Man, today was so close to being a huge day for me...Still on the SIM...and will be until stated otherwise...
Still came out with a nice positive day. I think I need to do a better job of recognizing days like today where we have these long waves with nice breakouts and figure out what I need to do to be in front of the computer most of the day. Days like this play into my strategies really well so I can't be messing around witht the dog or doing whatever.
Trade 1:
7:09- Long 1182.75, Stop 1181.50 Target 1186.00
7:11- Move stop to B/E
7:43- Hit target sell at 1163.00!
+3.25 pts
I took this trade on the break above the latest high and it took off like a rocket...but then it came back down for a retest of the support level at 1183.50. Price bounced around for a bit...I was a bit unsure of my target as I went thru this trade...it looked like the 1185.50 level was going to hold as the resistance. What do you guys think about it? Obviously, it hit my target...but going into the trade would 1185.50 been the better choice for a target? I think if price had dropped below the 83.50 level I would have to exit...but then again, I had already moved my stop to B/E, this goes back to the whole idea of taking a bit of profit or just leaving the stop since its at B/E...it this case it worked out, I guess Im just going to need more stats to see how it works out.
Trade 2:
8:13- Short 1183.25 Stop 1184.50 Target 1180.00
8:19- Stop to B/E
8:25- Hit Target! Buy to cover at 1180.00
+3.25 pts
Once price broke below the channel, i thought there would be pretty good pressure to the downside. Trade worked out really well. For my type of breakouts, I don't think a trade can go much better.
The next trade I didn't get a fill on...once the lunch time hours rolled around, I was looking for trades off s/r to the downside. I sent a limit order and it didnt fill in SIM and I really really doubt it would've filled in real life. Didn't chase but here is what I set it up as:
sent the order around 9:20 short 1180.00 stop 1181.00 Target 1176.00...Trade would've worked out. Im wondering if I was too optomistic with the 1179.50 to get a fill at 1180.00
Then I had to take the dog for a walk b/c he just woke up from his midmorning nap...normally, I wouldn't think much of it since it was the middle of the day, but I should've recongized the long waves that had been forming up and figured out a way to keep myself in front of my computer. Will work on this going forward. But, b/c I missed this awesome breakout trade, when I got back, I forced my way into the market...
Trade 3:
11:29- Short 1171.25 Stop 1172.75 Target 1167.50
11:54- Buy to cover at 1172.00
-0.75 pts
Not a good trade...I even went against what I had written before i entered the trade...I wanted to see if the 1172.00 level could hold as support but I just jumped in anyway..We were already in the middle of reversal and some little HH/HL had already been put in off the LOD so it wasn't a good idea to go short anyway. I was really thinking about how to handle this after 10 mins of being in...I decided if price could make another push below 1171.00 I would stay in, when it reversed back to the 1171.25 level I looked to get out...even still a bit late, but at least I minimized the damage.
After this trade, I decided I was done for the day. Im going to try and start forming good habits/decisions after making poor ones...meaning, doing something different than trading as we've discussed before. Today the decision was to walk away and not put myself in any bad trades b/c Im upset I missed a move or a text book trade for me. I know this is easier to do in SIM, but again, if I can start developing the habit now, hopefully, it will carry over to live trading.
Total Trades: 3
Winners: 2
Losers: 1
B/E: 0
Total Points: 5.75
Avg. Win: $162.50
Avg. Loss: $37.50
Total Win Rate: 67%
Total Profits: $287.50
I still think I needed to get a better fill at 1174.50 but even with a minor hesistaion I didnt get the proper fill. The other thing that I did on this trade was not exit at 1175.75. Once the 1177 level didnt hold, I really debated moving the stop to 1175.75. I chose not too since I had already moved the stop to B/E. I think in real life I would've wanted to get out. In hindsight, that would've been the right move but I need to work on recongizing these s/r levels and be more decisive and understand what is going on. Hopefully, the SIM trading will help the muscle memory with that.