Greetings!
I can make no promises that this journal will last longer than any of the others I have written. When it becomes a chore or interferes with my trading I will stop.
This time around, rather than posting my trades real-time and keeping a real-time flow of my thoughts going, I'm probably going to do occasional commentary instead. Posts will probably be sporadic.
Think of it as random thoughts.
So for example, today, I wanted to comment that there is no shame in recognizing the ideal way to trade a first half of the trading day, maximizing your return and quitting for the day. Yes, I said quitting.
Here is the deal, by 0934 I was up approximately 1000 USD. I felt that we probably had further downside (we did but only about 4 more ticks in the ZN) AND I wanted to short again at approximately 116 01. My neural net went long at 0949, but my standard min chart and volume bar charts were not confirming. I remained flat.
Point 2 was looking better for a long, but in this case, an argument could be made for either a long or a short, i.e. uncertainty. I remained flat. The trip down to 115 245 re-emphasized the weakness for me and I made a mental note that if we got back to 116 01 I would at least attempt a single short there.
At point 3 I was set to go short, then I took a step back and looked closely at my charts. I looked at my net profit for the day. I looked at my trades thus far for the morning. At this point I realized that a quick short here on surprising strength from the 115 245 low was simply NOT worth the risk. If anything, I should be going long at 116 01. Yes, even after a 8 - 9 tick rise, I should be going long. At this point I say "V" day to myself and stop trading.
I don't always trade this way and I don't advocate doing it all of the time. The point to take away from this is that mentally it is very easy to become blinded by your convictions on how a day will progress. There is no shame in recognizing your strengths and exiting prior to your weakness arriving. Trading for me is no different than any highly demanding mental or physical activity. I'm fortunate in that I can work a full time 9 - 5 job and trade the CBOT and CME markets late at night for me. This means I need to always keep in mind that the clock is ticking and my peak performance abilities are at their best for a small window of time.
I can make no promises that this journal will last longer than any of the others I have written. When it becomes a chore or interferes with my trading I will stop.
This time around, rather than posting my trades real-time and keeping a real-time flow of my thoughts going, I'm probably going to do occasional commentary instead. Posts will probably be sporadic.
Think of it as random thoughts.
So for example, today, I wanted to comment that there is no shame in recognizing the ideal way to trade a first half of the trading day, maximizing your return and quitting for the day. Yes, I said quitting.
Here is the deal, by 0934 I was up approximately 1000 USD. I felt that we probably had further downside (we did but only about 4 more ticks in the ZN) AND I wanted to short again at approximately 116 01. My neural net went long at 0949, but my standard min chart and volume bar charts were not confirming. I remained flat.
Point 2 was looking better for a long, but in this case, an argument could be made for either a long or a short, i.e. uncertainty. I remained flat. The trip down to 115 245 re-emphasized the weakness for me and I made a mental note that if we got back to 116 01 I would at least attempt a single short there.
At point 3 I was set to go short, then I took a step back and looked closely at my charts. I looked at my net profit for the day. I looked at my trades thus far for the morning. At this point I realized that a quick short here on surprising strength from the 115 245 low was simply NOT worth the risk. If anything, I should be going long at 116 01. Yes, even after a 8 - 9 tick rise, I should be going long. At this point I say "V" day to myself and stop trading.
I don't always trade this way and I don't advocate doing it all of the time. The point to take away from this is that mentally it is very easy to become blinded by your convictions on how a day will progress. There is no shame in recognizing your strengths and exiting prior to your weakness arriving. Trading for me is no different than any highly demanding mental or physical activity. I'm fortunate in that I can work a full time 9 - 5 job and trade the CBOT and CME markets late at night for me. This means I need to always keep in mind that the clock is ticking and my peak performance abilities are at their best for a small window of time.