NoDoji's Day Trading Log

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Quote from quotetrader:

Thanks for the example- that helps alot. I hadnt put that idea of 'retracing more than 50%' of a gain being an overall bearish sign into my trading- but that is a good technique.

one question- regarding stochastic "crossovers"

do you pay much attention to whether the fast line is crossing over the slower line.. or do you just take note over whther things are in the overbought/oversold zone, and then go by price action from there (failure to make lower lows, etc)
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Retracement often signals a reversal setup. Think about when a long rally or decline finally runs out of steam. Price pushes to the extreme, then finally retraces as support or resistance is hit. If the current candle retraces more than 50% of its push at these extremes, it threatens to leave a shooting star (at a top) or a hammer (at a bottom). These are very strong reversal signals.

I've found that waiting for the fast line to cross through the slow line provides better confirmation of a reversal, but I tend to put on the trade as soon as the fast line pivots, because my day trades look for quick smaller moves, and I can set a tighter stop with the earlier entry.
 
Quote from NoDoji:

I’m torn between moving the stop to break even/locking in a small profit or leaving it in place until my target setup is reached.
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Avoid mentally equating 'break even' with 'satisfactory outcome'. 'Break even' is a mental crutch we use to tell ourselves "well, that wasn't so bad". It lulls us into accepting medicore results. Allow yourself to take LOSSES, when appropriate, in the context of a well managed system.
 
Quote from BlindLemonBoosh:

Avoid mentally equating 'break even' with 'satisfactory outcome'. 'Break even' is a mental crutch we use to tell ourselves "well, that wasn't so bad". It lulls us into accepting medicore results. Allow yourself to take LOSSES, when appropriate, in the context of a well managed system.
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I agree with Blind Lemon...".breaking even" was not your intent when you entered the trade.

Unless there is a complete reversal of the prompt that caused you to enter the trade you, will be better off to let it ride. If it incurs a loss, so be it as the market simply went against you.....not your fault....move on to your next profitable trade.

BTW, by being "better off", I do not mean in a financial sense,but emotionally.
 
Quote from NoDoji:

As for thinking instead of acting, I invite input from everyone on how you handle the mental game.

When you get a signal, or a preferred setup is ripe, do you act immediately? I have a bad habit of waiting, looking for more confirmation, etc, and often the opportunity is quickly lost.
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I am sure that all your successful trades in WTR ans AIPC were as a result of you ACTING, not thinking, otherwise you fluked a very good result.

If that is the case...you simply ACT, because you know what you are doing and there is simply NO REASON to second guess yourself.............it is only a trade...not a life or death option.
 
NOD

Please allow me to make a suggestion. I would suggest you do an experiment and switch from "candy-cane" multi colored price charts and use regular "plain-vanilla" bars that show you price as it really is, in BLACK and BLACK only.

Multi colors within a bar really has no value because (especially in futures) you have no idea if someone is exiting or entering a position at said price. EXAMPLE: You see your setup and want to take the trade, ok? But the color of the chart produces a pause and price takes off without you. The color of the bar thus gave you reason NOT to take the trade.

The important points within any "BAR" are the opening, the high, the low and most important of all the closing tick. Those ticks are all relative to the previous bars high or low and close only. Notice that within the previous bar all the movement within the bar except those points are now history because the only ticks that matter are as stated.

When i look at a "BAR" charts price i care less why it is doing what it is doing, reasons are for the analyst community and not for traders. WHERE price reaches its high or low and WHERE it closes is what will make my mind decide what to do next. Grant it, while the said bar is being constructed and flopping around like a fish out of water i will look and maybe decide to pull the ripcord and bail out .....BUT, i am not concerned at all about the volume or the color of the bar.

Think about that if you decide to give REGULAR color-blind bar charts a whirl. KISS is about doing what works and honing the setups signals down to where they are as easy as black and white. Take the gray area out of your reading of charts, i think you will like them a lot more.

Lets make some bacon today.

PS: foir now is now, sure a single trade is not a death wish, but each and every trade should be viewed as important, PERIOD.

PSS: now is now, sounds good :)
 
Thanks for the feedback ND-

I've found that waiting for the fast line to cross through the slow line provides better confirmation of a reversal, but I tend to put on the trade as soon as the fast line pivots, because my day trades look for quick smaller moves, and I can set a tighter stop with the earlier entry.

do you wait for the fast line pivot to actually print?

Because I'll see mine pivot, then move back down, and basically wiggle all around on the end of it until it prints and moves to the next section

when you put the trade on these days, it sounds like you are still using limit orders.. every time I use those, I miss my fills, or get annoying partial fills.. and usually im just putting it in at the bid or between the bid/ask

for that reason, I've been using market orders just so i know ill get in, but often times it gives you the worst price of the candle.

When nyou enter your limit order, are you just hitting the displayed bid or ask price in your software, or are you determining a good bottom end price , entering that manually and hoping it gets filled?
 
Quote from bighog:

NOD

Please allow me to make a suggestion. I would suggest you do an experiment and switch from "candy-cane" multi colored price charts and use regular "plain-vanilla" bars that show you price as it really is, in BLACK and BLACK only.

Multi colors within a bar really has no value because (especially in futures) you have no idea if someone is exiting or entering a position at said price. EXAMPLE: You see your setup and want to take the trade, ok? But the color of the chart produces a pause and price takes off without you. The color of the bar thus gave you reason NOT to take the trade.

The important points within any "BAR" are the opening, the high, the low and most important of all the closing tick. Those ticks are all relative to the previous bars high or low and close only. Notice that within the previous bar all the movement within the bar except those points are now history because the only ticks that matter are as stated.

When i look at a "BAR" charts price i care less why it is doing what it is doing, reasons are for the analyst community and not for traders. WHERE price reaches its high or low and WHERE it closes is what will make my mind decide what to do next. Grant it, while the said bar is being constructed and flopping around like a fish out of water i will look and maybe decide to pull the ripcord and bail out .....BUT, i am not concerned at all about the volume or the color of the bar.

Think about that if you decide to give REGULAR color-blind bar charts a whirl. KISS is about doing what works and honing the setups signals down to where they are as easy as black and white. Take the gray area out of your reading of charts, i think you will like them a lot more.

Lets make some bacon today.

PS: foir now is now, sure a single trade is not a death wish, but each and every trade should be viewed as important, PERIOD.

PSS: now is now, sounds good :)
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Sorry for interrupting your journal NoDoji but i had a question for Bighog.

Do you use Constant Volume, Tick, Range or Minute bars for your OHLC? I also agree about the close being the most important of them all but isn't it still an arbitrary point because the close is different depending on the style of chart time,volume,range or tick size you chose?
 
- $204

10:42 a.m.: Short ORLY @ 37.25 pullback from overbought run up. It stagnated for quite a while, reaching oversold pretty much close to my price. I was ready to scratch the trade, then my doorbell rang and I exited right then at b/e since I wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on the L2 action, which was concerning me. Came back and it had spiked through my stop and would’ve cost me $100. I was saved by the bell!

11:27 a.m.: Short ROST @ 39.00, overbought not too far from the HOD, stop above the HOD. This one ran nearly to my stop, so when it pulled back to my entry price extremely oversold and lots of buyers lined up I exited at b/e, which was the absolute bottom of that move. I need to remember that midday a stock running back up from a low tends to test previous resistance and even though it’s overbought sooner, be patient and wait for further action to get the best setup.

12:58 p.m.: Short ROST @ 39.24, pull back from overbought forming lower high, tight stop because this setup should work without much backtracking or I’ve no interest in it because the price consolidated near resistance after a higher low. It moved nicely at first, then bounced off the 20-period SMA, became overbought again very close to my stop, and finally found some down side with the market. This thing tracks the SPY like a Siamese twin. I covered @ 39.04 oversold near round number for a $101 gain, catching almost the entire meat of that move.

2:25 p.m.: Short URS @ 43.80 overbought, SPY overbought, pullback from lower high, wide stop (because of the wide spread on this one) @ 44.30, above the HOD which formed a double top earlier. Stop hit with slippage for a $270 loss. In reviewing this trade, the mistake was not waiting for the actual 3rd test of resistance. The lower high seemed a good signal, though, and I didn’t want to miss the quick drops this one often makes. I’m more disappointed in myself for not replaying the trade on the pullback from that run up, as it eventually drifted almost back to my original entry price from the high of 44.57.

3:22 p.m.: Short HANS @ 36.68 overbought at the HOD. Decided to hold rather than taking the profit end of day because HANS has been dipping into the 35.00’s each day and I believe there is a stronger move in this one.

I’m pleased with my discipline and trade management today, though patience on entry points and more trades would’ve been helpful to the bottom line. I do have one issue to overcome: I start each morning with a hot list of plays, then I often don’t grab them quickly. They are always the best moves of the day, and as you can see from previous posts in this journal, when I act quickly on open, I take a quick early profit and definitely sets a positive tone!

My top play this morning was to short ROST at the open if it hit 39.20 with a stop at 39.50. I waited for the open instead of just placing the limit order in advance, and it spiked to 39.27 and fell off a cliff before I had time to react. My most successful opening plays have been when I placed the limit order in advance.

Geez, you know what I talkin’ ‘bout, Mr. “Long AAPL at the Open” dude!
 

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Nodoji,
Oh the pains that we endure as traders huh?
But alas AAPL never gave me an early trade and I don't let "pride" get in the way of trading.
Google what Marcelis Wallace says about pride. (in "Pulp Fiction") -G
 
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