I have decided to have another go at the futures riddle as there is no give up in me. The benefit is well worth the effort so another journal it is.
I am down to 3 issues that have complicated my futures trading:
1. Moving away/cancelling stops
Fear related. Nearly without fail, this has been to my detriment, especially mentally. The common rationalization is I need to put the stop at the last swing high but often any retrace past halfway WILL get to and break the swing high. Besides I can re-enter. Goal: 2.25 pt. max trade loss. (stop at 2 plus possible slippage)
2. Short trade duration
Also Fear related. "Seems" a lot of swings in NQ tend to have similar durations therefore the move size should (no bracket) not determine when to close a trade but rather time. Left about 60 NQ points on the table last week due to ending trades in less than 10 minutes. Goal: 20 minutes minimum per trade.
3. Trading more than 3 times a day
The first 2 cause this one. Handle the first 2 and this won't be a problem. Without exception the succes of each day diminishes very quickly my trade count goes up. Simple really as trades past the first 3 usually are in chop-land after noon. The idea here is to avoid the chop. Goal: 3 trades/day.
Trading system is good enough to break-even/do well 2/3 of trades
Following these rules the chance of ruin is very low.. On a daily basis I will rank my adherence to these 3 on a 1 to 10 scale.
Why will this try be any different?? What am I going to do to ingrain these rules? I will meditate on walking away once in a trade as it is THE only way to calm the lethal first 10 mins anxiety. Walking away enforces all 3 rules. Also meditate on calming down and minimizing the value of 2 NQ points.
The overwhelming goal is to avoid those days from hell, familiar to us all.
I am down to 3 issues that have complicated my futures trading:
1. Moving away/cancelling stops
Fear related. Nearly without fail, this has been to my detriment, especially mentally. The common rationalization is I need to put the stop at the last swing high but often any retrace past halfway WILL get to and break the swing high. Besides I can re-enter. Goal: 2.25 pt. max trade loss. (stop at 2 plus possible slippage)
2. Short trade duration
Also Fear related. "Seems" a lot of swings in NQ tend to have similar durations therefore the move size should (no bracket) not determine when to close a trade but rather time. Left about 60 NQ points on the table last week due to ending trades in less than 10 minutes. Goal: 20 minutes minimum per trade.
3. Trading more than 3 times a day
The first 2 cause this one. Handle the first 2 and this won't be a problem. Without exception the succes of each day diminishes very quickly my trade count goes up. Simple really as trades past the first 3 usually are in chop-land after noon. The idea here is to avoid the chop. Goal: 3 trades/day.
Trading system is good enough to break-even/do well 2/3 of trades
Following these rules the chance of ruin is very low.. On a daily basis I will rank my adherence to these 3 on a 1 to 10 scale.
Why will this try be any different?? What am I going to do to ingrain these rules? I will meditate on walking away once in a trade as it is THE only way to calm the lethal first 10 mins anxiety. Walking away enforces all 3 rules. Also meditate on calming down and minimizing the value of 2 NQ points.
The overwhelming goal is to avoid those days from hell, familiar to us all.
