Shan,
I'm new to trading myself and so I've been spending a lot of time researching and actually reading forum threads here. I've gone through and read your posts here. I like your journal but the losses are too heavy to me to read because I started the same way, 3 weeks ago. I'm by no means a seasoned pro but I'm dedicated to make this work by the hours that I spent researching it. I tell myself that it's my full time job right now.
However, in looking at your losses, there are times I don't understand why you held for so long even on profitable trades. You can only take what the market gives you. If you're up just a little and you sense a reversal, get out quick because after that you don't know what's going to happen under a choppy field. At that point, it's real gambling. No need to be greedy.
On your last post with the chart of WMT. Were you going short? If you were, I don't understand why you jumped in where you did. I thought you paid attention to price action.
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=3328405
I'm not a pro but I just don't get why you jumped in short after the long green bar. If anything it was a reversal.
In reading a lot of threads here on this whole forum. There is good info and a lot of misdirection by certain people both here and problem at your prop trading company too. I don't know the details of everyone's methods but I just doubt people here will just give it to you so you can turn things around because they've gone through a lot of pain themselves in figuring it out if they did. Why should they give it up for free? Especially since tons more of other people may read it.
A lot of the market is counterintuiative. Such as chasing after trades and learning to take smart losses when in reality you want to stick with it. That's why it's so tough. You talk about about momentum, trends, and support but in some of the loses, I just don't understand some of your entry points on the losses. I primarily look at the 1 min chart and use the 5 min mostly to find some resistance or support levels.
I wish you luck as I'm trying to figure it out on my own but do see that there are patterns. I'm not a pro at letting trades run but I definitely will get out my trade quick if it doesn't move (ie trade sideways or reverse) and I've minimized my losses that way.
I would definitely go to paper or virtual trading for a little while until you can prove that you can be more consistant. I know that it's exciting because it's legalized gambling but you gotta put your emotions aside and focus on discipline. Good luck. I'll still be following your trades in hopes you're able to figure it out.
T
PS - print out your charts at the end of the day with all your trades (I'm sure that's what you're doing) and really look at what you did wrong. Go over it in your head over and over until you've sworn not to do it again. Believe me, I've repeated a lot of them. That is the true part of discipline in this game. Look for the pattern and examine why tick by tick why the stock moved in the direction that it did until you see the pattern. Overtime, you'll see it.
