Journal from a lurker who just made his first post on ET

[Last]

First red day in 10 trading days. Pretty normal fuck up for me. Was weak handed on that first short, sat idle and then got way too aggressive trying to chase the end of the trend with obvious signs of buying coming in. What is kind of ironic is that if I would have just continued scalping like I did on my first trade, all those attempted entries at the bottom would have been very profitable. And as I said there were signs to be wary of an impending reversal and tighten up the leash or stay out altogether.

The good news is, I didn't blow past my self-imposed loss limit. Had rehearsed this in my head so many times that it was easy to stop. So, all in all very stupid trading but not going to get all vexed over it since I did what I said I was going to do: make sure my first losing day didn't surpass $150.

Now the thing to remember is that one losing day often begets another, because mental edge can get worn down a bit, and refocusing is needed. If that's going to be the case, my priority is to make sure that it's a smaller losing day than today. So tomorrow I'm not going to lose more than $100.

 

[Last]

That 1750 chart hums right along at that time of morning. What time you hit the rack when you're on the road? Gotta be drenched and drained after a show. How long to get back in gear? What's your feeding routine? Vitamin Mineral sups? Exercise? Hydrate? Aspirin, lol?
Hey, those channels look great. As price cranks by on that 1750 chart, at what point do those channels appear and how do they get there? Break a Leg.

Thanks for your interest!

Usually, we are packed up and ready to leave the venue by around 1am. Then its drive to the lodgings, usually sleep from about 2-3am to 7-8am. After a show yes you are drained and coming down from adrenaline, and its slightly depressing seeing everyone leave and the lights come on and then its just you and the boys wrapping up cables and shooting the shit. You go from "rockstar" to glorified carnie really quickly lol. But we get back in gear by just staying in good spirits, focusing on the next show. Waking up early and hitting the road. Can always nap on the drive. And exercise is key. We bring stuff for weight lifting, a football, a frisbee, boxing gloves for light sparring. Plus you're moving the gear equivalent of a 2 bedroom apartment around every night so you stay in shape just loading and unloading at venues. Can be a major workout in certain German venues that are deep underground.

We get catering usually and especially in Europe its very complete/nutritious. In the US they just give you a budget and you order from wherever or go find a local place that looks good. Back when I first started touring in my late teens I was just really good at shoplifting LOL.

Vitamins and minerals...just the basics plus a little bourbon. An herbal supp called "goldenseal root", helps a lot with stomach issues if you eat something bad or catch a bug. In October I'll bring some quercetin and zinc too. Drink a gallon a day of water typically.

The thing is, even on low sleep and insane schedule, its kind of a high testosterone environment so I always feel at my best and most powerful on tour. Plus my band is all original members, we've been doing this together for a long time and been through some crazy shit so we kind of push each other to work more, party more, just do everything.

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As far as trading goes, and the channels, I just look for them as soon as I see what looks like a trend forming. Usually on the 2nd or 3rd touch. I look for a "healthy" angle and a midline that comes into play and neatly divides price. I'll move them around or redraw them or delete them altogether. When I post a chart sometimes I will move it to fit better in hindsight. I don't think there is anything magical about them, its just a visual reminder of which direction I want to trade in, frames where a nice pullback might land, and helps to gauge strength or weakness and get a sense of how early or late things are. In my view, previous highs and lows and other levels are probably more important. Looking for where there will be stop runs, where people will be exiting and entering. Objectives on higher timeframes.

 

[Last]

Got the amps out for some testing ahead of this tour. The Splawn is my main rig, Marshall is a backup. Scott Splawn makes great amps, they are basically hot rodded Marshall jcm-800 circuits with his own selection of components. This amp is extremely loud. I genuinely felt like I was committing a misdemeanor by playing it in my garage just with the volume knob at 3 or 4. It also has a lot of clarity, very unforgiving. But when you hit a chord, it just leaps out of the speakers, makes you feel like you have lightning in your hands. Hard to describe it in words.

 

[maxinger]

First red day in 10 trading days. Pretty normal fuck up for me. Was weak handed on that first short, sat idle and then got way too aggressive trying to chase the end of the trend with obvious signs of buying coming in. What is kind of ironic is that if I would have just continued scalping like I did on my first trade, all those attempted entries at the bottom would have been very profitable. And as I said there were signs to be wary of an impending reversal and tighten up the leash or stay out altogether.

The good news is, I didn't blow past my self-imposed loss limit. Had rehearsed this in my head so many times that it was easy to stop. So, all in all very stupid trading but not going to get all vexed over it since I did what I said I was going to do: make sure my first losing day didn't surpass $150.

Now the thing to remember is that one losing day often begets another, because mental edge can get worn down a bit, and refocusing is needed. If that's going to be the case, my priority is to make sure that it's a smaller losing day than today. So tomorrow I'm not going to lose more than $100.

View attachment 294363

Are you doing high-frequency trading?
the high-frequency trader sets their max loss at just a few ticks (perhaps 1 or 2)
I see that you shorted ES multiple times.

The downtrend started around 830am
at around 907am, you shouldn't be shorting anymore as it is too late
(and hence riskier).

 

[easymon1]

Got the amps out for some testing ahead of this tour. The Splawn is my main rig, Marshall is a backup. Scott Splawn makes great amps, they are basically hot rodded Marshall jcm-800 circuits with his own selection of components. This amp is extremely loud. I genuinely felt like I was committing a misdemeanor by playing it in my garage just with the volume knob at 3 or 4. It also has a lot of clarity, very unforgiving. But when you hit a chord, it just leaps out of the speakers, makes you feel like you have lightning in your hands. Hard to describe it in words.

First overseas trip for the Splawn? Beauty.

 

[Last]

Are you doing high-frequency trading?
the high-frequency trader sets their max loss at just a few ticks (perhaps 1 or 2)
I see that you shorted ES multiple times.

The downtrend started around 830am
at around 907am, you shouldn't be shorting anymore as it is too late
(and hence riskier).

Nope, not high frequency. Just repeatedly trying to jump in late on a trend. I agree, I was way too late. I need to really work on that, its been a recurring theme.

 

[Last]

First overseas trip for the Splawn? Beauty.

October/November is actually a North American run. US, Canada, and waiting to hear back from a festival in Mexico city. Its too expensive to fly gear overseas, luckily we have a deal with a UK amp manufacturer called Orange, they just let us borrow whatever we want when we're over there. Another awesome amp maker, been around since the 60's or 70's i believe.

 

[maxinger]

Nope, not high frequency. Just repeatedly trying to jump in late on a trend. I agree, I was way too late. I need to really work on that, its been a recurring theme.

good. really work on that.

I used to enter rather late.

I am glad after many many years, I don't have this problem anymore.

 

[Overnight]

Why the hell does maxinger have me on block now? WTF! OMG this /ignore block thing is the ruin of internet forums. This is the only site I have ever seen it on, and it is awful.

 

[Last]

Hell yeah. Damn you guys done this a few times, lol. That freakin Splawn looks brand spankin. Mercy!

Haha the cool thing is its an '05, first year he was in production. They have a very mid-range forward, blazing tone, think 80's hair metal/arena rock, Van Halen-esque. Its perfect for cutting through the mix onstage alongside bass drums and other guitars. Carves out its own frequency range so it never gets buried, always audible to the crowd (which isn't always a good thing lol).