I am US EST. The bond trade was not a good one all around BUT I could have mitigated the damage with a proper entry and maybe even had a small profit. On the positive side, I did recognize the mistake both in terms of analysis and timing quickly and looked to exit so while I took a loss, it could have been a lot worse. Had I held the trade through today I would have realized a lot more pain.
Last Pieces of the Puzzle Journal
- Thread starter ps0013
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Any big lessons / takeaways from January?
I was positive in forex, futures and equities/options accounts for January but underachieved. The positive is that my losses keep getting smaller as my entries are much more precise. I continue to work on overcoming self-protective / trading-not-to lose tendencies and learning to trust what I know "deep down" to be true.
Thanks again for letting me participate in this journey with you. Let's get better together!
I was positive in forex, futures and equities/options accounts for January but underachieved. The positive is that my losses keep getting smaller as my entries are much more precise. I continue to work on overcoming self-protective / trading-not-to lose tendencies and learning to trust what I know "deep down" to be true.
Thanks again for letting me participate in this journey with you. Let's get better together!
As discussed in James Clear's "Atomic Habits," being disciplined and becoming the trader you know you should be involves creating an IDENTITY and image of yourself that reflects that ideal trader so that how you behave is consistent with that IDENTITY. So if I identify myself as a disciplined trader, my actions will more naturally occur to align with that. One way to help move in that direction is to ask yourself, "What would ______ do?" The _____ could be that identify / image of yourself or another trader that you're trying to emulate. That will be a focus of mine for the month of February.
Monday 02/04/19
1) FOREX WEEKLY PREP TRADE: Recorded possible forex trades for the week on my white board over the weekend. I looked at one this morning CADJPY which rallied overnight but for which I had a sell bias for the week. I entered the "short" trade this morning. Will evaluate at 5:00 p.m NY close.
2) ES 15-MINUTE OSC SET-UP STRATEGY: Bought near close of 11:00 bar and sold at close of 11:15. Walked away from screen in between. Market did continue higher after I exited (time-based exit) but I wanted to just show I could follow the discipline. Much less stress!
1) FOREX WEEKLY PREP TRADE: Recorded possible forex trades for the week on my white board over the weekend. I looked at one this morning CADJPY which rallied overnight but for which I had a sell bias for the week. I entered the "short" trade this morning. Will evaluate at 5:00 p.m NY close.
2) ES 15-MINUTE OSC SET-UP STRATEGY: Bought near close of 11:00 bar and sold at close of 11:15. Walked away from screen in between. Market did continue higher after I exited (time-based exit) but I wanted to just show I could follow the discipline. Much less stress!
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I typically trade from my desk at "work". Today I had to come home, sick kids. Traded from home for the first time in about a decade. Usually I'm in a trade within 10 minutes of the market open. Today it was after 1pm when I started. I think the afternoon timeframe is much less nerve racking. But I like making money early and being done for the day.
Friday 02/08/19...following plan + $
Friday 02/08/19...following plan + $