Awash's Journal
- Thread starter Awash
- Start date
I started out sticking to the game plan but later in the session I just didnât focus and started taking trades on intuition. I did a lot of things wrong that Iâm not proud of but being wrong really affirms to me how important it is to stay disciplined and focused on executing trades consistent with your system.
Trade#1 â [Short 1008 10:16 EST & Cover 1006 10:22 EST] [ P/L: + 2 ] early downside pressure, went short off a good signal but exited too prematurely. I wanted to get 3 points but I covered for some quick profits. Good time to trail price is in the morning!
Trade#2 â [Short 1004.75 10:37 EST & Cover 1003.75 10:42 EST] [ P/L: + 1 ] This was a gutsy trade, I wanted to sell any rallies due to the negative bias. Covered quickly!
Trade#3 â [Short 1006 10:49 EST & Cover 1009 11:23 EST] [ P/L: - 3 ] Overall bad trade because I took it on intuition and didnât wait for any confirmation. I wanted to sell the rally but it didnât work. My mind told me the market couldnât possibly pullback to where it opened. Wrong!
Trade#4 â [Short 1007.25 11:03 EST & Cover 1009 11:23 EST] [ P/L: - 1.75 ] Super bad trade because I added to a losing position in a rising market. I didnât wait for confirmation either.
Trade#5 â [Short 1012 11:48 EST & Cover 1013.75 12:11 EST] [ P/L: - 1.75 ] Divergence signal came and it looked pretty reliable. However, I should have known to ignore such signals after strong moves. I didnât! I guess I wanted to press the short side and I paid for it.
Stopped trading at 12:15!
Please donât reply saying I told you so!
Trade#1 â [Short 1008 10:16 EST & Cover 1006 10:22 EST] [ P/L: + 2 ] early downside pressure, went short off a good signal but exited too prematurely. I wanted to get 3 points but I covered for some quick profits. Good time to trail price is in the morning!
Trade#2 â [Short 1004.75 10:37 EST & Cover 1003.75 10:42 EST] [ P/L: + 1 ] This was a gutsy trade, I wanted to sell any rallies due to the negative bias. Covered quickly!
Trade#3 â [Short 1006 10:49 EST & Cover 1009 11:23 EST] [ P/L: - 3 ] Overall bad trade because I took it on intuition and didnât wait for any confirmation. I wanted to sell the rally but it didnât work. My mind told me the market couldnât possibly pullback to where it opened. Wrong!
Trade#4 â [Short 1007.25 11:03 EST & Cover 1009 11:23 EST] [ P/L: - 1.75 ] Super bad trade because I added to a losing position in a rising market. I didnât wait for confirmation either.
Trade#5 â [Short 1012 11:48 EST & Cover 1013.75 12:11 EST] [ P/L: - 1.75 ] Divergence signal came and it looked pretty reliable. However, I should have known to ignore such signals after strong moves. I didnât! I guess I wanted to press the short side and I paid for it.
Stopped trading at 12:15!
Please donât reply saying I told you so!
Hmmm, might I suggest that you paste a strip of paper with the words Continue to adhere to the game plan of following my system with the utmost discipline and always wait for confirmation. Also avoid being hesitant and execute trades with a clear head (these are your own words from 9/24/03) on top of your computer monitor so that it is always visible along with your chart display throughout the trading day as a constant and consistent reminder to yourself as you watch the market. Tomorrowâs another day to begin afresh with ample opportunities to do the right thing.
Kermit
Today I accomplished my goal of sticking to the plan and maintaining a strong level of discipline. I also was successful at incorporating a few market breadth indices into my trading scheme (used NASDAQ Adv/Dec Ratio & VIX). I want to still work on re-entries per direction of market movement.
Trade#1 â [Short 999.75 10:15 EST & Cover 997.75 10:22 EST] [ P/L: + 2 ] I avoided the early choppiness and took a good sell signal of my 1-minute chart with perfect timing. My profit target was predetermined off previous intraday support of 997.75. Perfect setup!
Trade#2 â [Short 998.25 11:30 EST & Cover 998 11:41 EST] [ P/L: + .25 ] After missing a few opportunities, I decided to go short after the NAZ AD ratio stalled at 11:30; plus my indicators was showing the market was overbought. Covered after not much follow through.
Trade#3 â [Short 1003.75 12:28 EST & Cover 1002 12:47 EST] [ P/L: + 1.75 ] I wasnât going to take this trade because the ES just came off a strong move but I had double divergence (MASSIVE) and I couldnât just avoid it, the market was definitely overbought. I covered position after a good profit target was reached.
For tomorrow: I want to keep with the same approach of following the system with strict discipline. I also want to focus on re-entering the market after my small profit targets are hit.
Trade#1 â [Short 999.75 10:15 EST & Cover 997.75 10:22 EST] [ P/L: + 2 ] I avoided the early choppiness and took a good sell signal of my 1-minute chart with perfect timing. My profit target was predetermined off previous intraday support of 997.75. Perfect setup!
Trade#2 â [Short 998.25 11:30 EST & Cover 998 11:41 EST] [ P/L: + .25 ] After missing a few opportunities, I decided to go short after the NAZ AD ratio stalled at 11:30; plus my indicators was showing the market was overbought. Covered after not much follow through.
Trade#3 â [Short 1003.75 12:28 EST & Cover 1002 12:47 EST] [ P/L: + 1.75 ] I wasnât going to take this trade because the ES just came off a strong move but I had double divergence (MASSIVE) and I couldnât just avoid it, the market was definitely overbought. I covered position after a good profit target was reached.
For tomorrow: I want to keep with the same approach of following the system with strict discipline. I also want to focus on re-entering the market after my small profit targets are hit.
Awash,
I am a long time lurker of this journal, but I must say it is certainly my favorite journal on ET and I have enjoyed seeing you become better and better trader throughout a reasonably short time frame. I was wondering several things about yourself though.
How long have you been trading ? Is this your first experience trading futures ? Did you backtest your system before using it, if so how long did you backtest it ? How much are you leveraging yourself in ES ?
The reason I ask is I am currently looking into trading the ES (currently doing small daytrades using SPY in 100-200 lots) and I was just curious what you have done to prepare for what you are currently doing, also I am consideirng posting a journal here on ET.
Thanks and good luck on your continued success.
I am a long time lurker of this journal, but I must say it is certainly my favorite journal on ET and I have enjoyed seeing you become better and better trader throughout a reasonably short time frame. I was wondering several things about yourself though.
How long have you been trading ? Is this your first experience trading futures ? Did you backtest your system before using it, if so how long did you backtest it ? How much are you leveraging yourself in ES ?
The reason I ask is I am currently looking into trading the ES (currently doing small daytrades using SPY in 100-200 lots) and I was just curious what you have done to prepare for what you are currently doing, also I am consideirng posting a journal here on ET.
Thanks and good luck on your continued success.
Kserra,
Good to hear you enjoy reading my journal. Is this truly your favorite journal?
I'm trading a system called the TIMES method developed by a trader who started Traders International, in Houston. http://www.tradersinternational.com. I have completely modified the system to fit my style of trading.
In short, I'm similar to other members of this website; meaning that I'm a self-directed trader. I've been trading the ES since March 2003 and most of my general knowledge stems from books, websites and threads posted here. And, I have no prior experience trading futures!
I just have a strong desire to become a better trader and I'm committed to doing whatever it takes to be successful. I believe what little success I'm having comes from my aggressive work ethic. I don't want to convey to you that I'm some "super trader" because I'm still in the learning stages. And, will probably be for another year or two.
Truthfully, I recently became somewhat profitable mid-August and early September. The first thing I did was join another trader forum where I was able to get one on one feedback about trading.
Secondly, I posted my journal here for constructive criticism and that has helped me tremendously (thanks again to everyone that has posted thus far).
I also joined a free real-time chat room where live trades are posted instantly. The chat room has just been phenomenal for me and has increased my overall knowledge in just a short period of time. Consequently, I've overcome my entry problems and all sorts of other stuff (I'll spare you a longer read) that has plagued me in the past.
As to backtesting, I'm still testing, learning, asking questions, incorporating new techniques into my scheme and will be for a while with 1 contract!
In conclusion, I hope I've answered all your questions and if you have anymore feel free to reply or PM me. I don't feel comfortable giving valuable advice because I'm still a newbie myself but if I were you I would start slowly learning the basics of trading and then work on placing trades in a simulator first (No real money until you know how to trade).
Sorry if this is too verbose but I don't get many opportunities to write individuals in my journal.
Good to hear you enjoy reading my journal. Is this truly your favorite journal?
I'm trading a system called the TIMES method developed by a trader who started Traders International, in Houston. http://www.tradersinternational.com. I have completely modified the system to fit my style of trading.
In short, I'm similar to other members of this website; meaning that I'm a self-directed trader. I've been trading the ES since March 2003 and most of my general knowledge stems from books, websites and threads posted here. And, I have no prior experience trading futures!
I just have a strong desire to become a better trader and I'm committed to doing whatever it takes to be successful. I believe what little success I'm having comes from my aggressive work ethic. I don't want to convey to you that I'm some "super trader" because I'm still in the learning stages. And, will probably be for another year or two.
Truthfully, I recently became somewhat profitable mid-August and early September. The first thing I did was join another trader forum where I was able to get one on one feedback about trading.
Secondly, I posted my journal here for constructive criticism and that has helped me tremendously (thanks again to everyone that has posted thus far).
I also joined a free real-time chat room where live trades are posted instantly. The chat room has just been phenomenal for me and has increased my overall knowledge in just a short period of time. Consequently, I've overcome my entry problems and all sorts of other stuff (I'll spare you a longer read) that has plagued me in the past.
As to backtesting, I'm still testing, learning, asking questions, incorporating new techniques into my scheme and will be for a while with 1 contract!
In conclusion, I hope I've answered all your questions and if you have anymore feel free to reply or PM me. I don't feel comfortable giving valuable advice because I'm still a newbie myself but if I were you I would start slowly learning the basics of trading and then work on placing trades in a simulator first (No real money until you know how to trade).
Sorry if this is too verbose but I don't get many opportunities to write individuals in my journal.
Do yourself a big favor and get off the short time frame charts...go 10 minute or 15 and watch the smoothing of the indicators....Your indicators??? take 4/9/18 or something similar and study the redundant patterns...sma, ema, weighted?? 1 or 2 trades a day, with the market...one gets addicted to reversals and it messes with the head.....BEST WISHES...THOUSANDS OF HOURS STUDYING REVEALS A LOT.