E-mini (YM) Journal to profitability

Cheers guys ! Restarting this Journal again. Stopped posting b/c I was losing my ass and learning the futures game. There was no sense keeping this online journal then b/c I had WAY too many notes to right in my own personal journal

Now, I've got roughly 70 futures trading days under my belt. Not nearly enough to be consistant, but its a start.

Starting to recognize patterns and scenarios repeating themselves and being able to apply them. Getting a good grasp of PA.

IMO, I'm probably still a losing trader, and I'm damn close to blowing up account #1. But I have high hopes for June. My goal in June is b/e or slightly profitable.

Gonna start posting my progress starting tomorrow. Not really gonna show entry signals like before, thats too much of a pain. Just my thoughts on the day.

If anyone else trades futures, come into the ET index futures chat room http://www.elitetrader.com/ch/

I can certainly use some company as many of the vets have left.
 
are you still trading one contract?. Its hard to make anything above break even on one contract.

One of the keys to being profitable in the futures game is size and the ability to scale in /scale out and compound those winning trades exponentially.

Most people who trade one contract end up trading for their brokers and eventually blow up their accounts.

looking forward to more updates and best of luck to you!!
 
+ $22 on my trading account.

+$300.76 shorting the big dip in THE WRONG DAMN ACCOUNT.

LOL. Accidently shorted the YM in my account I use to trade a specific strategy. My bad for leaving the platform open, I was done w/ the strat for the day.


Yes, I traded 10 Ym for only +$22 in main trading account. It happens. That was only until about 11:00 though. Truthfully, i finished perfecting my strategy for trading powerful uptrending days, and downtrending days today so my mind was wandering. Made the necessary tweaks, and from now on, its largely a mechanical system with some discretion built in.

Got in on the move down, and rode it for a nice +60 YM gain. That P & L isn't showing, b/c its skewed by the fact i traded it in the wrong account so I'm not posting it. You can just take my word.

After that big trade, I didnt trade anymore. Wanted to, but was a little protective of my profits with all the volatility.
 

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+ $89 on the day.

Gotta make this quick. I'm late.

Traded like an idiot today. Didn't let winners ride, was a little hesistant on taking a few positions that cost me my fill.

Missed my fill at the 410 bottom on YM. Partially b/c i calculated my pivots too late....my bad. Also missed selling the morning 490 area.

Didn't trade the morning rally b/c i didnt have any buy signals. PA was wacky and indicative of a short squeeze. Will talk tomorrow, gotta go.
 

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+$218

Done for the day early. Have some errands to run, and i'm satisfied w/ my week. You have to be an idiot to lose money today if you're an index futures trader.

One of the things I really wish I could do is trade 2 contracts at one time. Trading 1 contract at a time makes it tough to ride big moves.

For example, I was short this morning at 12602. I had a feeling we'd be down 200+ on the day based on bad unempl. data and rocketing oil, but instead I closed out for a modest gain.

Kinda pissed off at myself b/c of that, but I know I will correct it when i can trade more than 1 contract. Its called 'emotional exiting a position to protect profits' ....Lame-O

Oh, and I went short at the 830 sell-off and got my stop hit on the temporary spike......Should be +$300 on the day..

Woulda coulda shoulda :)

Best week of my trading career thus far.

Just realized I forgot to post Monday and Tuesdays P & L. They were modest #'s so we'll just leave 'em since I didn't post a screen shot.
 

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-$25

Can't BELIEVE I lost a little $ today. Such an easy day to trade my strategy.

Only made 8 trades today.


Mistake #1) Shorted the 1:10 pullback. hesitated enough so that I got a bad entry. On top of that, instead of placing my usual stop when shorting that type of entry, I got cute and placed a tighter stop b/c I was confident that price wouldn't go further down......Just tight enough to smack my stop, stop me out and then price decided to tank 40 more points. Was expecting at least 20 Ym on that trade, so it would have made sense to give it a decent stop. Lesson learned, lol.

Mistake #2) Hesitated when trading my decreasing wedge bottom play. Had I traded it when I should have, the trade at worst would have been a b/e net and at best +15 Ym. Instead, I lost 15 YM on it.

Note: this is a new entry for me, so this type of error is b/c I'm a newb. I will not hesitate on this entry again :)


Had 1 mroe losing trade in afternoon, but that was trying to short the larger pullback at 1:30. Didn't expect it to pullback to hit 12280 area and so I got my a$$ handed to me. Just your average loser....no regrets.

So my P & L went from +$100 to -$100 in 3 straight plays....lol. Only made 1 more high % trade for the rest of the day b/c I was a little flustered pyscholgocially, made +16 on it, and then called it quits for the day. Actually wanted to make one more trade to get back to even, but I'm not a huge fan of revenge trading. System didn't give me any plays anyway.

I dont like discretionary trading after 3:00 when I'm down for the day....never ends well.
 

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-44 cents today

More of a learning day today. I had first started typing up all this crap on my thoughts for the day. Deleted everything. making it short and sweet

Today I learned and traded less. Less than 10 RT's. The uptrend today was a pain in the ass to catch, so I got stopped out a few times.

No worries, some regrets, happy I didn't lose my butt today. Screen time today has helped my trading.

Missed out on the afternoon tank job. Let my thoughts get in the way of my entry. Was worried about support when I shouldnt have. When downside PA is strong, FU#k support. More times I see this, the more it gets ingrained into my head, lol.
 

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-$9.70 today.

No real complaints about the day. Morning session was kind to me, but took some pounding during the volatility at 2:00est and thereafter. Should have stayed away from it.

Nonetheless, I could have easily traded the last hour to immense success but I didn't. Days like this, I'll stear clear of until I can trade more than 1 contract.

Trading lighter on a day like this isn't a horrible idea. Unfortunately, w/ only 1 contract, that usually means make your trades selective.

Had about 9 RT's today. Again, fairly low.
 

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-$245

Nothing wrong w/ the strategy. Had problems reading this PA.

I was toying with throwing 2 contracts in a strong set-up I had earlier, but didn't go through with it. Next time I traded, the 2 were still there, and so i accidently bought w/ more than 1 contract on a 15 point stop that was hit. Didn't realize it til the damage was already done.

Other than that, excuses excuses.....no reason i should be down today.

Made a cardinal mistake: Had an opinion that the market was oversold INSTEAD of letting the market decide that for me. Was the reason for my losing day. NO other reasoning behind it.
 

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