Net 72, done, I have to get ready to go. Another day, not to goal, and trading like a pussy. But, trading like a safe pussy, so I'll take it.

GaryD 

I have a meeting at 12pm. As is normal lately, I would be at goal had I traded 3 contracts steady, but when the retrace hit harder than I was wanting, I backed down to 1 contract, and have been chunking out tiny moves, each time expecting the push higher, and each time seeing them just salivating over selling at 84.40.

I was doing the same thing, but I finally came to the conclusion you must finish the day with the same size you started with. Otherwise you lose large and win small. No way to make a fortune.

GaryD 

Net 72, done, I have to get ready to go. Another day, not to goal, and trading like a pussy. But, trading like a safe pussy, so I'll take it.

Sitting on the plane to NY reading this, there is a great page about a floor trader that reminded me of you gary I'll quote the paragraph when I'm on my laptop with internet. Using my iPhone in starbucks sucks

Just going to visit wall street now, see if I can catch any traders that stole my money when I was younger :-D

GaryD 

Net 72, done, I have to get ready to go. Another day, not to goal, and trading like a pussy. But, trading like a safe pussy, so I'll take it.

Forcing yourself to trade when you aren't "on" isn't going to make you a great trader. Back off when you must, rest your mind, keep the powder dry, and then have faith in yourself that you will be ready.

There are so many opportunities that the market provides that no one can capture them all. The good news is you don't have to.

Did not miss much. The market is winding tighter and tighter. Maybe I'll go for 2 ticks from 84.00 to 84.02... (that is sarcasm)

Deucalion 

Of course, the market decided to give me 92 instead of 45.....har har

Well, I now have 74, instead of 72, so there.


(and it was not from 84.00 to 84.02. I started to take another trade before I left for my meeting and changed my mind. Short at the first test of the dominat T3)

I don't really understand this price action. Not that I have not seen it before, but I don't get the function of it. If I had to guess, there is just a lot of confusion, and the two sides battle it out until neither is sure what to do. It is a form of consolidation, but not necessariily continuation.

GaryD 

I don't really understand this price action. Not that I have not seen it before, but I don't get the function of it. If I had to guess, there is just a lot of confusion, and the two sides battle it out until neither is sure what to do. It is a form of consolidation, but not necessariily continuation.

Have been thinking the same thing all day and it's very quiet out there (both in blog/forum land as well as the charts). I got some trades early, but this is the type of thin market where it's easy to give back hard earned profits, so I just watch from now until close unless I see something compelling. It's also the kind of market that can turn on a dime.

GaryD 

I don't really understand this price action. Not that I have not seen it before, but I don't get the function of it. If I had to guess, there is just a lot of confusion, and the two sides battle it out until neither is sure what to do. It is a form of consolidation, but not necessariily continuation.

The rise and fall of liquidity...stupid players playing this get killed, market loses liquidity until the next round of fresh meat. Big players will never admit this, but they are too much of a good thing for themselves, slowly killing the market, like a parasite. More efficient they become; less the opportunity including opportunity for themselves....there is only so much fresh meat in a world of shrinking credit....even on a macro scale. Entropy rules..and not even Gman can do anything about it.

Ironically I believe, small agile businesses, with low costs (like you and me) can insulate ourselves much better than any of these big houses. First rule of business - control costs. Then even a small increase in value or productivity is a multiplier. Gman cannot fight you on this.

Trade by exception, when you have an advantage. People believe the king of the jungle is the lion, or the tiger. Ever seen a pack of hyenas. Or vultures....morbid images for sure, but they survive everything.

Even 2 years ago I would trade the TF or the YM, now - I couldn't be bothered, same with CL on most times, specially during RTH hours..I believe in my head (rightly or wrongly) the CL is a broken market like the TF. Swing trading is one way of mitigating this.

PS - I watched the entire RTH session today and all I saw was a minefield better left to more sophisticated traders than me. So kudos.

josh 

Have been thinking the same thing all day and it's very quiet out there (both in blog/forum land as well as the charts). I got some trades early, but this is the type of thin market where it's easy to give back hard earned profits, so I just watch from now until close unless I see something compelling. It's also the kind of market that can turn on a dime.

Same here. Just watching. I did catch that ES 1285 is still holding, as well as CL 84.40. Both numbers were on my watchlist this morning, and proved just as powerful so far even into the CL close.