Another trading Journal

I have attached a spreadsheet to hopefully lend some clarity to the process. Please give me some input on whether this has value or is just make-work. After getting this down then I can look at system parameters such as trade length, W/L ratios, etc.
Albert
 
As far as arrows go, I'll try. I think I can do it in the paint progam that I paste into. I will give it a whirl this weekend. Good for visual types. The only problem that I can see with it is that since I spend so much time away from the computer that I am only guessing some of the time on the actual fill times. In a consolidation that can be very hard to tell where it happened. That is the big chink in my armor. I walk away, get filled, come back, curse, and then try to find a reasonable exit somewhere. I sure wouldn't be using 30 min bars otherwise.
Albert
 
Looking at your Excel sheet, under Action, shouldn't that be "S 1433 Limit", not "B 1433 Limit", since you were selling and not buying? Also, didn't you have a 4 point stop? If so, wouldn't the MaxDraw be $160.00, and not $130.00?
 
Hi Albert, thanks for running this journal, you have a great trading style. I have one question and one comment:

Q: Why did you choose NQ today, out of that large universe of possibilities you mentioned?

Comment: Be careful that you don't stray from you trading style because of your journal. It doesn't bother some people, but I found that it was very hard to close losers because I wanted to be right in the journal.
 
To Trendy- Yes that's correct, I should have put it down as a sell. I'll fix it when I update the journal. The MaxDraw is the actual drawdown and not the theoretical limit, which in reality can be 100 points away if some catastrophic event occurs. That Maxdraw represents what I actually had to endure if I sat in front of the computer. The stop is just liquid courage.
To peterfigliozzi- How right you are as the next trade shows. I'll post it later today but I'm having trouble marking it up and making notes on it. In essence I sold the NQ again at the next 20 bar low on a stop, walked away from the computer while the trade was on, got hit, and by the time I got back was already underwater without any obvious stop points. Kept the position over the weekend, so we'll see. Not ideal- the grade on this trade will be a D no matter the result.
About grading: A- followed all rules even if it loses. B-missed an entry or exit because of a fast market or market misread. C- poor market choice like fading a strongly trendig or going for the breakout in a consolidating market. D- Did at least one thing right. Sort of the "silver lining" grade. F- Go home, hang your head in shame, rethink your commitment.
Albert
 
After being stopped out for a small winner I then placed a sell stop at 1420, the 20 bar low. Walked away and came back to find that I had been stopped in and the market pretty much reversed itself right away. I have found that the best trades with the biggest profits are reversing right away when there is no follow through on the breakout. But you have to be there to do it. This is the way it looked at the end of the day.
If anybody can help me with annotating a chart I'd appreciate it. I can't get it done very well in either Prophet or Paint.
The next post will be the updated spreadsheet with this trade.
Albert
 

Attachments

Attached is the spreadsheet listing the trades thus far. After about 20 or so I will start looking at statistics to improve my performance.
Albert
 

Attachments

Albert, I didn't know putting arrows would be a problem. If you are able to can you put "short" or "long"? "Apparently filled here" doesn't say which direction (although we can figure it out). These are just suggestions to ease the tracking of where your trades are executed.
 
I've looked at alot of charts lately and am still not sure whether to play the breakout or the fade at the 20 bar H/L. My impression is that when breakouts occur and really follow through, they just blow through the 20 B H/L like butter.
So what I plan to do is just believe the breakout until proven wrong, which would mean reversing through the high of the bar that breaks out through the low and the low of the bar that breaks throught the 20 bar high.
There are lots of good (better?)techniques out there for setting stops on breakouts. This is a good method for choppy markets- I think!?
A real reversal, and not just a consolidation, tends to follow if the reversal occurs right away. Sooo.. I will stop and reverse if the breakout bar is wrong on the VERY NEXT BAR ONLY. Otherwise it is just a stop. The beauty is that the natural stop then becomes the 20 bar high or low. Pretty mechanical, eh?
OK, I will once again attempt to attach a chart that is marked up to give visual examples of what I am talking about.
To Voodster- I'll try to be more specific on direction. I think I am getting the hang of these text notes.
Albert
 

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