E-mini Rookie Trading Journal

The price action going into options expiration, over the past 6-9 months, has been almost identical...I have made rules about not trading on options expiration Fridays any longer because it seems the game has changed from years past. It used to be a decent day with some good one way movement, but now it seems that the moves happen early to middle of the week and then the market congests into a tight range.

All of that volume yesterday afternoon and then the market just goes to rest in a tight range well above the previous resistance at 910-915...Like some other people, I had a very good morning and managed to go against my better judgement, experience and intuition and start chopping around...Its not a heck of alot of fun...

I agree with the guy who said use a percentage drawdown of intraday accumulated profits as your criteria for shutting down...I think its very important to do that when the price action starts congesting, the buy programs start triggering and you find yourself in an environment where you are a sitting duck...Its been awhile, personally, since I fell for the bait like today...

Oh well...
 
Originally posted by bronks
Thanks for the support guys, Ditch, Boyd.

How long is it gonna take to sink in. Everything I did, I know not to do.
More...

hey bronks, thats a good point. i started out 6 month ago. i was thinking that i would need 3 month to work it out (had some background in trading stocks). now im thinking that it could easy take 1 year or more to get to an level, where you are able to pull out some constant profit...im stuck in the "dead zone" by now...break even...not getting any futher...only time will tell...

:) trading
 
Originally posted by hardcash

hey bronks, thats a good point. i started out 6 month ago. i was thinking that i would need 3 month to work it out (had some background in trading stocks). now im thinking that it could easy take 1 year or more to get to an level, where you are able to pull out some constant profit...im stuck in the "dead zone" by now...break even...not getting any futher...only time will tell...
More...
I've been trading the e-mini's for 4 months now and have arrived at the point that 80% of my days are profitable, however in the 20% that I lose I give back all my gains. Looking at those losers, I came to the conclusion that on those days I just wasn't as concentrated as normal. So from now on I will only trade if I'm feeling well and know for sure, that I'm able to focus 100%. Anything less just isn't going to do it.
 
Bronks,

Recently I "discovered" something that made a huge difference to my trading. Instead of looking at 1/3/5/ min charts, I changed to tickbars, i.e. 133 and 210 ticks. You would be surprised how much easier this trading makes. Have a look at it.
 
Ditch,

You may want to implement a daily stop loss of no more than a days profit. That way you're only blowing out a days profit instead of a week or more. I know, easier said than done:)

Whamo
 
Probably for the next month, with the exception of a few days here and there, I will be playing the morning session only. I landed a couple of small contracts, so early trading then off to work.

I'll comment about today later. Gotta go.


+15.5 points / 2 RT's / acct: $ 4358.40
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+10.5 points (net for the week)
 
I made a concerted effort to sit on my hands this morning and I got lucky with what turned out to be the only trend of the day. Just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I even held on to a position for an hour and a half. What a departure from what I usually do. The way my method is set-up now is for a trending market with my discretionary exit kicking in after price action starts acting weird. Because of this, I don't expect too many 4-5 or 6 point gain days anymore. It'll probably be either flat to 8-10 point losses or gains of 8 points or more. I don't back test so I have no idea if this will work in the long run. Maybe-maybe not. :)

What really sucks is essentially being able to trade just one market now (morning session). Bums me out because there are so many opportunities in the late afternoon when the big boys decide which way they're gonna lean and don't care who comes along for the ride. Just gotta suck it up I guess. Doesn't mean I have to like it. For all you guys who trade full-time... I really, really envy you guys. Not to mention you get my total respect.
 
Bronks,

I wouldn't be too upset about your schedule. Too much sitting in front of the screen will burn you out. You don't have to catch every move to do very well.

I applaud your decision to try to hold for bigger moves in your favor. That is a key to making money. Of course, most trades will not turn into big winners and it is important to get something out of them or at least protect break even.
 
Just got done reading the verbal sparring contest between Dark and Dan. Lively. I don't know what the difference in age or weight between the two are, but it sure would be fun to watch'em mix it up in the ring. Probably the best way to settle it. Two strong minds. Gotta call it even odds until I know more about their physical attributes. Ring fight-- I'd give it to Dark because he seems to be a tad more under control. Street fight-- Dan, because unlike the ring, anger and rage go further in the badlands.

Don't have too much of an opinion about their subject matter. I think sometimes you just gotta trade w/out thinking too much. Then again, it's probably why I'm underwater.
 
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