January Trading Journals
- Thread starter Hitman
- Start date
yeah, i have to say I'm a little shocked at Hitman's last post....he hasn't learned anything from other people? ok , that's fine, but why post your journals?
when i visited him at worldco I thought that was a great offer on his part...to let me see what he was doing there
but frankly...I've been posting my trades recently because I WANT people to critique them...I want to learn from others here...and I expect some of the reply's to be crap and some to be very good...and if I thought I didn't want to hear the bad, then I wouldn't post them at all
maybe Hitman is taking his slump out on people here...I don't know
i just try to find the good in everything...which is why I named my thread, "one good thing about PDT rule"...yeah the PDT rule sux, but I HAVE to find some good in it...
Positive attitude. Always.
and yes I understand him saying that some people just say, "well I did this or I did that" without saying why...and thats the reason that I post my trades with charts...pointing out the resistance/support , breakout, candle or whatever caused me to pull the trigger....but it did look like CANDLETRADER took his time out to offer advise on Hitman's trades...and Hitman just seemed to get too defensive about it...
Visualize. It will happen.
when i visited him at worldco I thought that was a great offer on his part...to let me see what he was doing there
but frankly...I've been posting my trades recently because I WANT people to critique them...I want to learn from others here...and I expect some of the reply's to be crap and some to be very good...and if I thought I didn't want to hear the bad, then I wouldn't post them at all
maybe Hitman is taking his slump out on people here...I don't know
i just try to find the good in everything...which is why I named my thread, "one good thing about PDT rule"...yeah the PDT rule sux, but I HAVE to find some good in it...
Positive attitude. Always.
and yes I understand him saying that some people just say, "well I did this or I did that" without saying why...and thats the reason that I post my trades with charts...pointing out the resistance/support , breakout, candle or whatever caused me to pull the trigger....but it did look like CANDLETRADER took his time out to offer advise on Hitman's trades...and Hitman just seemed to get too defensive about it...
Visualize. It will happen.
OK, raise your hand, how many people actually made a dime because of something people said on this board . . . I am waiting . . .
I thought so, when people offer something useful I learn, but I can not take blood out of a stone, and I can not learn anything from 99% of the members on this board.
Let's face it, I have traded full time for 14 months, I am not asking what broker should I use or which prop firm is for me or how should I get started anymore. If everyone on this board is qualified to give me trading advice, then something is horribly wrong.
Why is that a big surprise to anyone? 70% of the people on this board don't even trade for a living (and I think that is being generous with my estimation). After you throw out newbies, wannabes, pretenders, you get 30% of the people left who really are professionals. Unfortunately it is this 70% of the board population that made SK stopped writing his journal, when you just lost 2 points in a stock like SLM, you know what went wrong, you are angry at yourself, and some newbie trader said "you have no exit strategy, bottom picking is risky", gee thanks, the damn thing gapped down and he was looking for something that is supposed to be like TYC on Friday but turned out it was a falling steak knife. You get very upset and frustrated when people throw rocks at you after you just got blown out, and while I have thick skins which allows me to keep posting, sometimes I do feel like a target at a shooting range when everyone and their mother throw darts at me.
Out of 30% you get 10% that never expose themselve, they may make a load of money but they never tell people about it. Every once in a while they drop a note or two but you will never know how good they really are. For the most part those are lurkers and they rarely leave a crumb.
Then you get another 10% who actually are very skilled but offer you advices like follow the trend, cut the losses, avoid overtrading, avoid churning, I mean, gee, thanks, but no thanks, I know that already. Those people also have a "point alert syndrome", back then when I still traded with Mrs D she would be clapping her hands like a little witch and say "omg, <insert symbol here> just tanked a point and I was short!", gee that was helpful, thank you very much for making me feel worse because I just had a loser trade. If I see something good I let my guys know before I even get in (although lately I told them that if I am short something they should most definitely go long and vice versa). A lot of traders at my firm have this same syndrome, they would tell you that DYN gapped down 3 points and they bulleted it for another 3, but they will never tell you the times when they bulleted right into a gap-fill. If you only talk about your winning trades without any explaination then why is that helpful to me?
I had a guy who was on a losing streak, and I took him by my side after the close every day going over every single trade all the way down to what I saw on the tape that made me took the shot. Of course lately he is at least consolidating with me in a slump, at first I still told him what I did wrong (like bullet GS on that Friday blown-out and lost 1 point), lately I told him that I will post everything I do in a journal but until I do get my touch back it is not worth his time to listen to my explainations.
If I have someone who is willing to do that for me, I would tell everyone on this planet that he helped me in trading. No, I am not expecting someone to spill all of their secrets, but I know the difference between talk and teach, and I haven't found anyone who is actually willing to teach yet.
I understand every dime I made came from blood and sweat shed over many many losses, heart broken games and frustrating weekends, and I don't expect anyone to give out the secret that they earned the hard way.
Therefore, don't expect me to thank anyone until you give me something more than a Don Bright response. I give total appreciation to those that offered advice that actually works.
Barbarian:
Once you reach a half decent level of proficiency in any profession, you stop taking advices from people that have nothing of value to offer. If you think you can learn from anyone then you didn't dedicate yourself to your profession like I did. At Worldco we examine the source and quality of advice before taking them.
Limbo:
Why should I be ashamed of myself for telling the truth?
Uptick:
I post my journals because:
1) It helps me reaching out to those that want a piece of the action at Worldco.
2) There are still people like Magna whose comments can put a smile on my face.
3) If I become a success I will be an inspiration for those getting started, if I become a failure I will be an example of what not to do.
As for Candletrader and his advices, first of all, I review my trades every night and I know a bad shot when I see one. This has nothing to do with being defensive, I was telling him what I saw when I took them so he can further diagnose it if he wants to. There are different trading styles, and traders of one style usually have no idea what traders trading another style is looking for.
I read replies to my journal for entertainment purpose only, I respond to them because given my current position I need to network with others. Nothing more.
I don't need people to give me "top ten rules in trading" (everyone know them already and everyone still break them otherwise you wouldn't have down day's nor losing streaks) or "recipe for getting out of a slump" (there isn't one).
When someone give me a bread and butter set-up that works in this market environment I am going to be on my knees and say thank you, all the other advices are pure entertainment value.
I dare Candletrader or any other HELPFUL traders to step up the plate, and post every single trade they took for one week, just one week, with blow-by-blow explainations of everything (entry/exit/stop), ONE WEEK, I will bow down and praise your effort.
Nothing less can make any a real difference in my game, NOTHING.
I thought so, when people offer something useful I learn, but I can not take blood out of a stone, and I can not learn anything from 99% of the members on this board.
Let's face it, I have traded full time for 14 months, I am not asking what broker should I use or which prop firm is for me or how should I get started anymore. If everyone on this board is qualified to give me trading advice, then something is horribly wrong.
Why is that a big surprise to anyone? 70% of the people on this board don't even trade for a living (and I think that is being generous with my estimation). After you throw out newbies, wannabes, pretenders, you get 30% of the people left who really are professionals. Unfortunately it is this 70% of the board population that made SK stopped writing his journal, when you just lost 2 points in a stock like SLM, you know what went wrong, you are angry at yourself, and some newbie trader said "you have no exit strategy, bottom picking is risky", gee thanks, the damn thing gapped down and he was looking for something that is supposed to be like TYC on Friday but turned out it was a falling steak knife. You get very upset and frustrated when people throw rocks at you after you just got blown out, and while I have thick skins which allows me to keep posting, sometimes I do feel like a target at a shooting range when everyone and their mother throw darts at me.
Out of 30% you get 10% that never expose themselve, they may make a load of money but they never tell people about it. Every once in a while they drop a note or two but you will never know how good they really are. For the most part those are lurkers and they rarely leave a crumb.
Then you get another 10% who actually are very skilled but offer you advices like follow the trend, cut the losses, avoid overtrading, avoid churning, I mean, gee, thanks, but no thanks, I know that already. Those people also have a "point alert syndrome", back then when I still traded with Mrs D she would be clapping her hands like a little witch and say "omg, <insert symbol here> just tanked a point and I was short!", gee that was helpful, thank you very much for making me feel worse because I just had a loser trade. If I see something good I let my guys know before I even get in (although lately I told them that if I am short something they should most definitely go long and vice versa). A lot of traders at my firm have this same syndrome, they would tell you that DYN gapped down 3 points and they bulleted it for another 3, but they will never tell you the times when they bulleted right into a gap-fill. If you only talk about your winning trades without any explaination then why is that helpful to me?
I had a guy who was on a losing streak, and I took him by my side after the close every day going over every single trade all the way down to what I saw on the tape that made me took the shot. Of course lately he is at least consolidating with me in a slump, at first I still told him what I did wrong (like bullet GS on that Friday blown-out and lost 1 point), lately I told him that I will post everything I do in a journal but until I do get my touch back it is not worth his time to listen to my explainations.
If I have someone who is willing to do that for me, I would tell everyone on this planet that he helped me in trading. No, I am not expecting someone to spill all of their secrets, but I know the difference between talk and teach, and I haven't found anyone who is actually willing to teach yet.
I understand every dime I made came from blood and sweat shed over many many losses, heart broken games and frustrating weekends, and I don't expect anyone to give out the secret that they earned the hard way.
Therefore, don't expect me to thank anyone until you give me something more than a Don Bright response. I give total appreciation to those that offered advice that actually works.
Barbarian:
Once you reach a half decent level of proficiency in any profession, you stop taking advices from people that have nothing of value to offer. If you think you can learn from anyone then you didn't dedicate yourself to your profession like I did. At Worldco we examine the source and quality of advice before taking them.
Limbo:
Why should I be ashamed of myself for telling the truth?
Uptick:
I post my journals because:
1) It helps me reaching out to those that want a piece of the action at Worldco.
2) There are still people like Magna whose comments can put a smile on my face.
3) If I become a success I will be an inspiration for those getting started, if I become a failure I will be an example of what not to do.
As for Candletrader and his advices, first of all, I review my trades every night and I know a bad shot when I see one. This has nothing to do with being defensive, I was telling him what I saw when I took them so he can further diagnose it if he wants to. There are different trading styles, and traders of one style usually have no idea what traders trading another style is looking for.
I read replies to my journal for entertainment purpose only, I respond to them because given my current position I need to network with others. Nothing more.
I don't need people to give me "top ten rules in trading" (everyone know them already and everyone still break them otherwise you wouldn't have down day's nor losing streaks) or "recipe for getting out of a slump" (there isn't one).
When someone give me a bread and butter set-up that works in this market environment I am going to be on my knees and say thank you, all the other advices are pure entertainment value.
I dare Candletrader or any other HELPFUL traders to step up the plate, and post every single trade they took for one week, just one week, with blow-by-blow explainations of everything (entry/exit/stop), ONE WEEK, I will bow down and praise your effort.
Nothing less can make any a real difference in my game, NOTHING.
You are certainly entertainment.
Oh yes, one more item..
What I really love is the fact that you are not slapping the face of all those who come to ET to learn, share and exchange ideas, but you have just implicitly told Barron that his web site is worthless except as a recruiting tool for your prop firm.
At 22, already sold his soul to the devil.
So you have the ability to determine the value of others replies. How do you determine value? Is it by how successful they are, in terms of profits? If this is so, why do you think you have any value at all? If you think you are valuable, then a benchmark for for what has value must be making 70K after (what was it?) 4.5 years of trading. If not, then how do you determine what is, and is not valuable? You must have a guideline or you could not make such determinations.
I must not have dedicated myself with the same zeal, yet I do not have the problem of profitability, and still I learn from message boards like ET.
What I find absolutely amazing is that you, a college drop-out, who many would disregard as having no value, easily dismiss others on this board of whom you have no clue as to their level of value (unless you do have a superficial method for finding value in others.)
Oh yes, one more item..
You are now nothing more than a vendor.
What I really love is the fact that you are not slapping the face of all those who come to ET to learn, share and exchange ideas, but you have just implicitly told Barron that his web site is worthless except as a recruiting tool for your prop firm.
At 22, already sold his soul to the devil.
I don't need people to give me "top ten rules in trading" (everyone know them already and everyone still break them otherwise you wouldn't have down day's nor losing streaks)
I tried to give you advice when I explained in several different ways that each individual trade has its own probability of success. The nature of probability, is that even if you did everything "right" and did NOT break any of the "top ten rules in trading", you would still have down days, and you will still have losing streaks.
Your comment above tells me that you either do not understand this concept (unlikely, as you are an educated trader), or that you believe that raw skill, resolve, and motivation alone can overcome probability.
I know you will say that I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, but from my observation of your journals, you have made many comments suggesting that your mindset & current psychology affects your probability of success. Upon close examination I think you will agree that your mindset (either "in the zone", in a slump, or somewhere in between) affects your ability to adhere to your methodology, and your methodology affects your probability. Further, you can have perfect execution, play a "perfect game", adhere to the top 100 rules of trading, and still have a losing day or week.
My advice is to focus on your methodology. Make your adjustments there. Do rigorous testing if possible. Your psychology is fine. You're a profitable trader. Just adhere to what works and focus on increasing the positive expectancy of your technique.
Just trying to be helpful...
I tried to give you advice when I explained in several different ways that each individual trade has its own probability of success. The nature of probability, is that even if you did everything "right" and did NOT break any of the "top ten rules in trading", you would still have down days, and you will still have losing streaks.
Your comment above tells me that you either do not understand this concept (unlikely, as you are an educated trader), or that you believe that raw skill, resolve, and motivation alone can overcome probability.
I know you will say that I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, but from my observation of your journals, you have made many comments suggesting that your mindset & current psychology affects your probability of success. Upon close examination I think you will agree that your mindset (either "in the zone", in a slump, or somewhere in between) affects your ability to adhere to your methodology, and your methodology affects your probability. Further, you can have perfect execution, play a "perfect game", adhere to the top 100 rules of trading, and still have a losing day or week.
My advice is to focus on your methodology. Make your adjustments there. Do rigorous testing if possible. Your psychology is fine. You're a profitable trader. Just adhere to what works and focus on increasing the positive expectancy of your technique.
Just trying to be helpful...
Do you know of anyone who can write nice market commentaries ? I am required to search for volunteers who would have their commentary posted on a very promissing website, so your help would be much appreciated. Please email me at bono@rome.com
Hitman, it seems to me that you are expecting instantaneous results from the advice of others and dimissing the ideas if the instantaneous results are not there.
It took you over three months to first become profitable. There is surely going to be a learning curve in incorporating new ideas into your playbook. You know as well as anyone that nobody can give you the perfect setup with a set of rules that will automatically guarantee success. People need to learn, practice and gain experience with new techniques before they appreciate all the nuances that cannot be written down. However, perhaps they can give you good advice e.g. Brandon's study the longer term charts to provide a background for your trades. If you would then work on using that advice for longer than a day and a half, perhaps it would make sense to you and you would eventually see how you could incorporate it into your game to improve your performance.
Similarly you dismiss Candle's advice regarding the first half hour because that's when you make money usually. Well. perhaps you would make more money or have fewer losing trades in the first hour if you gave careful consideration to the advice and even tried it for a while rather than instantly dimissing it.
There is an old saying that goes "There are none so blind as those who do not want to see." Think about it.
I have no techniques to offer you as I don't day-trade. However, I really wonder whether you are ready for the pressures of management, recruiting and team-leadership and whether this is enough to tip the balance in your trading game. You will no doubt tell me why I am wrong, but I have many years of observing how people react to increased responsibilty and in my opinion few people of any age are unaffected by it, but it really puts pressure on people who are much younger than their peers.
It took you over three months to first become profitable. There is surely going to be a learning curve in incorporating new ideas into your playbook. You know as well as anyone that nobody can give you the perfect setup with a set of rules that will automatically guarantee success. People need to learn, practice and gain experience with new techniques before they appreciate all the nuances that cannot be written down. However, perhaps they can give you good advice e.g. Brandon's study the longer term charts to provide a background for your trades. If you would then work on using that advice for longer than a day and a half, perhaps it would make sense to you and you would eventually see how you could incorporate it into your game to improve your performance.
Similarly you dismiss Candle's advice regarding the first half hour because that's when you make money usually. Well. perhaps you would make more money or have fewer losing trades in the first hour if you gave careful consideration to the advice and even tried it for a while rather than instantly dimissing it.
There is an old saying that goes "There are none so blind as those who do not want to see." Think about it.
I have no techniques to offer you as I don't day-trade. However, I really wonder whether you are ready for the pressures of management, recruiting and team-leadership and whether this is enough to tip the balance in your trading game. You will no doubt tell me why I am wrong, but I have many years of observing how people react to increased responsibilty and in my opinion few people of any age are unaffected by it, but it really puts pressure on people who are much younger than their peers.
I'm a former worldco trader and I used to look at compass to see how many people were making money to tell how good the market is to trade. But recently the order has been drying up on all the exchanges. I spoke to a specialist who has been around a long time and his advice was not to trade or trade only small size until the volume starts increasing on the NYSE until then its going to be very difficult. Buy and sell orders are getting smaller and marketmakers and specialist are avoiding building inventory.