The CL/NQ experiment

[smallStops]

Yes. I am.

OK. Good for you. .
The thing is you will have losing trades.
Before modifying your strategy, you really need to take
at least 20 trades, consistently taken ( aka same setup),
before modifying it again.

Just a question : did your discipline faltered?

 

[smallStops]

sorry need to go :

1- trade your strategy at least for 20 trades, before modifying it.
2- when doing that : what is important is to be disciplined and to follow your given plan to the letter.
3- till you can do 2, do not modify the strategy.

 

[Gabe2004]

OK. Good for you. .
Just a question : did your discipline faltered?

Yes.
I am facing an unpleasant EVENT on Thursday and I think that I am venting my frustrations in trading.

Gabe

 

[Gabe2004]

It is very embarrassing to have losses of the magnitude I suffered today.
I thought of stopping my posts but I will not do that.
As soon as ET will let me upload charts I will do that.
Today should be remembered as another learning experience.

Gabe

 

[Gabe2004]

Attachments work again.
Most of the trades were in the right direction but I ignored the 5min charts and focused on the 1 min.
Far surpassed my maximum daily loss limit.
I should have noticed that price converged on the 95.20-9525 area and should have stopped entering into trades there.
Tomorrow is another day.
I wish it was Thursday afternoon.

Gabe

 

[NoDoji]

Attachments work again.
Most of the trades were in the right direction but I ignored the 5min charts and focused on the 1 min.
Far surpassed my maximum daily loss limit.
I should have noticed that price converged on the 95.20-9525 area and should have stopped entering into trades there.
Tomorrow is another day.
I wish it was Thursday afternoon.

Gabe

Between 9:23 and 10:21 ET I had 4 break even trades and 1 loss (I think I shared your second trade to the tick). It was difficult price action.

If you don't have a solid plan for trading in those conditions, just wait for the market to tip its hand. Once price broke downside with conviction, there were a couple of 1-min entry levels that allowed for small technically reasonable stops (break of the 11:10, 11:12, 11:13, or 11:14 bar lows).

It's difficult to wait, but the payoff for patience is huge.

There's a tendency to want to make something out of nothing because we see price moving, but it's getting more and more congested. We're afraid if we don't get positioned for the big move we'll miss out.

Fear of missing out (FOMO) is an account killer.

It lures us into trading initial breaks out of ranges that are too wide for us to exercise proper risk management, and it causes us to chase price right into walls of S/R that we completely overlooked. If you do this a few times, you're in a hole with very little emotional capital left, even if you haven't hit a max daily loss yet. You're now in a state of mind where you're more likely to mismanage a really solid trade by trading to your P/L instead of your plan.

Suppose instead you wait for a breakout with conviction, then trade in the direction of the break as long as there's airspace to the next key level. Without all the baggage of crappy trades during the chop, you're free to profit from the meat of a move that's now truly underway.

 

[smallStops]

The thing is a trader can have "bad" trading days and good trading days. The key is to learn and progress.

1) You had an EVENT that completely disturb you.
- If you have a trading friend buddy, why not ask that your friend
checks every single day 3 times a day if the EVENT is happening.
If it is taking place, your trading buddy can remind you to stop trading.

If you do not have a trading buddy, pay someone one to phone you 3 times a day, ask the question, and tell you to stop.
This is worth the money, till you can sort out the cause of this EVENT.

2) Daily loss limit : same. Have your buddy check on you 3 times a day.

Now this is an easy way to put aside these issues till the core problem is sorted.

- a plan you know VERY well.
- you said you did not check the 5 minutes : why?
- you said you did not check if the price was converging ? I wonder if you mean ranging ... : why?

So this means that you do not know your plan by heart.

Best :

* copy by hand your plan by hand before trading session.
and read loudly the plan

* after EVERY trade, copy by hand your plan again.
and read loudly the plan.




Basically, eliminate all the sources that mask/hide the real source of
lapse in discipline : sooner or later the real source will be revealed.

This is the real difficulty in trading : discipline.

 

[smallStops]

Also, do not hesitate to ask R.. D.... if you have any problem :
I did train him very well on dealing with the most
"trouble" student trader. lol.
The world is really small...

 

[Gabe2004]

Between 9:23 and 10:21 ET I had 4 break even trades and 1 loss (I think I shared your second trade to the tick). It was difficult price action.

That is reassuring (the shared trade).

Fear of missing out (FOMO) is an account killer.

I was overzealous with following the 1 min chart and ignoring the 5 min.
I just finished going over my trades and found that at best I had 5-7 valid setups.

Suppose instead you wait for a breakout with conviction, then trade in the direction of the break as long as there's airspace to the next key level. Without all the baggage of crappy trades during the chop, you're free to profit from the meat of a move that's now truly underway.

That impulsive move is what I am waiting for but I don't always pay attention to the levels around.

BTW I tried to PM you my rules but that option is not available in the new ET or I don't know how to do it.

Thanks for your post.

Gabe

 

[Stocks4life]

Attachments work again.
Most of the trades were in the right direction but I ignored the 5min charts and focused on the 1 min.
Far surpassed my maximum daily loss limit.
I should have noticed that price converged on the 95.20-9525 area and should have stopped entering into trades there.
Tomorrow is another day.
I wish it was Thursday afternoon.

Gabe

Gabe,

How do you see any setups in all that chop?