jasinhbca's quest for discipline, knowledge & profits

[jas_in_hbca]

I'm hesitant to post because I don't want to sound negative and I certainly don't want any pity. But I do feel the need to vent. I have been struggling. Went back to trading 1 contract and will now go to Sim again. Seems nothing I'm doing is working. Lot's of small losses then when the real moves come I miss them. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but possibly trying too hard resulting in taking trades in the wrong context.
I'll do some more trade review. Usually that helps. Overall, though I feel pretty good about the clarity of my set ups and my understanding of them. Again maybe a bit better context.

OK, took a break and reviewed some of todays trades. I am making mistakes. More on the mental side. trade 2 entering into res but thought LOD reversal was good context for continuation. Given the overlapping bars just prior to entry should have been a warning to wait or use even closer stop.

Trade 3 I panicked and exited too soon. No reason to exit and I even said that to myself as I exited.

Trade 4 is valid entry but a bit late. Just didn't work.

At the 4062 area I pass on the simple PB cause I'm thinking it's overextended and if I lose again then I'm just chasing the market on tilt and I don't want that regret. I may have not been thinking that exactly but I think that's pretty close.

So son of bitch it's still me. Honestly, the last couple weeks have not been good for my confidence or my self-esteem. And to compound it I know full well that I shouldn't let any of this bother me in such a way. UCLA QB Brett Hundley was in the news a couple weeks ago for his casual indifference to his pass being intercepted at a crucial point in the game. Basically , big deal , move on. It's the correct attitude and one I'm trying to get to still.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla/la-sp-ucla-football-20140909-story.html

So, the venting helped. I will now calm down and get back to simply trading what is on the chart. I'll do some review and work on my trader's self image.

I will post again when I have some positive progress to report. Soon.

 

[Redneck]

I'm hesitant to post because I don't want to sound negative and I certainly don't want any pity.

So son of bitch it's still me.

Honest self evaluation is not being negative - it is identifying areas to improve

Pitying is enabling - to hell with that

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

Yes..., get on SIM till you've worked through this - no need pissing money away


Have you a list of the issue(s) which need addressed

Any you want to talk through/ about - PM me if you'd rather not do that here



Wheels fell off - has happened to us all - so..., get em back on

RN

 

[jas_in_hbca]

Wheels fell off - has happened to us all - so..., get em back on

Good to hear. 'Course I've never gotten much past training wheels ..

The list of issues: Patience/ breathing, Taking all valid set ups, letting go of missed trades & losses

I wish there was something I could ask you but I think it's mostly things I need to work through myself.

Thank you !

 

[Redneck]

Yes.., it is entirely up to you to resolve / overcome



But.., sometimes a sounding board helps..., if nothing more than to assist in getting the crap sorted out - so you can resolve it


Maybe even help keep you from a wild goose chase.., or two


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

No pity whatsoever

But I can / do empathize - its a pure f'n bitch trying to get it all assimilated & working within


Either way J.., I'm here

eta

Know your technical skills and knowledge are fine - don't mess with either trying to improve
(the if I could only read PA better / find something that would give me just a little more insight into what is going to happen next)


Focus on the internal..., quieting your thoughts..., trusting your skills / approach

Plan each trade..., trade each plan - to the letter - win / lose / or draw


RN

 

[jas_in_hbca]

Thursday I simmed which was helpful. Caught a nice short to start the day then made some poor trades. In sim I think I was able to recognize the problem without getting frustrated. i.e I'm taking too many forced out of plan trades. I've slipped back to my old ways. I'm taking reversal trades too soon and not paying enough attention to S/R areas. Context.

So need to slow down, have more patience and watch the context. Also need more patience while in the trades.

Friday went live and made + 5.25. I'm trading my PnL too much on my winners. Seeing +8 and thinking that would be nice. Then seeing +10, then +8, +.6.5, +10 +8, i'd better exit and just take the 8. Then the next leg starts with trend line having never been broken and the pb respecting support where trade was exited.

It feels like if I could just get a few really solid days logged then I would feel more comfortable pulling the trigger and holding when I should. Yeah, trading a bit scared I guess.

Market conditions are such that I should be profitable every day. I tried visualizing that and was disturbed that I couldn't really picture it. After some thought I came up with that visualizing profits is an incomplete picture. What would be satisfying and easier to visualize would be a day of trading where I execute per plan, taking uncomfortable trades and reading the market calmly as price goes to target. That I realize is the real goal. Can I visualize that ? Well, I'm going to try. (going to re-write my self- image note cards, too) Am I overthinking this again ? Probably.

 

[Redneck]

T. Can I visualize that ? Well, I'm going to try. (going to re-write my self- image note cards, too) Am I overthinking this again ? Probably.

Instead of visualizing – what if you were to rehearse…, or make a dry run


Personally the last two make more sense to me…, even though all three are essentially the same (and I don't visualize for crap)



For example; if I were to give an important speech – I’d definitely rehearse it / and make a couple of dry runs

Visualizing it – would do little for me

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

Rehears the actions of trading successful - run through a scenario where you have some winners..., and losers during the same session



Just a thought

RN

 

[jas_in_hbca]

One of the things I've done in the past is do market replay on the same trade over and over a few times. That what you mean by rehearse ?

sent you a PM or I guess now they're called PT ( private thread)

gotta run now. thanks.

 

[Redneck]

Possibly

The main thing is..., it needs to work for you

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

Visualization - to me.., has the connotation of sitting and visualizing (to wit I get very bored and completely distracted)


Rehearsal / dry run / practice - to me.., is going through the physical motions (though obviously not actually placing trades) - but doing every thing else we would normally do while trading - and doing it perfectly

So it imprints perfect thoughts / actions

Think of the adages - practice like you play / practice harder than you play


RN

 

[NoDoji]

I love your advice, RN. As a scalper it's often tempting for me to micro manage, no matter how long I've been doing this. Something that was very helpful for me in disrupting the routines of my bad habits was writing a set of alternate actions to take.

So one bad habit I had early on in price action trading was moving my stop to break even too quickly. My stats told me I should never move a stop to break even until price had gone at least N ticks in my favor or a new opposing signal appeared. The way I'd move the stop so quickly and easily was that after the trade was on I'd leave my hand on the mouse, ready to change things at any moment. So the alternate action was to lean back in my chair, place my hands in my lap and take a deep breath.

Another bad habit was (and still occasionally is) hesitating to immediately place an order upon the appearance of a valid signal. I'd already know in advance that everything surrounding the signal met my technical criteria for a trade, but my wonderfully helpful brain would start offering me reasons that it could be risky because [price moved kind of fast just then; news pending in 20 minutes; those two bars back there look kinda weak; the news was so bearish how can it possibly go up again; it's the end of the month; it's the middle of the day; there's a full moon tonight; mercury in retrograde; Jeff's dog just barked; and so on], and then before I know it price is running without me. So the alternate action is to immediately place the order, close my eyes and recall a trade where it felt really impossible and price ended up running in my favor.

Actually most trades feel that way to me at the hard right edge, LOL!

 

[Redneck]

Thank You Ma'am

RN