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@Narcissus: i'm not ignoring you, my friend. but i will probably be busy for the rest of the week. i will try to address your post as soon as possible. -tt
Trading: Oh what a tangled web I weave, When I want to take profits in trading
Frequency: Several times daily
Duration: Years
Posts: 1,741 since Nov 2014
Thanks Given: 3,429
Thanks Received: 3,009
I realised that my journal can be read by Elite members only. Hence I will post a weekly update here for non-members. However, I strongly recommend becoming an Elite. It's so cheap and the return for your investment is huge.
I started a new execution method 2 weeks ago. 'Get In, Get Up and Leave'.GIGUL. Rationale is simple. I can only watch the opening 60 minutes of US Market due to day-job. I identify the set up, put my trade and walk away with FIXED targets and stops.Goal is to do this for 3 months or 100 trades and learn more about my trading pattern and improve my discipline.
Please note that this is with REAL MONEY. NOt simulation.
I trade 150 SPY ETF and my risk reward ratio is 1:1 = Targets at 4/8/12 and stops 8. So max reward and risk is 24 points per trade. In dollar terms, that's 150 dollars a trade.
What that means is - Worst possible monetary loss is 15,000 if none of my trade works. Realistically, 60/40 win ratio is the norm. That means only 20% more days when my stops will be hit. So max loss is likely to be 3000 dollars.
Not bad, if you consider the lessons and returns in terms of education. If that's too much, just reduce the size of SPY to 15 instead of 150. YOu pay 300 + commissions for 3 months lesson.
My stops were hit today and made me instrospect and I came up with something that could change my approach to this game.
I have copied this from my journal.
" I realised today that I have been thinking SAFETY first. e.g Where can I hide my stops. I wanted to make it harder for the market Noise or Locals to hunt my stop. Not a bad approach.
What if I could step up?
What if I can think like OTF? Instead of thinking like a 1-2 lot trader, I can imagine me dealing with 10,000 contracts, so that I can sniff out and whack those stops?
What if I begin to think like a PREDATOR, rather than a prey?"
This reminds me of an epiphany I had a long time ago. I didn't realize I was doing this until one day I caught myself saying " that's where the professionals will probably enter so I'll just wait to see what happens from here". It was as if I felt they had the right to get a better price than me. WTF? I needed information confirmation ( price turning and heading in my intended direction) to measure my risk and feel comfortable entering even after I picked where the real trade was. That moment changed my trading forever- hopefully yours does too!
Wednesday - 3 trades and all of them hit the target = +72 points (best day so far)
Thursday - Stopped out very early on due to big trend UP day.
All the days, only shorting tried.
So far the market condition has been good for my trading style i.e Fading value high area. Now that we broke out of the range, I will try and master the harder approach i.e Longs and going with the trend. Monday's action will confirm whether it's a genunie breakout or a false one to trap longs above 200 days MA.
Trading: Oh what a tangled web I weave, When I want to take profits in trading
Frequency: Several times daily
Duration: Years
Posts: 1,741 since Nov 2014
Thanks Given: 3,429
Thanks Received: 3,009
Thanks. It's straight from my excel spreadsheet. (Actual template attached but nothing fancy- Infact I am a newbie with excel).
I could add date to it, but wanted to keep it minimalistic & simple. As you may know my execution is fairly simple and hence it's easier to interpret for me. (Goal is to take 100 trades within 3- 4 months with NO active management and learn more about my trading habits/style. Fixed stops at 8 points and fixed targets at 4, 8 and 12)
My expectation is that I will have ONLY ONE TRADE A DAY. If my stops are hit, I am done for the day. If my targets are hit then I am allowed to take 1 or 2 more per day (sort of letting your winners run trading style) as I am IN SYNC with the market. Wednesday was such a day and suited my Short bias with fading strategy when all my 3 trades hit their max target. (Maximum is 3 opportunity a day).
Trading: Oh what a tangled web I weave, When I want to take profits in trading
Frequency: Several times daily
Duration: Years
Posts: 1,741 since Nov 2014
Thanks Given: 3,429
Thanks Received: 3,009
Yes, that's correct. I took 3 trades on Wednesday and all of them hit their 24 points targets. The day before and after, I hit my stops and cost me 24 points.
Please note that the ES points are approximates. The exact numbers are 50 SPY with targets 0.8 dollar stops. I rounded it up to ES so it's easier for everyone to follow.
I just enter Market Order whenever I feel the location is right ( I have no entry or exit signal now). I place my trade of 150 SPY. Then I look at the executed price and add 0.8 dollars for my stop and 0.4, 0.8 and 1.2 dollars for my targets (50 SPY each). One Cancel Other orders.
I monitor it for the first 60 mintues of US open and then go to work (my local time 7.30 AM). I leave my teamviewer running and check from my mobile if I have time at work. 15 minutes before market close, i.e my lunch break, I have the discretion to close my unfilled trades. Simple.
Trading: Oh what a tangled web I weave, When I want to take profits in trading
Frequency: Several times daily
Duration: Years
Posts: 1,741 since Nov 2014
Thanks Given: 3,429
Thanks Received: 3,009
I realised that taking opposite side of my swing position is very hard for me. I have a small swing short for over 6 weeks now and hence my mind automatically looks for intraday short set ups. Though I have been profitable, I m missing out on good long opportunities. Once I am out of my swing (all time high stop and 1870 target) I expect more clarity in my analysis.
