Casual Trading Journal

I didn’t have a good feeling about today so I decided to be extra cautious with taking trades today. This fact reduced my number of trades by about 50%. Even so, I played a few trades in my head which would have created more nervousness than profits.

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3 Trades - 2 Winners, 1 Loser

3 ER2 Trades = +2.7 = $270 per contract
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= +$270 per contract

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Feb 5, 2004

9:52 Short ER2 567.7 It's falling
9:54 Cover ER2 567.8 -0.1 seems not, quick escape

10:06 Long ER2 569 Ret is over?
10:07 Cover ER2 569.2 +0.2 Not working

12:59 Long ER2 566.8 Here we go
13:13 Cover 1/2 ER2 569 +2.2 Price stalled
14:34 Cover 1/2 ER2 569.8 +3 Doesn't seem like it's going to recover, will reconsider re-entry later

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5 Trades - 4 Winners, 1 Loser

1 EUR Trade = +0.008 = +$1000 per contract
2 ER2 Trades = +4.7 = +$470 per contract
1 ES Trade = +0.5 = $25 per contract
1 YM Trader = -10 = -$50 per contract
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= +$1495 per contract

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8:28 Long EUR 1.253 Preset breakout setup on news
8:31 Cover EUR 1.261 +0.008 started reversing, covered on fear it might reverse all the way - I still didn't get the real numbers (*)

9:31 Long ER2 569.5 Ride it up
9:34 Cover ER2 571.7 +2.2 Everything is turning

9:39 Short ER2 573.2 This is redicilus, everything is going down.
9:43 Cover 1/2 571.5 +1.8 Stalling, will take 1/2 to be covered
9:59 Cover 1/2 570 +3.2 Momentum shifting

10:09 Short ES 1133 should ret for a scalp
10"14 Cover ES 1132.5 +0.5 Will not hold if it's not moving

10:30 Short YM 10543 Seems YM is running away
10:31 Stop YM 10553 -10 Hit my stop-loss

(*) - The initial target for this trade was 1.263 which would have yielded $1250 per contract. The spike scratched this number almost touching it but reversing before that. As I saw it start to reverse I closed the position immediately fearing it may reverse all the way as it happens ever so often - All of this because at the time I still did not have the real numbers. Of course shortly later price raised some more and surpassed my target by much.


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TM this is a very interesting thread. Thanks for sharing with us.

I post realtime in a chat room all the time.

One of the reasons I post was to stop me from making the 2 dozen scalp trades since it is hard to write that all down. I can see what helps you win is to be selective in your trading.

Just a note to people who ask, what are your settings and triggers. It makes little difference, it is all in what you see.
 
Quote from bobcathy1:

TM this is a very interesting thread. Thanks for sharing with us.

I post realtime in a chat room all the time.

One of the reasons I post was to stop me from making the 2 dozen scalp trades since it is hard to write that all down. I can see what helps you win is to be selective in your trading.

Just a note to people who ask, what are your settings and triggers. It makes little difference, it is all in what you see.
More...

As I wrote in the journal, posting my trades online in a chat room didn't do very well to my trading. I don't know exactly why since they are on last priority. I might try it again some time but I don't really feel the need. Beside that, I do log on occasionally to the chat room (the same one you are in :) ) as some information and opinions are exchanged there, beside the fact that it can help with the boredom many traders feel while trading.

Regarding settings and triggers I will have to write something up but it might take a while. For that matter I am a discretionary trader and all the trades as you pointed out are very selective.

TM Trader
 
I like the 'missed the big move, scalp it' trade you had a few days back. I actually did one of these trades last week. I love it-- what are the chances you get in at the actual top(bottom)-- very slim. Grab some ticks and get away. Reminds me of a friend of mine who used to be a thief as a hobby (strange guy). He said the key was "don't be greedy."

And the first part is easy... missing the big move. I'm very good at that.
 
Quote from peterfigliozzi:

I like the 'missed the big move, scalp it' trade you had a few days back. I actually did one of these trades last week. I love it-- what are the chances you get in at the actual top(bottom)-- very slim. Grab some ticks and get away. Reminds me of a friend of mine who used to be a thief as a hobby (strange guy). He said the key was "don't be greedy."

And the first part is easy... missing the big move. I'm very good at that.
More...

I do this also, times I miss the start of a huge move in say EUR/USD GBP/USD or any other pair looking at the hourly and 4hr charts, but after seeing a move take off flipping down to 5min charts can get me a good entry to capture some of it. I used to stick to longer term trades, but find this very nice way of capturing more pips.
 
Quote from peterfigliozzi:

I like the 'missed the big move, scalp it' trade you had a few days back. I actually did one of these trades last week. I love it-- what are the chances you get in at the actual top(bottom)-- very slim. Grab some ticks and get away. Reminds me of a friend of mine who used to be a thief as a hobby (strange guy). He said the key was "don't be greedy."

And the first part is easy... missing the big move. I'm very good at that.
More...

I am a master of missing the big moves. There is no one single big move that I didn't manage to miss in the last 2 months :)

TM Trader
 
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