Made $737 this week on 10 trades. 75% winners. $196 avg gain and $53 avg loss. 6th straight week of gains.
52 roundturns - avg gain of $14 per contract traded
Emotions Traders Don't Talk About
1 week ago
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thursday Wrapup (12/31) - $87 gain
Another slow day.
First, and best, trade of the day was a gap fade at the open for a $188 gain. Took just one tick heat and all targets hit within 30 mins.
Took 2 countertrend longs, one at 10:15 and another at 11:45. First one briefly touched my 1st tgt before collapsing lower. After a 1.5 pt drawdown I managed to scale out of this one for just a $175 loss. I didn't take the first entry, but entered on the second test. After 5 mins I found myself asking why I was still in this trade since it hadn't proven itself. Of course, I should've listened to my gut and exited the trade when I had the chance to get out at breakeven. Still, nonetheless, did a solid job of not panicking and closing on first pullback.
Second countertrend was much more favorable though I only took $75 profit out of the trade. Again I didn't take the first entry, but waited on a pullback and bought the break of the prior bar high on the 1000 tick chart. Didn't like the risk on the first setup. After entry price my first target was easily hit without one tick of heat. And I was up as much as $275, but wasn't quick enough to capture the profit. At least I exited the trade when price came back down to my entry point.
At the end of the day I made $87 on 2 for 3 trading. Not great, but not a loss either. Hoping for some range expansion next week. Maybe today's late afternoon selloff is a good sign.
First, and best, trade of the day was a gap fade at the open for a $188 gain. Took just one tick heat and all targets hit within 30 mins.
Took 2 countertrend longs, one at 10:15 and another at 11:45. First one briefly touched my 1st tgt before collapsing lower. After a 1.5 pt drawdown I managed to scale out of this one for just a $175 loss. I didn't take the first entry, but entered on the second test. After 5 mins I found myself asking why I was still in this trade since it hadn't proven itself. Of course, I should've listened to my gut and exited the trade when I had the chance to get out at breakeven. Still, nonetheless, did a solid job of not panicking and closing on first pullback.
Second countertrend was much more favorable though I only took $75 profit out of the trade. Again I didn't take the first entry, but waited on a pullback and bought the break of the prior bar high on the 1000 tick chart. Didn't like the risk on the first setup. After entry price my first target was easily hit without one tick of heat. And I was up as much as $275, but wasn't quick enough to capture the profit. At least I exited the trade when price came back down to my entry point.
At the end of the day I made $87 on 2 for 3 trading. Not great, but not a loss either. Hoping for some range expansion next week. Maybe today's late afternoon selloff is a good sign.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Wednesday Wrapup (12/30) - $200 loss
Today started out a bit more volatile, but that didn't last long. Just two trades today both losers.
Should be noted that I skipped the opening gap fade setup. After the overnight action, I thought today had the chance of being a trend day. Turns out that was an easy fade opportunity and would've made about $500 on 2 lots with at worst 2-3 ticks of heat. Just goes to show you've got to take every trade.
At 9:50 I took a pullback setup which is not normally part of my arsenal. Price had pulled back after the opening gap was filled and I sold the first break lower on the 1000 tick chart. My plan was to scale out quickly as with my countertrend setups, but I wasn't fast enough. My first tgt was hit, but immediately afterwards the market reversed and stopped me out on the balance. Was up as much as $250, before losing $75 on this trade. Again not one of my core setups so I was definitely reaching for this one. Guess I was just excited about the opening volatility.
Second trade of the day came just before noon on a short pullback setup. Was definitely a valid setup, but I got raked over the coals before exiting for a $125 loss. After entry, upward momentum accelerated and at the peak I was stuck in a 2 pt drawdown. But I remained patient and looked to exit at the first pullback. After a drawdown of as much as $600, I ultimately exited for a much smaller loss of $125. Very pleased with how I handled this one. Not sure I could've done anything differently.
Again all of today's gains were missed when I didn't fade the opening gap. After that filled, we were stuck in a 2-3 pt trading range the rest of the day.
Should be noted that I skipped the opening gap fade setup. After the overnight action, I thought today had the chance of being a trend day. Turns out that was an easy fade opportunity and would've made about $500 on 2 lots with at worst 2-3 ticks of heat. Just goes to show you've got to take every trade.
At 9:50 I took a pullback setup which is not normally part of my arsenal. Price had pulled back after the opening gap was filled and I sold the first break lower on the 1000 tick chart. My plan was to scale out quickly as with my countertrend setups, but I wasn't fast enough. My first tgt was hit, but immediately afterwards the market reversed and stopped me out on the balance. Was up as much as $250, before losing $75 on this trade. Again not one of my core setups so I was definitely reaching for this one. Guess I was just excited about the opening volatility.
Second trade of the day came just before noon on a short pullback setup. Was definitely a valid setup, but I got raked over the coals before exiting for a $125 loss. After entry, upward momentum accelerated and at the peak I was stuck in a 2 pt drawdown. But I remained patient and looked to exit at the first pullback. After a drawdown of as much as $600, I ultimately exited for a much smaller loss of $125. Very pleased with how I handled this one. Not sure I could've done anything differently.
Again all of today's gains were missed when I didn't fade the opening gap. After that filled, we were stuck in a 2-3 pt trading range the rest of the day.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Tuesday Wrapup (12/29) - $562 gain
A bit more activity than yesterday, but still nothing to write home about.
Faded the gap opening and that was my easiest trade in a long while. Took not 1 tick of heat before my 1st tgt was hit. Not nearly as pretty on the 2nd tgt, but ultimately closed for a $225 total profit.
Took a short pullback off the 1000 tick chart around 10:15 that went against me from the start. After a 1 pt drawdown I scaled out on first opportunity for a breakeven trade. Ultimately this one ended up being nicely profitable had I remained in the trade, but that's just how it goes sometimes. Could've went either way.
From 11:30 to 1:30 I passed on a couple of decent countertrend setups. Just didn't like the volume picture, and had concerns about there being enough movement to profit from this trades. Could've probably squeezed a pt out of all these.
Finally at 1:45 there was a nice volume spike on the 3 min chart, and I got short on the first break lower off the 1000 tick chart. Trouble with this setup was that the break took like 10-15 mins after the initial vol spike. That should've told me something right there. This trade was essentially a matter of entering and then sitting and waiting. Took 30 mins after entry to break out of a 2 tick range. Finally we moved lower and my 1st tgt was hit as volume picked up. I sensed a low was forming, but didn't act. On a bad move, I walked away from my computer for a few mins only to return and find that price moved back above my entry price ( I hadn't moved my initial stop). Yeah sounds like a repeat of a trade from last week, right? Thankfully for me we didn't travel very far.
Ultimately I entered a new countertrend short at 3:15 as we had a decent volume spike after a higher high. Yes, I was still short 2/3 of a position from the prior setup. So now I'm heavy short and price starts heading up again to the tune of a 5 tick drawdown. We temporarily take out the last high which I'm thinking the whole time is nothing more than fake out. Sure enough we get another mini-pullback, which would've allowed me to exit at nearly breakeven on this trade. But I didn't pull the trigger, and we move back up a bit but not above the prev high. So now I've dug my heels in and it turns out I was right this time as price fell into the close and I scaled out of all my positions. Ended up making $100 on the first setup and $237 on the last. But to do so, I took on a $212 drawdown on the first, and $337 on the second. Not good.
Definitely got sloppy there at the end. And was very fortunate to end the day profitable as it could've easily been a $500 loss. Need to tighten up heading into the new year.
I'll give my morning trading an A and the afternoon session a D+. Plenty of work to be done.
Faded the gap opening and that was my easiest trade in a long while. Took not 1 tick of heat before my 1st tgt was hit. Not nearly as pretty on the 2nd tgt, but ultimately closed for a $225 total profit.
Took a short pullback off the 1000 tick chart around 10:15 that went against me from the start. After a 1 pt drawdown I scaled out on first opportunity for a breakeven trade. Ultimately this one ended up being nicely profitable had I remained in the trade, but that's just how it goes sometimes. Could've went either way.
From 11:30 to 1:30 I passed on a couple of decent countertrend setups. Just didn't like the volume picture, and had concerns about there being enough movement to profit from this trades. Could've probably squeezed a pt out of all these.
Finally at 1:45 there was a nice volume spike on the 3 min chart, and I got short on the first break lower off the 1000 tick chart. Trouble with this setup was that the break took like 10-15 mins after the initial vol spike. That should've told me something right there. This trade was essentially a matter of entering and then sitting and waiting. Took 30 mins after entry to break out of a 2 tick range. Finally we moved lower and my 1st tgt was hit as volume picked up. I sensed a low was forming, but didn't act. On a bad move, I walked away from my computer for a few mins only to return and find that price moved back above my entry price ( I hadn't moved my initial stop). Yeah sounds like a repeat of a trade from last week, right? Thankfully for me we didn't travel very far.
Ultimately I entered a new countertrend short at 3:15 as we had a decent volume spike after a higher high. Yes, I was still short 2/3 of a position from the prior setup. So now I'm heavy short and price starts heading up again to the tune of a 5 tick drawdown. We temporarily take out the last high which I'm thinking the whole time is nothing more than fake out. Sure enough we get another mini-pullback, which would've allowed me to exit at nearly breakeven on this trade. But I didn't pull the trigger, and we move back up a bit but not above the prev high. So now I've dug my heels in and it turns out I was right this time as price fell into the close and I scaled out of all my positions. Ended up making $100 on the first setup and $237 on the last. But to do so, I took on a $212 drawdown on the first, and $337 on the second. Not good.
Definitely got sloppy there at the end. And was very fortunate to end the day profitable as it could've easily been a $500 loss. Need to tighten up heading into the new year.
I'll give my morning trading an A and the afternoon session a D+. Plenty of work to be done.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Monday Wrapup (12/28) - $287 gain
Not much to write about today. Just one trade taken at 9:39AM on a short countertrend setup. Took a little longer to develop this most of these setups, but after a 2 tick drawdown, I ultimately scaled out for a decent profit. Was a bit worried at the start of the trade because the setup wasn't the best. Not much of a volume spike on the 3 min chart like I like to see, but there was a nice hanging man candle on the 1000 tick chart after a breakout to new highs.
Was tempted to take a pullback trade around 3:20 off the 15 min chart, but decided against it. Looks like I would've broke even at best. Didn't like the risk. Would've probably entered had we managed a larger pullback.
So that's it 1 for 1 on a slow day. Probably can expect the same of the rest of the week too.
Was tempted to take a pullback trade around 3:20 off the 15 min chart, but decided against it. Looks like I would've broke even at best. Didn't like the risk. Would've probably entered had we managed a larger pullback.
So that's it 1 for 1 on a slow day. Probably can expect the same of the rest of the week too.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Dec 24th Weekly Recap - $220 gain
Not much to report this week. Just 9 trades total over 4 days. Did a good job for the most part of staying out of the chop.
Only profitable on 46% of my trades this week with avg gain of $211 and avg loss of $155. 43 roundturns puts my avg profit per contract at $5.
Looking forward to some more volatility which we likely won't see till January. Not what kinda action we'll see next week.
Only profitable on 46% of my trades this week with avg gain of $211 and avg loss of $155. 43 roundturns puts my avg profit per contract at $5.
Looking forward to some more volatility which we likely won't see till January. Not what kinda action we'll see next week.
Thursday Wrapup (12/24) - $519 loss
10:30AM
So far I've taken a gap fade with 2 lots which is currently in a slight drawdown of $350. Really not expecting a trend day today so not sure I'm worried too much about this one getting out of hand. We've gapped up everyday this week and I figure at some point we've got to run out of steam. But maybe not.
Just missed a trade a few mins ago after the first pullback following the HOD print. Was looking for a better entry, but could've entered at least a 1/2 position. Of course, part of my hestitation was likely related to having to close my short gap fade to enter a long position. Could've re-established the short after closing the long, but what happens if the long didn't work out? That's what was going thru my head. Like it better when we are closer to a rollover date when the next series has some decent volume. That way I can trade a play in the other direction w/o affecting my core day trade setups. Not the case this here though with the Jun 10 contracts having little volume at all.
Ugg, and now I've just botched a decent shot on a nice countertrend setup. Was looking to sell a break below prior bar's low here at 10:30AM which I got, but tried to enter on a limit order rather than a stop. That's just not going to cut on a day like today where there's no liquidity.
1:00PM
Well my gap fade never went anywhere. Figured that would be an easy one, but no dice. Lost $400 on that trade.
Then took a pullback trade right before noon that went no where either. Fortunately I only coughed up $119 loss on that one as I patiently scaled out during the last hour chop. Why was I trading again?
So far I've taken a gap fade with 2 lots which is currently in a slight drawdown of $350. Really not expecting a trend day today so not sure I'm worried too much about this one getting out of hand. We've gapped up everyday this week and I figure at some point we've got to run out of steam. But maybe not.
Just missed a trade a few mins ago after the first pullback following the HOD print. Was looking for a better entry, but could've entered at least a 1/2 position. Of course, part of my hestitation was likely related to having to close my short gap fade to enter a long position. Could've re-established the short after closing the long, but what happens if the long didn't work out? That's what was going thru my head. Like it better when we are closer to a rollover date when the next series has some decent volume. That way I can trade a play in the other direction w/o affecting my core day trade setups. Not the case this here though with the Jun 10 contracts having little volume at all.
Ugg, and now I've just botched a decent shot on a nice countertrend setup. Was looking to sell a break below prior bar's low here at 10:30AM which I got, but tried to enter on a limit order rather than a stop. That's just not going to cut on a day like today where there's no liquidity.
1:00PM
Well my gap fade never went anywhere. Figured that would be an easy one, but no dice. Lost $400 on that trade.
Then took a pullback trade right before noon that went no where either. Fortunately I only coughed up $119 loss on that one as I patiently scaled out during the last hour chop. Why was I trading again?
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Wednesday Wrapup (12/23) - $150 gain
7:00 AM
Not much going here in the early AM session. Only decent setup I passed on, which was a countertrend trade around 5:30AM. After breaking out to a new HOD we had a surge of vol on the 3 min chart. But I didn't like the risk on the 1000 tick so I decided I'd play the first pullback instead, but it never came. Then I could've bought the pullback, but was waiting on a slightly better price, but that too didn't pan out. So long story short I'm tradeless.
Need to clear my brain of yesterday's last trade and start over fresh today.
8:20AM
Just missed another trade by literally seconds. Had been looking for a pullback to get short on. Left the house for the office and when I got to the office, my pullback was staring at me. Tried to enter, but my order pushed prices down 1-2 ticks. Not that I'm trading that much size, but oh well.
4PM
For the most part, I took the day off. Did fade the gap opening and that was an easy 3 pts or so. Made $225 there with both tgts being filed after the econ report at 10AM.
From there I took 2 trades, one of which was a decent pullback setup albeit with no volume whatsoever. This was taken around 10:38AM, and after maybe 1 tick movement in my direction the trade went against me. So I immediately thought about exiting and after a $300 drawdown I took the first pullback and exited for a marginal $50 loss.
Next trade was a countertrend setup around 1PM after a failed breakout. While there was definitely a volume spike, it will still minimal. I mean when there are gaps on a 3 min chart during intraday trading you know you should be calling the quits. Anyway, with this trade, my 1st target was hit easily and we stalled from there. Ultimately I exited this trade for a $25 loss.
So I fnished the day up $150 on 1 for 3 trading. Just not many trades on an overall dull day. On a positive note, I didn't have a repeat performance on yesterday. Once the 2nd trade went against me I immediately switched from profit mode to capital preservation. Didn't want to puke into the mini-breakout, so I just remained patient and exited at the first opp.
Not sure there will be much going on tomorrow either. Might check in early in the AM and go from there.
Not much going here in the early AM session. Only decent setup I passed on, which was a countertrend trade around 5:30AM. After breaking out to a new HOD we had a surge of vol on the 3 min chart. But I didn't like the risk on the 1000 tick so I decided I'd play the first pullback instead, but it never came. Then I could've bought the pullback, but was waiting on a slightly better price, but that too didn't pan out. So long story short I'm tradeless.
Need to clear my brain of yesterday's last trade and start over fresh today.
8:20AM
Just missed another trade by literally seconds. Had been looking for a pullback to get short on. Left the house for the office and when I got to the office, my pullback was staring at me. Tried to enter, but my order pushed prices down 1-2 ticks. Not that I'm trading that much size, but oh well.
4PM
For the most part, I took the day off. Did fade the gap opening and that was an easy 3 pts or so. Made $225 there with both tgts being filed after the econ report at 10AM.
From there I took 2 trades, one of which was a decent pullback setup albeit with no volume whatsoever. This was taken around 10:38AM, and after maybe 1 tick movement in my direction the trade went against me. So I immediately thought about exiting and after a $300 drawdown I took the first pullback and exited for a marginal $50 loss.
Next trade was a countertrend setup around 1PM after a failed breakout. While there was definitely a volume spike, it will still minimal. I mean when there are gaps on a 3 min chart during intraday trading you know you should be calling the quits. Anyway, with this trade, my 1st target was hit easily and we stalled from there. Ultimately I exited this trade for a $25 loss.
So I fnished the day up $150 on 1 for 3 trading. Just not many trades on an overall dull day. On a positive note, I didn't have a repeat performance on yesterday. Once the 2nd trade went against me I immediately switched from profit mode to capital preservation. Didn't want to puke into the mini-breakout, so I just remained patient and exited at the first opp.
Not sure there will be much going on tomorrow either. Might check in early in the AM and go from there.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Tuesday Wrapup (12/22) - $0 gain
One word comes to mind today - embarrassed. Despite only having 2 trades today, one of which is was just about perfect, I closed on bad note.
Slept in this morning so was feeling alert and ready for the day. But I also had a lot on my to-do list for my other businesses. So I was only have paying attention to the markets today because I wasn't expecting much movement and I definitely guess right in that regard.
First trade of the day was a short pullback taken after the 10AM econ news. After the news we initially spiked higher before collapsing lower. I sold the first pullback after this low formed and had almost a perfect entry. Scaled out of this trade for a $325 gain and never took more than 2 ticks of heat. My exit could've been a bit better, as I gave this trade too much room to work on my last 1/3, but ultimately everything worked out well.
Around noon I took my 2nd trade of the day, also a short pullback. The setup was perfect, but after entry the trade stalled and went nowhere. The trade fluctuated within a 3 tick range for the next 10-15 mins or so. It was at this point I know I needed to exit so I moved my target orders up to breakeven levels. I exited 1/3 for a 1 tick loss, and that's when things went downhill. A co-worker stopped by my office door with her husband and wanted to chat. So I was away from my screen for about 5-10 mins with a position on and it was killing me, but it's hard to be rude especially when it's Christmas time. So with that chat finally done I returned to my screen to find the position still on and now I was in a 1.5 pt drawdown as prices had turned up. At various points over the next 4 hrs (yes, I held all the way till the close) the position fluctated from being down 2-3 ticks to as much as a 3.5 pt drawdown. Each time when it got close to my orig breakeven point, which happened at least twice, I kept thinking we'd break lower so I dug my heels in further. Ultimately I closed the last 4 lots at various prices over the final 5 mins for a $325 loss on the trade, which I consider to be very fortunate.
I want to think I would've made better choices had I not been interrupted during this trade. But I'm not sure. This is the first time this has happened to me in weeks, and I've been feeling so dialed in, a trade like this re-introduces a bit of doubt in my abilities. It's these types of judgment errors which have always been my downfall in the past.
I guess the positive here is that I knew 10 mins after entry that it was time to exit the trade. It's not like I was relying on false hope. I was ready and willing to take a loss, I just wanted to do so at my price.
On another note, I did pass up several decent entries today. Many of which weren't necessarily one of my core setups. But I kept hearing myself say go ahead and enter the trade, if it doesn't work out you can exit for a small loss. They always say the top traders can make money on random entries just do to trade management alone. Not sure I'm ready to take that step.
Not expecting much for tomorrow, but we'll see what happens.
Slept in this morning so was feeling alert and ready for the day. But I also had a lot on my to-do list for my other businesses. So I was only have paying attention to the markets today because I wasn't expecting much movement and I definitely guess right in that regard.
First trade of the day was a short pullback taken after the 10AM econ news. After the news we initially spiked higher before collapsing lower. I sold the first pullback after this low formed and had almost a perfect entry. Scaled out of this trade for a $325 gain and never took more than 2 ticks of heat. My exit could've been a bit better, as I gave this trade too much room to work on my last 1/3, but ultimately everything worked out well.
Around noon I took my 2nd trade of the day, also a short pullback. The setup was perfect, but after entry the trade stalled and went nowhere. The trade fluctuated within a 3 tick range for the next 10-15 mins or so. It was at this point I know I needed to exit so I moved my target orders up to breakeven levels. I exited 1/3 for a 1 tick loss, and that's when things went downhill. A co-worker stopped by my office door with her husband and wanted to chat. So I was away from my screen for about 5-10 mins with a position on and it was killing me, but it's hard to be rude especially when it's Christmas time. So with that chat finally done I returned to my screen to find the position still on and now I was in a 1.5 pt drawdown as prices had turned up. At various points over the next 4 hrs (yes, I held all the way till the close) the position fluctated from being down 2-3 ticks to as much as a 3.5 pt drawdown. Each time when it got close to my orig breakeven point, which happened at least twice, I kept thinking we'd break lower so I dug my heels in further. Ultimately I closed the last 4 lots at various prices over the final 5 mins for a $325 loss on the trade, which I consider to be very fortunate.
I want to think I would've made better choices had I not been interrupted during this trade. But I'm not sure. This is the first time this has happened to me in weeks, and I've been feeling so dialed in, a trade like this re-introduces a bit of doubt in my abilities. It's these types of judgment errors which have always been my downfall in the past.
I guess the positive here is that I knew 10 mins after entry that it was time to exit the trade. It's not like I was relying on false hope. I was ready and willing to take a loss, I just wanted to do so at my price.
On another note, I did pass up several decent entries today. Many of which weren't necessarily one of my core setups. But I kept hearing myself say go ahead and enter the trade, if it doesn't work out you can exit for a small loss. They always say the top traders can make money on random entries just do to trade management alone. Not sure I'm ready to take that step.
Not expecting much for tomorrow, but we'll see what happens.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Monday Wrapup (12/21) - $587 gain
1:00PM
Not much happening today. Not a single trade until 11AM despite waking at 5AM to catch the middle of the European session.
Only two trades thus far both countertrend trades, one short and one long.
Long was taken at 11:05AM on the 2nd chance entry (as pointed out last week) after the first breakout. Stop placed 1 tick below recent low. Gave this trade probably way too much room to work and almost closed at one point for a much smaller profit. My thinking while in this trade was that I'd likely have few trades today, so the ones I entered needed to count. Not necessarily healthy. Anyhow after suffering just 1 tick of heat on this one, I scaled out over the next 40 mins for a decent $300 profit. Of course hindsight is always 20/20 and I could've held a few lots for even larger gains, but that's not necessarily my style anyway.
Took a short on a first break after HOD was formed at 12:15. Took 2 ticks of heat on this one before moving along in my favor. Scaled out of this one for a $287 profit. And again as with above, had I held on I would've captured much larger gains.
So as it stands, I'm up $587 on very efficient 2 for 2 trading. Let's see what this afternoon brings.
3:40PM
Still sitting on my hands. Thought about taking a trade just a few mins ago with the 2nd chance opp after a countertrend entry signal. Would've at least broke even on the trade as it stands right now with 20 mins to go, but the volume was just so light even for the last 30 mins
So I'm finishing the day up $587 on 2 for 2 trading. Maybe we'll have some more opps tomorrow, but I highly doubt it. Expecting more range trade until the new year arrives. But as always be prepared for anything!
Not much happening today. Not a single trade until 11AM despite waking at 5AM to catch the middle of the European session.
Only two trades thus far both countertrend trades, one short and one long.
Long was taken at 11:05AM on the 2nd chance entry (as pointed out last week) after the first breakout. Stop placed 1 tick below recent low. Gave this trade probably way too much room to work and almost closed at one point for a much smaller profit. My thinking while in this trade was that I'd likely have few trades today, so the ones I entered needed to count. Not necessarily healthy. Anyhow after suffering just 1 tick of heat on this one, I scaled out over the next 40 mins for a decent $300 profit. Of course hindsight is always 20/20 and I could've held a few lots for even larger gains, but that's not necessarily my style anyway.
Took a short on a first break after HOD was formed at 12:15. Took 2 ticks of heat on this one before moving along in my favor. Scaled out of this one for a $287 profit. And again as with above, had I held on I would've captured much larger gains.
So as it stands, I'm up $587 on very efficient 2 for 2 trading. Let's see what this afternoon brings.
3:40PM
Still sitting on my hands. Thought about taking a trade just a few mins ago with the 2nd chance opp after a countertrend entry signal. Would've at least broke even on the trade as it stands right now with 20 mins to go, but the volume was just so light even for the last 30 mins
So I'm finishing the day up $587 on 2 for 2 trading. Maybe we'll have some more opps tomorrow, but I highly doubt it. Expecting more range trade until the new year arrives. But as always be prepared for anything!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Dec 18th Weekly Recap - $3223 gain
Solid week overall especially considering the tight trading range we've been stuck in coupled with the fact that I'm by no means a range trader. Still feeling very locked in at the moment and almost sad the weekend is here. Yes, I know I need the rest, but when I'm in the zone I'd rather not take off any time for fear of "losing my edge."
So I'll be looking forward to Monday morning all weekend LOL. Guess that's better than dreading it.
As for my numbers this week, I finished up $3,223 with no losing days and 63% profitable trades. Avg win was $255 and avg loss $104. 150 roundturns puts my avg profit per contract at $21. Fairly solid overall.
Since the first week I started this blog where I basically bled all but 1 day, I've been on quite a roll. Just 3 losing days (1 of those being a $2 loss) out of the last 20 trading days. During this same time I'm up $10,842 for the most part trading 3 contracts, although this last week I did bump it up a bit.
Definitely feeling in a zone and feeling like I remember with my last run-up. But I need to stay humble, because Mr. Market will take it all away quickly otherwise.
Did a solid job of trade mgmt this week on all accounts: profit taking, risk management and position sizing. Still need to stay focused on these areas next week until they become almost habit. Another positive from this week was my ability to take a loss. Several times I cut lose a trade that I would've likely held in the past. I can tell you it felt good to exit those trades and watch them continuing going against my original position.
All in all looking forward to next week!
So I'll be looking forward to Monday morning all weekend LOL. Guess that's better than dreading it.
As for my numbers this week, I finished up $3,223 with no losing days and 63% profitable trades. Avg win was $255 and avg loss $104. 150 roundturns puts my avg profit per contract at $21. Fairly solid overall.
Since the first week I started this blog where I basically bled all but 1 day, I've been on quite a roll. Just 3 losing days (1 of those being a $2 loss) out of the last 20 trading days. During this same time I'm up $10,842 for the most part trading 3 contracts, although this last week I did bump it up a bit.
Definitely feeling in a zone and feeling like I remember with my last run-up. But I need to stay humble, because Mr. Market will take it all away quickly otherwise.
Did a solid job of trade mgmt this week on all accounts: profit taking, risk management and position sizing. Still need to stay focused on these areas next week until they become almost habit. Another positive from this week was my ability to take a loss. Several times I cut lose a trade that I would've likely held in the past. I can tell you it felt good to exit those trades and watch them continuing going against my original position.
All in all looking forward to next week!
Friday Wrapup (12/18) - $751 gain
9:00AM
Not much to report so far this morning. I've taken 3 trades since 6AM without much to show for them. First trade was a long pullback taken after first drop from the overnight high. First tgt was hit and ultimately was stopped out for a loss of $38. Not much movement after entry.
Next trade was a pullback short taken just after 7AM. First two tgts were hit on this one and I was a bit too careless about closing the last lot and ended up getting stopped out on that one. Made $63 on the trade.
And the last was a countertrend setup that's normally part of my setup. Felt like it was a low risk entry and ultimately I was spot on. We had rallied up to 1100 and pulled back and took out the prior bar's low. Shorted 3 contracts at prior bar low. Without a tick of heat, I was up as much as $187 before ultimately closing the trade for just a $37 profit. Closed the trade early before my stop was hit, and if I had held on this trade would've been nicely profitable over the next 1/2 hour or so. Problem was this wasn't a normal setup for me, so I didn't trust my instincts.
Should note also that I've only traded 1/2 sizes on all 3 trades. First 2 were due to larger risks where I had to place my stops, and the last was because this was a new setup. Up $62 so far with another mtg scheduled at 9:15AM. Ugg.
4:00PM
Was again in business meetings for the better part of the day but did manage two trades during the regular market session.
Faded the opening gap up and scaled out at 50% and 100% retracement levels for a solid $450 gain. Never took more than 1 pt heat on this trade.
And around 1:45 took a countertrend short which I entered a bit differently then usual. I missed the initial entry, so sold the first mini-pullback once we had broke the prior bar's lows. I had made a note to myself about this the other day to watch out for this setup and sure enough there it was. Pulled in $238 on this one. Shortly after entry this one got fairly choppy, so I scaled out fairly quickly. Booked $238 on this trade.
All total for a $750 gain. Not too bad especially considering my relative lack of screen time.
Of note, I missed two nice countertrend entries, one at 11:30 and the other at 3:30, which would've both been nicely profitable either trading the initial break or the follow-up as discussed above. The first one I just flat out missed, the second I was in front of the screen but pre-occupied with something else.
Not much to report so far this morning. I've taken 3 trades since 6AM without much to show for them. First trade was a long pullback taken after first drop from the overnight high. First tgt was hit and ultimately was stopped out for a loss of $38. Not much movement after entry.
Next trade was a pullback short taken just after 7AM. First two tgts were hit on this one and I was a bit too careless about closing the last lot and ended up getting stopped out on that one. Made $63 on the trade.
And the last was a countertrend setup that's normally part of my setup. Felt like it was a low risk entry and ultimately I was spot on. We had rallied up to 1100 and pulled back and took out the prior bar's low. Shorted 3 contracts at prior bar low. Without a tick of heat, I was up as much as $187 before ultimately closing the trade for just a $37 profit. Closed the trade early before my stop was hit, and if I had held on this trade would've been nicely profitable over the next 1/2 hour or so. Problem was this wasn't a normal setup for me, so I didn't trust my instincts.
Should note also that I've only traded 1/2 sizes on all 3 trades. First 2 were due to larger risks where I had to place my stops, and the last was because this was a new setup. Up $62 so far with another mtg scheduled at 9:15AM. Ugg.
4:00PM
Was again in business meetings for the better part of the day but did manage two trades during the regular market session.
Faded the opening gap up and scaled out at 50% and 100% retracement levels for a solid $450 gain. Never took more than 1 pt heat on this trade.
And around 1:45 took a countertrend short which I entered a bit differently then usual. I missed the initial entry, so sold the first mini-pullback once we had broke the prior bar's lows. I had made a note to myself about this the other day to watch out for this setup and sure enough there it was. Pulled in $238 on this one. Shortly after entry this one got fairly choppy, so I scaled out fairly quickly. Booked $238 on this trade.
All total for a $750 gain. Not too bad especially considering my relative lack of screen time.
Of note, I missed two nice countertrend entries, one at 11:30 and the other at 3:30, which would've both been nicely profitable either trading the initial break or the follow-up as discussed above. The first one I just flat out missed, the second I was in front of the screen but pre-occupied with something else.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Thursday Wrapup (12/17) - $702 Gain
9:00AM
Two profitable trades this morning. First was a simple short pullback taken off the 1000 tick chart @ 6:45AM. Fairly straightforward setup though I could've done better with my entry. Initially entered 3 lots, then added 3 more a few mins later as it appeared momentum had stalled and I didn't want to miss the move back down. Ended up taking a 1 pt drawdown before we fell and hit all of my scale tgts over the next 60 mins. Made $425 here. Overall not much to complain about.
Second setuip was another short pullback entered at 8:10AM with 3 lots, and I then tacked on another 3 lots 2 ticks higher just a few mins before 8:30. I figured longs would get scared before the news release and close their positions which would allow me to scale out of at least 1/2 of lots before the news hit the wires. And I was spot on with this thinking. Three targets were hit easily before the news as the bid/ask spread widened, and the last 3 were hit on the fallout after the news release. Overall took only 1 tick heat on the whole trade and made $312 total.
So I'm up $737 on the day before the market even opens. What sucks is that I have a business meeting to attend from 9:30 thru 12:30ish. So I'm likely going to miss the best trading of the week. I've been seeing the market action so well over the last few days, I hate to miss any screen time. Also, from past experience, I need to make sure I don't press too hard this afternoon trying to "earn back" any setups I missed in the morning session.
On another note, I've passed or missed at least two decent countertrend setups this morning. The first I missed completely, the second I tried to enter, but wasn't filled again. But one thing I need to keep an eye out for in the future is the chance to re-enter these setups if we have a mini-pullback. Buy the next breakout above the prev bar's high with stop below this bar. Might even be a slightly better risk profile.
Also, definitely won't be fading this morning's gap. Could be a gap and go especially with futures opening below the 1100 level. Very happy sitting on the sidelines for this one.
12:30PM
Just returned from my meeting. After reviewing the charts it looks like I missed at most 1, maybe 2 quality setups. Feeling better about that, I hate being drug away from market during peak times. Now just need to focus on the afternoon trading and not force anything.
1:00PM
Got suckered out of a decent countertrend entry just now. Had a high volume drop at 12:48 where I entered long on first break with a 3 tick stop. Had thoughts about setting stop at 4 ticks (2 ticks below last bar's low), but decided to keep the orig stop in place. Sure enough I was stopped out and the market immediately reversed w/o me. Geez I know better. Markets play the same old tricks over and over. Up $550 on the day now. Still lots of time left to make this a good day, but don't press anything!
1:45PM
Just closed out a pullback trade gone wrong. Only lost $62 so pleased with my trade mgmt overall. Problem was I entered a trade at a time when no volume was present. Took a short entry with 1/2 size after 1PM thinking we'd quickly re-test the LOD, but things went stagnant shortly thereafter. Added another 3 lots when momentum waned and then for the next 30 mins, we just fluctuated within a 3 tick range before moving higher. While it may very well turn out to be a profitable trade, I took the opp to get out at the first mini-pullback for a reasonable loss rather than take a chance of getting stopped out. Coin flip trades don't help me at all! Up $490 heading into the last 2 hrs.
2:45PM
Countertrend short entry at taken at 2:10PM. Wasn't in love with the setup (then why did you enter it?) so ended up closing for a $25 profit when things got choppy. Don't want to waste money on so-so setups.
Ugg, missed perhaps the easiest trade of the day just now. Need to be willing to take 1 tick slippage on some of these trades. Especially on trades this tight where I can enter with a 2 or 3 tick stop. Clear vol spike just after 2:30 set up a nice countertrend short. Couldn't get filled at the price I wanted so I even moved my limit down and still no luck. Market proceeded to collapse in the ensuing minutes.
3:20PM
Just found myself trying to create a trade that really isn't in my repertoire. Realized the mistake a quickly cancelled the order. A++++
4:00PM
One final trade to end the day, a countertrend short taken at 3:41 on the TICK breakout and vol spike. Sold the prior bar low with a 1/2 size position due to time of day and scaled out for a $187 gain. Finished the day up $702. Not bad, but was hoping much more after the solid AM start. On a positive note though, I didn't give back my early gains! Still feeling locked in. Even the trades I've missed I've seen very clearly.
Tomorrow I've got a few more mtgs, but should be able to get a couple more hours of trading in.
Two profitable trades this morning. First was a simple short pullback taken off the 1000 tick chart @ 6:45AM. Fairly straightforward setup though I could've done better with my entry. Initially entered 3 lots, then added 3 more a few mins later as it appeared momentum had stalled and I didn't want to miss the move back down. Ended up taking a 1 pt drawdown before we fell and hit all of my scale tgts over the next 60 mins. Made $425 here. Overall not much to complain about.
Second setuip was another short pullback entered at 8:10AM with 3 lots, and I then tacked on another 3 lots 2 ticks higher just a few mins before 8:30. I figured longs would get scared before the news release and close their positions which would allow me to scale out of at least 1/2 of lots before the news hit the wires. And I was spot on with this thinking. Three targets were hit easily before the news as the bid/ask spread widened, and the last 3 were hit on the fallout after the news release. Overall took only 1 tick heat on the whole trade and made $312 total.
So I'm up $737 on the day before the market even opens. What sucks is that I have a business meeting to attend from 9:30 thru 12:30ish. So I'm likely going to miss the best trading of the week. I've been seeing the market action so well over the last few days, I hate to miss any screen time. Also, from past experience, I need to make sure I don't press too hard this afternoon trying to "earn back" any setups I missed in the morning session.
On another note, I've passed or missed at least two decent countertrend setups this morning. The first I missed completely, the second I tried to enter, but wasn't filled again. But one thing I need to keep an eye out for in the future is the chance to re-enter these setups if we have a mini-pullback. Buy the next breakout above the prev bar's high with stop below this bar. Might even be a slightly better risk profile.
Also, definitely won't be fading this morning's gap. Could be a gap and go especially with futures opening below the 1100 level. Very happy sitting on the sidelines for this one.
12:30PM
Just returned from my meeting. After reviewing the charts it looks like I missed at most 1, maybe 2 quality setups. Feeling better about that, I hate being drug away from market during peak times. Now just need to focus on the afternoon trading and not force anything.
1:00PM
Got suckered out of a decent countertrend entry just now. Had a high volume drop at 12:48 where I entered long on first break with a 3 tick stop. Had thoughts about setting stop at 4 ticks (2 ticks below last bar's low), but decided to keep the orig stop in place. Sure enough I was stopped out and the market immediately reversed w/o me. Geez I know better. Markets play the same old tricks over and over. Up $550 on the day now. Still lots of time left to make this a good day, but don't press anything!
1:45PM
Just closed out a pullback trade gone wrong. Only lost $62 so pleased with my trade mgmt overall. Problem was I entered a trade at a time when no volume was present. Took a short entry with 1/2 size after 1PM thinking we'd quickly re-test the LOD, but things went stagnant shortly thereafter. Added another 3 lots when momentum waned and then for the next 30 mins, we just fluctuated within a 3 tick range before moving higher. While it may very well turn out to be a profitable trade, I took the opp to get out at the first mini-pullback for a reasonable loss rather than take a chance of getting stopped out. Coin flip trades don't help me at all! Up $490 heading into the last 2 hrs.
2:45PM
Countertrend short entry at taken at 2:10PM. Wasn't in love with the setup (then why did you enter it?) so ended up closing for a $25 profit when things got choppy. Don't want to waste money on so-so setups.
Ugg, missed perhaps the easiest trade of the day just now. Need to be willing to take 1 tick slippage on some of these trades. Especially on trades this tight where I can enter with a 2 or 3 tick stop. Clear vol spike just after 2:30 set up a nice countertrend short. Couldn't get filled at the price I wanted so I even moved my limit down and still no luck. Market proceeded to collapse in the ensuing minutes.
3:20PM
Just found myself trying to create a trade that really isn't in my repertoire. Realized the mistake a quickly cancelled the order. A++++
4:00PM
One final trade to end the day, a countertrend short taken at 3:41 on the TICK breakout and vol spike. Sold the prior bar low with a 1/2 size position due to time of day and scaled out for a $187 gain. Finished the day up $702. Not bad, but was hoping much more after the solid AM start. On a positive note though, I didn't give back my early gains! Still feeling locked in. Even the trades I've missed I've seen very clearly.
Tomorrow I've got a few more mtgs, but should be able to get a couple more hours of trading in.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Wednesday Wrapup (12/16) - $535 gain
7AM
Have been stalking a long entry on this first pullback since the overnight highs. Now I've finally got a decent entry price, but it seems like the reversal has legs. Plus it's taken way too long, and all the upside momentum seems to have subsided. Think I'll pass on this one. Instead maybe I'll look for a short if something comes available.
9:45AM
This morning's econ news offered very little in the way of trading opportunities. Was hoping for a repeat of yesterday to get off to a solid start today, but not the case.
Taken three setups thus far this morning. First was a countertrend long taken just after 7AM. Was up as much as $200 on this trade and thinking more was to follow, but didn't work out that way. Closed at breakeven. Briefly thought about adding to this trade on the first mini pullback, but glad I decided not to. Not part of my strategy anyway.
Second setup was an attempted countertrend, that I quickly realized I had no business being in. Wasn't really a valid setup at all, so I jumped ship at breakeven a few mins later. A+ for me!
And lastly, I entered a gap fade at 9:30 looking for a retracement of the opening gap higher. As usual targets placed at 50% and 100% levels. Let's see what happens.
Overall expecting chop until the FOMC news is released later today. So just need to keep this in the back of my mind with my profit targets. No time to be aggressive, let's just book some steady profits and get the hell out. Not expecting any trends to develop.
12:00PM
So looking forward to 2:15 so we can finally see some movement. Geez I've been lulled to sleep over the last few days.
Two trades since my last update. First was a short pullback taken off 3 min chart. Went against me pretty much from the start and I jumped ship early for a $190 loss as it appeared we would likely challenge the day's highs (which we later did).
Second trade was a countertrend short taking at 11:30AM after we printed a new HOD on a decent vol spike. Milked this one for $250.
As it stands right now I'm up $60 with my closed trades, and currently down $150 on my gap fade. Will hold the gap fade for a while longer, but look to close out before the FOMC mtg.
2:00PM
No trades since last update. Just sitting on my hands waiting for the FOMC news. Closed my gap fade out a few mins ago for a $12 loss. Just didn't want to get caught in the after news whiplash that's sure to take place. Up $50 on the day, woo hoo! Ok, now don't do anything stupid after the news release!
3:20PM
Just one trade since the slowest FOMC pace ever! Took a short pullback at 2:30PM off the 1000 tick chart. First target was hit right away then things got choppy. Had moved my stop down at this point and just decided to let the trade work and prove to me I was wrong (by hitting my stop). That's the beauty of scaling out. Taking some off right away to cover costs, and letting the rest work. Finally after 30 mins or so we have a push lower and I exited for a $462 gain.
Just in the last 20 mins I've passed on a pullback (was waiting for bit more retracement) and missed an entry on a nice countertrend scalp by 1 tick. There was a clear bull trap move there at 3:20PM with a vol spike on the 3 min chart. I tried to get filled at a certain price, but the market ended up moving lower w/o me.
It's interesting how clear I'm seeing the market right now. For example, with that bull trap referenced above I could just see the vol building and knew these folks were likely trapped. Even though I didn't get an entry, I still feel good about seeing the action well.
Up $510 on the day with just 5 trades under my belt right now. It's going to have to be a pretty setup for me to enter at this time of day.
4PM
Took one last trade right before the bell. I know silly me! That pullback was just so structured, I thought we'd fall once 4PM neared. Only took 1 tick of heat, and exited for a $25 gain. Need to 86 this practice, because at this time of day things are so manipulated, profitable setups tend to fall on their face.
Hopefully tomorrow we'll break out of this range. Especially w/ it being op ex week, we're due for some volatility.
Have been stalking a long entry on this first pullback since the overnight highs. Now I've finally got a decent entry price, but it seems like the reversal has legs. Plus it's taken way too long, and all the upside momentum seems to have subsided. Think I'll pass on this one. Instead maybe I'll look for a short if something comes available.
9:45AM
This morning's econ news offered very little in the way of trading opportunities. Was hoping for a repeat of yesterday to get off to a solid start today, but not the case.
Taken three setups thus far this morning. First was a countertrend long taken just after 7AM. Was up as much as $200 on this trade and thinking more was to follow, but didn't work out that way. Closed at breakeven. Briefly thought about adding to this trade on the first mini pullback, but glad I decided not to. Not part of my strategy anyway.
Second setup was an attempted countertrend, that I quickly realized I had no business being in. Wasn't really a valid setup at all, so I jumped ship at breakeven a few mins later. A+ for me!
And lastly, I entered a gap fade at 9:30 looking for a retracement of the opening gap higher. As usual targets placed at 50% and 100% levels. Let's see what happens.
Overall expecting chop until the FOMC news is released later today. So just need to keep this in the back of my mind with my profit targets. No time to be aggressive, let's just book some steady profits and get the hell out. Not expecting any trends to develop.
12:00PM
So looking forward to 2:15 so we can finally see some movement. Geez I've been lulled to sleep over the last few days.
Two trades since my last update. First was a short pullback taken off 3 min chart. Went against me pretty much from the start and I jumped ship early for a $190 loss as it appeared we would likely challenge the day's highs (which we later did).
Second trade was a countertrend short taking at 11:30AM after we printed a new HOD on a decent vol spike. Milked this one for $250.
As it stands right now I'm up $60 with my closed trades, and currently down $150 on my gap fade. Will hold the gap fade for a while longer, but look to close out before the FOMC mtg.
2:00PM
No trades since last update. Just sitting on my hands waiting for the FOMC news. Closed my gap fade out a few mins ago for a $12 loss. Just didn't want to get caught in the after news whiplash that's sure to take place. Up $50 on the day, woo hoo! Ok, now don't do anything stupid after the news release!
3:20PM
Just one trade since the slowest FOMC pace ever! Took a short pullback at 2:30PM off the 1000 tick chart. First target was hit right away then things got choppy. Had moved my stop down at this point and just decided to let the trade work and prove to me I was wrong (by hitting my stop). That's the beauty of scaling out. Taking some off right away to cover costs, and letting the rest work. Finally after 30 mins or so we have a push lower and I exited for a $462 gain.
Just in the last 20 mins I've passed on a pullback (was waiting for bit more retracement) and missed an entry on a nice countertrend scalp by 1 tick. There was a clear bull trap move there at 3:20PM with a vol spike on the 3 min chart. I tried to get filled at a certain price, but the market ended up moving lower w/o me.
It's interesting how clear I'm seeing the market right now. For example, with that bull trap referenced above I could just see the vol building and knew these folks were likely trapped. Even though I didn't get an entry, I still feel good about seeing the action well.
Up $510 on the day with just 5 trades under my belt right now. It's going to have to be a pretty setup for me to enter at this time of day.
4PM
Took one last trade right before the bell. I know silly me! That pullback was just so structured, I thought we'd fall once 4PM neared. Only took 1 tick of heat, and exited for a $25 gain. Need to 86 this practice, because at this time of day things are so manipulated, profitable setups tend to fall on their face.
Hopefully tomorrow we'll break out of this range. Especially w/ it being op ex week, we're due for some volatility.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Tuesday Wrapup (12/15) - $1149 gain
10:00AM
Fairly active day already. Not much going on until 8:30, but 5 trades since.
First trade of the day was a pullback short off the 1000 tick chart taken at 7:40AM EST. Initially started with 3 lots, and tacked on 3 more a few mins later as the risk became more defined. Covered half of the lots over the next 30 mins and my remaining targets were hit at 8:30 after the news release. Stoploss was never in danger, but I briefly considered closing the trade before 8:30. Ultimately since I only had a 1/2 position on, I was comfortable holding thru the news and it worked out well. Made $425 on this trade with very little drawdown.
Second trade of the day was a countertrend scalp just after the econ release. First target was hit for 2 ticks, and then I quickly exited the rest at breakeven once more selling appeared on the DOM. A few mins later I took a re-entry and made $250 in 4 mins, but could've clearly held on for more gains.
After closing out the last countertrend scalp, I turned around and got short with a clean pullback setup off the 5 min chart. But the trade never went in my favor, and I elected to exit for as close to breakeven as possible. Ended up losing $75.
Entered a 2 lot gap fade position at 9:30AM as well. Looking to scale out 1 lot @ 50% retracement and the last lot at yesterday's close.
So in 90 mins time, I'm up $600 to start the day. Would love to see a $2000 day today, but not sure what the market is going to offer up. Feeling fairly sharp here in the early going at least. Let's see if we can continue the momentum.
12:30PM
Another slow day, go figure! Is it really possible to have an inside day of an inside day that was already a tiny range LOL!. Geez.
Since my last update, I've exited my gap fade for $312. Fairly straight forward trade as far as gap fades go. Only took at most a 1 pt drawdown.
Also had a $100 loss on a countertrend scalp short that went absolutely nowhere after entry. This was entered just after 10:15 after a nice vol spike on the 3 min chart.
Up $812 on the day heading into the afternoon session. My job is to not get caught playing around in the chop.
3:15PM
Only one trade since my last update. Took a short pullback off the 3 min chart right at 2PM. Took 1 tick of heat before my first tgt was hit a few mins later. From there it just sat stagnant until about about 10 after 3 when the move down finally got underway. Normally I would exit a trade like this much earlier, but my thinking was that I was already having a decent day, the risk was almost non-existent, and as such I was just content to let it ride. Up $1150 on the day now on fairly efficient 4 for 6 trading (not counting 1 scratch). Let's don't do anything stupid here!
3:45PM
Alright I'm content to sit and watch right now. Don't want to watch a day's worth of gains evaporate in 10 mins.
Fairly active day already. Not much going on until 8:30, but 5 trades since.
First trade of the day was a pullback short off the 1000 tick chart taken at 7:40AM EST. Initially started with 3 lots, and tacked on 3 more a few mins later as the risk became more defined. Covered half of the lots over the next 30 mins and my remaining targets were hit at 8:30 after the news release. Stoploss was never in danger, but I briefly considered closing the trade before 8:30. Ultimately since I only had a 1/2 position on, I was comfortable holding thru the news and it worked out well. Made $425 on this trade with very little drawdown.
Second trade of the day was a countertrend scalp just after the econ release. First target was hit for 2 ticks, and then I quickly exited the rest at breakeven once more selling appeared on the DOM. A few mins later I took a re-entry and made $250 in 4 mins, but could've clearly held on for more gains.
After closing out the last countertrend scalp, I turned around and got short with a clean pullback setup off the 5 min chart. But the trade never went in my favor, and I elected to exit for as close to breakeven as possible. Ended up losing $75.
Entered a 2 lot gap fade position at 9:30AM as well. Looking to scale out 1 lot @ 50% retracement and the last lot at yesterday's close.
So in 90 mins time, I'm up $600 to start the day. Would love to see a $2000 day today, but not sure what the market is going to offer up. Feeling fairly sharp here in the early going at least. Let's see if we can continue the momentum.
12:30PM
Another slow day, go figure! Is it really possible to have an inside day of an inside day that was already a tiny range LOL!. Geez.
Since my last update, I've exited my gap fade for $312. Fairly straight forward trade as far as gap fades go. Only took at most a 1 pt drawdown.
Also had a $100 loss on a countertrend scalp short that went absolutely nowhere after entry. This was entered just after 10:15 after a nice vol spike on the 3 min chart.
Up $812 on the day heading into the afternoon session. My job is to not get caught playing around in the chop.
3:15PM
Only one trade since my last update. Took a short pullback off the 3 min chart right at 2PM. Took 1 tick of heat before my first tgt was hit a few mins later. From there it just sat stagnant until about about 10 after 3 when the move down finally got underway. Normally I would exit a trade like this much earlier, but my thinking was that I was already having a decent day, the risk was almost non-existent, and as such I was just content to let it ride. Up $1150 on the day now on fairly efficient 4 for 6 trading (not counting 1 scratch). Let's don't do anything stupid here!
3:45PM
Alright I'm content to sit and watch right now. Don't want to watch a day's worth of gains evaporate in 10 mins.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Monday Wrapup (12/14) - $75 gain
9:45AM
Not much happening so far this morning. Took my first trade on a short pullback setup at 7AM. After moving maybe 1 tick in my favor I stook a 1.5 pt drawdown. Decided at that point that I would exit the trade on the first pullback and got out for a $137 loss after being down as much as $375. Turns out this was a good decision too as I would've been easily stopped out 30 mins or so later.
What I realized with this trade was that it's ok to adjust my line of thinking after entry if the trade doesn't move as expected. In other words, it's ok to revise my targets in line with the drawdown, or exit the trade altogether. Small losses are much easier to overcome then large ones and there will always be another trade. Nice thinking on a Monday morning. It's going to be good week!
10:15AM
Feeling a bit too conservative so far. Passed on a decent countertrend scalp opportunity a few mins ago that would've been nicely profitable. And just now I waited too long to enter a pullback trade off the 3 min chart. Guess this morning's early entry is messing with my mind more than I thought.
12:45PM
A couple of trades since my last entry, but things are very slow. How many more days like this of watching paint dry?
Took a short pullback at 10:30 that I closed early when things stalled for a $212 gain on 6 lots. An hour later took a countertrend trade that went against me from the start. Did a solid job of exiting on first pullback for a $225 loss and not barfing into the TICK surge.
And lastly near 12PM, I took a long pullback (my first long in like 2 trading days LOL). Started position with 3 lots because I didn't have a good feel for where to place my stop, and later added 3 more lots at same price once support seemed to build below. Took a while for this trade to develop, but over 45 mins I scaled out 1 lot at a time for a nice $300 gain. Almost closed the trade once on a slight pullback, but felt like the market makers were just trying to shake out the longs and turns out I was spot on.
Up $150 right now and hoping for more action and gains to follow this afternoon.
2:45PM
Just one trade since my last update. A $75 loss on a short pullback taken at 2PM after a little move lower. Volume collapsed after entry and I just exited with a manageable loss. Not interested in setups where there's no edge. Up $75 currently.
4PM
Wow the last few weeks have been slow but today took the cake. Where is everyone at? For the day I finished up $75. Was tempted there in that final 15 mins to take a trade that isn't part of my setups, but convinced myself otherwise. Sometimes, I think there's a trading devil on my left shoulder telling me to enter trades that I have no business in. Today I didn't listen to him.
While there's not much monetary gain to show for today's efforts, at least I didn't lose money. Plus I managed risk very well today and executed about as well I could have. Exited failed trades early and didn't rely on hope to see them through.
Let's hope tomorrow brings more action.
Not much happening so far this morning. Took my first trade on a short pullback setup at 7AM. After moving maybe 1 tick in my favor I stook a 1.5 pt drawdown. Decided at that point that I would exit the trade on the first pullback and got out for a $137 loss after being down as much as $375. Turns out this was a good decision too as I would've been easily stopped out 30 mins or so later.
What I realized with this trade was that it's ok to adjust my line of thinking after entry if the trade doesn't move as expected. In other words, it's ok to revise my targets in line with the drawdown, or exit the trade altogether. Small losses are much easier to overcome then large ones and there will always be another trade. Nice thinking on a Monday morning. It's going to be good week!
10:15AM
Feeling a bit too conservative so far. Passed on a decent countertrend scalp opportunity a few mins ago that would've been nicely profitable. And just now I waited too long to enter a pullback trade off the 3 min chart. Guess this morning's early entry is messing with my mind more than I thought.
12:45PM
A couple of trades since my last entry, but things are very slow. How many more days like this of watching paint dry?
Took a short pullback at 10:30 that I closed early when things stalled for a $212 gain on 6 lots. An hour later took a countertrend trade that went against me from the start. Did a solid job of exiting on first pullback for a $225 loss and not barfing into the TICK surge.
And lastly near 12PM, I took a long pullback (my first long in like 2 trading days LOL). Started position with 3 lots because I didn't have a good feel for where to place my stop, and later added 3 more lots at same price once support seemed to build below. Took a while for this trade to develop, but over 45 mins I scaled out 1 lot at a time for a nice $300 gain. Almost closed the trade once on a slight pullback, but felt like the market makers were just trying to shake out the longs and turns out I was spot on.
Up $150 right now and hoping for more action and gains to follow this afternoon.
2:45PM
Just one trade since my last update. A $75 loss on a short pullback taken at 2PM after a little move lower. Volume collapsed after entry and I just exited with a manageable loss. Not interested in setups where there's no edge. Up $75 currently.
4PM
Wow the last few weeks have been slow but today took the cake. Where is everyone at? For the day I finished up $75. Was tempted there in that final 15 mins to take a trade that isn't part of my setups, but convinced myself otherwise. Sometimes, I think there's a trading devil on my left shoulder telling me to enter trades that I have no business in. Today I didn't listen to him.
While there's not much monetary gain to show for today's efforts, at least I didn't lose money. Plus I managed risk very well today and executed about as well I could have. Exited failed trades early and didn't rely on hope to see them through.
Let's hope tomorrow brings more action.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Dec 11th Weekly Recap - $2187 gain
Overall a solid week with me finishing up roughly $2200. Thankfully no major boo boos this week, though I was far from perfect.
With the market being up the last two days, it's interesting to note that I didn't place 1 long trade on either day, but still made almost $1500. That's hard to believe.
Also, since the first horrid week when I started the blog, I've now been profitable 14 out of the last 17 trading days. What I've done in the past though is irrelevant to the future, and I know I'm always only one bad trade away.
What I need to focus on next week:
With the market being up the last two days, it's interesting to note that I didn't place 1 long trade on either day, but still made almost $1500. That's hard to believe.
Also, since the first horrid week when I started the blog, I've now been profitable 14 out of the last 17 trading days. What I've done in the past though is irrelevant to the future, and I know I'm always only one bad trade away.
What I need to focus on next week:
- Position sizing - If I'm trading off a longer term chart or with a chart where the nearest support/resistance areas are further away than 2 pts or so, I need to consider smaller size. Several times this week I put on trades where I suffered a drawdown that I didn't feel comfortable with even though the trade was still valid.
- Risk management - Quit screwing with stops! And when a trade has traveled too far away from entry, get the hell out on the next pullback opp. In other words don't puke when everyone is buying/selling against my position, but stay patient and get out at the next opp. Assuming my stop hasn't already been hit.
- Profit taking - This is a tough one. I don't want to cut my profits short. But the market of late hasn't followed thru much at all. I need to be more cognizant of the market's waves, i.e. if we're in the 3rd leg of a downtrend consider getting conservative with my exits. Else give the trade room to run.
Friday Wrapup (12/11) - $1166 gain
8:30AM
No trades yet in the early AM session. Thought about buying the first pullback to 1102 around 5AM, but just felt like there was too much downside risk. Skipped the idea. Would've broke even on this trade most likely, at best a marginal profit.
And around 8AM I thought about selling the weak pullback around 1103, but this is not really my style so again I skipped the trade. After the fact, this one would've been fully profitable in 15-20 mins.
Just missed a nice countertrend entry after the 8:30 econ release. Wasn't paying attn and tried to get in late, but wasn't filled. Ugg.
10:00AM
Finally my first trade of the day was a quick short pullback right after the open. Don't like trading in this window, so only traded half size. 1 tick of heat before heading lower and up $200 to start the day.
Also took a gap fade with two lots. Decided yesterday that it's best if I trade 2 lots vs 3 as I haven't been comfortable with the drawdowns of late. First tgt hit already (50% gap retracement), let's see what happens on the last lot.
On another note I'm feeling a bit asleep at the wheel and need to be cognizant of such. Almost entered a trade seconds before the econ news at 9:55AM. Yikes woulda gotten stopped out in a heart beat. What's worse is that I checked the econ calendar this morning and saw the release. Just too much going on I guess.
1:00PM
Yet another snooze fest. Geez what is this 2003? Not much happening closed my last gap fade lot. Booked a $375 profit on this fade with 2 lots and a 1 pt drawdown at most.
Also, had my first bonehead trade in a while. Took a short off the first bounce following the LOD print around 11:30. First tgt was hit easily, and we came within 1 tick of my 2nd tgt before quickly reversing. At this point I move my stop loss (had prev moved to 1 tick above new swing hi). Yeah and you can likely guess what happens next. Fortunately for me I realized my lack of judgement and moved my target limits up to try and get out a reasonable price. Had one set filled when I stepped away. And am still short 2 lots.
Right now I'm up $550 not counting the current $225 drawdown I'm on this last two short lots. My goal is to try and get out of this position with the least bit of damage. My gut says this new bull swing is just a trap so I'm leaning short. But I've been wrong plenty of times before! At least this time I only have two contracts on.
4:00PM
Well despite my best efforts I ended the day with solid profits. Since the ES futures had a range of about 10 pts today, I've gotta be pleased with that.
Took 3 trades to close the day. A countertrend scalp just after 2PM that I absolutely nailed. We had a nice volume spike on the 3 min chart and I sold off the first break. Took forever to trigger (break the prior bar's low) and I was tempted to enter early several times w/o confirmation, but held out. This trade was good for 2 pts.
Right after this trade, I sold the first pullback up to 1102 and netted 2 pts out this as well.
And my last trade of the day was another countertrend scalp right after 3:30 that I nailed. Nice volume spike on 3 min chart set this one up, and I took maybe 1 tick of heat before we fell 3 pts fairly quickly.
And last but not least, I closed the trade that I was stuck short in for a $300 loss. That was really my only dummy trade today. Should have been out of that trade for a small profit or at worst a $25 loss.
Overall solid job. And definitely feel like I've got some momentum going into next week. Now hopefully the market will cooperate.
No trades yet in the early AM session. Thought about buying the first pullback to 1102 around 5AM, but just felt like there was too much downside risk. Skipped the idea. Would've broke even on this trade most likely, at best a marginal profit.
And around 8AM I thought about selling the weak pullback around 1103, but this is not really my style so again I skipped the trade. After the fact, this one would've been fully profitable in 15-20 mins.
Just missed a nice countertrend entry after the 8:30 econ release. Wasn't paying attn and tried to get in late, but wasn't filled. Ugg.
10:00AM
Finally my first trade of the day was a quick short pullback right after the open. Don't like trading in this window, so only traded half size. 1 tick of heat before heading lower and up $200 to start the day.
Also took a gap fade with two lots. Decided yesterday that it's best if I trade 2 lots vs 3 as I haven't been comfortable with the drawdowns of late. First tgt hit already (50% gap retracement), let's see what happens on the last lot.
On another note I'm feeling a bit asleep at the wheel and need to be cognizant of such. Almost entered a trade seconds before the econ news at 9:55AM. Yikes woulda gotten stopped out in a heart beat. What's worse is that I checked the econ calendar this morning and saw the release. Just too much going on I guess.
1:00PM
Yet another snooze fest. Geez what is this 2003? Not much happening closed my last gap fade lot. Booked a $375 profit on this fade with 2 lots and a 1 pt drawdown at most.
Also, had my first bonehead trade in a while. Took a short off the first bounce following the LOD print around 11:30. First tgt was hit easily, and we came within 1 tick of my 2nd tgt before quickly reversing. At this point I move my stop loss (had prev moved to 1 tick above new swing hi). Yeah and you can likely guess what happens next. Fortunately for me I realized my lack of judgement and moved my target limits up to try and get out a reasonable price. Had one set filled when I stepped away. And am still short 2 lots.
Right now I'm up $550 not counting the current $225 drawdown I'm on this last two short lots. My goal is to try and get out of this position with the least bit of damage. My gut says this new bull swing is just a trap so I'm leaning short. But I've been wrong plenty of times before! At least this time I only have two contracts on.
4:00PM
Well despite my best efforts I ended the day with solid profits. Since the ES futures had a range of about 10 pts today, I've gotta be pleased with that.
Took 3 trades to close the day. A countertrend scalp just after 2PM that I absolutely nailed. We had a nice volume spike on the 3 min chart and I sold off the first break. Took forever to trigger (break the prior bar's low) and I was tempted to enter early several times w/o confirmation, but held out. This trade was good for 2 pts.
Right after this trade, I sold the first pullback up to 1102 and netted 2 pts out this as well.
And my last trade of the day was another countertrend scalp right after 3:30 that I nailed. Nice volume spike on 3 min chart set this one up, and I took maybe 1 tick of heat before we fell 3 pts fairly quickly.
And last but not least, I closed the trade that I was stuck short in for a $300 loss. That was really my only dummy trade today. Should have been out of that trade for a small profit or at worst a $25 loss.
Overall solid job. And definitely feel like I've got some momentum going into next week. Now hopefully the market will cooperate.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Thursday Wrapup (12/10) - $355 Gain
For starters, I didn't get much rest last night so I need to take that into consideration as I trade today.
8:45AM
Only one trade thus far since 5AM. A countertrend setup that I traded with half size that I ultimately closed for a $12 loss. Not much movement after entry so I closed it early when it became apparent we'd rechallenge the HOD.
Missed best setup of the day so far after the econ news. Had a clear countertrend short setup at 8:35. Nice vol spike on 3 min chart. While I could see the sellers stacking up on the DOM, I elected to wait for confirmation (break of prior bar low), since I've gotten into trouble trying to read the DOM before. Once the low lifted, I placed a limit order to short, but I wasn't filled. Would've been an easy $300-400 with no heat. Hate to miss these kinds of trades.
10:30AM
Faded the gap opening figuring this was a slam dunk. Took a $600 drawdown before the market reversed course. Man these gaps haven't been easy lately. And thankfully I didn't trade yesterdays. As usual scaling out in 3s with this fade and first target hit. Stop just above HOD.
Took a short pullback a few mins ago that went against me from the start. Took the opportunity on first pullback to get the hell out of dodge for a small loss. A+ for risk mgmt on this one. See it's ok taking a loss!
11:00AM
Right now I'm content to sit on the sidelines until the market figures out which way it wants to go. Down $162.50 on the day after two trades.
1:45PM
Still not much brewing.. One pullback trade since last update that I traded half size on for a $200 gain. Markets are just too wild right now with rollover taking place. Wild swings. Currently in another pullback with my first target being hit already. Currently up $250 on the day not counting unrealized profits on current trade.
3:15PM
Just not much action at all today. Closed out that last trade for a $12 loss. Up $237 now with 2 lots remaining on my gap fade trade from this morning. Will close this out at the EOD if my stop or tgts aren't hit first.
3:45PM
Near perfect pullback entry just after 3:30. Sold 1/2 size due to the time of day. Then added another 3 lots when TICK hit 800 and I saw sellers hitting the bid. Just a gut feel and I went with it this time. While the addition timing was perfect we never went anywhere afterwards. Ended up with $87 of this trade.
Overall, I'll give myself a grade A today for execution. Didn't try to force anything in today's chop. Just weren't many opps to be had today. Hopefully tomorrow will bring a better range.
8:45AM
Only one trade thus far since 5AM. A countertrend setup that I traded with half size that I ultimately closed for a $12 loss. Not much movement after entry so I closed it early when it became apparent we'd rechallenge the HOD.
Missed best setup of the day so far after the econ news. Had a clear countertrend short setup at 8:35. Nice vol spike on 3 min chart. While I could see the sellers stacking up on the DOM, I elected to wait for confirmation (break of prior bar low), since I've gotten into trouble trying to read the DOM before. Once the low lifted, I placed a limit order to short, but I wasn't filled. Would've been an easy $300-400 with no heat. Hate to miss these kinds of trades.
10:30AM
Faded the gap opening figuring this was a slam dunk. Took a $600 drawdown before the market reversed course. Man these gaps haven't been easy lately. And thankfully I didn't trade yesterdays. As usual scaling out in 3s with this fade and first target hit. Stop just above HOD.
Took a short pullback a few mins ago that went against me from the start. Took the opportunity on first pullback to get the hell out of dodge for a small loss. A+ for risk mgmt on this one. See it's ok taking a loss!
11:00AM
Right now I'm content to sit on the sidelines until the market figures out which way it wants to go. Down $162.50 on the day after two trades.
1:45PM
Still not much brewing.. One pullback trade since last update that I traded half size on for a $200 gain. Markets are just too wild right now with rollover taking place. Wild swings. Currently in another pullback with my first target being hit already. Currently up $250 on the day not counting unrealized profits on current trade.
3:15PM
Just not much action at all today. Closed out that last trade for a $12 loss. Up $237 now with 2 lots remaining on my gap fade trade from this morning. Will close this out at the EOD if my stop or tgts aren't hit first.
3:45PM
Near perfect pullback entry just after 3:30. Sold 1/2 size due to the time of day. Then added another 3 lots when TICK hit 800 and I saw sellers hitting the bid. Just a gut feel and I went with it this time. While the addition timing was perfect we never went anywhere afterwards. Ended up with $87 of this trade.
Overall, I'll give myself a grade A today for execution. Didn't try to force anything in today's chop. Just weren't many opps to be had today. Hopefully tomorrow will bring a better range.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Wednesday Wrapup (12/9) - $533 gain
Today's trading was much better than yesterday's, but still lots of work to do. My results were much better until about 3PM. After back to back losses on two countertrend setups I watched my gains go from about $1200 all the way down to $500. Hate ending the day that way. One of these setups was ok, the other was mediocre.
Still missed lots of trades as my attention was directed elsewhere. As for positives, I'm definitely feeling lucky I didn't get caught in the short squeeze around 10:30AM. Thankfully for me I had just closed out my shorts a few mins earlier. Only real negative had to do with my position sizing on a trade I took off the 3 min chart. Clearly I should've traded this with half size as the amount of risk was much greater than I was wanting to assume. Had to take a bit of a drawdown on this trade, but ultimately it worked out nicely profitable.
AM Notes:
Well I got a good night's rest last night so it'll be interesting to see how today's trading shakes out. Already off to a sour start. Took a long pullback around 7:40AM that easily hit my first profit target and briefly touched my second before falling and stopping me out. How many times can this happen to a person? So rather than starting off the day with a nice gain, I'm in the hole $100. It's easy to sense my frustration, so I'll need to be aware of this prior to executing my next trade. No revenge trading needed!
Still missed lots of trades as my attention was directed elsewhere. As for positives, I'm definitely feeling lucky I didn't get caught in the short squeeze around 10:30AM. Thankfully for me I had just closed out my shorts a few mins earlier. Only real negative had to do with my position sizing on a trade I took off the 3 min chart. Clearly I should've traded this with half size as the amount of risk was much greater than I was wanting to assume. Had to take a bit of a drawdown on this trade, but ultimately it worked out nicely profitable.
AM Notes:
Well I got a good night's rest last night so it'll be interesting to see how today's trading shakes out. Already off to a sour start. Took a long pullback around 7:40AM that easily hit my first profit target and briefly touched my second before falling and stopping me out. How many times can this happen to a person? So rather than starting off the day with a nice gain, I'm in the hole $100. It's easy to sense my frustration, so I'll need to be aware of this prior to executing my next trade. No revenge trading needed!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Tuesday Wrapup (12/8) - $755 loss
To say today was sloppy would be an understatement. I was out of sync from the get go and am lucky I only lost $755. You name it I did it. Missed setups. Moved stops. Adding to losing positions. Getting stopped out on the high tick. It was so bad that on two of my sequences this afternoon where one setup morphed into another with multiple adds, I couldn't even figure out what my max drawdown and favorable excursion were. I only knew that I broken even ultimately on the trade. Now that's bad.
For starters I only got about 5 hrs of sleep last night (and maybe 6 the night before). And for high frequency day trading that's just not enough.
Days like today have killed me in the past and I know better, yet I continue to repeat them over and over. Maybe my trading terminal shouldn't load if I've clocked less than 7 hrs of sleep?
Going to get in bed early tonight and get ready for tomorrow. Should have an interesting matchup between the bulls and bears.
Early AM Trading Notes:
Good thing I slept in this morning. Would already be 0 for 2, instead of 0 for 1 with a small loss, on this young day. Better lucky than good I guess.
First trade of the day was a countertrend fade as we slashed through 1100 on high volume around 6:30AM. Typically this high volume means we should see at least some temporary buying. Because the risk on this trade was larger than normal I only traded 2 contracts. Smart decision. Lost $175 as we continued lower after maybe moving 1 tick in my favor.
Ugg, was stalking a short entry around 7:30AM, but was waiting for another 1-2 ticks, and missed an easy entry totally.
Wow, today isn't starting off too well. Took a nice short entry around 7:30. First tgt was hit easily, moved stop down and watched. Was up as much as $350 before being stopped out for a $50 loss. What's worse, immediately after hitting my stop, the market reversed and would've easily hit all my targets within a few mins. One thing I didn't consider was the fact that I was selling the 3rd pullback of this move and buyers were bound to come in at some point.
Fugg! Luckily I'm only down $225 and I have at least been honoring my stops!
For starters I only got about 5 hrs of sleep last night (and maybe 6 the night before). And for high frequency day trading that's just not enough.
Days like today have killed me in the past and I know better, yet I continue to repeat them over and over. Maybe my trading terminal shouldn't load if I've clocked less than 7 hrs of sleep?
Going to get in bed early tonight and get ready for tomorrow. Should have an interesting matchup between the bulls and bears.
Early AM Trading Notes:
Good thing I slept in this morning. Would already be 0 for 2, instead of 0 for 1 with a small loss, on this young day. Better lucky than good I guess.
First trade of the day was a countertrend fade as we slashed through 1100 on high volume around 6:30AM. Typically this high volume means we should see at least some temporary buying. Because the risk on this trade was larger than normal I only traded 2 contracts. Smart decision. Lost $175 as we continued lower after maybe moving 1 tick in my favor.
Ugg, was stalking a short entry around 7:30AM, but was waiting for another 1-2 ticks, and missed an easy entry totally.
Wow, today isn't starting off too well. Took a nice short entry around 7:30. First tgt was hit easily, moved stop down and watched. Was up as much as $350 before being stopped out for a $50 loss. What's worse, immediately after hitting my stop, the market reversed and would've easily hit all my targets within a few mins. One thing I didn't consider was the fact that I was selling the 3rd pullback of this move and buyers were bound to come in at some point.
Fugg! Luckily I'm only down $225 and I have at least been honoring my stops!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Monday Wrapup (12/7) - $888 gain
The final tally was a plus, but today's trading mostly horrible. Don't get me wrong I'm happy with the gain, but I've got to get my head out of my ass.
Also on a little housekeeping, this week I'll be trading with a larger lot size. I'll be trading 6 contracts vs 3. This may seem like a big jump, but I've traded upwards of 9-12 previously in the past with no ill effects, so I think I can handle the extra leverage.
Comments from my first trade:
Utterly amazing how badly I screwed up my first trade of the day. I awoke at 5AM sharp to find futures in a nice pullback after hitting an overnight low of 1098 or so. Although no lower high had been formed on my 1000 tick chart, I liked the risk/reward and entered a short. Took a 1.5-2 pt drawdown or so, but that was ok. My profit targets were spread out further than normal so the risk/reward was still acceptable. Anyways, my 1st target was hit a while after, and we got within 2 ticks or so of my 2nd target before heading higher. I had set my stop loss above the previous swing high after the 1st target was hit and was content to watch the action. The futures drove lower again this time stopping a tick higher than before. Rather than close the trade out for a $450 profit or so, I watched my profits disappear. What's worse I hung around as the markets turned choppy, and 4 1/2 hrs later at the opening bell removed my stop altogether. My thinking at the time was that my targets would surely be hit as we chopped around at the open. We rose from the open and for the next hour or so I watched as the market went against my position. At the peak I was down 4 pts on 3 contracts. Not a huge loss by any means, but clearly unacceptable. Fortunately for me I was able to trade around this position during the day session and ultimately realized a nice profit when the markets sold off after lunch. But I should've been out of the position hours earlier. And things could've been much worse had the market continued to rise.
The trouble with this trade was that I didn't want to admit I had made a mistake. I had several opps to close the position for a nice profit within an hour or so after entry, but couldn't pull the trigger. So instead I relied on hope that Mr. Market would give me another exit opportunity. Today he did, but I won't be so lucky next time.
Despite this rocky start I did have some positive moments. Best trade of the day was a countertrend scalp around 1:20PM EST after the lunch false breakout. Covered my costs early and let the last 2/3rds ride a bit longer than usual. Ultimately the market broke down about 45 mins later and I was out for a $450 gain while suffering just 1 tick of heat. Man, I love those kinda trades.
And generally speaking, I did a solid job of honoring my stops and practicing sound risk mgmt. Today just goes to show that one tiny lapse in judgement has the potential to screw up a whole day's worth of good trading.
Today feels eerily reminiscent of my horrible trading week a few weeks back. Going to need to focus extra hard the rest of week because it's clear I'm sharp as a marble today.
Let's get some rest and get back at it tomorrow.
Also on a little housekeeping, this week I'll be trading with a larger lot size. I'll be trading 6 contracts vs 3. This may seem like a big jump, but I've traded upwards of 9-12 previously in the past with no ill effects, so I think I can handle the extra leverage.
Comments from my first trade:
Utterly amazing how badly I screwed up my first trade of the day. I awoke at 5AM sharp to find futures in a nice pullback after hitting an overnight low of 1098 or so. Although no lower high had been formed on my 1000 tick chart, I liked the risk/reward and entered a short. Took a 1.5-2 pt drawdown or so, but that was ok. My profit targets were spread out further than normal so the risk/reward was still acceptable. Anyways, my 1st target was hit a while after, and we got within 2 ticks or so of my 2nd target before heading higher. I had set my stop loss above the previous swing high after the 1st target was hit and was content to watch the action. The futures drove lower again this time stopping a tick higher than before. Rather than close the trade out for a $450 profit or so, I watched my profits disappear. What's worse I hung around as the markets turned choppy, and 4 1/2 hrs later at the opening bell removed my stop altogether. My thinking at the time was that my targets would surely be hit as we chopped around at the open. We rose from the open and for the next hour or so I watched as the market went against my position. At the peak I was down 4 pts on 3 contracts. Not a huge loss by any means, but clearly unacceptable. Fortunately for me I was able to trade around this position during the day session and ultimately realized a nice profit when the markets sold off after lunch. But I should've been out of the position hours earlier. And things could've been much worse had the market continued to rise.
The trouble with this trade was that I didn't want to admit I had made a mistake. I had several opps to close the position for a nice profit within an hour or so after entry, but couldn't pull the trigger. So instead I relied on hope that Mr. Market would give me another exit opportunity. Today he did, but I won't be so lucky next time.
Despite this rocky start I did have some positive moments. Best trade of the day was a countertrend scalp around 1:20PM EST after the lunch false breakout. Covered my costs early and let the last 2/3rds ride a bit longer than usual. Ultimately the market broke down about 45 mins later and I was out for a $450 gain while suffering just 1 tick of heat. Man, I love those kinda trades.
And generally speaking, I did a solid job of honoring my stops and practicing sound risk mgmt. Today just goes to show that one tiny lapse in judgement has the potential to screw up a whole day's worth of good trading.
Today feels eerily reminiscent of my horrible trading week a few weeks back. Going to need to focus extra hard the rest of week because it's clear I'm sharp as a marble today.
Let's get some rest and get back at it tomorrow.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Friday Wrapup (12/4) - $1300 gain (not including gap fill)
Lots of setups today, but none better than the opening gap play. Little more drawdown than I would've liked, but nicely profitable to say the least. Suppose for future reference that I should wait for 15-20 mins after the opening to enter a position on a day like today where the initial gap is so large. Had confidence this trade would work out due to the overwhelming negative divergence shown with the EURUSD pair. Figured it would ultimately led stocks down and sure enough that's exactly what happened.
Still, today was far from perfect. Entered a countertrend short about 10 mins before the opening bell. Two of my targets were easily hit, but I moved my stop when the bell rang and took a small drawdown on the last lot. Ultimately it was profitable, but bad move by me.
Also, entered a short pullback around noon just after we broke below 1100 expecting a re-test of the lows. My first tgt was hit but not filled, causing me to lose focus and not honor my original stop. On a positive note I realized my error and was able to close 2 of 3 the three lots for a minimal loss, but rode the last one for far too long. I suppose that's a start, but ultimately to survive in this game long-term I've got to remain focused on risk management, and most importantly be willing to take a loss.
All in all took 9 trades today 7 of which were profitable. And my two losses totalled just $37 or 3 ticks. Yeah it was a good day. Including the gap fade, I made right at $2300 on the day. Without the gap trade, I'm up $1300. Not too shabby to say the least. For the week (sans gap fades which I don't consider part of my core day trading) I made a healthy $3300.
More stats: 66.3% profitable trades, $218 avg win (3 lots), $87 avg loss.
Clearly I was on my A game this week. My job now is to remain focused and humble, and come back Monday with a fresh slate. Not let this week's gains affect my psyche.
Note to self - Switch down to 1 min charts when price action gets this fast next time. Would've helped me identify a hi-prob countertrend long. Typically I'm using a 3 min chart coupled with a 1000 tick chart. I'll take countertrend entries on the 1000 tick chart using setups from the 3 min chart.
Still, today was far from perfect. Entered a countertrend short about 10 mins before the opening bell. Two of my targets were easily hit, but I moved my stop when the bell rang and took a small drawdown on the last lot. Ultimately it was profitable, but bad move by me.
Also, entered a short pullback around noon just after we broke below 1100 expecting a re-test of the lows. My first tgt was hit but not filled, causing me to lose focus and not honor my original stop. On a positive note I realized my error and was able to close 2 of 3 the three lots for a minimal loss, but rode the last one for far too long. I suppose that's a start, but ultimately to survive in this game long-term I've got to remain focused on risk management, and most importantly be willing to take a loss.
All in all took 9 trades today 7 of which were profitable. And my two losses totalled just $37 or 3 ticks. Yeah it was a good day. Including the gap fade, I made right at $2300 on the day. Without the gap trade, I'm up $1300. Not too shabby to say the least. For the week (sans gap fades which I don't consider part of my core day trading) I made a healthy $3300.
More stats: 66.3% profitable trades, $218 avg win (3 lots), $87 avg loss.
Clearly I was on my A game this week. My job now is to remain focused and humble, and come back Monday with a fresh slate. Not let this week's gains affect my psyche.
Note to self - Switch down to 1 min charts when price action gets this fast next time. Would've helped me identify a hi-prob countertrend long. Typically I'm using a 3 min chart coupled with a 1000 tick chart. I'll take countertrend entries on the 1000 tick chart using setups from the 3 min chart.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Thursday Wrapup (12/3) - $938 gain
Started off the day on a good note with an easy short pullback trade just after 6:30AM. All scale targets hit easily.
Was tempted to enter another short pullback around 9AM, but setup wasn't perfect so I decided no trade was best trade. Plus we we're too close to the open anyway. Update: Well go figure this would've been a nicely profitable trade w/ maybe a 1 pt drawdown with the worst entry.
Exercising good judgement here at the start. Carefully evaluating where I'd place my stop before entering the trade and passed on several already where I didn't have a good feel. On another note, I've already missed two solid trades. Things are moving fast and I've gotta be quick to catch my entries.
Up over $700 on the day and been sitting on my hands since 10:30AM. Snooze fest right now.
So after sitting on my hands the better part of the day, I finally took one more trade around 3:15PM EST. A nice short pullback off the 3 min chart, where I was looking for a re-test of the lows. Noticed some volume come in around 1108.25 and figured I better hop on board. Took 1 tick of heat and the trade moved in my direction rightaway.
Stick a fork in me, I'm done. Don't want any of this post 3:30 action. Had enough of it of late and I'm publishing this post so that I won't place another trade LOL.
Finished the day up $938 on very efficient 4 of 4 trading. Was expecting more out of today after the volatile start, but we went flat after 10:30 or so.
Tomorrow is a big day with the jobs report due. Need to get some rest tonight and wake up tomorrow focused. Up $2000+ on the week and definitely don't want to give it back.
Was tempted to enter another short pullback around 9AM, but setup wasn't perfect so I decided no trade was best trade. Plus we we're too close to the open anyway. Update: Well go figure this would've been a nicely profitable trade w/ maybe a 1 pt drawdown with the worst entry.
Exercising good judgement here at the start. Carefully evaluating where I'd place my stop before entering the trade and passed on several already where I didn't have a good feel. On another note, I've already missed two solid trades. Things are moving fast and I've gotta be quick to catch my entries.
Up over $700 on the day and been sitting on my hands since 10:30AM. Snooze fest right now.
So after sitting on my hands the better part of the day, I finally took one more trade around 3:15PM EST. A nice short pullback off the 3 min chart, where I was looking for a re-test of the lows. Noticed some volume come in around 1108.25 and figured I better hop on board. Took 1 tick of heat and the trade moved in my direction rightaway.
Stick a fork in me, I'm done. Don't want any of this post 3:30 action. Had enough of it of late and I'm publishing this post so that I won't place another trade LOL.
Finished the day up $938 on very efficient 4 of 4 trading. Was expecting more out of today after the volatile start, but we went flat after 10:30 or so.
Tomorrow is a big day with the jobs report due. Need to get some rest tonight and wake up tomorrow focused. Up $2000+ on the week and definitely don't want to give it back.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Wednesday Wrapup (12/2) - $2 Loss
Yes, that's correct! I lost a whopping $2 on the day!
Slept in this morning and it's a good thing as I would've started off the day 0 for 1 with a $200 or so loss. Better lucky than good sometimes.
Was tempted to trade the first long pullback following the initial breakout but thought the better of it. Just sensed the profile of the market was changing.
Missed one of best opps of the day right around 2PM as price broke out on TICK pop on a nice vol spike only to quickly reverse. Had a 2 sec window to enter, and I wasn't paying attention.
Got lucky on last trade to escape with a small profit. As with yesterday, I entered a trade around 3:40 (why do I keep doing this to myself?). Took a countertrend scalp and didn't have a chance to adjust my targets. My usual tgt would've filled easily, but by the time I moved the limit order we were back up. This thru me off and I ended up moving my stop loss. Just sensed this was a shakeout move before the close. Sure enough I was right, but just didn't have the right entry. Took a $225 drawdown to make $25. Not good.
Back at it tomorrow.
Slept in this morning and it's a good thing as I would've started off the day 0 for 1 with a $200 or so loss. Better lucky than good sometimes.
Was tempted to trade the first long pullback following the initial breakout but thought the better of it. Just sensed the profile of the market was changing.
Missed one of best opps of the day right around 2PM as price broke out on TICK pop on a nice vol spike only to quickly reverse. Had a 2 sec window to enter, and I wasn't paying attention.
Got lucky on last trade to escape with a small profit. As with yesterday, I entered a trade around 3:40 (why do I keep doing this to myself?). Took a countertrend scalp and didn't have a chance to adjust my targets. My usual tgt would've filled easily, but by the time I moved the limit order we were back up. This thru me off and I ended up moving my stop loss. Just sensed this was a shakeout move before the close. Sure enough I was right, but just didn't have the right entry. Took a $225 drawdown to make $25. Not good.
Back at it tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Tuesday Wrapup (12/1) - $617 gain
Solid day overall despite misfiring on my first 3 trades of the day. Hit on my last 4 to end the day up nicely. Also of note I was profitable today despite not taking 1 long trade!
First trade of the day was short pullback taken at 6:30AM EST. We had made a lower high on the 1000 tick chart and I placed my stop 1 tick above this prior high. The overnight high was just 2 ticks away. Sure enough we rallied to the overnight high (but didn't punch thru), stopping me out in the process before heading lower at least temporarily. So starting the day off with a $187 loss. Even though my stop placement might have been less than optimal at least I kept it in place when I was tempted to move. In hindsight, probably should've skipped this trade as it wouldn't have been worth the $300 risk I would've had to take with better stop placement.
Best trade of the day came after lunch around 1:30 PM EST. We broke out to new highs on a nice volume spike which I entered at 1111 as a countertrend trade. Took profit on 1 lot at 3 ticks and normally I would've scaled out of the other 2 lots at successively lower prices. In this instance though I sensed we may have put in the HOD and VIX was rising too. So I elected to leave my orig stop in place and let the last two lots ride. Near the EOD I closed out the last two lots for 4-5 pts each.
Approximately 15 mins before the close I entered a short pullback which was a bit ill-advised. First I entered the setup at least 2 ticks too early. Suffered a 1 pt drawdown before the trade moved in my direction. While this trade made $138 on 3 lots, I've told myself in the past I wouldn't enter trades after 3:30 and here I was doing it again. There's just too much volatility in the last 30 mins to exercise solid risk management. Need to quit this once and for all.
Nonetheless, still a solid day. And today marks my 6th profitable day out of the last 7 days. Need to stay focused!
First trade of the day was short pullback taken at 6:30AM EST. We had made a lower high on the 1000 tick chart and I placed my stop 1 tick above this prior high. The overnight high was just 2 ticks away. Sure enough we rallied to the overnight high (but didn't punch thru), stopping me out in the process before heading lower at least temporarily. So starting the day off with a $187 loss. Even though my stop placement might have been less than optimal at least I kept it in place when I was tempted to move. In hindsight, probably should've skipped this trade as it wouldn't have been worth the $300 risk I would've had to take with better stop placement.
Best trade of the day came after lunch around 1:30 PM EST. We broke out to new highs on a nice volume spike which I entered at 1111 as a countertrend trade. Took profit on 1 lot at 3 ticks and normally I would've scaled out of the other 2 lots at successively lower prices. In this instance though I sensed we may have put in the HOD and VIX was rising too. So I elected to leave my orig stop in place and let the last two lots ride. Near the EOD I closed out the last two lots for 4-5 pts each.
Approximately 15 mins before the close I entered a short pullback which was a bit ill-advised. First I entered the setup at least 2 ticks too early. Suffered a 1 pt drawdown before the trade moved in my direction. While this trade made $138 on 3 lots, I've told myself in the past I wouldn't enter trades after 3:30 and here I was doing it again. There's just too much volatility in the last 30 mins to exercise solid risk management. Need to quit this once and for all.
Nonetheless, still a solid day. And today marks my 6th profitable day out of the last 7 days. Need to stay focused!
Monday Wrapup (11/30) - $452 gain
Fairly solid day of trading especially considering how choppy the action was for most of the day. No bonehead trades and kept my stoploss in place at all times.
Missed a couple of entries, one which hit my limit order but didn't fill and then proceeded straight down.
Took a pullback long at 10:45 when it appeared we'd easily challenge the overnight highs. Kept my stop in place and was stopped out within a few mins. Remember thinking at the time how nice it was not to be stuck in a long trade as the market dragged lower. Too many times have I moved my stop only to find myself stuck in a losing, outlier trade. In this instance I took the loss and moved on to the next trade idea.
Let's keep the focus and have a solid week.
Missed a couple of entries, one which hit my limit order but didn't fill and then proceeded straight down.
Took a pullback long at 10:45 when it appeared we'd easily challenge the overnight highs. Kept my stop in place and was stopped out within a few mins. Remember thinking at the time how nice it was not to be stuck in a long trade as the market dragged lower. Too many times have I moved my stop only to find myself stuck in a losing, outlier trade. In this instance I took the loss and moved on to the next trade idea.
Let's keep the focus and have a solid week.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Nov 27th Weekly Recap - $1564 gain
Decent week especially since I wasn't even planning to trade with it being Thanksgiving.
Friday Wrapup (11/27) - $254 loss
Well up until 1PM this day was rolling along very smoothly.
Notes from today:
7AM - So far no trades placed although very tempting. i consider it a success that I've been able to watch w/o entering a trade just because I was bored.
8AM - Still sitting on my hands almost entered a countertrend setup but after further review I realized the requisite volume spike wasn't there.
Just cannot bring myself to enter anything yet, don't want to end the week on a bad note.
Took my first trade shortly after the open around 9:45. Suffered about 4 ticks of drawdown before my 1st tgt was hit. Ended up exiting the trade for about a $40 loss when the setup became a bit choppy. Have no interest in being in a so-so trade today (or ever for that matter LOL).
Next trade was a long pullback off 3 min chart. Took 2 ticks of heat before moved in my direction. Scaled out nicely and took last lot off early when momentum appeared to be waning. Made $220 on this setup.
Tried a countertrend short at 10:25, but got cold feet and exited for a 1 tick gain. Vol spike was decent, but trade wasn't going anywhere fast. Don't want to lose money on a marginal setup today. Update - Hindsight is always 20/20, but could've squeezed out much more profit out of this trade as we quickly fell 2 pts.
11:30AM - Sitting on my hands again waiting for setups, it's ok not to trade
Wow, continuing to stay dialed in this week. Nailed a countertrend setup, scaled out of it for best possible profit. The turned around and played the pullback off the 1000 tick chart for maybe 1 tick heat. Now up $575 for the day.
12PM - Content to sit and watch for the rest of the day.
1PM - Ugg had to take one more trade. Sure I wasn't the only one that got caught in the last downdraft. Personally I expected a re-test of the day's highs into the close. Bought the first meaningful pullback and planned to scale out. Touched my first tgt but didn't fill. Added 1 more lot 1 pt lower and is quite often the case, I lowered my stop. I tend to think that when the market is volatile, I'll get stopped out on a runaway tick. Ended up suffering a $1200 drawdown and was lucky to get out for a $850 loss which was about $500 larger than it should've been. A shitty finish to an otherwise good week. Geez I'm pissed at myself. Should've been happy with a $600 gain on a day I wasn't even planning to trade. Had my brain been working I would've realized the time of day and the fact that 1) traders who were long would need to flatten and 2) not many would want to hold over the weekend for fear of further losses.
Despite this last mishap there were many positives to build on. Gained over $1500 for the week, which is decent especially since this week is typically very light trading.
Looking forward to what should be more heightened volatility next week. Will just need to remain focused on risk management and taking good setups. The rest will work itself out easily enough.
Notes from today:
7AM - So far no trades placed although very tempting. i consider it a success that I've been able to watch w/o entering a trade just because I was bored.
8AM - Still sitting on my hands almost entered a countertrend setup but after further review I realized the requisite volume spike wasn't there.
Just cannot bring myself to enter anything yet, don't want to end the week on a bad note.
Took my first trade shortly after the open around 9:45. Suffered about 4 ticks of drawdown before my 1st tgt was hit. Ended up exiting the trade for about a $40 loss when the setup became a bit choppy. Have no interest in being in a so-so trade today (or ever for that matter LOL).
Next trade was a long pullback off 3 min chart. Took 2 ticks of heat before moved in my direction. Scaled out nicely and took last lot off early when momentum appeared to be waning. Made $220 on this setup.
Tried a countertrend short at 10:25, but got cold feet and exited for a 1 tick gain. Vol spike was decent, but trade wasn't going anywhere fast. Don't want to lose money on a marginal setup today. Update - Hindsight is always 20/20, but could've squeezed out much more profit out of this trade as we quickly fell 2 pts.
11:30AM - Sitting on my hands again waiting for setups, it's ok not to trade
Wow, continuing to stay dialed in this week. Nailed a countertrend setup, scaled out of it for best possible profit. The turned around and played the pullback off the 1000 tick chart for maybe 1 tick heat. Now up $575 for the day.
12PM - Content to sit and watch for the rest of the day.
1PM - Ugg had to take one more trade. Sure I wasn't the only one that got caught in the last downdraft. Personally I expected a re-test of the day's highs into the close. Bought the first meaningful pullback and planned to scale out. Touched my first tgt but didn't fill. Added 1 more lot 1 pt lower and is quite often the case, I lowered my stop. I tend to think that when the market is volatile, I'll get stopped out on a runaway tick. Ended up suffering a $1200 drawdown and was lucky to get out for a $850 loss which was about $500 larger than it should've been. A shitty finish to an otherwise good week. Geez I'm pissed at myself. Should've been happy with a $600 gain on a day I wasn't even planning to trade. Had my brain been working I would've realized the time of day and the fact that 1) traders who were long would need to flatten and 2) not many would want to hold over the weekend for fear of further losses.
Despite this last mishap there were many positives to build on. Gained over $1500 for the week, which is decent especially since this week is typically very light trading.
Looking forward to what should be more heightened volatility next week. Will just need to remain focused on risk management and taking good setups. The rest will work itself out easily enough.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Surprise Thanksgiving Day Trading (11/26) - $880 gain
Slept in this morning because I wasn't expecting much activitiy. Boy was I surprised when I checked quotes around 6AM to find the SP futures off 15 pts. Took a short pullback entry around 6:30AM EST that was almost immediately profitable. Never took any heat and scaled out for a $350 profit.
Not expecting much more activity I closed down my station only to check back a few hours later and saw that ES futures had fell another 10 pts and that I had missed at least 2 setups. And just now I missed a countertrend setup right before my eyes. I saw the trade, but didn't like the risk so I was wanting to shave a few ticks on my entry and never got filled. We raced up 2-3 pts in just a few mins and I would've had another nice profit.
Just completed one more trade to finish the day. Took a short pullback off the 1000 tick chart as we approached 1090. Took just 1 tick of heat and was out of the trade in about 5 mins. Scaled out for a $300 profit. Did a nice job of waiting for upward momentum to stall before entering this one.
Update - Forgot to tack on one more trade from yesterday. Took another pullback short right before the close of the trading session yesterday. Took maybe 3 ticks heat, before ES caved into the close. Scored an add'l $225 profit on the day.
Not expecting much more activity I closed down my station only to check back a few hours later and saw that ES futures had fell another 10 pts and that I had missed at least 2 setups. And just now I missed a countertrend setup right before my eyes. I saw the trade, but didn't like the risk so I was wanting to shave a few ticks on my entry and never got filled. We raced up 2-3 pts in just a few mins and I would've had another nice profit.
Just completed one more trade to finish the day. Took a short pullback off the 1000 tick chart as we approached 1090. Took just 1 tick of heat and was out of the trade in about 5 mins. Scaled out for a $300 profit. Did a nice job of waiting for upward momentum to stall before entering this one.
Update - Forgot to tack on one more trade from yesterday. Took another pullback short right before the close of the trading session yesterday. Took maybe 3 ticks heat, before ES caved into the close. Scored an add'l $225 profit on the day.
Wednesday Wrapup (11/25) - $563 gain
Solid day overall today. Made some nice trades, missed a few excellent entries, and only made one bonehead move. Fortunately the bonehead move ended up working out in a profitable trade.
As for my bonehead move, first of all there's simply no reason I should be looking to scalp in this light volume market. This particular trade I entered 2 ticks better than I normally would and because of this I was thrown off from my normal rhythm. Because my entry was only 2 ticks away from my normal stop placement for this setup, I choose to keep my stop further out of the money. So while I should've been out of this trade for a small loss, I ended up staying in it for an hour or so and ultimately the markets did sell off and hit my original profit targets. My trouble with this trade was that I lacked a solid plan. Had the markets continued higher I probably would've held and would've seen a repeat of last week. So definitely got lucky on this one.
Also, missed at least two trades today because I tried to get too cute with my entries. Waiting for better prices.
First trade of the day was a short pullback off the 1000 tick chart around 6:30AM. Ended up getting stopped out for a $25 loss and probably should've exited a bit earlier.
As for my bonehead move, first of all there's simply no reason I should be looking to scalp in this light volume market. This particular trade I entered 2 ticks better than I normally would and because of this I was thrown off from my normal rhythm. Because my entry was only 2 ticks away from my normal stop placement for this setup, I choose to keep my stop further out of the money. So while I should've been out of this trade for a small loss, I ended up staying in it for an hour or so and ultimately the markets did sell off and hit my original profit targets. My trouble with this trade was that I lacked a solid plan. Had the markets continued higher I probably would've held and would've seen a repeat of last week. So definitely got lucky on this one.
Also, missed at least two trades today because I tried to get too cute with my entries. Waiting for better prices.
First trade of the day was a short pullback off the 1000 tick chart around 6:30AM. Ended up getting stopped out for a $25 loss and probably should've exited a bit earlier.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday Wrapup (11/24) - $100 gain
Fairly uneventful day all around. In all placed 7 trades, and no blunders. Had one countertrend short trade where I was stopped out for a larger than expected loss due to liquidity gaps. Without that slippage, I'm up maybe $300 on the day.
On another note, I missed first setup of the day around 7AM because I was looking for a larger pullback.
On another note, I missed first setup of the day around 7AM because I was looking for a larger pullback.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday Wrapup (11/23) - $275 gain
Nice to start off the week on a positive note. Aside from being marginally profitable today was a complete snoozefest after the first half hour or so. Seems to be a reoccuring theme of late.
Managed to get myself into a bit of trouble after the opening trying to short. Kept position size small and was able to get out at breakeven on the first pullback. My instinct was to fade the gap (even though I know Monday gap fades carry the worst odds) since we had gapped sharply higher each of the last 3 Mondays. But once again the gap held.
In the early afternoon I nailed entries on (2) countertrend long scalps. The first came around 12:30 PM EST as prices fell and volume spiked. Got long on first break on 1000 tick chart, closed out a 1/3 early to partially cover costs and scaled out of the rest. The next setup I ended up closing early on because the momentum didn't seem to carryover. A few mins after I exited my original stop would've been filled.
And the last trade of the day was a short on a pullback entry around 2:30 PM. Again I choose to exit this trade just a few mins after entry because I no longer liked the setup.
Clearly today I had better focus and was able to act on my ideas. Whereas last week I would've let the trades ride till either my targets or stops were hit. The trouble with today was that there just weren't enough setups.
Not sure what tomorrow will bring, but I'm expecting more of the same. Ideal scenario is another gap up opening, which I'll be fading all the way down.
Managed to get myself into a bit of trouble after the opening trying to short. Kept position size small and was able to get out at breakeven on the first pullback. My instinct was to fade the gap (even though I know Monday gap fades carry the worst odds) since we had gapped sharply higher each of the last 3 Mondays. But once again the gap held.
In the early afternoon I nailed entries on (2) countertrend long scalps. The first came around 12:30 PM EST as prices fell and volume spiked. Got long on first break on 1000 tick chart, closed out a 1/3 early to partially cover costs and scaled out of the rest. The next setup I ended up closing early on because the momentum didn't seem to carryover. A few mins after I exited my original stop would've been filled.
And the last trade of the day was a short on a pullback entry around 2:30 PM. Again I choose to exit this trade just a few mins after entry because I no longer liked the setup.
Clearly today I had better focus and was able to act on my ideas. Whereas last week I would've let the trades ride till either my targets or stops were hit. The trouble with today was that there just weren't enough setups.
Not sure what tomorrow will bring, but I'm expecting more of the same. Ideal scenario is another gap up opening, which I'll be fading all the way down.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday Wrapup (11/20) - $190 gain
Well for starters it's nice to be back in the positive, although today does little to help this week's overall damage.
Still made too many mistakes today. Letting winners turn into losers and not managing risk well.
First the negatives. Let an early AM short pullback ride that should've been closed out for a decent profit. Gave it way too much room to work and ignored the obvious signs of buying. Entered the trade just after 7AM and was up as much as $200 after 15-20 mins or so, but only took off a 1/3 of the position during this time. Let it ride until after the open and was lucky to get out with a small loss of $162.
Because I was stuck in this short trade, I wasn't able to enter the gap fade which is usually my first play of the day. And as luck would have it that was the best trade of the day session.
As with yesterday I nailed a few countertrend scalps, but one I did enter too early on. Should've waited for confirmation and instead got stopped out of the trade. Did re-enter shortly thereafter for a nice gain after confirmation.
For the week I ended up down $3200 and some change. One of my worst weeks in a while for sure. Clearly this was a tough week for a lot of traders. But that's no excuse, I feel like I should be able to turn a profit in any environment.
It's times like this that one starts to question their strategies. But at the end of the day I know my setups make money as they have in the past. Ultimately it's execution and risk management that caused my losses this week.
Next week should bring either more chop or heightened volatility due to the holidays. Naturally I'm ready to get back at it, but next week is no time to put my foot on the accelerator.
Need to continue focusing on my risk management and taking the choicest setups. Plan my entries better and quit switching timeframes after I've entered a trade.
Still made too many mistakes today. Letting winners turn into losers and not managing risk well.
First the negatives. Let an early AM short pullback ride that should've been closed out for a decent profit. Gave it way too much room to work and ignored the obvious signs of buying. Entered the trade just after 7AM and was up as much as $200 after 15-20 mins or so, but only took off a 1/3 of the position during this time. Let it ride until after the open and was lucky to get out with a small loss of $162.
Because I was stuck in this short trade, I wasn't able to enter the gap fade which is usually my first play of the day. And as luck would have it that was the best trade of the day session.
As with yesterday I nailed a few countertrend scalps, but one I did enter too early on. Should've waited for confirmation and instead got stopped out of the trade. Did re-enter shortly thereafter for a nice gain after confirmation.
For the week I ended up down $3200 and some change. One of my worst weeks in a while for sure. Clearly this was a tough week for a lot of traders. But that's no excuse, I feel like I should be able to turn a profit in any environment.
It's times like this that one starts to question their strategies. But at the end of the day I know my setups make money as they have in the past. Ultimately it's execution and risk management that caused my losses this week.
Next week should bring either more chop or heightened volatility due to the holidays. Naturally I'm ready to get back at it, but next week is no time to put my foot on the accelerator.
Need to continue focusing on my risk management and taking the choicest setups. Plan my entries better and quit switching timeframes after I've entered a trade.
Thursday Wrapup (11/19) - $535 loss
The hits just keep on coming. Today started off well enough. Two early AM pullback trades left me up around $400 heading into the opening bell.
Traded the gap fade with 1/3 of my usual size due to gut feel more than anything. Wasn't going to take the trade at all if we opened below 1100. Stopped out for a $337 loss on this trade right away.
Still there were some positives today. I nailed two false breakouts, though only one was nicely profitable. The other I let work too long and ended up exiting at breakeven.
For one reason or another, I'm being way too patient with my exits. In past months, I've found myself exiting trades too early, and now I'm having the opposite problem.
As with yesterday, most of my damage today occurred on an afternoon trade where I was anticipating further downside that never materialized. Today was a strange day where if you didn't short the opening tick and hold for 30 mins you probably lost money. After about 10:30 am it was chop city.
Still regardless of what happens tomorrow this week has been absolutely horrid. I'm now in my 4th day of drawdown. Need to concentrate harder and stay focused on risk management.
Traded the gap fade with 1/3 of my usual size due to gut feel more than anything. Wasn't going to take the trade at all if we opened below 1100. Stopped out for a $337 loss on this trade right away.
Still there were some positives today. I nailed two false breakouts, though only one was nicely profitable. The other I let work too long and ended up exiting at breakeven.
For one reason or another, I'm being way too patient with my exits. In past months, I've found myself exiting trades too early, and now I'm having the opposite problem.
As with yesterday, most of my damage today occurred on an afternoon trade where I was anticipating further downside that never materialized. Today was a strange day where if you didn't short the opening tick and hold for 30 mins you probably lost money. After about 10:30 am it was chop city.
Still regardless of what happens tomorrow this week has been absolutely horrid. I'm now in my 4th day of drawdown. Need to concentrate harder and stay focused on risk management.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Wednesday Trading Review (11/18) - $1763 loss
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse. The day started off well enough. Hit on my first two pullback trades with only a tick of slippage on both. Missed a trade while I was on the treadmill. So much for exercise right? And missed another trade before the opening bell by 1 tick. So before the market open I was up around $400 on the two pre-market trades.
I knew because of these missed trades I would need to focus extra hard because I tend to want to take out my frustration on the markets.
First trade after the open was a long pullback and I was just crushed. No other way to look at it. My stoploss was hit in a matter of minutes as we rocketed lower. No prob I had a stop loss in place and took a $600 hit on this trade. So now I'm down $100 on the day. Still no sweat.
The day turned awful about 10:15. We had just slid hard to the 1100 area which I figured would provide at least some initial support. I lined up a pullback setup off the 3 min chart and entered short around 1103 looking to scale out as we re-tested the 1100 area. Well we never did surprisingly. The trouble was when it became apparent we wouldn't reverse I switched to the 10 min chart which still had a valid pullback setup. But I had entered way too early to be trading off this longer timeframe chart. Needless to say I rode this position (adding and subtracting along the way, mostly adding though!) all the way up to 1108 or. Then rode it all the way back down to 1101 area where at least I did start to scale out. But I fully expected the 1100 support to break so I wanted to leave some contracts on. By this time I was short around 10 contracts with an avg price of 1104 or so. When we didn't continue to fall I left the trade on. Finally I closed the trade near the close when it became apparent we were heading up. Lost $1800 and some change on this trade.
So far my entry into the blogosphere as been rough. Come to think of it I don't think I've lost 3 days in a row all year. Just not in sync with the markets right now. I'm sure the fact that we've had like 3 NR days in a row has something to do with it too, but still I need to be able to minimize the damage better on days like today.
Tomorrow I'm back at it. Need to focus harder than ever. Sooner or later volatility is going to expand as we break this range.
Update: Made a quick $225 on a short pullback around 9:15PM EST. Textbook entry and exit.
BTW, thanks to the market for falling now!
I knew because of these missed trades I would need to focus extra hard because I tend to want to take out my frustration on the markets.
First trade after the open was a long pullback and I was just crushed. No other way to look at it. My stoploss was hit in a matter of minutes as we rocketed lower. No prob I had a stop loss in place and took a $600 hit on this trade. So now I'm down $100 on the day. Still no sweat.
The day turned awful about 10:15. We had just slid hard to the 1100 area which I figured would provide at least some initial support. I lined up a pullback setup off the 3 min chart and entered short around 1103 looking to scale out as we re-tested the 1100 area. Well we never did surprisingly. The trouble was when it became apparent we wouldn't reverse I switched to the 10 min chart which still had a valid pullback setup. But I had entered way too early to be trading off this longer timeframe chart. Needless to say I rode this position (adding and subtracting along the way, mostly adding though!) all the way up to 1108 or. Then rode it all the way back down to 1101 area where at least I did start to scale out. But I fully expected the 1100 support to break so I wanted to leave some contracts on. By this time I was short around 10 contracts with an avg price of 1104 or so. When we didn't continue to fall I left the trade on. Finally I closed the trade near the close when it became apparent we were heading up. Lost $1800 and some change on this trade.
So far my entry into the blogosphere as been rough. Come to think of it I don't think I've lost 3 days in a row all year. Just not in sync with the markets right now. I'm sure the fact that we've had like 3 NR days in a row has something to do with it too, but still I need to be able to minimize the damage better on days like today.
Tomorrow I'm back at it. Need to focus harder than ever. Sooner or later volatility is going to expand as we break this range.
Update: Made a quick $225 on a short pullback around 9:15PM EST. Textbook entry and exit.
BTW, thanks to the market for falling now!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Recap of Tuesday's Trading (11/17) - $511 Loss
The trade I took home last night ended up working out for me. Scaled out of the trade and pulled in $500. So my official tally from yesterday was -$600. I know I've said before that taking positions home overnight is a bad idea. But I still had a valid setup on this trade, and hence a plan. As long as there is a plan, and not a reliance on hope, I'm ok with leaving a trade on. Still don't need to be entering anything from 3:30PM on.
Yesterday's posts were a bit lengthy. Let's see if we can keep this a bit shorter but still informative.
Started out the day early with my first trade taking place at 5:30AM. Made a quick $337 on two pullbacks before the day session began. Second one wasn't as smooth as the first. My PC clock wasn't synched, so I ended up getting fortunate that two of my limits were hit followed by a stop out on the last lot after the 8:30 econ release. I was planning to exit this trade before 8:30, but my PC clock was off by 2 mins.
Took a gap fade that hit for a $800 profit despite an initial $900 drawdown.
At 10AM I'm up $1100 on the day and sitting pretty. But the next trade set the tone for the rest of the day. Took a short pullback off the 5 min chart, but placed my stoploss somewhat haphazardly and was stopped out at the high tick. Sat and watched as the trade quickly reversed and would've been fully profitable. So lost $562 on this trade which would've made at least the same. Now I'm up $600 and change vs being up over $2K on the day.
After a breakeven trade around 11AM, I was out of the office for about 3 hrs only o return around 2:00PM. As is often the case, I tend to "find" trades quickly when I return to the office. While there was nothing wrong with the setup, volume was very thin which made it a gamble. Ended up getting stopped out for a $500 loss.
And finally the last trade of the day was also my first big blow-up since my intro into the blogging world. Took a short pullback off the 3min chart with an initial 6 lots that never materialized. Gave the trade way too much room to run. Added 3 more lots. Watched as the trade continued higher. Kept thinking we'd reverse, blah, blah. Anyway after a more than $1100 drawdown, I was fortunate to get out with a $700 loss. Looking back I should've been out of this trade within the first 10 mins and remember having this thought to myself. What's separating me from being a solid trader is acting on these instincts.
So there you have it. Crappy start to the week. Loss of $586 on the day and now down $1100+ on the week. All easily surpassible though. Need to re-focus tomorrow and come back hitting on all cylinders.
Update - One final trade afterhours for a marginal $75 gain. Should've held longer. Loss on the day now at $511.
Yesterday's posts were a bit lengthy. Let's see if we can keep this a bit shorter but still informative.
Started out the day early with my first trade taking place at 5:30AM. Made a quick $337 on two pullbacks before the day session began. Second one wasn't as smooth as the first. My PC clock wasn't synched, so I ended up getting fortunate that two of my limits were hit followed by a stop out on the last lot after the 8:30 econ release. I was planning to exit this trade before 8:30, but my PC clock was off by 2 mins.
Took a gap fade that hit for a $800 profit despite an initial $900 drawdown.
At 10AM I'm up $1100 on the day and sitting pretty. But the next trade set the tone for the rest of the day. Took a short pullback off the 5 min chart, but placed my stoploss somewhat haphazardly and was stopped out at the high tick. Sat and watched as the trade quickly reversed and would've been fully profitable. So lost $562 on this trade which would've made at least the same. Now I'm up $600 and change vs being up over $2K on the day.
After a breakeven trade around 11AM, I was out of the office for about 3 hrs only o return around 2:00PM. As is often the case, I tend to "find" trades quickly when I return to the office. While there was nothing wrong with the setup, volume was very thin which made it a gamble. Ended up getting stopped out for a $500 loss.
And finally the last trade of the day was also my first big blow-up since my intro into the blogging world. Took a short pullback off the 3min chart with an initial 6 lots that never materialized. Gave the trade way too much room to run. Added 3 more lots. Watched as the trade continued higher. Kept thinking we'd reverse, blah, blah. Anyway after a more than $1100 drawdown, I was fortunate to get out with a $700 loss. Looking back I should've been out of this trade within the first 10 mins and remember having this thought to myself. What's separating me from being a solid trader is acting on these instincts.
So there you have it. Crappy start to the week. Loss of $586 on the day and now down $1100+ on the week. All easily surpassible though. Need to re-focus tomorrow and come back hitting on all cylinders.
Update - One final trade afterhours for a marginal $75 gain. Should've held longer. Loss on the day now at $511.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Monday Wrapup (11/16) - $600 loss
Took a short pullback off the 5 min chart around 12:30. Traded with Entered at 1106.5 with a 3.5 pt stop. Added 3 lots at 1107.5 per my rules (I can add once), and watched as the trade continued higher. Ultimately I got stopped out for a $1450 loss. Sitting down $1600 on the day now. Honestly not sure I would've done much different with this trade. Maybe gave it too much time to work, but otherwise followed my rules.
What a start to the week. Let's see if we can salvage the day.
First long of the day (LOL) came @ 1:30EST on a nice pullback setup. Started position with 6 lots and added another 3 once risk was better defined. Scaled out 1/3 for 1pt, another 1/3 for 2 pts and last 1/3 was closed early as momentum waned. Gained $700 on this trade and am now down $900 on the day. Let's see if we can continue to fight our way back.
Just missed a nice countertrade trade off a false breakout. Sometimes if you don't enter these on a stop order, you never have a chance. I prefer limit orders to minimize slippage, but I'm also prone to missing trades everything now and then. This one was good for at least 2 pts.
Last trade of the day was a short around 3:20 on the first tradeable pullback following the breakdown from the intraday highs. Initially sold 6 lots and covered 2, and later added 3 and covered 1, both covers for 1 pt profit. Ultimately gave the remaining 6 lots too much room to run thinking that lower lows were around the corner. Well that clearly didn't work out as we re-traced the fall over the final 30 mins.
As it stands right now I'm still short 6 lots at an avg price of 1106 w/ a stop loss at 1109. I know I said before that I wouldn't take a trade home overnight, but this setup is still technically valid and I do have a stoploss and targets in place. So this time is different. I'm not relying on hope, bu rather sticking to my setups.
As it stands right now I'm down $1100 on the day w/ a $400 open loss. Sure the day could've been much worse, but it's no way to start the week. Fortunately this is a loss I can easily recover from.
What a start to the week. Let's see if we can salvage the day.
First long of the day (LOL) came @ 1:30EST on a nice pullback setup. Started position with 6 lots and added another 3 once risk was better defined. Scaled out 1/3 for 1pt, another 1/3 for 2 pts and last 1/3 was closed early as momentum waned. Gained $700 on this trade and am now down $900 on the day. Let's see if we can continue to fight our way back.
Just missed a nice countertrade trade off a false breakout. Sometimes if you don't enter these on a stop order, you never have a chance. I prefer limit orders to minimize slippage, but I'm also prone to missing trades everything now and then. This one was good for at least 2 pts.
Last trade of the day was a short around 3:20 on the first tradeable pullback following the breakdown from the intraday highs. Initially sold 6 lots and covered 2, and later added 3 and covered 1, both covers for 1 pt profit. Ultimately gave the remaining 6 lots too much room to run thinking that lower lows were around the corner. Well that clearly didn't work out as we re-traced the fall over the final 30 mins.
As it stands right now I'm still short 6 lots at an avg price of 1106 w/ a stop loss at 1109. I know I said before that I wouldn't take a trade home overnight, but this setup is still technically valid and I do have a stoploss and targets in place. So this time is different. I'm not relying on hope, bu rather sticking to my setups.
As it stands right now I'm down $1100 on the day w/ a $400 open loss. Sure the day could've been much worse, but it's no way to start the week. Fortunately this is a loss I can easily recover from.
Monday Morning Trading Review - 11/16
Geez, that nice opening gap was tempting to fade, but last Monday's gap and go was fresh in my mind. Plus I know the gap fill odds aren't nearly as favorable on Monday as other days of the week.
First trade of the day was a countertrend scalp short. Tight stop loss and looking for 1 to 1.5 pts tops. Exited early for a marginal gain when support held.
Took a second countertrend scalp shortly after about 9:55. Again exited early for maybe a 2 tick gain. Didn't want to chance it with 10AM econ news right around the corner. Up $100 on the day with these first two trades.
Ugg, finally had one of my countertrends bite! Took a $150 loss on this third one. Now down $50 on the day. Quit fighting the trend unless there's good reason! This last trade was very marginal. Wasn't accompanied with any sort of volume spike, etc. which usally translate into high probability pattern. Worse, my gut told me as soon as I entered the trade that I shouldn't have been in it and didn't exit in time. I've got to learn to exit at the market even with some tick slippage, rather than getting cute with limit orders. Positive takeway: I stuck to my stoploss!
Finally nailed a countertrend entry around 11AM. Liked the setup so much I traded with double size. Price tried to breakout to new highs but quickly reversed. Slight volume spike on 3 min chart. Took entry off 1000 tick chart after prev bar's low was breached. Stop set 3 ticks away (cannot get much tighter than that!). Took 1/3 off for 3 ticks, and another lot @ 6 ticks. Decided to be a bit more aggressive on the last 3 lots and let them ride too long. Ended up getting stopped out for a $50 loss on the trade. Piss poor trade management at it's best. Down $150 on the day now.
Can easily recover this loss and then some in the afternoon session.
First trade of the day was a countertrend scalp short. Tight stop loss and looking for 1 to 1.5 pts tops. Exited early for a marginal gain when support held.
Took a second countertrend scalp shortly after about 9:55. Again exited early for maybe a 2 tick gain. Didn't want to chance it with 10AM econ news right around the corner. Up $100 on the day with these first two trades.
Ugg, finally had one of my countertrends bite! Took a $150 loss on this third one. Now down $50 on the day. Quit fighting the trend unless there's good reason! This last trade was very marginal. Wasn't accompanied with any sort of volume spike, etc. which usally translate into high probability pattern. Worse, my gut told me as soon as I entered the trade that I shouldn't have been in it and didn't exit in time. I've got to learn to exit at the market even with some tick slippage, rather than getting cute with limit orders. Positive takeway: I stuck to my stoploss!
Finally nailed a countertrend entry around 11AM. Liked the setup so much I traded with double size. Price tried to breakout to new highs but quickly reversed. Slight volume spike on 3 min chart. Took entry off 1000 tick chart after prev bar's low was breached. Stop set 3 ticks away (cannot get much tighter than that!). Took 1/3 off for 3 ticks, and another lot @ 6 ticks. Decided to be a bit more aggressive on the last 3 lots and let them ride too long. Ended up getting stopped out for a $50 loss on the trade. Piss poor trade management at it's best. Down $150 on the day now.
Can easily recover this loss and then some in the afternoon session.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
The Week Is Already Off to a Great Start!
I don't normally trade the Asian session, but tonight's quick rise out of the gate caught my eye. Took a long entry w/ 3 lots off the first pullback at 1095. Initial stop set 2 pts lower and scale targets at 1096, 1097, and 1098. First two tgts hit and stop moved below new swing low. 3rd tgt hit shortly thereafter. Up just shy of $300 to start the week.
Goals for the Week of Nov 16-20
Quite simply my goals for this week are to 1) only trade my proven setups, 2) manage risk appropriately, and 3) trade what I see not what I believe. If I can control these elements, I'll have a successful week. If I instead get trigger happy and/or let my losers run, I'll lose money plain and simple.
My Goals for This Blog
I've been trading for 10+ years with bouts of success, but failures along the way too. In retrospect, this year's trading pretty much sums it up. Twice now I've doubled my account since Jan 1, only to give most of the gains back on a few bad trades.
As a daytrader, my one goal is to go home at the end of the day net positive or worst case with a small loss. Too many times though, I've let a short-term position turn into an overnight investment. That's equivalent to Russian roulette. Yes, all trades have been guilty of this at one point or another, but I've got to eliminate these mental lapses if I have any hope of making in this industry long-term.
I've kept an offline journal offline over the last few years, but have found that keeping this information private has not helped me hold myself accountable. I'm asking for help from the trading community to aid in keeping my ship on course.
As a daytrader, my one goal is to go home at the end of the day net positive or worst case with a small loss. Too many times though, I've let a short-term position turn into an overnight investment. That's equivalent to Russian roulette. Yes, all trades have been guilty of this at one point or another, but I've got to eliminate these mental lapses if I have any hope of making in this industry long-term.
I've kept an offline journal offline over the last few years, but have found that keeping this information private has not helped me hold myself accountable. I'm asking for help from the trading community to aid in keeping my ship on course.
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