Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
Manta, Ecuador
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Trading: Futures & Crypto
Posts: 50,068 since Jun 2009
Thanks: 32,534 given,
98,494
received
Hi guys,
Continuing in the tradition of encouraging journals on FIO, I am announcing a new Journal Challenge for September 2018.
The rules are extremely simple:
a) The contest begins September 1 and ends September 30. All decisions made by futures io are final.
b) This thread that you are reading right now will act as the repository for all journals that are entered into the contest.
c) The author of a journal can enter his/her futures io journal into the contest by posting a link to his/her journal in this thread. Only the author of the journal can do this. Please post the link to the journal ONE TIME, AND ONE TIME ONLY in this thread.
d) Members of futures io will cast their votes for the best journals by using the "Thanks" button on the post that the journal author has made in this very thread. This is why it is very important the author of the journal make only one post, because only one post will be used to count the total number of "Thanks Received" in this thread, and that is how the winners will be decided. Members can vote for as many separate journals as they want by following the same procedure.
e) There will be three prizes awarded, based on the highest number of "Thanks Received" per the above. The first place prize is a free 150K Combine in TopstepTrader's program, a $375 value. Second place is a free 50K Combine in TopstepTrader's program, a $165 value. Third place is a free 30K Combine in TopstepTrader's program, a $150 value.
f) As we increase the number of these events, we find the need to keep it fair for everyone - so you are only eligible to win a prize in this event if you have not won any other prize within the prior 3 events on futures io. Feel free to participate in the process, but know prize eligibility will be a deciding factor in the final award process.
Thank you to @TopstepTrader for sponsoring this event. You can ask questions about their program here:
Michael Patak, the Founder of TopstepTrader, will be monitoring this thread so that he may answer any questions that you post here relating to TST products and services.
Please keep in mind that some customer service/technical support issues are best …
My goal with these contests is to encourage the journaling process, as I firmly believe the more you participate in the journal process, the better trader you will become.
I'm happy to enter the competition, I'd be glad to give TST a run, if I get the chance.
I mostly trade the ES and 6E - futures and EUR/USD forex on MT4, live or evaluated accounts.
I'm working on both my trading and mental skills. I'm becoming fairly consistent at this point but there are still quite a few errors to correct and many opportunities offered by the market to grow.
Here is a screenshot of the last 2 days on the EUR/USD 5 min chart. I use very simple price action based setups with context determined by S/R zones, trend lines and auction process based ideas.
This is it! All the best to all fellow competitors
As a winner of many journal contests here I can only support to have a public fio journal to increase trading skills.
In fact - a good journal or even better a real time journal gives you a wonderful benefit: It takes away fear to push the button!
Every single trading day.
Many thanks to @Big Mike and the contest sponsors - here @TopstepTrader for their support.
Happy journaling - I will be glad to read thoroughly through and give thanks to those that do their work profoundly.
GFIs1
The following 12 users say Thank You to GFIs1 for this post:
I would like to enter my journal into the competition.
I've already started to benefit from the accountability of public journaling, so I'm doubling down on it and I will endeavour to document my highs, my lows, my triumphs and my failures.
I am a student of Al Brooks and I trade price action on a 5m chart of the ES. I have been just barely profitable over the last few months so I am currently working on reducing my mistakes. All my trades are on a live account with one contract.
c) The author of a journal can enter his/her futures io journal into the contest by posting a link to his/her journal in this thread. Only the author of the journal can do this. Please post the link to the journal ONE TIME, AND ONE TIME ONLY in this thread.
Thank you very much
The following user says Thank You to 4tison for this post:
I have been trading for the past 2 years full time and its been interesting to say the least. I have been putting together a trading business plan with the information that I have come across.
I trade daily setups, swing setups and intraday. …
"Give vulnerability a shot. Give discomfort its due. Because I think he or she who is willing to be the most uncomfortable is not only the bravest, but rises the fastest." - Tim Ferriss
The following 5 users say Thank You to maxtrader888 for this post:
So far the month has been very good in terms of Pinpointing many issues such as my risk limit comparingly with my day profits. I have cut half of the risk on daily basis.
I had 7 losing days and all were …
-------- Chipps
The following 14 users say Thank You to chipps1983 for this post:
For the Trading Challenge Please Say Thank You here:
September 4, 2018
To Start the Day
} Sleep recovery: 85
} Daily FOMO Score 50
Action Items Before Trading
Meditate
Review "Five Fundamental Truths" and "I am A Consistent Winner …
Shortcreeker’s Trade Journal
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It is my goal to journal all of my trades with additional metrics relating to preparation and my emotional state at the time of the trade. I use Edgeonk to track these metrics for each trade.
To Start the Day
· Sleep recovery: (this is the sleep recovery retrieved from my whoop strap)
· Daily FOMO Score: (On a scale of 1 – 100 1 being the least and 100 the most of my Fear Of Missing Out on a trade, based on the Market Mind Games book by Denise Schull)
Action Items Before Trading
(My schedule requires me to perform the following items before I start trading)
* Meditate
* Review "Five Fundamental Truths" and "I am A Consistent Winner Because:" (Trading in the Zone book by Mark Douglas)
* Review and Note Today's News (Forexfactory.com)
* Review last Few days trades in Edgewonk.
* Review CL, ES, GC, 6E and any other market we are trading using weekly, daily and 30 min chart (with market profile)
* Eat Breakfast
* Debrief with Hedgeye Early Look and Macro Show notes
I am already journaling on this site so I might as well enter my journal here. If you find my efforts of value, your vote for me would be greatly appreciated!
First, you start a journal, if you don't have one:
1. Go either to either the Trading Journals Forum (link here: ), or to the Elite Trading Journals Forum ( ) The difference is that an Elite journal will only be available to other Elite members; …
If anything is not clear, please ask a specific question about what part of it you need more information on.
Bob.
The following 5 users say Thank You to bobwest for this post:
I wish very much to enter TSTrader, I am a simple trader of a small city of the interior of Brazil, struggling to prove to me and to all that: Yes it is possible to live trading! In my country I operate Future Dollar and here in the US I am trying to operate CL. I count on your support. Thanks for all the knowledge shared in this group of traders!
Here's my operational screen:
The following user says Thank You to Jacovaci for this post:
@Jacovaci, please only put a link to your journal in this thread, not your charts, etc. They go in your journal. Your journal is for recording your trades.
If you do not place a link in this thread to your journal, you have not entered the competition.
If you need help in setting up properly for this contest, please click on this link for more information:
First, you start a journal, if you don't have one:
1. Go either to either the Trading Journals Forum (link here: ), or to the Elite Trading Journals Forum ( ) The difference is that an Elite journal will only be available to other Elite members; …
This outline was very interesting. I will enjoy following along on many of these journals. I am checking my hallucination against reality points that are the focus of many of the elements in this journal.
Here is what I mean.
As a "pro" I believe that my day is a series of conditioned responses to market stimuli based on years of consistent profitable participation. So, it is my hallucination that I "do a mental checklist of prep and review" as outlined here. I suspect that may be delusional...and I wonder if it is hurting or helping my results. Have I been conditioned to execute at a high level or have I been complacent and ignored best practice?
Dan
The following 5 users say Thank You to wldman for this post:
I would really like to know more of your thoughts about my journal. If I am hallucinating I want to figure it out soon. This process is the best I have been able to come up with to get me even a little bit consistent results and very well may not be the best approach, I do not know. I took my first trade about three years ago with no training and background other that what I have learned from YouTube and a bunch of trading books since 2015. Any further comments you might have would be appreciated.
Shortcreeker
The following user says Thank You to shortcreeker for this post:
doing EXACTLY what you should be doing. I am saying that you have a great approach and a daily regiment that I believe that I may have down to a "conditioned response" after 20+ years. I am using your correct approach to measure myself. I describe almost all subjective views as hallucination as I believe that is what they are unless data can be shown to support a causal relationship.
In your case, I suspect that I will learn that I am complacent and as such I should get better in the process of watching you.
Your approach and your daily regiment ARE exactly what I believe every serious person should do...at least till they "have it" or have convinced themselves that they do.
The following 4 users say Thank You to wldman for this post:
I am Jacovaci and I come across this post to show you my trading journal where I made a brief list with some operational errors that I frequently make and lose a lot of money in my operations, follow the link below:
I am going through this post to show some rules that I believed to be operating in the future market of my country (Brazil), I want to make it clear that these rules work for me and are not an absolute truth, every trader has his own operational style …
Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
Manta, Ecuador
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Trading: Futures & Crypto
Posts: 50,068 since Jun 2009
Thanks: 32,534 given,
98,494
received
Guys, I am still traveling and on vacation until Monday and have been unable to get this journal contest counted and completed. If I can't get it done Friday, it will have to wait until Monday. But rest assured it will be done.
Thanks, @bobwest. I had not heard about the hospitalization. Mike's last note in this thread indicated that he would be back on a Monday, but I had not heard anything more. I hope everything is okay with Mike!
The following user says Thank You to richw for this post:
Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
Manta, Ecuador
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Trading: Futures & Crypto
Posts: 50,068 since Jun 2009
Thanks: 32,534 given,
98,494
received
Hi guys,
First - my sincere apologies for the significant delay in awarding the prizes for this event. My surgery was unexpected/unscheduled and really caused problems with our plans/trip out of the country, and the recovery has been slow going.
Congratulations to the winners!
Great job to 1st place @richw, 2nd place @shortcreeker, 3rd place @Mtype. And great job to everyone who participated, I really hope you saw the benefits of journaling and will continue to do so.
In an effort to help make up for my tardiness, in addition to the scheduled prizes for these winners --- I am also going to contribute an additional $50 Amazon Gift Card to each winner. I will be in touch shortly.
We continue these events on a regular basis, in fact we have another one starting tomorrow:
Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
Manta, Ecuador
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Trading: Futures & Crypto
Posts: 50,068 since Jun 2009
Thanks: 32,534 given,
98,494
received
Final update --
All winners should have received their $50 bonus Amazon gift cards from me (to apologize for the delay), and should be hearing from TopstepTrader momentarily for their main prize.
