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.

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.  

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.

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.

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.

Nov 20th Weekly Recap - $3219 Loss

What more can I say.  Crappy

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. 

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.