ES Journal Archive (2006 - 2008)

Decel · Nov 26, 2008

Boy, bad day!

Traded against the trend, and re-entered short at the wrong time (thought we were 15 points higher, but actually only 5).

Silver-lining for me was the fact that I was trading NQ instead of ES today (didn't like the smaller volume).

I remember 2 christmases ago, me and my colleagues (was in a prop firm) were joking around saying that we were against GS interns because the big boys were off for the holiday.... but now that GS isn't what GS used to be, who's taking their role?

I'm short from the closing price in NQ.

Edit: The futures market's still open right? Read the CBOE pages, and the futures close @ 8am?

smilingsynic · Nov 26, 2008

Quote from Pekelo:

Well, I am going to explain it in my book!

Seriously, it was intuition. I can't really explain but sometimes I am just making an educated guess and it eirily happens. Just like a week or so ago, when I said I wouldn't be surprised to close down -40 and the SPX went down -38.

I can also tell how many matches fell onto the ground...

Today's low was 50 points less than today's high.

dmartin · Nov 26, 2008

Quote from JSSPMK:

Dmartin is doing this on purpose, wouldn't be surprised if it's yet another multi alias troll. Just ignore it.

Quote from dmartin:

I just bought ES at 854 with a stop at 698.5. The stop represents 1% of my TNW.

11-17-08 07:51 AM

Quote from dmartin:

Sold 2/3 positions 877.75

11-17-08 09:56 AM

Quote from dmartin:

Back to full position at 862.5 11-17-08 10:45 AM

Quote from dmartin:

Mistake: Sold half position at 883.5 11-26-08 12:30 PM

1. My stop has been raised to 729.5 and represents close to 1% of my TNW

2. You are correct, I do give Buy1Sell2 a hard time because he does a disservice to his would be students. His trades are random and he does not communicate why he is doing what he is doing. His approach does not involve any theory and does not use a sound research method. Take a look at Post 167 today at 7:44 am and explain to me how he will answer that question.

3. Yes, I had a large drawdown and if my stop were hit I would be taking a 1% loss. Big deal!

4. I have taken 2 profits so farâone with 2/3 of my trading account--+23.75 and the other today at +21 with half my contracts. If we are in an uptrend (which we are at the moment) then I will take profits at important resistance levels and then try and get back in at a better price.

5. If you donât like what I have to say then put me on IGNORE!

dmartin · Nov 26, 2008

In my last post it wasn't a mistake that I sold 1/2 my position at 883 but in my previous post I said I sold my position at 833.

DMartin

saliva · Nov 26, 2008

On the whole, most of the posters here are pretty damn good traders. Only major gripe that I have is that people are too fixated on the numbers and not enough on the reasons behind those numbers. What I want to see more is not the instant broadcast of the entry/stop but why that particular trade was made. No doubt, some trades are self-explanatory; others are not so apparent. Maybe I'm too dumb to notice what you're seeing. As such, I suggest that you post a chart or two. This way, we can all learn something from each other. Isn't that why we're all here in the first place?

dmartin · Nov 26, 2008

Quote from saliva:

On the whole, most of the posters here are pretty damn good traders. Only major gripe that I have is that people are too fixated on the numbers and not enough on the reasons behind those numbers. What I want to see more is not the instant broadcast of the entry/stop but why that particular trade was made. No doubt, some trades are self-explanatory; others are not so apparent. Maybe I'm too dumb to notice what you're seeing. As such, I suggest that you post a chart or two. This way, we can all learn something from each other. Isn't that why we're all here in the first place?

Saliva,

I live in Palo Alto, Ca. went to Berkeley where I did my under graduate and graduate work in applied mathematics. I started trading in San Francisco in the later 80's and now trade at home. Most of what I read on this blog is pure crap and I dare say few if any of these would be traders make a dime and most lose all their money and never come back. These are not professionals and don't be fooled.

It is critical that one not only has a methodology but be able to articulate precisely why one does what one does in the trading world. Trading now as compared to what I use to do (small prop firm) is a lonely and difficult business and therefore part of my time is reading these silly post just to see where the money is not going.

I suppose I am of the old school where we learned to read the book (read the order flow) and that's how I still trade. All this technicial analysis I consider a waste of time. They're all lagging indicators and over the long haul don't work. I must add that my latest trades I've spoken about in the past couple of weeks are quite different than trading by the book.

Now to read the book one has to be good in mathmatics, have a good memory, know how the games are played and trade usually just a few times a day when I see an edge in the book. The edge of reading the book comes with lots of experience and is by no means an exact science. However, by studying the order book every day, you will begin to notice nuances - patterns - in the way market participants place orders, pull orders, etc. When you're watching order flow, you're watching every market participant - the institutions, hedgers, large speculators, and small traders.

DMartin

ammo · Nov 27, 2008

i've seen this rant before ,i'm the best,iknow,you don't,you claim to read the tape(book) like a pro,yet you don't give any evidence of this knowledge,(sold and thought the market was 15 points higher but was only five,sold 833,i mean 883,)you give no positive feed back,only jeers,you at present are just another cyberspace coward with a lot of hot air,you say things on here that you wouldn't say in public to a man within arms length,please ,if i'm wrong,show how you see the tape and why you think it's going in a direction,thats the only reason any of us post,to share what one sees and to see what one might have not seen,if your not willing to play by those rules ,then post somewhere else, we are here to pump up our accts,,not pump up our ego or yours,if your not a fraud, please prove me wrong,if you are half as smart as you claim,the input would be welcome,save the cowardly jeers for the jerry springer show

dmartin · Nov 27, 2008

Quote from ammo:

i've seen this rant before ,i'm the best,iknow,you don't,you claim to read the tape(book) like a pro,yet you don't give any evidence of this knowledge,(sold and thought the market was 15 points higher but was only five,sold 833,i mean 883,)you give no positive feed back,only jeers,you at present are just another cyberspace coward with a lot of hot air,you say things on here that you wouldn't say in public to a man within arms length,please ,if i'm wrong,show how you see the tape and why you think it's going in a direction,thats the only reason any of us post,to share what one sees and to see what one might have not seen,if your not willing to play by those rules ,then post somewhere else, we are here to pump up our accts,,not pump up our ego or yours,if your not a fraud, please prove me wrong,if you are half as smart as you claim,the input would be welcome,save the cowardly jeers for the jerry springer show

Your grammar is a bit hard to follow. Nonetheless, the time I sold today the market was trading at around 883 (check the time I sold half my position) not 833 so sorry for the mistake in my typing. I have shared each trade I made with time stamped so if that does not suffice so be it. I am not a pro (whatever that is) and I do alright with my P&L. I use the book to trade only on very quick trades and the trades (swing trades) I have shared the past couple of weeks do not use the book or the tape with these trades. In addition, please let me know how and what you need to prove Iâm not a fraud.

Let The Good Times Roll, DMartin

dmartin · Nov 27, 2008

Quote from ammo:

there seems to be a disconnect between usd/jpy and es, may have to find a new indicator if this persists, any suggestions?

Sounds like you need some assistance. A strategy you might take a look at and has been trading quite well is trading the ES since the late 2007 and playing the relative performance between the ES and the XLE (energy sector).

DMartin

JSSPMK · Nov 27, 2008

Quote from dmartin:

...by no means an exact science. However, by studying the order book every day, you will begin to notice nuances - patterns - in the way market participants place orders, pull orders, etc. When you're watching order flow, you're watching every market participant - the institutions, hedgers, large speculators, and small traders.

Now plese tell us, why all of this can't be seen via price level + price action + indicator?

By stating that tape reading is NOT an exact science you have confirmed that you do not have a holy grail on your hands. Whatever method is being used what is of major importance is range analysis of an oscillation that you are to participate in so one can decide what money management is to be applied be it -1pts x 5 or -5pts x 1 or -1% of TLNW.