ES day trading journal - my final attempt

H

hurricane_sh

I entered the market with $26K in Feb this year, traded stocks for a few months and started trading es since May 11. A few weeks later I began to trade es exclusively.

I had some bad trading habits, and didn't follow my rules either, as a result I lost almost half of my precious capital in the past week, 4 losing days in a row:

09/09/2016: -9444 - I couldn't see this in my worst dream.
09/12/2016: -2542
09/13/2016: -481
09/14/2016: -343

That's 12,558 in total out of 25,726, 48.8% loss. I wouldn't make drastic changes unless it really really hurts. I decided to give it one last shot with new trading methods and new rules.

Some of my basic rules:
  1. Trade one contract only.
  2. Both stop loss and profit target are two points, must be attached to a new order. Max loss of one trade is around $100. Stop loss order can be slightly adjusted if there is a major resistance/support level nearby.
  3. Max loss per day is $300, shouldn't be more than $350 under any circumstances.
  4. If the profit reached $200, max allowed retracement is $100.
  5. Follow the trend, trade break-outs. Never bet on tops and bottoms.
My daily profit target is $120, this is the minimal amount for me to survive. I have about $700 monthly income from my previous career. I withdraw $2K per month. I can't afford to lose.

I use IB and Button Trader.
 
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Starting account value: $12,916
Ending account value: $13,168
P&L: +252

21 trades today, 6 losing, 15 winning.

  1. 71
  2. 33.5
  3. -4
  4. -104
  5. 58.5
  6. 8.5
  7. -116.5
  8. 83.5
  9. 71
  10. 8.5
  11. 8.5
  12. -16.5
  13. 8.5
  14. 46
  15. 21
  16. 8.5
  17. 46
  18. 8.5
  19. 58.5
  20. -16.5
  21. -29
Summary: this is the first day to try to follow the trend, I used to fade the trend a lot, it's a bad habit hard to get ride of, I still have quite a few trades to bet on tops.

The market seems too choppy for 2 point stop loss. I would have some good trades if I don't have the 2-point stop loss rule. But this is the change I must make.

I don't have one single trade which reached the full profit target, I was too nervous to let the trades develop.

Things to work on
  • Stop betting on reversals.
  • Learn to follow the trend, trend-following is easy to say but hard to do.
  • I had too many trades.
 
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hurricane_sh said:
I entered the market with $26K in Feb this year, traded stocks for a few months and started trading es since May 11. A few weeks later I began to trade es exclusively.

I had some bad trading habits, and didn't follow my rules either, as a result I lost almost half of my precious capital in the past week, 4 losing days in a row:

09/09/2016: -9444 - I couldn't see this in my worst dream.
09/12/2016: -2542
09/13/2016: -481
09/14/2016: -343

That's 12,558 in total out of 25,726, 48.8% loss. I wouldn't make drastic changes unless it really really hurts. I decided to give it one last shot with new trading methods and new rules.

Some of my basic rules:

  1. Trade one contract only.
  2. Both stop loss and profit target are two points, must be attached to a new order. Max loss of one trade is around $100. Stop loss order can be slightly adjusted if there is a major resistance/support level nearby.
  3. Max loss per day is $300, shouldn't be more than $350 no matter what.
  4. Follow the trend, trade break-outs. Never bet on tops and bottoms.

My daily profit target is $120, this is the minimal amount for me to survive. I have about $700 monthly income from my previous career. I withdraw $2K per month. Yes, I can't afford to lose.

I use IB and Button Trader.
More...


Hurricane... we've all been there.

Start thinking positive and just say fuggit (thats all you can do)..... walk away from it for a few days, as hard as that is.
Trading is soooooo psychological. Its like golf. So much of it is in your head.

You are gonna be constantly thinking about that -$9400 day. Don't do it.
Erase the slate... all you have tomorrow morning is what you have in front of you. Consider it like ammo in the old west and you are defending the fort. It doesn't matter how many wasted bullets you used yesterday... all you have is right in front of you. Don't waste them. You lost that $9400 in one day..... trust me, forget it.

Thats why I say walk away for a few days... forget all the losses... and then convince yourself you just opened a new account with $12,500 (Beware the pattern daytrader rule too).... and start anew with your more disciplined strategy you outlined above. Bat for singles and an occasional double. These markets are tricky right now. But $120/day should be easy with $12,500.

So take a break...and even when you start again....don't post on this thread for awhile. ....Get inside your own head and stay there. Come back in a week or two and tell us your hanging tough with a few small victories.

Monday's your lucky day. :sneaky:
-vz
 
Thank you so much for your comfort and encouragement, vanzandt. I have recovered from the big loss, otherwise I wouldn't start this thread. I just realized I never review my trades, how silly is that. I will update this thread every trading day as long as I'm still in the market.
 
Have you developed in your trading Plan when not to take signals? What to left of now will stop you from taking trades? Like when I have 4 point one minute bar forces me to stop for 20 minutes. Or when price has gone from current trend swing low to 7-10pts is normally ES reversals may happen, so my Time Stops change for trend trades within 7-10pts to one bar, then above 10 points I can go back to giving trade 3 bars to work in my direction to get to breakeven plus one tick Protective Stop. I rather trade more conservative when there is volatility.
 
Handle, my biggest problem is that I have little discipline or determination to cut losses. When the price moves against me on a trendy day, I may suffer a huge loss. When trading a down trend reversal, I enter at the second bottom to expect a double bottom, if it doesn't move as expected, I don't have stop loss order, sometimes I even add more lots instead of closing my positions.

I'm ashamed to say that I still pretty much trade based on feel.

As my first step, I need to enforce my rules strictly, cap my max loss per trade and max loss per day.
 
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