Matcha's Dow E-mini Journal

Hmmm. Gap+ Bull trending day+ climatic move type of days again. It looks so easy in hindsight, just buy anywhere at the open then ring register at the close. But to me it’s just so difficult to get in…. This type of day is very easy to recognize in the first 60 min-after the climatic move left without me, I got the idea that I will only go long, no short. Now the decisions are narrowed down. Where to enter? Scalp or “holding” for a swing? That part is always difficult for me to make decision. All the retrace looks bad to enter. Plus market always looks too high to buy…

Really wish someday I can catch the move at the open on this particular type of day. Although I had done some study on this type of day, I still don’t know how to join the morning flow…

Trade 1: 7:35am; H2 long, got out for a scalp profit. The move of the leg wasn’t too strong. More like a trading range price action.

Then market stalled and formed a triangle/wedge pattern like it did yesterday. So I was ready to get in when I see a Breakout Pullback setup. (Break to either direction is fine). But the large climax bar at 8:55 brought the market up another 34ts higher, the pullback didn’t happen…Then I guess I am done for the day…

PnL: $72, 1 trade
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Quote from Matcha:



Really wish someday I can catch the move at the open on this particular type of day.....

....

PnL: $72, 1 trade
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Hi Matcha,

I am pretty sure you will be there!

You had a decent PnL today and a 100% winrate.

The bulk of the action happened overnight and pre-market. I was tempted to be a night trader doing some trading last night. :)

--po
 
Quote from PatientOperator:

Hi Matcha,

I am pretty sure you will be there!

You had a decent PnL today and a 100% winrate.

The bulk of the action happened overnight and pre-market. I was tempted to be a night trader doing some trading last night. :)

--po
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wow. Did you catch the big move? If so, I am so happy for you!!!

I haven't tested any overnight trades yet!
 
Quote from PatientOperator:

Hi Matcha,

:) :) :) Here's a fortune cookie for you:

+--------------------------------+
| 2011 will be your lucky year. |
| You will be a rising young star. |
+--------------------------------+

Hehe! No more monopoly money! You will be able to buy everything you want. :) :)

--po
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hehe, thank you! I loved it!

If I could be a rising star! You would be with me, partner!
 
Quote from Matcha:

hehe, thank you! I loved it!

If I could be a rising star! You would be with me, partner!
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:) :) :) I sure hope so, partner!


Quote from Matcha:

wow. Did you catch the big move? If so, I am so happy for you!!!

I haven't tested any overnight trades yet!
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I was watching only. I did not make any trades. IB won't let me place stop loss orders overnight. It's hard to stay up all night to monitor the open trades. I might try later to set up some price alert with "siren" alarm to wake me up to trade. :) :)

--po
 
Quote from Matcha:
Really wish someday I can catch the move at the open on this particular type of day.
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Matcha

You're doing many things right, your discipline alone is more valuable than profits right now. Your method of trading is evolving nicely, IMO. Stick with it and continue to hone your skills. As you become more comfortable with the risk involved and with your method, you will begin to trust you intuition more and more. Intuitive trades (IMO) are impossible to back test or prepare for. The best I can do is keep a running account of winners and losers. Intuitive trades (IMO) are nothing more than trading by the, "seat of our pants." There is no good reason for taking the trade, other than an unconscious thought (intuition), but with strict risk management (which you display) these trades can be entered within our "risk's comfort zone". The difference between the intuitive trade and seat of the pants is experience and knowledge of your markets price action, this only comes with time. I believe we first develop the intuition to stay out of the market in uncertain times, and enjoy the safety of the sidelines, this is a good thing. You will get there, I'm sure. Many times when confronted with a choppy market, I tend to "see things" that ain't really there, I've learned to walk away and stand aside.

As public speculators, without news feeds like, AP or Reuters we are at a disadvantage to our professional competition. When in doubt, stay out! If a flurry of activity causes prices to jump, and you have no idea as the cause of the move, stay out. Again, professional traders are usually, much more informed than the public speculator, and many of these moves are short lived, lasting only a few minutes. If your in a winning trade and prices suddenly jump in your favor, and you don’t understand why, take profits quickly.

Here's an example, yesterday I took a long at 1.3050 I had a target at 1.3070, I was out of the trade with a quick profit and I was done for the day. Before I finished printing out my charts and trades, the market took off on a 100 point run..... I just sat and watched. Believe me these moves are DANGEROUS for little guys like us.
 

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Took a loss today, but I started to appreciate the losing trades. I don’t get very emotional like I did before. I think I get more education in SIM by taking losses and discover some problem of misreading the market and bad trading management.

Trade 1:Counter-trend trade, Short on the wedge/ledge after the extensive spiky move. 3rd push with YTD’s move. I think it’s OK to tighten the stop when see no follow through or just leave the stop at the pivot high then let it run full stop loss in this particular setup. Instead I moved the stop at a very odd place then hoping the market will come down and validate the trade. Once I got stopped out by the strong bull bar in this tight TR. I then I re-entered, then “hope” it was a bull trap then market is going to sell down. But this time I set up a small tight stop which is at least something I did right.

Market continue to move up, so I then will only look for H2 setup but also aware that it might trade in a TR, plus it’s a more than 100pts day after a 300Pts day. So I will not take any BO trades.

Trade 3: was a wedge bull flag long. Full stop

Trade 4: H2 long, another Wedge bull flag into S/R level. Then price stalled in a tiny trading range(wedge) again. I didn’t like the uncertainty so I exit.

PnL: -$109, 4 trades, 27%winrate

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Quote from Matcha:

Took a loss today, but I started to appreciate the losing trades. I don’t get very emotional like I did before. I think I get more education in SIM by taking losses and discover some problem of misreading the market and bad trading management.

Trade 1:Counter-trend trade, Short on the wedge/ledge after the extensive spiky move. 3rd push with YTD’s move. I think it’s OK to tighten the stop when see no follow through or just leave the stop at the pivot high then let it run full stop loss in this particular setup. Instead I moved the stop at a very odd place then hoping the market will come down and validate the trade. Once I got stopped out by the strong bull bar in this tight TR. I then I re-entered, then “hope” it was a bull trap then market is going to sell down. But this time I set up a small tight stop which is at least something I did right.

Market continue to move up, so I then will only look for H2 setup but also aware that it might trade in a TR, plus it’s a more than 100pts day after a 300Pts day. So I will not take any BO trades.

Trade 3: was a wedge bull flag long. Full stop

Trade 4: H2 long, another Wedge bull flag into S/R level. Then price stalled in a tiny trading range(wedge) again. I didn’t like the uncertainty so I exit.

PnL: -$109, 4 trades, 27%winrate
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I do not understand something !!!
All markets and sectors were strong at open, We had a good bounce yesterday !!!
Were you BIASED towards short - expecting a pull back ??
I have lost so much money and self confidence doing what you did in first few trades that I AM GETTING MAD> :D

Trade the Price action !! Dont you see your MA is barely keeping up with the candles ??? and on which side of the MA is Price??

After trade 1 failed with a strong bar UP --- why did you not reversed and went LONG instead of shorting it. Did a Pivot line scare you ??
Study the chart patter for days when DOW opens 70pts plus you will see alot of similarity.

I apologize if i come across harsh, I had a bad day. was stuck in a morning meeting at work and could not close my GOOG short .

:mad:
 
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