The Evolution of an E-mini Trader
- Thread starter Huios
- Start date
OK, the emotions of trading real money are getting to me. Sheeesh. After papertrading for 3 weeks, and most of those days taking every trade.
Someone said I have papertrader trigger finger, and he meant I can't pull the trigger. And, I don't know if it is the last two days weren't trenders paradise, (day after a big run, and options expiration Friday) or if I can't pull it, but of the 4 trades I did take today, 2 were late entries of a total of 1.25 pts. That does not work. I am going to start putting my orders in with buy stops and sell stops, and putting my stop losses in with stop orders too. At least I will be in when I am supposed to and out when I am supposed to.
On the exit side, my losses are under control these last 2 days.
Can't wait till Monday. We get to do this all over again.
Someone said I have papertrader trigger finger, and he meant I can't pull the trigger. And, I don't know if it is the last two days weren't trenders paradise, (day after a big run, and options expiration Friday) or if I can't pull it, but of the 4 trades I did take today, 2 were late entries of a total of 1.25 pts. That does not work. I am going to start putting my orders in with buy stops and sell stops, and putting my stop losses in with stop orders too. At least I will be in when I am supposed to and out when I am supposed to.
On the exit side, my losses are under control these last 2 days.
Can't wait till Monday. We get to do this all over again.
Hi Huios,
I am also a newbie future trader and live in Germany. I watched your evolution and it really paid off for me, too. Inspired by you and your system I have also a setup that enters the trend on retracements. Similar to you my main goal was to focus on this one pattern and develop confidence. Like you I papertraded this pattern for the last two weeks. On choppy days I switched to a scalping mode or s/r stochastics setup. I trade the Euro STOXX50 and watch the ES and NQ. I think my succcess in the last two weeks on paper (average of 30 ticks incl. commission a day, buying the ask, selling at bid) shows that I must be doing something right If I can pull this kinda performance off with real money consistently....but honestly, even 15 ticks incl. commis consistently a day on one market would be awesome.
Huios, I think you have the attitude it takes to become a trader and remeber that you have an edge, that will play itself out over time. So there should be nothing to be afraid of (I am reading "Trading in the Zone"). I rember the one great day, when you took every trade and played the game with confidence. You made about 160 ticks that day. If your mind could do it then you can do it again and again and again.
I will start to trade with real money again in the next one or two weeks. From your experience I already anticipate a tendence to fall back into the bad habit of a slow trigger finger. I am looking forward to see how you are handling it. Personally I have to work on my exits this weekend. I hate to give profits back and like to exit after a strong move. But often I would have had a larger profit if i just had stayed with the position. But the most important thing I learned in the last month: Do not buck the trend! To go against the trend and call a bottom or top was my favorite strategy before, because the market is wrong and I am right, so the market has to reverse as soon as I enter the market with my full size of 1 contract
Keep up the good work!
Greetings,
Florian
I am also a newbie future trader and live in Germany. I watched your evolution and it really paid off for me, too. Inspired by you and your system I have also a setup that enters the trend on retracements. Similar to you my main goal was to focus on this one pattern and develop confidence. Like you I papertraded this pattern for the last two weeks. On choppy days I switched to a scalping mode or s/r stochastics setup. I trade the Euro STOXX50 and watch the ES and NQ. I think my succcess in the last two weeks on paper (average of 30 ticks incl. commission a day, buying the ask, selling at bid) shows that I must be doing something right
If I can pull this kinda performance off with real money consistently....but honestly, even 15 ticks incl. commis consistently a day on one market would be awesome. Huios, I think you have the attitude it takes to become a trader and remeber that you have an edge, that will play itself out over time. So there should be nothing to be afraid of (I am reading "Trading in the Zone"). I rember the one great day, when you took every trade and played the game with confidence. You made about 160 ticks that day. If your mind could do it then you can do it again and again and again.
I will start to trade with real money again in the next one or two weeks. From your experience I already anticipate a tendence to fall back into the bad habit of a slow trigger finger. I am looking forward to see how you are handling it. Personally I have to work on my exits this weekend. I hate to give profits back and like to exit after a strong move. But often I would have had a larger profit if i just had stayed with the position. But the most important thing I learned in the last month: Do not buck the trend! To go against the trend and call a bottom or top was my favorite strategy before, because the market is wrong and I am right, so the market has to reverse as soon as I enter the market with my full size of 1 contract
Keep up the good work!
Greetings,
Florian
Right now I don't have a plan to trade the range days. But I am finding, even the range days have at least one good trend to trade, BUT, within that short trend, my entry may not show up. Those kind of trends generally follow a sharp reversal, and do one of those "V" reversal thingies, that the contra trend, reversal guys love!!! Kinda makes one want to be a "V" reversal thingies trader. LOL. I know several who do it consistently, and do it well. But I am not one of them.
Yeah, me too.
What's wrong with having several exits? Different exits for different scenarios. If you have a re-entry plan, you can have multiple exits. Exit for the parabolic move that goes in your direction. Exit for that slow grind, melt up in your direction. Exit for the parabolic move against you. Exits are the most important part of the trade. Spend more time on, then you do on your entries.
Amen Brother
Captain, thanks for your encouraging post. And remember, it's only money!!!
Some one has a signature that says... there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9) Almost everything in this email I learned from watching someone else, or someone else has suggested to me. I try to separate the wheat from the chaff, and pass on the good stuff. I liked this, so it is going in the Evolution. Hopefully it will help someone else.
**********
Hey XXXXXX,
My biggest problem is discipline. And the Lord is showing me it is not just in my trading, but in my life. LOL. Frustration, greed, and fear are not far behind.
Tell you what. Take the weekend, and write down the what specifically has to happen before you will get into a trade. So specific, that if I knew, I would be able to look at a chart, and tell exactly when, and where you entered.
Then, write down what specifically has to happen that will cause you to get out of the trade you are in. Be specific. Do you want a certain # of points, certain conditions, tick readings, prem readings, ma crossings, full moon, whatever. Again, so specific, that if I knew, I would be able to look at the chart, and tell exactly when, and where you exited.
At this stage of the game, for us, nothing is intuitive. Throw discretionary trading right out the window. You gotta follow the plan. Intuitition comes from years of playing the game. Driving a car in very intuitive for me. I can sense when that car is gonna pull out in front of me. Sometimes I am wrong, sometimes I am right (this is another dissertation, I'm sure) . I have been driving a car for (thinking) (darn, using the calculator) for 26 years. I have been trading FULL TIME, EVERY DAY, WATCHING EVERY TICK, for only 4 months. My trading is not intuitive at all. Not discretionary at all. (That is the goal) I would like it to be, then I won't have to follow a plan. When I wrote down every detail of when I should get in, and when I should get out, something clicked, I went from fantasizing about driving (trading) to getting my learners permit (permit to trade).
Then I started papertrading my new found system. New found cuz I got it out of my head, and on paper. That is the key. Just like learning the clutch. Hopefully you know how to drive a standard tranny. If not, this whole analogy is going down in flames. LOL. But once you have the timing of the relationship between the clutch, gas, and gear shift, you don't have to think about it any more. Once you have it down on paper, you don't have to think about it any more. All you have to do is just do it. Then, you start learning, not the mechanics of driving, but driving itself. Learning how to slow at a stop sign. Anticipating changes in lights. Heck, you can even roll down the window while driving!!!!!
Now you are ready to take the test. Trade real money. Now it is not your dad, mom, older sibling, or uncle Johnny sitting across from you. It is the State Policeman. It is the market. And she will flunk you in a heartbeat. Not because she can, or has it out for you, or doesn't like the color of your t-shirt. To her, you are just another punk kid, and if you don't play by the rules, her rules, you don't get the license to trade and you blow out your first account. Lot's of the drivers on the road, and in the markets today, failed the first time. The bad news is that she (the cop) changes the rules from time to time. The good news is that once you know some of the rules, and consistently apply them (your entries, exits, and trade management) you can pass her test, or trade consistently profitable.
I don't know alot about that cop that is sitting in the passenger seat of my car, but I am learning more about her everyday.
Then it is up to you, what kind of driver you want to be. Every kid with a new license want to be a Dale Ehrnhardt (I now live in NC, if I said anyone else, I'd be hog tied)(I don't like NASCAR anyway) or Market Wizard, but few make it that far. Besides, she is always watching you, waiting for you to screw up (late entries, early exits, poor MM, lousy DD, etc.) and give you a ticket and take your money. If you want to race, don't race down main street, race on the race track. Drive normal, and when you see a little pile of money sitting on the curb, slow down, use your turn signal, stop, open the door and pick it up. Don't cut across 4 lanes of traffic, and mow down some innocent pedestrians. You will get a ticket, and it will cost you 10X more than that little pile of money. You may get away with it once, or even twice, but you will get burned.
Me, I just want to drive and not have my rates jump up by having an accident, or getting a ticket, the first few years, by blowing up my second account.
Sorry this went on so long. Looking back, I think this isn't about you, but more about me. All this to say, write down your plan, to the T. You'll be amazed, by what you will see. The truth of a concise, thought out, and written trading plan will set you free. And a good driver/trader, you won't have to think about, but you will be. When you can follow plan A, and not the intuitive/discretionary plan B.
H
**********
Hey XXXXXX,
My biggest problem is discipline. And the Lord is showing me it is not just in my trading, but in my life. LOL. Frustration, greed, and fear are not far behind.
Tell you what. Take the weekend, and write down the what specifically has to happen before you will get into a trade. So specific, that if I knew, I would be able to look at a chart, and tell exactly when, and where you entered.
Then, write down what specifically has to happen that will cause you to get out of the trade you are in. Be specific. Do you want a certain # of points, certain conditions, tick readings, prem readings, ma crossings, full moon, whatever. Again, so specific, that if I knew, I would be able to look at the chart, and tell exactly when, and where you exited.
At this stage of the game, for us, nothing is intuitive. Throw discretionary trading right out the window. You gotta follow the plan. Intuitition comes from years of playing the game. Driving a car in very intuitive for me. I can sense when that car is gonna pull out in front of me. Sometimes I am wrong, sometimes I am right (this is another dissertation, I'm sure) . I have been driving a car for (thinking) (darn, using the calculator) for 26 years. I have been trading FULL TIME, EVERY DAY, WATCHING EVERY TICK, for only 4 months. My trading is not intuitive at all. Not discretionary at all. (That is the goal) I would like it to be, then I won't have to follow a plan. When I wrote down every detail of when I should get in, and when I should get out, something clicked, I went from fantasizing about driving (trading) to getting my learners permit (permit to trade).
Then I started papertrading my new found system. New found cuz I got it out of my head, and on paper. That is the key. Just like learning the clutch. Hopefully you know how to drive a standard tranny. If not, this whole analogy is going down in flames. LOL. But once you have the timing of the relationship between the clutch, gas, and gear shift, you don't have to think about it any more. Once you have it down on paper, you don't have to think about it any more. All you have to do is just do it. Then, you start learning, not the mechanics of driving, but driving itself. Learning how to slow at a stop sign. Anticipating changes in lights. Heck, you can even roll down the window while driving!!!!!
Now you are ready to take the test. Trade real money. Now it is not your dad, mom, older sibling, or uncle Johnny sitting across from you. It is the State Policeman. It is the market. And she will flunk you in a heartbeat. Not because she can, or has it out for you, or doesn't like the color of your t-shirt. To her, you are just another punk kid, and if you don't play by the rules, her rules, you don't get the license to trade and you blow out your first account. Lot's of the drivers on the road, and in the markets today, failed the first time. The bad news is that she (the cop) changes the rules from time to time. The good news is that once you know some of the rules, and consistently apply them (your entries, exits, and trade management) you can pass her test, or trade consistently profitable.
I don't know alot about that cop that is sitting in the passenger seat of my car, but I am learning more about her everyday.
Then it is up to you, what kind of driver you want to be. Every kid with a new license want to be a Dale Ehrnhardt (I now live in NC, if I said anyone else, I'd be hog tied)(I don't like NASCAR anyway) or Market Wizard, but few make it that far. Besides, she is always watching you, waiting for you to screw up (late entries, early exits, poor MM, lousy DD, etc.) and give you a ticket and take your money. If you want to race, don't race down main street, race on the race track. Drive normal, and when you see a little pile of money sitting on the curb, slow down, use your turn signal, stop, open the door and pick it up. Don't cut across 4 lanes of traffic, and mow down some innocent pedestrians. You will get a ticket, and it will cost you 10X more than that little pile of money. You may get away with it once, or even twice, but you will get burned.
Me, I just want to drive and not have my rates jump up by having an accident, or getting a ticket, the first few years, by blowing up my second account.
Sorry this went on so long. Looking back, I think this isn't about you, but more about me. All this to say, write down your plan, to the T. You'll be amazed, by what you will see. The truth of a concise, thought out, and written trading plan will set you free. And a good driver/trader, you won't have to think about, but you will be. When you can follow plan A, and not the intuitive/discretionary plan B.
H
Why not find a method that works first and then trade. I find many people use strategies that they think might work, but have never tested. Find a system with a proven record and beware of false claims.
I have a few systems I like, but I am reluctant to post them publicly. If you want I can email them to you privately or speak by phone.