider it. What I see are too many emotions involved with clicking the buy and sell button and watching the chart go up and down. Have your trading ideas been confirmed to pay off with kind of stats you desire? I mean has anything been backtested? If not, you may be processing too much fear when you click the buttons. But I am like you, I want tommorrow to be here now so I can enjoy the million I know I'll make. The downside to yesterday and tommorrow is they can steal away your joy in the moment. You must find a way to enjoy trading every moment, clicking the buttons or not, and enjoy the trip along the way to tommorrow. If not, you risk desiring to quit...hence the "need" to work harder on staying focused through your journaling. Let a combination of backtested strategies tell you whether you will remain in the green this year...or make that million. A few strats that can get 50% or 100% a year may be better than trying to click out 500%. Questions you have to ask: What percent return do you need to create the income you want from the capital you now have? This is probably more important than gunning for some 3:1 ratio, 10% drawdown, or whatever. Set short, medium and long term goals...then try to enjoy the moments getting there. I wish you good luck. JohnnyK
Day 13 a friday to REMEMBER My goal, and singlemided focus should be to turn consistently profitable ASAP. Make money consistenly each and everyday. You just have to wait for your set ups, and make just +60 pts each and every day.. & those can really add up if you can do it conistently. Stay away from losing trades as much as possible. Go for sure hits. # of Disasters: 8 1) Trade your plan. Take only trades were you are supposed to trade. No matter what you think is going to happen, YOU HAVE TO TAKE trades that you are supposed to take, and AT where you are supposed to take. I must follow my entry criteria irregardless of what the hell the market is doing. 2) Profits got away, on a counter trend position that I shouldn'tve took. But, even then.. I should protect profits on a position that I should be taking profits. +10 pts LONG got away, and thats a total +20 pts missed both going up and down. Be ready to get out of a position at the very second. Be ready to take a position any time. Be ready to get out and reverse out of a position as soon as possible. 3) BAD ENTRIES. So many bad entries due to bad key strokes. I let one of those bad fills on an accidental 2 contract position for a while because I had some profits built up.. This is UNACCEPTABLE. I need to get out of an accidental trade the very first chance that I realize that it was a mistake. Get out. NEVER EVER EVER give a trade more room.. even if it was an accidental key stroke, or even if you are ahead for the day.. etc etc. Trade the PLAN means, you have to get the hell out of trades that are not in tune with your plan. 4) Wait for prices to settle down. Wait for pullbacks before you take a position. The market may or maynot be flying up or down, but.. the key is to get in at the right place.. get in with the right entry. It is not just that you have to GET IN, but you have to get in at the RIGHT point. 5) Stick with 1 contract at all times. Do not take anything more than that. Do not take more just because you are +$$$ for the day. Do not move stops because you are ahead for the day. You have no control over what the market does, but what you do have control over is you stops, your positions and you trading plan. Take control, stay in control of yourself and your trading plan at all times. 6) I cannot be clumpsy, and complacent after I am up HUGE. I must take each trade, pay attention to each trade as if all the trades are my first trade for the day. I cannot be overly excited. I need to calm down, and stay focused. I also need to quit posting so much on message boards when I trade. I need to give it 110% on all trades. I cannot just jump in and expect to take profits. 7) It can always go a lot lower, it can also go a lot higher... ALWAYS...especially when you think it just couldn't go anymore. The only thing you can be sure, and control is YOUR trading, and how you perceive the market. Stay with in the parameters of my trading plan, trading rules regardless of how much, or how less the markets may or may not go. Stick with your rules 24/7. Control what you can control. 8) You cannot get away from your trading plan. You'll be bagholding onto huge losses that you just cannot take. By bagholding onto the loss it as it gets bigger and bigger by the minute, you miss out on other trades you could've took. The opportunity and monetary cost of not sticking to your trading rules is a bit too much to pay.
my man Ripley, If you were willing to share your trading plan with me, i would make every effort to code it...and I would share my results with you. Maybe your plan is more intuitive than can be coded...or coded by myself. I am confident that some resemblance of your plan could be coded, even if your prefered statistics could not be achieved with it. Trying to describe your plan, exactly, for the purposes of coding it, may in itself be beneficial to you. And when some form of it is coded, you could use it for generating profit for one contract, while you seek to beat the system with another contract. You could use the code this way to keep yourself honest. If you plan on just using the code for guidelines, it's doubtful we would ever be looking for the same fills, and I am such a small fish anyway, I doubt I could harm your plan. I am interested in confidentiality as much as you are. May we both make a million. What do you think of my grand plan!?
I just believe all the automated systems are one day from blowing out. Nothing against automating or anything.. but, the individual coding that stuff has to have a great feel for the markets or the system will not work. Just started playing around with EasyLanguage. Going to take couple of months to get used to it. I hated my AP Comp Sci class with a passion in High School, and skipped it often since it was in the afternoon and I was already accepted to the school I wanted to go to. But, anything for trading. I take so many trades. And it is partly due to the fact that, markets can and will do whatever it wants to do practically anytime. Thus, out of 60-70 trades, not all of them are going to be just perfect. I don't believe in backtesting. Backtesting is fine for those things where you have to garner a positive expectancy. Such as, on a down thursday, would it be better to buy it on Friday at the open or at the close to take it to Monday. Those things are just a figment of numbers, and I don't believe in none of those junk. I only forward test solid, firm, palpable concepts that can be transferred into any market at any time. And I am such a short term oriented that, backtesting isn't going to save me any time or what not. Oh yeah.. backtesing is OK for swing trading and stuff, along with a little longer time frame day trading. Automating is definitely next up on my agenda. I just didn't think jumping into automating without a good feel on discretionary trading was the way to go. Now that I got a great hang of discretionary trading and knows what kind of a trader I am, I think the next logical step for me is to automate.
January 20, 2006 Friday It can always go down a lot further down, and it can always go up and further up than what you would ever think it can. The fact that it went down so much that it has to come back isn't the right way to think. It went down so much, it can still go down a lot further down is the right way to see the situation. It can go a LOT more further down come monday morning. This POS is headed to 9,900 Monday. The only thing you can control is YOU. Not the market, not how much it is going to go up or down.. nothing.. only you and your trading plan. That is why it is very important to stick within the bounds on your trading plan at all the freaking time.
Weekly Thoughts: 1) The mathematics of the game dictates that most people has to, should and will lose money. 2) You have to go for at least 1 to 3 Risk/Reward ratio in everything you do. 3) Great trading starts on the outside, like keeping a clean and spotless living environment and also being caught up on everything that needs to be done.