Ya that does make sense...the whole how we got there was my question this morning with that run up off the low...I did have in the back of my head that the bulls seem to be incharge b/c every resistance level seems to hold and/or bounce back...but then I was countering in my head with, well, there is still some downward/downtrend in the market today. Should've just stayed out since I didn't have a clear enough picture in my head. Thanks for the tips.
Uggg, what a crappy finish to the day...here are my last 2 trades.. Trade 4: 10:57- Long 1142.25 Target 1145.75 Stop 1040.75 11:04- Move stop to B/E 11:26- Stopped out sell to close at B/E 1142..25 +0.00 pts Man, what's a homie gotta do to make a good trade. I feel like Im so close to doing things right, yet so far away. Trade 5: 12:43- Short 1136.75 Stop 1139.25 Target 1132.00 12:50- Stopped out Buy to Cover 1139.25 -2.50 pts So i was gone from like noon till 12:30ish taking care of some stuff and I missed the big move down. I am pissed at myself for this trade b/c it goes back to what I was doing awhile ago of being upset I missed the move and/or trying to squeeze a trade in before the close. Really frustrated at myself for this one. For the day: Total Trades: 5 Winners: 0 throwing up a donut, boo Losers: 4 B/E: 1 Total Points: -5.50 Avg. Win: $0 Avg. Loss: $68.75 Total Win: 0% Total Profits: -$275.00 ouch. Im really struggling right now. I may be going back to the SIM if I can't turn this around in the next day or two. Definitely a rollcoaster of doing things right and wrong. Maybe I should try and eliminate my technical mistakes more on the SIM and go back to live and deal with the emotional mistakes later. Again, today not terribly upset with myself other than that last trade. But it doesn't matter if IM upset or not, I can't keep having losing days.
Today was a day where after the first couple of trades go bad and you see the market dawdling around, either go to another market or take the day off. This too, is part of trading. IMHO, the days to trade are those where there is directional momentum.
My friend's broker has a "leader board" of traders who register to have their results displayed throughout the day and the heavy hitters who usually have mid 5-figure days weren't doing too well today either, so dont' feel so bad. I think sim trading can get you back in the rhythm of things, technically, but IMHO nothing is better than a daily bar-by-bar review to build confidence in how to trade good setups without hesitation, and how to target reasonable profit levels and allow the trade to get there without micromanaging. What I do is at the end of the day, I move the 5-min chart all the way off the screen so all that shows is a couple hours leading into the time I wake up and start watching for setups. I reveal one bar at a time and when a setup starts forming, I watch for a signal bar, then I note the price at which I will enter long or short, the stop loss, and the initial profit target. I then reveal one bar at a time until an entry is triggered by price hitting my entry level, and continue to reveal bars until either a stop-and-reverse (SAR) signal is triggered or the trade hits the initial stop or profit target. I do this almost every day, and eventually you get to where you hesitate less, place orders in advance, and micromanage the trade a lot less as well. It's been the best thing I've ever done. I make additional notes as well: how much heat was taken on profitable trades that eventually hit target (this helped me choose a max stop loss level), how far in my favor can a trade go before I can safely move my stop to b/e, what are price action warning signs to exit a trade early (I cross-reference a 1-min chart for a lot of this stuff), and so on.
Thanks I think that is good advice. Right now, I feel the need to practice practice practice. I didn't even really think of "not trading" being apart of trading until recently when i started taking breaks to keep my focus/mental health. But, I guess taking breaks and walking away for the day is just as valid if the market is kicking me in the balls. Also, I have to remember if I walk away b/c of mental break reasons, market not going my way, whatever, and that if I miss a trade its tough cookies...get over it...tomorrow is another day.
Tlow, I feel you on the frustration. I checked in earlier in the day because I just felt that today was going to be one of "those" days. That being said, have you looked into whether or not your setups are more / less profitable during certain times of the day? You may benefit by actually limiting the amount of time that you spend trading per day. One of my lightbulb moments was when I made a conscious effort to turn the platform off at 9:00 a.m. PST. I was more focused during the time that actually I was watching, and statistically my entries are more profitable during the morning anyway so it was a win win. I rarely if ever trade the afternoons because I am just not as sharp.
Ya good call on "one of those days" Makes me feel better that Im not the only one that struggled. On a side note, I've always wondered how that works...if everyone is struggling, who is making money? maybe its just a constant give and take from each other. Anyway, as far as trading times go...I still make a lot of mistakes so its hard to say. Also, Im not sure if I have enough stats to really back everything up. I think I need to analyze more what causes the mistakes at this point. Inexperience? Emotions? Not thinking things through? Etc. then maybe I can move on to more specifics like trade only during these hours.
Hey I like your energy, but I see a couple of things wrong with your trading.. First, I think you are trading way too much.. I saw one post that you traded 6 or 7 times in one day.. Unless you are scalping for 3 ticks you shouldn't be getting 7 signals in one day from one instrument.. This usually means you are taking every signal that appears on your screen.. For example, let's say double tops is one of my signals.. I wouldn't take that signal every single day because I know some days it doesn't work as well vs other days.. Which brings me to the next thing I want to talk about.. UNDERSTAND HOW THE MARKET WORKS.. The market only does two things, Trend or Chop (range days).. Your job as an es trader is to identify this.. This will keep you out of trouble.. Third, you should stop trading for awhile.. I know this hurts but it will save you money.. I would recommend you to not trade on SIM either.. Just make mental trades for now.. For ex, when you are looking at the market say to yourself "ok this is where I will enter".. Pretend you just made a trade (in your head).. Do that for now.. It's way better than trading on SIM trust me... SIM is horrible because most likely you will not take it serious..pushing buttons for the hell of it is not going to help you.. Four, your stops are horrible to me and not consistent.. One trade I see you trade a 1 point stop.. Next trade I see you trade a 2 point stop.. Next trade I see you moving your stop to break even.. To me that's not a good strategy.. Set it and forget it should be the model. Plus I think you should widing your stops to 2 or 2.5 points.. But you should figure this out when you back test.. That brings me to the next thing.. BACKTEST!! In order to find a system that works you will have to look at charts consistently.. Back testing allows you to study repeatable patterns.. This will save you time.. Forward testing is ok, but it will take forever.. Leverage off of back testing.. Take advantage of it NOW.. When you back test you should be able to figure out what stops work the best.. It might be a pain because you will have to back test the same strategy with a 1, 2, and 2.5 stop.. But it's worth it.. To me a 2.5 stop works the best on the es.. Fifth, read read read.. You might not find a system online that works, but you will find some good information.. The main purpose for reading is so you could spark your brain for new ideas.. Check the "ET hall of fames" thread on this site.. Six, get rid of your current strategy or tune it.. But don't fall in love with it.. Throw it in the trash if you have to.. I have tested over 50-80 strategies for the es.. Always search for a strategy and learn from your mistakes.. This will probably take a long time but that's life.. If you really like trading then you will stick to it.. I probably could share some more ideas, but I won't for now.. Don't give up and learn from your mistakes and you will make it..