A mini ES scalper's journal

Quote from LeeD:

Impressive performance! Do you have anything like a daily target?
More...

This is far from "impressive". Once in a while I would have a really bad day with large loss which would wipe out my several days' accumulated small gains. Reasons were simple, I didn't stick to my trading rules.

I have done some analysis of my past few months trading history. I noticed the more I trade within a day, the less my performance would be. I believe I was impatient and took many mediocre trades, which often resulted loss.

I recently read Link's book. The most important things I learned from his book are having a plan, being patient and sticking to the plan.

I feel I could improve my entry by waiting for the right moment with patience. However, I am still doing very poorly on exit (especially profit target projection).

I would prefer to trade 2-3 times a day in general. I'd like to get minimum 2:1 reward/risk ratio for every of my trades. My intermediate goal is to be able to reach 2-4 pts with single ES contract in average per day.
 
Have you done any analysis on your trades to determine if leaving your initial stop in place and bracketing a wider profit target and leaving the trade alone until one or the other is reached would net you more profit?

I found that I was very often leaving 2x or 3x more on the table than taking off it, mainly because of micromanaging my trades. Yesterday I micromanaged my trades badly and scalped tiny fractions of the bigger move, despite trading in the direction of the bigger move.

Today I started my day nearly 30 ticks down on CL because of micromanaging trades again, 3 losers and a scratch, and at that point out of major frustration I put on the same trade, placed a stop and a deep, but reasonable, target and literally left my desk for an hour (because lately an hour's been the average time for my trades to reach max profits before intraday trend reversal is put in).

When I returned to find my target filled for a 70-tick gain and saw the chart over that one-hour period, I realized that I would've done exactly what I'd done yesterday and gotten very little out of the larger move, because I would've made a mess of the whole thing.
 
Quote from NoDoji:

Have you done any analysis on your trades to determine if leaving your initial stop in place and bracketing a wider profit target and leaving the trade alone until one or the other is reached would net you more profit?

I found that I was very often leaving 2x or 3x more on the table than taking off it, mainly because of micromanaging my trades. Yesterday I micromanaged my trades badly and scalped tiny fractions of the bigger move, despite trading in the direction of the bigger move.

Today I started my day nearly 30 ticks down on CL because of micromanaging trades again, 3 losers and a scratch, and at that point out of major frustration I put on the same trade, placed a stop and a deep, but reasonable, target and literally left my desk for an hour (because lately an hour's been the average time for my trades to reach max profits before intraday trend reversal is put in).

When I returned to find my target filled for a 70-tick gain and saw the chart over that one-hour period, I realized that I would've done exactly what I'd done yesterday and gotten very little out of the larger move, because I would've made a mess of the whole thing.
More...

nice Nod, i am glad to see your input. That is helpful.

I do have the same question of getting too soon when i was right in a big move. kind of afraid to turn my profit into the loss.

However, if I played an order with a relative bigger stop for a big move, I have to force myself to stick to my target. Maybe i am right maybe i am wrong, but i have to take it once.

:cool: :cool:
 
Quote from ycxc16588:

This is far from "impressive". Once in a while I would have a really bad day with large loss which would wipe out my several days' accumulated small gains. Reasons were simple, I didn't stick to my trading rules.

I have done some analysis of my past few months trading history. I noticed the more I trade within a day, the less my performance would be. I believe I was impatient and took many mediocre trades, which often resulted loss.

I recently read Link's book. The most important things I learned from his book are having a plan, being patient and sticking to the plan.

I feel I could improve my entry by waiting for the right moment with patience. However, I am still doing very poorly on exit (especially profit target projection).


I would prefer to trade 2-3 times a day in general. I'd like to get minimum 2:1 reward/risk ratio for every of my trades. My intermediate goal is to be able to reach 2-4 pts with single ES contract in average per day.
More...
:)

That is a realistic daily profit plan.
good for you!
:)
 
For traders who have traded on more than 100 days and closed their trades at the end of the day.

I wonder if one trader in the world averages 2-4 points per S&P contract. That would be a monster performance.
 
5-19-2010
I am very much occupied at work today. I am afraid I won't be able to focus on my day trade activity today.

Today is kind of important. SPX touched 200 DMA and bounced. EURO bounced. Gold is down big.
 
Quote from ycxc16588:

This is far from "impressive". Once in a while I would have a really bad day with large loss which would wipe out my several days' accumulated small gains. Reasons were simple, I didn't stick to my trading rules.

I have done some analysis of my past few months trading history. I noticed the more I trade within a day, the less my performance would be. I believe I was impatient and took many mediocre trades, which often resulted loss.
More...
What I recently find the toughest is not to run winners but to take profits timely, before the price reverts. Notice that it's much easier to take 2-3 small wins than to find a good entry for a large win and then hold it all the way.

Do you find that after you had 2-3 loosing trades in a row it affects your decision making? Do you start rushing to take a trade in hope to make up for the recent losses?

Maybe you'll find interesting my thread abouit "overtrading".
 
5-20-2010
Total trades: 3 RTs (ES)
winner: 2
loser 1
net p/L: -1.25 pt

I was a bit emotional with my first trade since I widened my original stop after seeing things didn't go exactly as I expected. This was extremely bad habit of losers.
I went long at 1080.25 around 12:45 thinking double bottom could have formed after second leg from the bear flag. My original stop was 1177.5 (already wider than my typical stops). The second 5 min bar was not clsing above the bullish engulfing bar at 12:35. It was most likely a failed reverse. I didn't cut my loss short, but instead widened my stop to 1174.5 intraday low. That was a guaranteed 5.75 pts loss.
I went long again at 1076 at 1:08 and out at 1079 (top channel line of down trend) as planned.
At 2 pm, it was bullflag with shakeoff outside bullflag channel. I would enter long if it close inside bull flag channel for aggressive play, or enter long as price breaking top bull flag. However, the first large loss trade apparently affected me psychologically. I hesitated and missed the trades.
As EURO shooting up, I did a momentum play by enter long with stop order when price broke 1189.50 at 2:37. My stop was 1186.50 (the low of the breakout bar) and original profit target was 1194 near 50% retrace. got out at 1091 after seeing the retrace bar with not so light vol.

I believe there was another setup I would have traded if it was not because I was affected by the big loss from today's first trade.
3:16 bounce off channel line
 
5-21-2010

No ES day trade today.
I was in meetings until 3pm. It was a huge bull flag retraced to 50% fib level. I was waiting for the price to break above the top of bull flag channel line.

The move eventually came in at last 30 minutes. It was powerful move and price closed above 23% fib was what a reverse day needed.

Although I didn't do any ES trade, I bought some SPY calls the moment when price broke out of the bull flag. I am expecting 112-113, and 115 price level could be retested shortly.

Today and yesterday's price pattern are quite similar to Feb 5th reverse pattern (2/5 was also Friday).
 
5-24-2010

total trades: 3 RTs(ES)
winner: 2
loser: 1
net p/l: 1.0 pt

Until 1pm, the price movements looked healthy after low thrust and reverse last Friday.
I stared near 11:30. The price bounced from 1080.5 level. It was too legs up to retest day high, I missed the 1082 entry and didn't feel like to chase it.
At 12:06, ES made new high at 3rd up push. I expected some retracement after 3 pushes.
I went long at 1085 at 12:42 (stop 1084 1 tick below the bounce bar's low at 1084.25). I got shaken out at 1084 exactly. Went long again at 1085 at 12:48. Momentum was good and I got out at 1086.50. Volume was ok and I could have hold it a little longer at least to previous swing high at 1087.50. However, overall, today's 2min price bars were kind of wide. So I was a bit nervous to take small profit before it disappear quickly.

I went long again at 1078.5 at 3:20pm (stop 1177.75).My original target was 1081 the top of down channel ( I expected breakout after 3 from the bull flag). Price stalled at 1080 and hold 1079.5 for a few minutes. I bailed at 1079.00 at 3:24pm for 0.5 pt as price didn't breakout as I would have expected though it did make to 1081 about 20 minutes later.
I felt it was probably over for bull after it failed to break out from bull flag near 3:30pm. I didn't initiate any new position after 3:30.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top