<i>"Lost a ton today, didn't follow my rules, had no patience and didn't wait for my set-ups..."</i>
Monday and Tuesday were congested, drifty, directionless sessions. That tends to build frustration in traders... they worked hard for two straight days and couldn't catch anything directional to speak of.
This morning we have an active, buzzing tape. Price action sells off early (ES and ER, not NQ) and catches a majority of traders on the short side. Signs of an upside reversal are growing, if a trader knows what to look for. Those that don't keep shorting into the wedge.
Price action blows upward and goes vertical in a hurry. Shorts are toast, longs were missed in the process. Price action stalls at layers of resistance and rolls over.
Traders who missed the ramp are now buying pullbacks to all levels of "support" to catch the next leg higher. There isn't one... longs get pounded while tapes pull a U-turn back from whence they came.
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By now a majority of traders are frustrated. Got juked on the upside while early short. Got duped on the v-turn while buying a meltdown.
After that, price action chopped & channeled in a narrow range from 1pm to 3pm est. The final hour saw price action whipsaw in a widened sideways range until the closing bell. That was the last of frustrated traders trying to make something of a negative $$$ day.
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That is the fundamental behavior of what we all saw in the index charts today. Fear & greed manifested in different ways for the same old reasons. Two opposing straightline swings following two days of nothingness draws out the chase phase in all of us. Knowing when to bridle that back on manual override is a critical step in successful trading.
116 contracts turned is a pretty frenetic pace. Take a deep breath tomorrow if/when that compulsion grips you again. Slap a post-it note on your screen reminding yourself to wait patiently for whatever a key setup is for you. Sound like a dumb idea? Many of the richest traders in the world overcame inner faults with a 1-cent posted note reminding them to stay focused. I'd say that's pretty cheap therapy, all things considered.
Talk yourself thru the demons and fears tomorrow. Consider stopping "too soon" once you are reasonably profitable. You'll be fine... this time will be different, because you have decided to make a difference
