Welcome to my trading journal! I am starting this journal for many different reasons, but mainly to document my progress as a trader and hopefully serve as a learning resource for those who may find value in it. To begin with, I will mostly be focusing on trading CL and NQ. I may also take a few YM and 6B trades occasionally depending on the situation. Enjoy!
A Trading Journal by Fortissimus
- Thread starter Fortissimus
- Start date
I did not trade too much today because I had family in town and I got off to a late start. I took one trade opportunity in the simulator with CL and it worked out. I did not feel like watching any other markets today because of my late start. I finished +100 ticks on one trade today on CL.
As I start this journal out, each day after I trade I am going to ask myself some basic questions about how the trading day went and try to answer the best I can. I am going to do this to help keep me focused on what is important to me as I develop as a trader.
Was I prepared to trade today?
I was barely prepared to trade today. I almost didn't because I did not feel too motivated. Even though I had a good day, if I would have been trading live today, it more than likely would not have been a great idea.
Did I patiently wait for opportunities that follow my entry criteria? I did a good job entering in an area of great significance in my opinion. I thought that my entry was good enough for my initial stop.
Did I trail my stop adequately after entry and play good defense? I think I did great job with this on my only trade. I almost got taken at breakeven after being up 20ish ticks, but it decided to take off eventually and trailing was easy after that.
Did I aggressively press my winners? I practically sold the high and covered at the low of the regular pit session, so I feel I did well with this. Once the trade confirmed itself, I felt strongly about a bigger target because I was trading for a failure on my anchor chart.
Did I appropriately add to my winners? I was unable to add to my winners today because I had no previous profits locked in profits.
Did I follow my daily money management plan? Yes, I was satisfied with my big winner near the end of the day and that is all I needed.
Was I in complete control of myself today and have a champion's mindset? When trading goes well right from the first trade, it is always a great feeling. I feel like I did nothing wrong today, but I also did not have many opportunities to screw too much up since I was mostly just riding a winner for most of the day.
I do have money set aside to go live, but I need to prove my head is ready first. Next week I will more than likely be starting a 30k combine with Topstep trading only CL. I plan on passing the combine, but ultimately, I just want to prove that I can stay in control and follow my plan, regardless of the $ outcome.
As I start this journal out, each day after I trade I am going to ask myself some basic questions about how the trading day went and try to answer the best I can. I am going to do this to help keep me focused on what is important to me as I develop as a trader.
Was I prepared to trade today?
I was barely prepared to trade today. I almost didn't because I did not feel too motivated. Even though I had a good day, if I would have been trading live today, it more than likely would not have been a great idea.
Did I patiently wait for opportunities that follow my entry criteria? I did a good job entering in an area of great significance in my opinion. I thought that my entry was good enough for my initial stop.
Did I trail my stop adequately after entry and play good defense? I think I did great job with this on my only trade. I almost got taken at breakeven after being up 20ish ticks, but it decided to take off eventually and trailing was easy after that.
Did I aggressively press my winners? I practically sold the high and covered at the low of the regular pit session, so I feel I did well with this. Once the trade confirmed itself, I felt strongly about a bigger target because I was trading for a failure on my anchor chart.
Did I appropriately add to my winners? I was unable to add to my winners today because I had no previous profits locked in profits.
Did I follow my daily money management plan? Yes, I was satisfied with my big winner near the end of the day and that is all I needed.
Was I in complete control of myself today and have a champion's mindset? When trading goes well right from the first trade, it is always a great feeling. I feel like I did nothing wrong today, but I also did not have many opportunities to screw too much up since I was mostly just riding a winner for most of the day.
I do have money set aside to go live, but I need to prove my head is ready first. Next week I will more than likely be starting a 30k combine with Topstep trading only CL. I plan on passing the combine, but ultimately, I just want to prove that I can stay in control and follow my plan, regardless of the $ outcome.
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I am going to post my anchor chart with some explanations to show why it was so easy for me to hold onto my winning trade after it confirmed. I knew that if my theory was proven correct on my longer time frame chart, there would be a high probability that the low of the session would be tested, at a very minimum. This make it so much easier for me to psychologically hold my winner.
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This is getting ugly... Wonder if 74.25 will be tested?
Okay, 74.25 tested... Going long(via lotto ticket) 74.37. See what shakes...
If this works, I will be aggressively adding to this position. Since I am up big from my short earlier, I will be going for the knockout on this one. It is my job to go for the jugular on these type of days.
Add 1@ 74.55
Again 1 more @ 75.00 last add. AVG 74.64 3 longs, stop BE, going for Mike Tyson type knockout.
Nope, got me 74.63 all 3 longs. Sure I left a little on the table, but I am willing to do that when I am already up nicely for the session and I am wanting +250 ticks, minimum, on my add trade. Oh well... Done for the day now. Summary and chart will be posted later.