Thursday Wrapup (2/11) - $450 gain

More activity than yesterday and a bit more dollars to show for my efforts, but still left quite a bit on the table.  All in all 50% profitable, $169 avg gain, and $56 avg loss, so still keeping the losses small.

First sequence of the day set the table for the rest of today's trading.  Entered a long pullback at 7:30AM, and while I closed with a $112 profit, I mixed an easy exit signal a pt higher that would've also been a short entry signal.  So 30 mins later I'm sitting there with a $112 profit when I could've been up $450-550 to start the day.  Not surprisingly after this point my next 3 trades where losers, all minimal but still.

From 10:30AM on I had a decent day going 3 for 4 with profits of $538.

Missed a trade here or there, but aside from that opening sequence it was a productive day.  Would be nice to get back in the 4 digit daily profit range again, but I've got to take what the market is willing to offer.

Wednesday Wrapup (2/10) - $113 loss

Just couldn't get anything going today in all the chop.  In all took 5 trades of which 3 were losers, 1 breakeven and 1 whopping $13 gain.  So if anything, it's nice to see that I'm continuing to limit my losses as my avg loss today was just $42, barely 1 tick per contract.  On 2 of the losers, my first tgt was hit and they were all in the money a pt or so before being stopped out on the balance or closing the position due to lack of momentum.  So I might have been a tick or two too aggressive with my profit tgts, but nothing to worry about for sure.

At this point I'm down just $213 on the week.  Still plenty of time to make it a decent week.  

Tuesday Wrapup (2/9) - $188 gain

Frustrating doesn't even begin to define today's trading.  It's days like today which really make you question your approach.

Missed my first, and best, trade of the day after a nice pullback ended around 6:30AM.  Was distracted and not really following the charts at the time.

First trade of the day was a gap fade.  Figured I'd be able to at least scale out for a small profit.  Didn't think the gap would fill, but anything is possible right.  Entered with 3 lots and spaced my targets to exit at 33%, 66% and 99% gap fill levels.  After a moderate drawdown, price came within a pt or so of my first tgt before reversing higher.  At the worst I was in the hole $488 on the trade (usually trade gaps with a 5 pt stop).  Didn't like the price action on that first pop higher, so I scaled out for a minimal loss of $138 on the first pullback following the new HOD.  And what would happen from there?  Nope we didn't re-challenge the high, we fell below the day's OR low.  And in the process 2 of my tgts would've been hit.  Sure, we ultimately reversed and traded higher, but I would at worst been stopped out for a couple hundred dollar gain.

That's not the worst of it.  In addition to my core day trading, I also have a portfolio of automated daily setups I trade.  Well one of those went long the Dow around 10AM and quickly moved nicely higher.  But on that move lower, I was stopped out 8 ticks from the day's low.  And course everyone knows what happens next.  So I lost money on the gap fade and on the Dow trade too, both of which could've seemingly been profitable today.

Aside from the gap fade. I went 2 for 4 on my other trades today.  Made $175 on these core trades.

I guess the good thing about today is that my frustrations didn't provide the fuel for a huge loss day.

UPDATE: Guess I posted too soon.  Had a nice pullback into the closing bell that I sold at 4:02PM.  Scaled out for a $150 gain over the next 30 mins. 

Monday Wrapup (2/8) - $288 loss

Lousy day overall as I could never get into a rhythm with the market.  Seemed like all day I was a tick short of either entering a trade or getting out of one. 

Only hit on 1 of 6 trades placed today and the sole winner was just $63.  So if anything, I have to be pleased with the level of risk management as my avg loss was just $70 on 3 contracts.  Not even 2 full ticks. 

On 3 of my 5 losers, my 1st profit target was hit but wasn't filled as we never traded thru those levels.  And on at least 2 of the trades after I exited the market continued in the intended direction.  Things were definitely a bit choppy so I'm sure this had something to do with it.

Only forced maybe 1 trade and I would've still given myself a B- on that setup. 

The best part about today is that I can recover this loss with one avg sized winner tomorrow.  I started off last week with a loss as well and ended up ok.

Feb 5th Weekly Recap - $1601 gain

For the first time in a few weeks I can say I actually turned a profit.  Feels good, really good.

This week 49% of my trades were winners.  Avg gain of $197, avg loss of $90.  120 contracts traded for an avg profit of $13 per contract traded.

Friday Wrapup (2/5) - $100 loss

Got off to a good start this morning with my first trading hitting a $238 profit. But afterwards a series of small losses.

Then couldn't find but 1 low risk entry on the PPT buying spree so I largely stayed on the sidelines and didn't force anything, which I'm quite happy with in itself.  I was perfectly calm sitting here watching the price action unfold and didn't feel the need to enter any silly trades or see something that wasn't there.  But I was ready to execute had the right setup unfolded. 

Overall went 2 for 6 today.  Avg winner was $138, avg loss of $94.

Ready to get back at it next week.  This week's trading has me much more confident in myself to say the least.

Thursday Wrapup (2/4) - $825 gain

Three days in a row!  Woo hoo!

Continuing to see the market well and today was my best day in a long time.  Took 9 trades total, 1 breakeven, 2 losers and 6 winners. 75% win rate. 

Only negative from today is a couple of missed trades where I tried to get too cute with my entry prices.  Missed at least 2 trades by 1 tick or so that would've added $400-500 to my daily gains.  Not sure what's worse entering a bad trade or not entering a decent setup at all.  Guess I'll take the latter.

Best decision of the day was not to fade the opening gap.  After yesterday's action printed a doji bar, I had the feeling we'd move lower and when we opened below yesterday's low I decided to stay away.  Had I entered the trade I would've been stopped out for a $500-600 loss.  Sometimes the best trade I guess is the one you don't take.  

Need to carry this momentum over to tomorrow and finish out the week on a strong note.

Wednesday Wrapup (2/3) - $400 gain

Putting together an impressive string of gains here! Two days in a row!

Best trade of the day was clearly the opening gap fade.  Scaled out of this one for a nice $512 gain.  And essentially lost $112 on 2 for 7 trading the rest of the day. 

We were stuck in a range all day and I just had a hard time getting anything going,. Did a good job of keeping losses small.  But I've got to kick it up a notch on staying out of a dull market. Had just watched the video below yesterday where one of the main points was only trading when you have an edge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DydWmbcfgaE&feature=player_embedded

Definitely feeling much better about the quality of my entries right now. Let's keep it going.

Tuesday Wrapup (2/2) - $513 gain

Way too early to tell if I'm back in the groove but today's trading was very smooth and felt entirely natural.  Aside from one somewhat ill-advised trade (trade entered right before lunch when it was fairly clear we were in chop, no higher his or lower los) that I gave back $113 on, I let the market come to me and stayed out of the late day chop for the most part.  Had good visibility of the underlying action and entries and exits were crisp.

Starting at just after 7AM, I was up $588 after 3 profitable trades in a row to start the day.  From that point my next 6 trades resulted in 2 scratches, 1 gain and 3 minor losses.  My average loss today was $54, and my avg gain $169 on 3 contracts traded per setup.

On at least two trades, I exited nearly perfectly.  Got out of dodge when the momentum in my direction seemed to stall.  Booked profits on the table rather than risk them to chance.  But I was able to hold onto trades until my targets were hit where the trend momentum remained intact.

Let's see if we can carryover today's momentum for the rest of the week. One day at a time.

Monday Wrapup (2/1) - $38 loss

Never got into a groove today.  Took 8 trades total with 1 breakeven, 2 winners and 5 small losers. 

Second trade of the day was placed a bit haphazardly and that was the difference between a profitable day.  I've been trading off the 2500 tick chart, because it's helped smooth things out a bit, but I dropped down to the 1000 tick chart on this one and it went against me from the start.

Finished the day up with a nice winner for $238 with 1 tick heat.  Hoping to carry over this momentum into tomorrow. 

It's a new month, let's get this ship righted!