jasinhbca's quest for discipline, knowledge & profits

[Redneck]

Frustrating to have made so much progress and to feel I know what I'm doing then come in and have off days and then knowing it's all mental.

Time was you weren't sure - now you know

That is significant progress

it's all mental.

As I sit here looking into a mirror - oh what do I see

The solution to this damn trading puzzle - and all along..., its been me


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When some do the above J - they see the problem

When you do the above - know beyond all question - you're seeing the solution



RN

 

[jas_in_hbca]

Another great post RN.

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Got whipped around and allowed myself to be today.

Tomorrow not trading which is probably good. Waiting for Verizon to come fix phone/tv/internet.

Next week on vacation so no trading. Will be a good time to review what the hell I'm doing.

I did realize today I'm trading on Hope too frequently. Hoping the +15 turns into +20, Or the the +20 that becomes 12 hoping it makes a move back to +20. Hoping the move breaks a level. I'll be thinking about that on vacation. It's real easy when they go quickly to target but when they stall , the emotions creep in.

Last 3 trades MFE 17 exit +3
MFE 20 exit +1
MFE 15 exit +15

come on, that's not trading. I need to re think my targets as they related to S/R levels.

I can fix all this and ME but I admit I'm impatient. Probably not a good mix. The idea of making X amount per day or week starts playing through my head. Not during the day but pre and post. Hard not to think about when that's the goal. Need to focus on me and the process.

Get rid of the Hope trading.

-18 ticks today

 

[Redneck]

Last 3 trades MFE 17 exit +3
MFE 20 exit +1
MFE 15 exit +15

Let's face it - this a "perceived" dual edged sword

Lower the target - miss bigger moves

Keep the target bigger - miss the smaller moves - enjoy more losers

Wanting / trying to capture bigger moves - especially when PA's behavior is not conducive to bigger moves - is trading on hope

We're in this to make consistent money J - nothing else

=================================

I can fix all this and ME

I admit I'm impatient.

Fixing impatience - is also part and partial to fixing you

Probably not a good mix

No probably about it - we are 100% completely on the mkt's schedule..., and agenda - not ours

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The idea of making X amount per day or week starts playing through my head.

Not during the day but pre and post.

Hard not to think about when that's the goal.

This is NOT the goal - this is the result

To make this a reality - toss all big picture thinking out the window

Focus on / handle - each and every small detail - to the Nth degree

Results of doing so will achieve the desired goal

Another one of those bassackward trading true-isms

Need to focus on me and the process.

Exactly..., precisely..., solely

btw - getting a smaller.., yet consistent - part of something..., rather than - a lot of nothing..., and a sprinkling of bigger - is part of the smaller details

Side note;

I get bigger is less stressful - but once you complete the transition to trader - smaller is simply another one


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Next week on vacation so no trading. Will be a good time to review what the hell I'm doing.

I'll be thinking about that on vacation

When we're on - we're on

Likewise - when we're off - we're off

Vacations / time off are for much needed rejuvenation / relaxing / repairing..., and for spending time.., with family..., we otherwise dedicate toward trading

They deserve it..., as their support and understanding is what affords us the leeway to do this

Point made I trust

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Be safe / enjoy yourself J - it'll be here when you return

RN

 

[jas_in_hbca]

First an edit. On my previous post, last trade was MFE 15, exit 1 (not exit 15)

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thanks RN. Very helpful to hear your thoughts. I agree on the lowering targets. More below.
The big picture goals (money and the possibility to trade full time) have to take a back seat mentally to the process goals of executing the plan and managing me.

Re: vacation. I'll be taking some set up charts to review. probably do some visualizations, nothing too time consuming and will likely do a little less each day. Wife's OK with it and there will plenty of time to relax. And in fact reviewing charts is relaxing. (Heading to Big Sur, Ca 4 nights then to S.F area for a couple nights)


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At home today. VZ fixed internet/phone. Watching a bit but not trading.

There was a time, last year I think, when I realized my beliefs or expectations of the market were not in line with the realities of the market behavior. I then began to focus more on the 5 min. which helped a lot. Yesterday I realized the same thing is happening. My belief vs. reality.

Also , I was thinking was I trading Hope yesterday or was I trading my plan ? That is, was my discipline bad or was the plan in need of revision ? Kind of important because should I be frustrated with myself or should I be pleased I stuck with plan. I've been hesitant to address the plan issue because when traded with discipline it works. And using the fixed targets has made a huge difference to my trading results. But I have seen , not just yesterday, that the same target does not fit with the reality of the market.

So the plan needs to be adjusted to choosing targets with airspace and S/R in mind. Possibly later on think about trend and counter trend targets. My thinking now is go with 15-25 tick targets. When in doubt go with the conservative/easy target. And sometimes 25 is the conservative target but i need to pick realistic targets based on PA. I don't think that will be as subjective as it may sound. I'm excited to see how lower targets will impact my results.

I've also got some data to review.

 

[Handle123]

Thanks Handle.

Question for you. Do you always scale out in CL ? I'm thinking about those +10,+50 trades. Actually I guess the question is: when you're holding for the +50 do you trail a stop ? What if it stalls at +35-40. Do you exit there ? I'm thinking about scaling out in the future (only trading 1 car now) so curious about different strategies.

I realize this may be too involved to answer easily and I completely understand if you prefer not to answer.

Thank you

jas

Am sorry, didn't see you question. Yes I always scale out but I do it as 4-1, every 4 lots at 10 ticks and one at 50. I never trail stops, but all I am thinking about is the risk, how much am I risking to get so much reward, still studying Crude oil for so long, study bar by bar, you can see patterns based on bar range as Crude is one of those markets that often does reoccurring patterns. Think of Crude Oil as big bars are big cause all that energy put into one bar and most likely going to poop out at some point, so when I see big bar, I will then watch for so many ticks to target and what type of risk there is to get it. You don't want to be risking 30 to get 20. Also, what type of day you having comes into play, if profits been tight, 30 ticks might be huge on the day or if market be good for you till then, you might give more chance to keep going.

If I am day trading two markets at a time, I am numb to emotions cause of concentration, but if trading one am much more emotionally caught into it hooping and hollering it out, always rooting for me, often time it is like my team is down and two minutes to go.

I look at trading as much different way than most, I simple don't look at doing it for profits on each signal, of course the only reason to do this at all is for money and that is only reason I trade, but each signal I am concentrating at risk. What is lowest amount of risk and how fast can I get to plus one/two ticks breakeven stops. And this blends into what I am doing for the day, I generally know how I am doing, but at some point when I think I am not doing well, I will add up ticks and if down, I go into mode of let's get even plus one tick, so I will only be going into whatever I can get in so many minutes, I might take so many trades in 30 minutes just to get 7-8 or less ticks just to get even plus one tick on the day. What I don't do is say screw it will go for long profits, that not going to work, haven't been doing it all day, and markets never going to be kind to me now, market been saying all day long it doesn't have the profits I normally get, so I go for less. I trade pre-market chop, it is consistent, but days of getting 10 ticks sometimes harder to do, so I go for what I can get.

 

[jas_in_hbca]

Thanks Handle. That makes sense and is helpful. I think that's the direction I'm heading in. Targets adjusted based on PA and type of day.

jas

 

[jas_in_hbca]

In doing a review of my actual trades and MFE I see that my profits would be much higher with a 15 or 21 tick target. (Win rate on w/s does not include BE trades) Actual results include invalid out of plan trades taken.

Looks like going forward i'll use a 15 tick target and track it vs. a PA based target.

i also track my actual results vs my plan results. This includes only valid in plan trades taken so it compares my trade management vs plan management. the plan always out performs my actual because of my mistakes in either exiting too soon (before stop or target) or me moving target higher and exiting for less than target. I should compare plan results using different targets also.

So going forward i need to increase my discipline/patience to only take valid trades and to hold through normal pullbacks rather than panic exits. (I've been improving on this quite a bit) In the meantime hindsight analysis of actual trades suggests a lower target will increase profits. Maybe it will end up helping my discipline issues too.

 

[jsmacksem]

In doing a review of my actual trades and MFE I see that my profits would be much higher with a 15 or 21 tick target. (Win rate on w/s does not include BE trades) Actual results include invalid out of plan trades taken.

Looks like going forward i'll use a 15 tick target and track it vs. a PA based target.

i also track my actual results vs my plan results. This includes only valid in plan trades taken so it compares my trade management vs plan management. the plan always out performs my actual because of my mistakes in either exiting too soon (before stop or target) or me moving target higher and exiting for less than target. I should compare plan results using different targets also.

So going forward i need to increase my discipline/patience to only take valid trades and to hold through normal pullbacks rather than panic exits. (I've been improving on this quite a bit) In the meantime hindsight analysis of actual trades suggests a lower target will increase profits. Maybe it will end up helping my discipline issues too.
View attachment 153480

Big targets are great when you are in a position to let a lot run as H123 said.

Small but consistent profits might really help you. This is a good idea. Excited to see results after a few weeks.

Enjoy vacation. Go away! Steak and wine. Beer and fishing. Or beer and call of duty. What?

 

[jas_in_hbca]

hey JS, thanks.

rented a cabin. doing some hiking and hanging out. Drinking some wine and beer and a nice dinner or two. Plan on doing the first two hikes + a couple more.

http://www.hikinginbigsur.com/hikes.html

then b-day party for a friend's wife. He's surprising her with me, my wife and 4 other couples coming in to do a day trip to Napa on a rented van. Should be a great time.

 

[jas_in_hbca]

Off to a good start w/ lower target. Easy CL day ? Maybe the new target made it seem that way.

My execution was perfect today. Only on last trade did I consider the idea of raising target but I did not. Also had a couple trades where I thought just take the 5 or 10 ticks. It was a good day so I was thinking even if I add just 5 more ticks it will be nice. But instead stayed with the trades to target. Average time in trade was less than 5 minutes I believe. As we've said before a lot goes through the head in those 5 minutes. Mostly it was good focus during trades and good emotional detachment.

Wild week emotionally. I think the personal life and work had some influence on trading. Everything is fine but just a hectic week. Yea , Friday !

I may trade Monday half session. Originally that was the plan then leave when LA traffic settles down. See how I feel Sunday night and monday morning. I'll post again before I leave.


Another profitable week. 6 trades today +74 ticks (yeah, the lower target worked well !!)

For week: + 60 ticks PnL attached.

Feels really good to have executed trade management well today.