Search results

Something very interesting happened this afternoon. The tape was pointing higher than 1260 NDX but it seemed like something was fighting it all the way. It didn't feel like resistance though. It just seemed like there was a battle going on and I couldn't justify active participation. Trade...

Wait a minute, this is pretty much the heart of my system. I know that since I've started this journal, I've been sacrificing short term results for long term progress. For the past two weeks I've been in a period of intense introspection which I think has been productive and will ultimately...

Another possible strategy would be to take the short term signals in the theory that the short term signals will eventually lead to the long term result anyway. This seems like a viable option, but is more than likely beyond my current skill set.

This seems true in theory, but in practice scaling in and out isn't any less stressful than going in and out completely. The problem lies in how you are going to scale. Suppose you are trading 10 contracts and you receive a signal that would cause you to want to exit some of them. Now what...

Please elaborate. This makes absolutely no sense. What does 1 contract have to do with it? You can reverse any trade, even 100 contracts. The reason I'm so focused on exits is because from my experience exit strategy separates the winning traders from the losers.

Very true, I'm glad someone picked up on this. I was feeling the same way, but I didn't want to dwell on the negative on a day where I did more things right than wrong. When it reached 1261, I was feeling like it was headed for a pullback to 1258. However, since I was anticipating that...

I was too confused to trade today. At approximately 2:00 EST I received a buy signal at 1237. However, I was feeling that the market was going to go lower than that, so I waited. At approximately 2:20 EST I received a sell signal at 1242. However, I was feeling that the market was going to...

Thanks.

True.

Today was pretty good. Trade 1 (BOT 1254 SLD 1261.5) I started trading earlier than usual today because I was feeling pretty good and also because I thought the afternoon would either be listless or volatile. The market was moving extremely slow today, and usually the only thing that works...

As I mentioned previously, I am starting to feel embarrassed by the results I have posted. In an effort to prove myself, I have a attached a portion of my June 2003 statement. This is a lot more personal information than I wanted to disclose, but as long as this is anonymous I guess that it...

I can honestly say that as of now I am embarassed to post my results to a public forum. This is absolutely pathetic. As of today, my fear has been replaced by embarrassment. I realized two things today. The first was that I am trying to optimize too much. When I am trading well, I can...

It looks like the rest of the market was feeling the same way based on this morning's gap up and quick reversal into negative territory.

I took four days off. At that point I cut my size in half and figured I should try to trade my way out of the slump. If I continue to struggle after the end of this week, next week I will reduce my profit target to a default 2 points until I can build some confidence.

Today was better. I ignored several signals at the beginning of the afternoon, but was finally able to start taking them around 2:30 EST. The only problem was that after taking them I was too scared to hold on. Trade 1 (BOT 1287.5 SLD 1288) I was looking for 1292 and wanted to see how it...

I had been successfully trading 15 contracts for several months, but decided to cut my size in half because for the previous two weeks I had been ignoring my system and consequently suffered a moderate drawdown. These were the first down weeks I've had since the beginning of April, and I'm...

I think bobcathy1 was just trying to be helpful, which I appreciate. As far as the trade in question (BOT 1295 SLD 1293) is concerned, I knew very quickly that the trade was a mistake (there was no signal for this trade other than a gut feeling from the tape that going long was the right thing...

I was getting signals to go short, but my gut feeling was that it wasn't a good idea. Something in the tape made me feel like going short was a bad idea. At the same time, I was too nervous to go long, so I decided I had better just quit for the day.

I wasn't feeling very confident this afternoon. I saw several setups that I liked, but I couldn't pull the trigger. Out of frustration, I tried to jump start things, but quickly decided to quit after that failed to work.

I am starting this journal on a trial basis. I intend on posting my NQ trades and any pertinent comments at the end of each trading day. The purpose of this journal is to bring a sense of accountability to my trading; I will continue posting as long as I feel this goal is being achieved...