S/R Emini Journal

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Thanks 4re....that sounds great. I hope that by posting my trades and thoughts people will be able to learn from the things I do right or wrong. With that in mind, I have attached a chart of my first trade as follows:

The blue line is the monthly pivot which we have been trading around for a few days now. I marked support as 11279 which as it turns out was right around Daily S1. Last night I decided that I would get short below 11279 and long above 11417. Skipping all the minor details, my trade details were:

Short at 11277
Initial Stop at 11295
Target 11257

1. I entered on a WRB which I should not have done.

2. I would have been better to see if we consolidated a little near the entry zone and then entered on a breakout from there.

3. I believe that my breakout zone should have been a little lower, at least equal to the daily S1 level at 11275.

I selected my stop before entering and as soon I was short at the 77 my first thought was to raise my stop to more that 15 points to give the trade more room. I resisted however and stuck to the plan which as it turns out saved myself from losing even more points.

There is my first trade... a few things done right and a few mistakes. I will wait patiently for the next opportunity.

Please feel free to provide critique/comments.

YMZ
 

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Quote from ndjeff7:

Thanks Gary, that would be great. I've been trying different methods for a few months and have finally fine-tuned it to how I want it and to how I feel comfortable trading but this feels like the last jump I have to make. I have good triggers to get into trades, a reasonable stop-loss all the time and sensible exit points, but for some reason I just can't stick to them. If I were to just put all the orders in and leave the trade alone I would be fine.

An example is Wednesday when we had that bear flag, I put on a short position and set my target 30 YM points away and a 10 point stop. The stop never came close to getting hit but for some reason when I was up 15 points I closed out the trade because I wanted to make sure that I had a gain. In retrospect, if I had just followed my rules I would have had the 30 point target easily. Thanks for you help!
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This has nothing to do with your system parameters. It is purely a psychological problem. I had a similar problem for a while, after a few ticks I wanted to close a position. So, what you need to do is to think up ways of coping with these feelings that enable you to do the right thing by the trade. It's a bit like the difference between an experienced soldier and a rookie. The experience doesn't change the feelings, but it does allow you to cope with them so you can do the right things over time.

A couple of techniques that worked for me:

(1) I listen to classical music so I feel more relaxed and it makes trading even more fun
(2) As soon as your trade is executed put a stop and limit order on and go outside for 5 minutes. Going into a different place seems to work wonders with battling these fearful impulses.
(3) Play a game on your computer while keeping a lazy eye on the trade. Doing something else can help reduce the intensity of the feelings as your mind is then on another activity.
(4) Practice deep breathing and positive visualisation

Over time you will develop faith and an inner trust in your system and it won't be a problem. Success feeds on success.

Cheers.
 
LondonUSTrader,

Thank you very much for the words of advice, it definitely is a purely psychological problem that I'm having. After tweaking and working on my system for months it seems to be very solid so now the last piece is to work on my head. One of the things I've thought about doing is actually getting up from the computer once I've put in my stop/target and come back in 5-10 minutes after I've had a chance to relax my emotions. Thanks again!
 
YMZ,

That 11280 level seems to be very important at the moment and has been defended vigorously by the bulls twice already this week. If you go back on the chart there is a gap from last week from 11243 - 11281. Once we get some consolidation and a break I'd look for price to try and fill this gap, at least that's my plan at the moment.
 
Quote from 4re:

Well it is lunchtime again are we in a bear flag or reversal???
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we are still within the 3 day pennant, after the pop on Mr B's blah blah blah. Let's just wait where it goes. I favour the downside :D
 
Quote from romik:

we are still within the 3 day pennant, after the pop on Mr B's blah blah blah. Let's just wait where it goes. I favour the downside :D
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Looking at it right now I do to.

Good luck everyone. I have to go do soem real work since I am not making any money here this week. I'll check in later this afternoon. You guys have a good weekend. I'll be doing some posting over the weekend so if you have any questions or comments I'll be around to answer.

Gary
 
Quote from 4re:


"I am not making any money here this week"
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What's your net contract-points / trades for the week so far???

Here's mine (so far - I have a live trade right now, which is as I type this, dead even - I'm hoping for it to go right, though...)

Day Trades Net Pts
Mon 2 -4.00
Tue 3 1.75
Wed 4 6.25
Thu 3 2.00
Fri 2 0.50

Week 14 6.50


1 contract
System 75.00
Commissions 63.28

Net Trades 325.00

Profit (Loss) 186.72


Not too effing hot on one contract, but when I get to ten, it's a different picture, even at this week's measly 1.3 points a day:


Contracts 10
System 75.00
Commissions 632.80

Net Trades 3250.00

Profit (Loss) 2542.20

I just need to figure out how to automate the entry points better, and fix the Breakeven so it doesn't take me out on a little retrace...
 
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