jasinhbca's quest for discipline, knowledge & profits

[jas_in_hbca]

Quote from Handle123:

Long ago I discovered for ME, that my brain will do whatever it takes to do the opposite of what I really wanted in life and trading. This was huge for me. So each morning I felt sleepy, I wanted to get back to sleep, and told myself that if I get three losing trades, I could go back to sleep. I started to take all my signals, and had less and less losing trading days. It's funny I only remembered that now, am sure many of us forget little things we tried long ago.

That's interesting Handle, thanks.

So how did you eventually , I assume, get your brain in line with your desires ? Was it the hypnosis or does it just come together naturally over time?

Thanks.

 

[ammo]

Quote from jas_in_hbca:

+49 Ticks for the week, $ 425

Overall, pleased with how I traded. Today I was +21. Usually when I come into a Friday plus for the week I become more cautious. Can't quantify that, just feel it. Generally I become hesitant to look for more trades. But today I think I did OK .

I think i'm trading more calmly than ever before. Still room for improvement but I like this feeling a heck of a lot better than how I often felt last year.

I'm going try to keep doing what i'm doing.


RN, regarding the subconscious, any specifics or resources you can direct me to. It feels like I should be working on something. I do some visualizations of trades, i'm re-reading sections of Trading in the zone and I trade with the awareness of my weaknesses. Any recommendations at this point or should we just wait to see how things progress.

Thank you.

not an insult just a ready example, count the number of times you said I in your post, try to eliminate I,me,from your thought's while trading until you and your acct are not part of the process, the job is of utmost importance and everything else is petty and can be dealt with at another time, I is every traders achilles heal

 

[Redneck]

Quote from jas_in_hbca:

Still, I'll go sim just to be sure.

SIM is one of the most beneficial tools we have in my NOT SO humble opinion

If you’ve ever competed / been part of the police or military / flown a plane – then you know the mentality;

Practice like you play…. harder when practical / possible

Quote from jas_in_hbca:

I think that's answers your question but if not let me know.

As to answering my questions – as long as you're satisfied your answers are honest & correct – then you have

But truthfully it’s not about answering my questions - for my benefit – is it (rhetorical of course)

Quote from jas_in_hbca:

The other day I was really concerned that I had lost any skills I may have had.

We never lose our skill;

Let's admit it -

There are simply times when the mkt / price acts beyond our current experience/ skill level

Or

Price is simply unreadable (and with you describing price as closing mid bar repeatedly – I’m leaning toward this one)


Aside;

We’re not magicians JIH…, we can’t make something out of nothing

Mkt says wait and observe – that is precisely what we do – wait and observe

The alternative is we ignore what we’re being told and trade anyway

Then quickly get shown we've lost our ability – to listen / follow / be patient / preserve our capital

Quote from jas_in_hbca:

Thanks for the well wishes I will most certainly drink a cold one or three for you !

Sweet

RN

 

[jas_in_hbca]

Quote from ammo:

not an insult just a ready example, count the number of times you said I in your post, try to eliminate I,me,from your thought's while trading until you and your acct are not part of the process, the job is of utmost importance and everything else is petty and can be dealt with at another time, I is every traders achilles heal

Thank you Ammo. Your suggestions are always appreciated.

Interesting. Is this a decent example of what you are suggesting ?

If a traders internal dialog is " If price does 'X' I will enter and if it fails to do 'Y' after a time interval I will exit" should be reframed as
" If price does 'X' The Plan states to enter and if it fails to do 'Y' after a time interval The Plan states to exit".

Would that be a good start for creating more focus on price and less attachment on results ?

Thank you.

 

[ammo]

long 8 target 10, offer 9 75 ,7,5 stop,, there is no, you, me, them, just the market and buy/sell orders , all biz ,numbers , a video game, no people just a computer with data entries ,if you think only that way , it's a lot less thought in total, save mental energy, streamline thought process, eliminate the white noise in the background, you, all those emotions gone gives the brain more horsepower , able to crunch more data

 

[jas_in_hbca]

Great , got it. Thanks, Ammo .

 

[ammo]

me is where all the doubt comes from, you just want facts, people are full of rationalizations , it's a survival tool, using it in the market will break the bank

 

[jas_in_hbca]

Still here. Not a lot of live trading this month. This week I had 3 days of jury duty. My fourth time to actually be on a jury.

Traded Monday and Friday. Last week some sim and some live. Today was notable because it was the first time I added to a winner. The add turned out to be a quick scalp exit near LOD but happy with my ability to recognize the add and calmly take it.

+71 ticks for the week.

As noted previously my trading has not been going well this past month or so. Hard to summarize concisely but I would say there were mental issues from missing trades (playing catch up taking trades I should not have taken) as well as not holding trades I should have. I then lost focus and took poor entries.

I've done a fair amount of review & refinement of my set ups once again. The big thing I noticed was I was not taking set ups in the proper context. It was very clear to me I wasn't trading like I had been. I was trading sloppy just focusing on the current PA. I'm now back to reading the chart left to right and anticipating more rather than reacting. This is how I believe I should be trading.

I'm journaling more in my private journal and keeping track of my mental/ execution errors in a worksheet. I'm placing target/exit orders along with my entries. I do move the targets lower depending on S/R and higher depending on strength of trend. Sort of defeats the purpose of having a target so I'm trying to not raise the target. That's what has cost me in the past.

weekly pnl attached to 'keep it honest' . Trades 5 was the add (to trade 6) and this throws off the MFE calc for trade 5. Ninja does not calculate it correctly

 

[Redneck]

JIH

I know you’re sim-ing… but please continue posting your results

A consistent routine is an absolute paramount Sir

Plus, I am interested in your progression

RN

 

[jas_in_hbca]

Thanks RN,

Progress is slowly being made. I only spent a couple days on sim then back to Live. Week end 11/8: - 23 ticks, this past week 11/15: +32 ticks.

I've been journaling in my private journal 3-4 days a week. Misc. thoughts and notes on the positive things i'm doing and negative things. I've heard by noting the good and bad the subconscious can then learn what it's supposed to be doing. Not sure if it's true but there's really no down side to journaling so i'll keep it up.

Last week was a good confidence boost despite some major mistakes. Monday I was unfocused and tired and should not have traded. -36 ticks. The rest of the week was +25,-4,+29,+18.

Wednesday I should have been positive a minimum of 40- 50 ticks but I exited against my plan due to being nervous. After reviewing that day rather than being frustrated I almost had to laugh. It was amusing to have such perfect entries and once again blow trade management. I mean really, how many times do I have to see the same mistakes repeated ?

So, the confidence boost comes from being able to recover after a poor Monday and the realization that if I stick with my plan of not trading when unfocused AND manage trades according to plan then i'll be able to do this trading thing.

I noted the other day that i'm continuing to manage trades in a way that keep me in my comfort zone. I'll have to accept being uncomfortable until I develop the proper habits. I may have to step away from the desk after placing a trade if that's what it takes. Friday I did a good job of nervously staying in my trades.

I'll attach charts from Wed. To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld "I know how to take the trades , I just don't know how to hold them."

Thanks RN. I'll get back to posting regularly.