Another sub-par trading day. I was dead tired and certainly not at peak levels when my trading session started today. I would not have traded live in this condition, but since it was SIM I stayed awake and messed up instead

Oh, the excuses...
- 1,5 points for the day.
Quote from volente_00:
There was an IHS I posted about earlier with shoulders right under 88 and neck around 90.5 that projected to 95.5.
Just curious why you chased on both trades instead of being patient ?
Often it is best to avoid chop because it leads to boredom and forcing trades that are not high probability.
Hey Volente,
Thanks for the input, I appreciate it

I missed your post about the IHS when you posted it in real time, but it was very obvious after you pointed it out. Nice call there. Do these patterns often play out successfully in your experience?
I have considered dropping lunch hours completely since it is often choppy, but I would guess it is more correct for me to learn to discern chop from direction and then make a decision to stay out, since there are times where lunch hours will be tradeable. I will also like to become more confident in projecting levels in advance and use what happened earlier in the day to make a call and not let the chop influence me too much (unreliable signals).
I still feel badly about missing the open, but that`s what I have to work with at the moment.
As for your questions, I`m not sure if I have an answer. Part of it is that I`m afraid to miss a move, although experience tells me that I`m always too early (even though I`m often correct on the direction). This causes me to chase. My desire for profit also clouds my judgment.
I remember reading somewhere that when a neophyte trader wants to execute a trade at a certain price level, he should instead look to execute his trade where he initially planned to place his stop for that trade

Maybe there`s something to it.
Quote from NoDoji:
I had a CL trade today where I chased a long entry looking for a test of the HOD, having missed the proper entry, and the momentum I expected simply died in its boots. I could've gotten out for a scratch, but took the full stop in the hope that somehow the momentum would reappear despite a failure to break a key level leading into the HOD. Hope has no place in trading
I do recommend staying focused and looking for the next good setup, though. When ES didn't go down any further, look long for a test of that 1293.00 high. Wait for a break back up, then buy a pullback to the previous R, with a stop below the previous pivot low.
That just sounds all too familiar
Cleaning my slate, staying focused and looking for new opportunities just after a loser or breakeven is a sticking point for me. Much because I trade late in the day I guess. An early loser is less intimidating since there are so many hours left of the trading session.
Thanks.