Trend Trading on Futures

Quote from Butterball:

That's the wrong way to approach the situation. For a moment, forget about making your "money back". Concentrate just on the discipline to execute your system in order to limit a further loss of capital.

The more you forget about the former and instead focus on the latter the sooner you'll be back at your equity high.
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Rightly spoken, and exactly what I intend to do.

These are my current positions. Currently, I'm looking forward to seeing how GBP and CAD turns out. Chart-wise, GBP looks poised for an upward surge and CAD for a continuation in trend.

Btw,

Can anyone enlighten me on what the P/L column stands for? Sorry, I don't really know how to use this platform well.
 

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Quote from Shirak:

Hi,

I have been trading for around 6-7 years and have made numerous attempts to keep up with a trade journal, only to fail miserably.

Hopefully I will be able to this time.

My methodology for trading is essentially taught by Chick Goslin and a quick search on this forum led me to the journal of a fellow trader named Ashan. Unlike Ashan, I would probably not go so much in depth into my analysis but rather use this journal as a reflection on my journey.

A quick background,

I started trading FX in 2004/2005 and progressed on to spread trading and arbitraging futures 3 to 4 years later, made some money but didn't like it much. I found Chick Goslin's book and never looked back as it gel-ed with my personal beliefs. I only trade with the trend and one basic rule I stick with is never go short when prices are above the 50 SMA and vice versa. Rule number 2 would be an old cliche, take care of my losses and my winners would take care of themselves.

I only trade 1 window a day, when I wake up and after I'm done, I do not trade until the day has passed and I'm at my next window. I only look at the daily charts.

Current Positions:
Long
Heating Oil
Crude
Cotton
Soybeans
Soybean Meal
Corn
Russell
Copper
Silver
Gold
Lean Hogs
Lumber
Euro
TRV
CTB
PM
AN

Short:
Sugar 11

*A lot of my trades are correlated but I trade very small. Sometimes too small.
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if u are long on all those markets, u are a 3rd party educational vendor.
 
Quote from emg:

if u are long on all those markets, u are a 3rd party educational vendor.
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?

What in god's name are you talking about?

I've already posted screenshots of my IB workstation.

Quote from TheGoonior:

P&L stands for Profit & Loss.
It's the one you want to see only Green in across the board. :)
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Yes I get that, but if you look at my screenshot, you'll see 3 columns. P&L, Unrealized P&L and Realized P&L. I'm asking about that.
 
Quote from Shirak:


Can anyone enlighten me on what the P/L column stands for? Sorry, I don't really know how to use this platform well.
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Quote from Shirak:


Yes I get that, but if you look at my screenshot, you'll see 3 columns. P&L, Unrealized P&L and Realized P&L. I'm asking about that.
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Ahh the beauty of trading - anyone can join the game and give it a try. And then proceed to one of emg's stats.

1 - Learn your platform BEFORE trading on it, not after.

2 - You should really know what the p/l's are telling you BEFORE trading, not after.
 
I did not have the P/L column before. Obly after I re-installed the platform. Why would I need that when I have my unrealized, realized and NLV? I'm good enough with those 3.
 
Quote from Shirak:

?

What in god's name are you talking about?

I've already posted screenshots of my IB workstation.



Yes I get that, but if you look at my screenshot, you'll see 3 columns. P&L, Unrealized P&L and Realized P&L. I'm asking about that.
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From the TWS user manual:

P&L:
Displays gains or losses. To modify the P&L calculation used, right-click the field and select or deselect Include today's opening position in P&L calculation.

Unrealized P&L:
Calculates unrealized P&L for stocks, stock options and futures options. Unrealized P&L is calculated using the formula:

(current market price - average cost/share) x total number of shares

The average cost per share is updated in realtime. This field is automatically added to the Trading window when the customer takes a position. Once removed it is not automatically added again.

Realized P&L:
Calculates the realized profit and loss per position.
 
Quote from Shirak:

I did not have the P/L column before. Obly after I re-installed the platform. Why would I need that when I have my unrealized, realized and NLV? I'm good enough with those 3.
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I'm pretty sure the P&L column shows a mix of your realized + unrealized P&L for that instrument in real time. For example, if trading CL, and you had already realized $500 in losses that day, but had an open trade with $300 in unrealized gains, the P&L column should read $200.
 
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