CL Redux
- Thread starter schizo
- Start date
Glad I made today another sim day because I didn't know how the market would react to the holiday.
I had to go out early this morning so I missed the first hour and a half. Missed 2 good signals. After that, 2 out of the 3 trades I took didn't have any follow through.
Trade 2 was probably one I shouldn't have taken (but it's sim so whatever) and Trade 3 just didn't have any follow through. I'm not sure there was any way to not take that trade. Trade 1 was kind of subpar, but I managed it according to my strategy so I'm ok with it.
I had to go out early this morning so I missed the first hour and a half. Missed 2 good signals. After that, 2 out of the 3 trades I took didn't have any follow through.
Trade 2 was probably one I shouldn't have taken (but it's sim so whatever) and Trade 3 just didn't have any follow through. I'm not sure there was any way to not take that trade. Trade 1 was kind of subpar, but I managed it according to my strategy so I'm ok with it.
I had a good long signal, but because I had a fear of losing money I left some money on the table and killed my target early which I should not have done. Still I glad it was a profitable trade and that I was able to recognize the signal to get long. Also, at least I did not move my stop. This probably would have been easier if I traded with more contracts, but this was a low volume day, and it was possible nothing was going to move.
Yeah, well I had good short signal this morning, but because I had a fear of not making enough money, I let $320 turn into a whopping $50.
My first thought was, "Don't be greedy, next time dammit lock in your 20-tick minimum!" But my second thought was, "If I start cutting my trades off before letting them reach their expected target and changing my trade management rules, my edge goes out the window..."
So, I completely erased this trade from my memory and refused to let it influence the trade I took half an hour before the NYMEX close. I managed this new trade exactly the way I managed the one this morning, because trade management rules are supposed to followed, not changed every time something different happens. Lo and behold, my target was lifted at what turned out to be 1 tick from the pivot low
NoDoji,
Your contributions are worth it's volume in gold. It's truly appreciated by those of us still trying to gain confidence in this business.
A fundamental issue I struggle with is whether or not to scale out of my trades. Although it hampers the risk:reward ratio, it helps on days when the market is in a whipsaw. Of course, the tempation is to try and predict a ranging day vs. a trending day, which would enable me to determine when to scale-out and when to keep all positions until target or stops are hit. Murphy's law dictates that the moment I try to predict the type of day, is when the Market will "take me to the woodshed"...
Walt
Your contributions are worth it's volume in gold. It's truly appreciated by those of us still trying to gain confidence in this business.
A fundamental issue I struggle with is whether or not to scale out of my trades. Although it hampers the risk:reward ratio, it helps on days when the market is in a whipsaw. Of course, the tempation is to try and predict a ranging day vs. a trending day, which would enable me to determine when to scale-out and when to keep all positions until target or stops are hit. Murphy's law dictates that the moment I try to predict the type of day, is when the Market will "take me to the woodshed"...
Walt
Quote from NoDoji:
Yeah, well I had good short signal this morning, but because I had a fear of not making enough money, I let $320 turn into a whopping $50.
My first thought was, "Don't be greedy, next time dammit lock in your 20-tick minimum!" But my second thought was, "If I start cutting my trades off before letting them reach their expected target and changing my trade management rules, my edge goes out the window..."
So, I completely erased this trade from my memory and refused to let it influence the trade I took half an hour before the NYMEX close. I managed this new trade exactly the way I managed the one this morning, because trade management rules are supposed to followed, not changed every time something different happens. Lo and behold, my target was lifted at what turned out to be 1 tick from the pivot low
long 81.87, add .66
Walt, I'm glad you appreciate my posts. Writing it out helps cement things for me and if it helps someone else, that's great.
I was pretty frustrated by several things this morning, first by the fact that I used a 1-min signal to get an early entry on my first trade, but didn't use it to signal me to exit sooner (that would've locked in just over 20 ticks for me). Then I had two scratch trades in a row where if I'd simply left my initial stop and target in place, I could've had 40 ticks more. And I had a 3rd good re-entry point, but due to a technical issue I couldn't transmit my order right away and then price fell too fast for me to chase it safely.
When I get frustrated like that I take a break, which is good because the price action I see on my chart after that was pretty choppy.
The signal I took late in the day deserved larger size, but since I only had 1 on, I had to make a decision to manage the trade by the book, or to let the earlier frustration affect me. I was glad I had a clear head and managed it by the book.