My Wyckoff journal

Dammit - just spent a while drafting a post and then got a site error when I posted it - lost the whole thing :)

Anyway - second attempt:

I wasn't able to spend much time trading this afternoon as Life got in the way in a bit. But I'm back to trading FX and CFD's in the mornings (UK time), so I got enough opportunities earlier in the day. Plenty of chances to reinforce the work I'm doing at any rate.

So I had 3 trades on the NQ today, all executed as per the plan.

I am definitely making progress in terms of getting my head in the right space. MD's core message that trading is a "Pattern Probability with Numbers Game" is finally sinking in....

Thinking about it over the weekend though I realised that I had been putting a lot of pressure on myself to 'get it' straight away. I was expecting that 'a-ha' moment to be a specific moment in time that changed everything. The "Why didnt I think of that earlier" moment as MD describes.

I don't think it will be like that for me though. This whole process seems to be more of a gradual building of awareness rather than a specific moment where it all clicks.

I am at the point that I sense momentum building behind the right mindset; that more and more the right beliefs are demanding expression.

I can point to trades recently where I have done the right thing where in the past I would have folded and capitulated and made my own 'trader errors', but none of them by themselves are unique. The sum of the parts being greater than the whole kind of thing....

Anyway, all in all a positive start to the week. Good luck to all.

Fin/.

Constant Improvement. Rome wasn't built in a day.
 
Mostly positive day. If I was judging my performance on the P&L it was one of the better days in the last few weeks.

But... And there is always a but :)

I let myself down on a couple of trades. One that I took (greed? not mentally prepared enough?) the other I didn't take as I was already in the first one, and when the blinders came off I hesitated...

The trades took place around the reversal off the intraday low at 4684.

I was short from 4707 and held it as per my plan down to 4688 or so. I usually take profits at ~5pts but there are certain triggers that I keep the trades on for. But then I shorted again for the third run into the intraday low, and wasn't mentally prepared for the bounce.

This is a bit of a miss as it was essentially the same setup as the trade from the intraday high. I had blinders on because I was in a short scalp trade. IT was the wrong trade for the market condition. I didn't register the right information at the time. I was looking the wrong way because I was expecting or even hoping the market was going to continue south....

I was caught out going for the quick scalp into the intraday low, and wasn't taking into account all the possibilities. In fairness I was probably biased towards the short side after the reaction to the ISM figures... Once again - expectations got in the way. I know I trip up when I do this, and I've learned from MD that any expectations on the market to do something for me gets me in the wrong frame of mind.

So the two errors were entering that short scalp without being open to the reversal off a triple bottom at the intraday low.

Buyers were repeatedly running out of sellers at 83 or so, and when the Buying pressure came into the market I hesitated as I hadn't prepped for the possibility of the bounce off the lows. So there I am with 2.5 pt scalp when the market blasts upwards 12pts in under 2 minutes. Usually in those circumstances (having missed the best entry) I'm looking for the first retracement and a resumption of buying pressure to get into the move. But I think I was flustered by that stage and let the move continue without looking for other entries.

MD has a great quote when he talks about the best traders taking into account all the unknowns prior to each trade. That I did not do! Good object lesson. But need to do some review as I'm clearly not trading from a neutral perspective 100% of the time.

A handful of other trades were executed well for the most part. Had a bit of a choppy day in FX earlier but stood my ground and let the series of trades play out. So moving forwards with the right probability based mindset there. Just let my emotions and expectations get the better of me in the NQ later on.

Fin/.
 
damnpenguins said:
I've learned from MD that any expectations on the market to do something for me gets me in the wrong frame of mind.
More...

Always expect the mkt to do something (as per Mark)

We just never know what that something (direction) will be


damnpenguins said:
I let myself down on a couple of trades. One that I took (greed? not mentally prepared enough?) the other I didn't take as I was already in the first one, and when the blinders came off I hesitated...
More...

Every trade we gamble - either as a gambler..., or the house

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

Over a series of trades..., does our edge(s) reap rewards :)


damnpenguins said:
Constant Improvement. Rome wasn't built in a day.
More...


;)


RN
 
Spending Xmas eve going over my stats for the last series of trades. Am I obsessed about trading or what!!?

Anyway - Its been a great year for me in terms of trading. I might post some stats in the new year to show the progression. Absolute 'night and day' between where I was at the start of the year and where I find myself now at the end of it.

I'm pretty much exactly where I wanted to be when I started this journal. I needed to get the foundations right, and I truly believe I've done that.

Ready and rearing to go in the new year.

Merry Xmas everyone!
 
Found this on another forum. Sometimes visualising a concept makes all the difference.

Gold.PNG
 
damnpenguins said:
Wyckoff traders
More...
Section 7 is located where?
Are you trading Wyckoff?
dbphoenix said:
You'll find, though, that there are very few principles. The rest is just detail. In re Wyckoff, for example, pretty much everything you need to know is in Section 7. And if you add the earlier sections on Supply and Demand, Judging the Market by its Own Action, and Waves, that's plenty. Enough to chew on for years.
More...
 
easymon1 said:
Section 7 is located where?
Are you trading Wyckoff?
More...
Hey there easymon1,

DB was referring to Section 7 of Wyckoff's course. Plenty of PDF's available online, not sure if I can upload it here for copyright purposes etc...
 

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I've only seen some very basic Wyckoff articles.
An online glossary outlined a simple word picture that frames rallies and pullbacks in a way that speaks to me.
After a Jump the Creek (JAC) rally,
the Backup to the Edge of the Creek (BEC) Reaction
is a Potential Sign of Strength (SOS) and often finds Support at the creek.
Was wondering if any horizontal creek setups resonate with ways you like to trade Wyckoff?
 
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