NoDoji's Day Trading Log

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+ $124

Short ES @ 1136.50 on a breakdown of the premarket low, stopped out for +$20.20 when the breakdown found support and rebounded. With 2 cars I could've scalped a decent gain on one and been stopped out on the other.

Well, it didn’t find much support, and then I failed to re-short the failure, (which failed right at the 20 EMA, how much more invitation does one need???), and then it hit lows all morning, but I was hesitant to get back in because of recent market strength on every pullback. How did I miss the re-short? I figured the bounce would be stronger and so I "took a break" from watching the screen. I really have to remember I'm trying to DAY TRADE, meaning focus focus focus. Also I need to learn to join the trend-in-progress.(A power outage for about an hour and a half as soon as I put on this trade would’ve been great for my bottom line.)

I’ll post the chart illustrating my failure to stay focused and jump on the re-entry setup.

I then started watching for a long entry and never took it. I need an ES mentor. I need someone live with me on Skype and when I say, “Looks like support is holding here, good long entry zone...” this person screams, “Buy now!!!” and reaches through my headset and smacks me. Kind of a futures Zen master. I’ve no money to pay for your services, but if you do your job, I WILL have!

Short AMZN @ 127.33 when price dropped following a small doji and a lower high on the day in an overbought condition beneath the now falling 20-bar MA in a weak market (that is one HELL of a confirmed setup). Offered 400 shares as price fell and only 100 lifted and price continued to fall rapidly. Covered on the pivot off oversold (which was an approximate double bottom) @ 126.27 for a gain of $104. In retrospect (where all trades are perfect) I should’ve chased my additional shares!

I’ll post the chart of this trade because it illustrates the ingredients of a very high probability setup, where all the indicators on the intraday chart are in confluence and point to a solid short entry (falling 20 MA, stochastics overbought, pullback from a doji that leaves a lower high, weak market), which is why I wanted to put on twice the size I’d normally trade AMZN.

Now I’ll review my mistake once this trade was closed: Instead of staying focused on a re-entry signal (rally to the 20 MA and pullback), I took a break, talked with my son, and before you know it the setup had occurred and price had again dropped about .70 cents off another lower high and was finding support and at that point I no longer liked it for a short because that was a third push down and shrinking stairs (shallower moves each time). However, price action continued to demonstrate weakness and there were a couple more small short opportunities before midday consolidation.

Glanced at ESRX later on because I’d set an alert at 91.20 to bring the chart back into my active view and watch for a lower high and a short entry. It hit 91.07 this morning and had fallen off a cliff by the time I saw it. ESRX is the one that made me $1200 last week, and I wished I’d just kept it my active chart view.

So I watched ESRX carefully for a capitulation bounce and when I saw buyers come in @ 87.25 and price was 87.35 I thought it was an ideal long entry, yet I didn't put on the trade! I thought I'd wait instead of try to pick a bottom, but there'd been so many legs down and there were buyers and my risk was about .15 cents/share. This was completely insane.

I plan to read Mark Douglas' "Trading in the Zone" again this week. I so need it.
 

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Quote from NoDoji:

Chart of AMZN trade.
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Two questions, since I personally don't use indicators:

1. I note that the setup was essentially a lower high. Has your testing actually determined that the EMA adds value over and above shorting lower highs and buying higher lows, all else being equal?

2. I also note that the stochastic indicator and volume together account for two-thirds of your chart real estate. What value did these two items add to either the entry or exit?

Just curious.
 
A quick recap of today. Hope this helps Nod.
First let me complain about your chart. I looked at your chart and all those lines look like the downhill ski lanes for the upcoming Winter olympics. I still believe regular bar charts are far better for trading, a bar charts Opening tick, the High, the Low and the Close are all that is needed. Forget colors, tails, wicks, bodys, etc, all are distractions. Bar charts are as simple as can be, black, black, and black, a dash, a line there, a dash there. BOOM, thats all you need to make a decision.

From those inputs, humans make a ton of different decisions because there is no collective brain, life would be unbearable if humans had collective brains. New persons to the trading game,(not you) seek collective answers, seek collective systems, believe there are some kinds of collective secrets out there as the answers. Those that are convinced there are collective answers to trading will fail because they believe with the right answers their brain will work in the same way. That and only that is why some of us try to help others with our knowledge. With that in mind is it any wonder why those that believe in collective brain thinking can not believe what they are told? ET is a perfect example of that theory because many can not believe good advice is free and without any real motive aside from trying to spread the wealth. :)

I will send this and do the recap in a little while. Some times as i sit watching tv and typing and reaching forcoffee etc, i hit the wrong button and the message disapears..........AREGGAH!!!! Be back
 
Quote from NoDoji:

Chart of failure to re-enter my ES trade.
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D,

Similar to my losing 1860.25 NQ trade... Technically you needed a stop above the last bar before open.. "stop" madness.. Depending on system, today should have been a big points day... Chop day? we say.. choppy day hard to make money... Trend day? then what do we say?

Any decent system will do well in one of the two barring the rat's interference.. so we find such a system then protect it on days not suited to it.. Unfortunately we have to let the day decide what it wants to be rather than predict.. Is your system a scalping or big trend system..?
 
Nodoji, I have read Mark Douglas book 15 times and each time my trading has improved. Each time you read it, you pick up something new that you were not ready for at your previous stage of development when you last read it.


Quote from NoDoji:

+ $124



I plan to read Mark Douglas' "Trading in the Zone" again this week. I so need it.
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It was quite obvious the pre-mkt was down as they were selling the fact of the election. Yesterday they suckered in the weak hands on the rumor. ( collective thinkers again). We as daytraders using technicals as our traffic cops do not fall for such nonsense. OK, here we go. (hopefully later in the year i might join you and your mentor in skype).

I had the bias from election as down so superceded the +6/-6 lines.
Went Short at 0942 est @36.25 to start the day. Price dropped to 33.00 and i grabbed on a slight bounce back up to 33.75 @0945 for +2 1/2 handles.
I reshorted again at 0945@ 35.00 almost as a stop and reverse trade and grabbed a small +1/2handle.
0956 i went short again on the bounce that went up to 37.50, got Short at 36.25 and bailed at 34.50 = +1 3/4

Reshorted at 34.25 looking for a test of the globex low at 31.25 from the overnight. I assumed everyone was eyeballing that low as a target. I doubled down at 34.25 again. I thought we will hit 31.25 before back up to 37.00 again. BOOM, hit 31.25 with a double load. = +6 handles Was a good grab because price bounced back up to 35.50 Total = 10 3/4 handles at at 1007 est. Took a break assuming price was still down, but a 4 or 5 handle retrace was not out of possibilities.

I relooked at the chart and price was tanking down to 1125.25 Rookie me went short on a chase at 1125.50 STOPPED OUT @ 1127.50 for -2 handles. I chalked up another SELLING the low as it turned out. hahaha, THAT is why we use STOPS.

The 1110est bar looked a few bars later as an UGLY KEY reversal bar. Not all bars are pretty. HA!!! Anyway that killed my short ideas as long as price did not go lower than that opening tick of the ugly bar at 1125.50. (where i shorted on the chase in the previous bar).

OK, the entire bottom played around for about 2 hours but never dipped below the ugly key bars opening tick at 1125.50. I was looking to get long at 1129.50 if we hit it. Did not take it on the first shot at about 1215 est, watched a test of the low hold at 1315 so took the next 1129.50 upto 1131.50 and called it a day. = +3 handles. Total = 11 3/4 handles on 7 trades (one was a double commission.

All in all it was a good technical day, the volume picked up to 2.4million so more players were there to help the technicals find friends to push the trades.

The RTH range was 13 1/4 handles so i did pretty good. More focus could have d\one better, but i do not push real hard.

Just wanted to show, it is a matter of following along . Let the screen talk to you. :cool:

PS: following along with some anticipation of price going here or there sprinkled in.

PSS: you will notice later if i do skype and or do more reviews.........i do NOT try to outguess the mkt.........i will let price move without me for a few handles before i feel i want to reenter etc. A trader must let the mkt work its setups first, then we jumpin. NOT before.
 
Quote from Gabfly1:

Two questions, since I personally don't use indicators:

1. I note that the setup was essentially a lower high. Has your testing actually determined that the EMA adds value over and above shorting lower highs and buying higher lows, all else being equal?

2. I also note that the stochastic indicator and volume together account for two-thirds of your chart real estate. What value did these two items add to either the entry or exit?

Just curious.
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Hi Gabfly,

Shorting rallies to a falling 20-bar moving average or going long pullbacks to a rising 20-bar moving average gives you the momentum of the trend, so it's just a visual guide to where I plan to enter "with-trend" as I did with AMZN. I occasionally counter-trend trade (for example shorting an overbought condition when price pulls far above a rising 20 MA), but unless it's a from third push up or better it's a lower probability trade. Basically buying higher lows and selling lower highs overall works well until the trend becomes exhausted, usually after 3-4 legs.

I use the stochastic indicator as an additional confirmation. For example, in a range or a trending range, stochastics provide confluence on the price action setup, leading me to possibly put on a larger than average size (as I intended to do with AMZN). The volume bars also provide confluence, especially if I'm jumping into a momentum trade (high buying or selling volume), or looking for a confirmed counter-trend entry (for example a slew of green volume bars leading into an overbought state, then price stalls and suddenly there's a hint of red selling volume, might entice me to jump quickly into a counter-trend position).

So those indicators are more like training wheels than anything else.

And Hog, you don't like my musical staff on the ES chart??? I'm a musician you know! I have to know when to put on the trade and when to Bb :D :D
 
Nodoji, I think that you do have a ES mentor on your journal, BIGHOG, maybe you need to take some time and read what he has posted and listen to what He says?

I need an ES mentor. I need someone live with me on Skype and when I say, “Looks like support is holding here, good long entry zone...” this person screams, “Buy now!!!” and reaches through my headset and smacks me. Kind of a futures Zen master. I’ve no money to pay for your services, but if you do your job, I WILL have!

I wish you well in your trading,

Webpearl

BIGHOG, I want to take a minute and say thank you for your imput as it has improved my trading on every level. Thank you Sir,

Best regards

Webpearl

P.S
I would never think of crossing words with you (I was thinking that fly fella is on pins and needles wondering what i did today because of no trading) When I was reading that I was drinking a coke, and I almost had coke coming out my nose I laughed so hard.

Thanks for your sharp wit.

wp
 
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