Rookie Trader Journal - Advice Welcome
- Thread starter krolyk55
- Start date
Well the weekend was good and trading went well today. I barely even saw any drawdown, which is rare for me. Part of it was luck I think, but part of it also was that I tried not to jump the gun on my trades and I exersized more patience. I still have been taking my profits very early, usually after 3 or 4 ticks, and even though I miss alot of opportunities it seems to be working for me.
I decided to open my trades with 2 contracts at a time today, and it seemed to work out ok, one thing I did better was cut my losses quick when the trades weren't working, I usually didn't let them it get past $150 or so. I traded with 2-4 contracts all day, and then kicked it up to 10 on one trade at the end of the day when I saw an opportunity forming.
Day 7 Results:
Date: 4/21/08
# of Trades: 30
Contracts Bought: 112
Contracts Bought Range: 2-10
Highest down: ($80.00)
Highest up: $720.00
Net Profit/Loss: $609.20
I decided to open my trades with 2 contracts at a time today, and it seemed to work out ok, one thing I did better was cut my losses quick when the trades weren't working, I usually didn't let them it get past $150 or so. I traded with 2-4 contracts all day, and then kicked it up to 10 on one trade at the end of the day when I saw an opportunity forming.
Day 7 Results:
Date: 4/21/08
# of Trades: 30
Contracts Bought: 112
Contracts Bought Range: 2-10
Highest down: ($80.00)
Highest up: $720.00
Net Profit/Loss: $609.20
Hi Krolyk
I think that you mentioned earlier that you are using stochastics as an indicator. Is that all you are using?
As has been mentioned earlier several times your trading plan has several flaws in it. The number one problem is R:R and over trading with a bad R:R will compound the problem not make it go away. Another flaw I see that has not been mentioned is when you said "If I lose it all I guess that will be my tuition for trading". This negative vibe can actually be used as a cop out for sloppy trading. Do yourself a big favor and set a daily limit on your losses. Maybe like $1,000, which would still be fairly aggressive in my opinion. I wish good luck in your trading but consider making some changes in your strategy.
I think that you mentioned earlier that you are using stochastics as an indicator. Is that all you are using?
As has been mentioned earlier several times your trading plan has several flaws in it. The number one problem is R:R and over trading with a bad R:R will compound the problem not make it go away. Another flaw I see that has not been mentioned is when you said "If I lose it all I guess that will be my tuition for trading". This negative vibe can actually be used as a cop out for sloppy trading. Do yourself a big favor and set a daily limit on your losses. Maybe like $1,000, which would still be fairly aggressive in my opinion. I wish good luck in your trading but consider making some changes in your strategy.
It didn't take a whole lot of skill to make money today, with oil hitting a record high, I just kept going short when i saw the setups and kept winning, it was my best day yet. I was able to keep it to a maximum of 6 contracts open at a time too, so I was happy about that. I am pleased that I have been able to build up a coushin over the last couple weeks, cause I know very well that this win streak won't last forever, so hopefully I will have enough discipline to cut my losses when they come. Based on my first week's experience I know that all my profits can get wiped out pretty quickly.
Day 8 Results:
Date: 4/22/08
# of Trades: 35
Contracts Bought: 124
Contracts Bought Range: 2-6
Highest down: ($210.00)
Highest up: $1133.40
Net Profit/Loss: $1133.40
Day 8 Results:
Date: 4/22/08
# of Trades: 35
Contracts Bought: 124
Contracts Bought Range: 2-6
Highest down: ($210.00)
Highest up: $1133.40
Net Profit/Loss: $1133.40
Krolyk,
Congratulations again, man you're doing really great. Is this already 8 profitable days in a row? Wow!
You mentioned that you use Ninja Trader. Are you familiarized with the Performance Tab? You may want to check on your MAE and MFE to see how you can improve your net results PER TRADE. I'm really happy for you that you made over a thousand, but keep in mind that you traded over a 120 contracts, which means that a) your net result per trade is less than 1 tick; and b) that you paid about 600 in commissions, which roughly amounts to 30% of your gross profit.
Still, I think you're doing fantastic plus you seem to be improving every day, you should really be happy about it.
Best trading,
Jorge
Congratulations again, man you're doing really great. Is this already 8 profitable days in a row? Wow!
You mentioned that you use Ninja Trader. Are you familiarized with the Performance Tab? You may want to check on your MAE and MFE to see how you can improve your net results PER TRADE. I'm really happy for you that you made over a thousand, but keep in mind that you traded over a 120 contracts, which means that a) your net result per trade is less than 1 tick; and b) that you paid about 600 in commissions, which roughly amounts to 30% of your gross profit.
Still, I think you're doing fantastic plus you seem to be improving every day, you should really be happy about it.
Best trading,
Jorge
Thanks for the advice. Without going into specifics, I use stochasitcs, moving averages, resistance levels and general candlestick pattern recoginition as my indicators. I generally prefer shorts over longs by about a 2:1 margin.
I am still struggling with how much I should let myself draw down, mostly because the averaging that I do requires me to allow for a significant draw sometimes if my signals are good but I enter a little early. As long as my indicators tell me that there is still significant pressure for it to go my way, I let it draw down, but if I get in and the signals reverse before I am profitable, I have been getting better about cutting out. My average trade will last between 2-10 minutes.
Good point about the tuition comment, it is a bit of a cop out.