A Simple Futures Trading Journal

5

510 Trader

  • To hold myself accountable
  • To improve as a trader
  • To show my journey in obtaining a funded account with Earn2Trade
Today, was my first day in Earn2Trade's new $75,000 Evaluation. I got off to a rough start as I placed a long order during the London session before the U.S. open. Price came back to that level and below just a bit but the order never filled. Price continued on up to my price target without me. To make matters worse, I couldn't cancel, close or flatten the order. Nothing I did worked. It just stayed there on the chart. I closed my platform with the order open and opened Rithmic. However, it didn't show the order at all. So I closed Rithmic and reopened NT8 and the order was gone. I then proceeded to check if my computer was updating which it was. For some reason, whenever my computer is updating I have problems like this. I finished the update and rebooted my computer. However, I was frustrated and didn't come back to trade until after 10am EST.

I went up $162.50 with a quick scalp on ES for 13 ticks. However, I had numerous interruptions today and gave that all back. I then proceeded to get positive again (over $200) but also gave that back and one more time I repeated that cycle. Again, being frustrated, this time with myself for letting my losers get so large I took another break. When I returned I just scalped my way back to a little over $400 after commissions.

What did I do right today?
  • My first trade which never filled was one of my perfect setups
  • I stopped trading when frustrated
  • Worked myself back from being down several times to end the day positive
What did I do wrong today?
  • Tried calling and catching tops (in a bullish market)
  • Let my losers run more than my normal stop and they ended up being larger than my winners
What do I need to do tomorrow to be a better trader?
  • Be more patient, take fewer trades and wait for my setups
    • 2 or 3 to reach my goal and done
  • Don't trying catching "tops" or "bottoms"
  • Keep my losers small
Here is the recap for my day:

9.9.20 Summary Pic 1.jpg

9.9.20 Summary Pic 2.jpg

No trading pics for today!

General Info: (In case anyone reads this journal)
  • Instruments to be traded: CME Data Feed only
    • ES, MES, NQ, MNQ, RTY, M2K and possibly 6E
  • How many contracts per trade:
    • Depends on the instrument, chart I am using for entries, whether trading emini's or micro's and the trade setup I am taking
    • However, I will never trade more than $37.50 per tick and MOST of the time will trade 1 ES contract, 2 NQ and RTY contracts, and 3 micros regardless of the instrument
  • What is my method of trading:
    • Price action on a candlestick chart
    • The only indicator I always have on the chart is the prior day's HIGH, LOW and CLOSE
    • Occasionally, I may put pivots, or POC, VAH and VAL and if I am struggling I may also include the 21 ema
  • What are my main setups:
    • Longs are X2 and Y2F
    • Shorts are Y2 and X2F
    • I also will take aggressive entries (AE) off keys support and resistance levels
  • What is my risk to reward:
    • Usually 1:2 because I don't like to be in a trade very long
    • Occasionally, if I catch an X2 or Y2 with the trend I will let it run 1:3 or 1:4
 
For anyone interested here is a pic of one of my bread and butter setups that just triggered on NQ a little bit ago. Of course, I missed it (LOL):

9.10.20 Y2F then X2 Setup.jpg
 
Thanks for sharing. As someone who is involved with mindset / mental performance coaching, you might want to consider the language you use in your journal. I wouldn't say what you did "wrong." Maybe rephrase it as areas that need work / improvement because you want to focus on what you want, not what you don't want. And make sure you're giving yourself credit for the things you're doing well. That's how you build confidence. Best wishes to you!
 
formikatrading said:
Thanks for sharing. As someone who is involved with mindset / mental performance coaching, you might want to consider the language you use in your journal. I wouldn't say what you did "wrong." Maybe rephrase it as areas that need work / improvement because you want to focus on what you want, not what you don't want. And make sure you're giving yourself credit for the things you're doing well. That's how you build confidence. Best wishes to you!
More...

Thank you for the input! I will start to use what areas need improvement!
 
Second day in and frustrated with myself again. Where do I begin? Last night was bored and just took some small scalps and got myself about $250 up which was nice. Early on today I was over $420 taking small scalps again. All I needed was 1 more trade to end the day. Eager to get that trade I took a couple of losses on ES as price was grind mode. They were relatively small though. Made that money back and then lost that and little bit more. The good news was that I never gave back all my profits and I did go on to reach my minimum goal again.

What areas did I shine in today:
  • Kept my losses smaller than yesterday
  • As a result, I never went negative and eventually reached my minimum goal
  • Also, I took fewer trades than yesterday and wasn't trying to catch any tops or bottoms
  • Finished trading in the evaluation account by 10:00 am EST
What areas do I need to improve in:
  • I was focused on and took only aggressive entries for scalping the whole time
  • Still need to be more patient and wait for my setups
    • Perfect illustration is below: Shortly after I stopped trading for the day came 2 perfect setups each good for a quick 60 ticks with no stress
Setups following plan.jpg


What do I need to focus on for tomorrow:
  • Patience, wait for my setups, that is "Follow the Plan"
    • It might help if I review my setups before I start trading so that they are on my mind and in focus
What would have happened had I done that today?
  • Yes, I would have been trading about 30 minutes longer. However, I would have had only 2 trades and greatly exceeded my desired daily goal for the evaluation. In addition, no losses and a lot less stress.
  • Hopefully, I can remember this for tomorrow. My weakness is really two-fold. One I love to be in the action and two I get caught up in the "trees" so to speak trying to call every little move instead of focusing on the forest, the big picture and looking only for the best setups.
Here is my recap for the day:

9.10.20 Summary Pic 1.jpg

9.10.20 Summary Pic 2.jpg

Anyhow, if anyone is reading this today, I hope you had a fantastic trading day and enjoy a relaxing night! Take care.
 
Had to show this! Here it is again, my favorite setups 60 ticks up and then when failed 60 ticks down. Love it! I did pass since I was done for the day both trades completed in minutes:

9.10.20 Another perfect setup.jpg
 
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