Its late Monday january 16, and I am contemplating my strategies for tommorrow morning, in anticipation of what I think I will see on the CL.

over the weekend, I was looking over my trade strategies, and the ratio of winners to losers, but more specifically, how much of the move I have captured after my correct entry. In addition, I was reviewing the number of trades i have been taking, and I have come to the conclusion that I have been overtrading slightly. try fewer trades, capture more of the move, or at least attempt to.

Did some light reading on the weekend, and a opened a dialogue with a fellow trader on futures.io (formerly BMT). We swapped a couple of emails, and because of his experience as a full time trader, he made a couple of very valuable suggestions, which I will work on the next few days. It was one of those AHA moments that we all have once in a while. It is amazing how a different set of eyes on your information can really clarify what you are attempting to accomplish. He was very encouraging, and he had some complimentary things to say about my journal, which leads me to beleive i am making progress. it sure feels that way.

Picked up a book at the local bookstore this weekend...Millionaire Traders. Intersting observations as they are a set of questions and answers, with avrious traders, and their stories. I wouldnt have purchased it, but it was in the discount bin for 9.95. Its a quick read, has a few pointers for trading strategies.

Anyway, should be up and running at 7:30 EST

I think I am going to drop the 2012...Redundant...we all know what year it is.

Bit of a rollicking day yesterday. Was at my desk early...trying to look for longer gains, wider stops, but, I did a little too much too fast. My bigger stops, mean the they got hit bigger when I was wrong. So, I went back to my proven method. Of course, its one day. Will try on replay to see how I can adjust it.

I am concentrating on the actual candle, and how it is painted in real time. For instance, on the 5 minute, if I have a bear bar with a long bear tail that is painted right before the close of the bar, it tells me something different from a similar bar whose tail was painted right at the opening and never retraces back. Similarily, rangy bars, that retace their full range over the 5 minute period that I am using, also says something different. It is my attempt to better quantify the dynamic nature of trading.

I read in Millionaire Traders over the weekend that confirms an idea that I have had with referen e to HOD and LOD. Its simple really. HODs and LODs are only such in hindsight. They are not those things in real time. They can be important, but should they really influence my trading? And if so, how much should they infulence it? A go no go signal? or should I just reduce my position size, or tighten or increase my stops, depending on the frequency.

Was in on Big Mikes Webinar on Saturday. Good presentaion. Big Mike is getting very good at presenting, It was logical, informative and din't bore me to death. I have sat through many presentations. Very nice work on Big Mikes part.

Trades 5 on Tuesday. Up 25 ticks per contract.

today, I was looking for an up trend day from the opening, and it was for the most part on the CL. Then a full on retracement to within 1 tick of the LOD at 100.54 from 8:40 AM at 102.06...The HOD. Of course with my stop, and target at 2R, i am positive most days. really focusing on protecting my capital, which means only taking the very best setups.

Would really liike to take fewer trades, and keep my tick target at 25 to 50 a day. I average around 12 - 15 trades a day, but really would like to get that number to less than 10. That means wider stops and bigger targets, which, at this point, I am having a little difficulty wrapping my head around.

I added a 30 minute chart to help in this endeavor. I was using a daily chart, but I found that time frame a little to long for Intraday Trading , considering I am more of a scalp/trender, as oppossed to pure trend trader.

Becauser of the up trend from the opening, and the reversal at 8:40, i found myself identifying more trades. In additon, because of the wide range of many 5 min bars, a few BE or near BE stops.

13 trades

+3-11+12+8-8+11+8+15+0+3-10+13+3= +47

One stop for -11 and one for -10, went off the reservation on those 2. hopefully, lesson learned. hard stop is not more than 8...but I was mouse happy...figured it would turn around. Anything less than +5 is really a BE trade, as my target is never 5 ticks. Minimum 2R...so its 16+1...but I trail my stop one I am BE. I try to lock in 70- 80 %.

Enough for today.

VinceVirgil 

I think I am going to drop the 2012...Redundant...we all know what year it is.

I am still writing 2011 on most things

Mike

Big Mike 

I am still writing 2011 on most things Mike

OK, but how many times do you make the mistake BEFORE you identify it as a mistake so that you dont do it again? I have a job where I likely write the date down....at least 10 times a day.

So you think I would catch on by January 3?

Been experimenting with a wider stop, and scaling out in an attempt to leave a runner, in an effort to stay with the trend or swing trade in an attempt to cut down on my trades, while still preserving my tick target of 25 to 50 per session.

Of course, this new strategy. Or a modification of what I am currently doing.

Was replaying the idea on the ES, as I have not been following that in replay mode, and it seemed to work pretty well initially. The problem is that I find myself trying to fit it into my current trading style, and I makes me uneasy, which is not nessearily bad, but it what i am currently doing works, why change it?

I was looking over Gary CL assassin journal, and his use of his strategy is very simple in nature. I mean, I can recite it without even looking at it, and he is using the same parameters, indicators and charts for some time. Gi

2 cars, one off at 10 profit for BE the other runs. 10 ticks SL.

Combo EMA indicator, support and resistance dotted lines ( never did read exactly what they were, but, it dosnt matter, it speaks to him) Some VWAP, I guess. Up down volume indicator on the a 6 range chart for entries, longer time frame for confirmation of trends.

Thats pretty much it, give or take. Pretty simple, and effective. i think the word is elegant. Focus on money management and phsychology.

Was expecting a bull trend day...Cold snap in Canada...figurted would drive up heating oil prices and therefore pinch the supply line out of the Middle East. Also, Figured Iran had schedualed another missle trest in the straight of Hormuz and also that Electric cars were reported to be spontaneously combusting = price of Crude "to the moon".

Or, maybe not..

11 trades today...

+7+3-9+10+11+11+3+3-9+10+5=+44

2 trades were negative...anything 5 or less is basically BE, as I generally only tighten my stop so that the ticks are worth the reaseach...3 to 5 covers my noodling.

So if I call the BE trades No Mas, its really only 7 trades...

I have been impressed with your progress. I am still more where you were back in October. Your search for simplicity has resonated with me. You seem to have found some consistency in short order. I thought it would at least a year to get there.

In and effort to cut down on my trading I have elected to attempt to limit my entries to the very best ones, based on Price Action.

While I have been consious of the other traders out there trying to take money from my account and put it into theirs, I beleive that I am not conscious of the motivation behind price movement, beyond the vibrating candles in real time. For instance, I dont want to get trapped in a trade, I want to truly recognise areas of support and resistance in able to better anticipate price movement. I am want to encorporate a combination of better postiion sizing, entries and exits based on action, and the size of stops, based on recent price action and to encorporate this in a rigourous framework of risk management.

I also want to better identify pure scalp setup, trend areas of S/R, as well as countertrend. The purpose, of course, is to better clarify my strategy.

Why now, considering that I have many more up days than down days?

Its because, I am relying too heavily scalping, which is causing me to become impatient, which I feel is causing me to overtrade. Everyday I have more than a coulpe of trades that I really shoulfd not have taken..mistakes if you will, and I want to reduse those. In addition, I want to gain on my profitable trades. In otherwords, i want to become more efficient.

Bottom line, I want to have more discipline in my trading.

For the most part, I think I accomplished that today.

My stategy was to enter with the trend mindful of price action and areas of support and resistance, particularily with regard to the LOD or HOD.Ii am not worried about whether the price is too low or too high, but rather, how the price action will repsond to that area of resistance. It can either break out, or bounce off of it. I guess thats why they call it Support and Resistance.

7 trades today.

+15+13+6+9-10+13+4=+50

Fewer trades, more ticks. Per contract. One contract at BE, dependent on signal bar close, and price action and area of support( Most trades were long after the selloff on the CL. thought it went too far, in a short timeframe.Was looking for a swing countertrend/trend after the big pushes on the shorts) the other I left as a runner, as I had read a strategy that related that 25% of a particular traders total gains were attributed to a 2 contracts that was allowed to run. this trader was trading multiple contract, and scaled out on 3 occasions ( of course, he was trading 20 contracts). Therfore, 25% of his gains were attributed to only 10% of his position.

In addtion, with a trailing stop, I dont have to be all in or all out on the stop. Still trying to refine how to do that on Nnija Trader...will take a little more practice.

Just another refinement on my trading journey.

chessjhm7 

I have been impressed with your progress. I am still more where you were back in October. Your search for simplicity has resonated with me. You seem to have found some consistency in short order. I thought it would at least a year to get there.

Thanks for your comments.

My background...my real job, is in Wealth Management. So buying and selling investements is something I was familiar with prior to derivative trading.

But when I look back myself, I really feel I have learned a lot in a very short time, and when I think about it , frankly, I am a little puzzled and am in fact att times question my own progress. Concepts that were very foreign to me a few months ago(cant beleive its only been a few months) I understand. i looked at a webinar "An Afternoon with Big Mike" and frankly, he was speaking an unfamiliar dialect, back in Seotember. Now, I get it.

Webinars were a big help. Some I reviewed and did not like at all, however, they served their purpose in helping me to realize what kind of trader i want to be. I realized early that where to take the trade is really only a small part of trading. Money management and the physychology of trading is much more important. I prefer webinars on thoses sun=bjects as oppossed to startegies or indicastors. I also see that trading is really a very solitary endeavor, in that one has to keep their own council on some things, but rely on those with more experience in other areas.

More than a few traders have been very helpful, and have been very generous with their time. They know who they are, so I wont mention them here. i would like to reciprocate, and help others when i feel I have something valuable to contribute. My body of work is too scanty for me to offer any sage advice. I dont have the experince of thousands of hours of screen and study time that many in here have.

I read something from Van Tharp in his book SuperTraders that stated, after many years of training traders, he has seen some very smart people study and work at trading and that after years of trying, they were still not profitable. And there were some who took to trading as naturally as talking. Maybe I am part of the later group...I dont know, time will tell. for now, I find this very interesting, one the most interesting things I have ever done.

I mined nickel for a couple of years out of high school before I went ot university. I had the opportunity to work with various explosives and blasting agents. Safety fuses, various detonators, b_line( Ignitor chord that burns around 1 mile a second), Amfo(Trade name), and this gel that came in a loaf like wrapper called a sack pack. Blowing stuff up is pretty fun. Under vary controlled circumstances, of course

Trading, is almost as fun. Not quite, but almost.

Working on some new ATM strategies. With some study, I am attempting to do 2 things.

1. Cut down on my number of trades daily...below 10 for sure, and preferably below 5.

2. Capture more of the of the price movement of the instrumnert I am trading, so as to maximize my trading efficiency ( theres that work again....efficiency)

3. More conscious of previous days price action, as well as areas of support and resistance. By focusing on these areas, I can better anticipate price movement an get a better entry price.

Watched a webinar on you tube that made a lot of sence to me, so i am applying some of the concepts he spoke about. Not thae same market, but the comcepts are the same.

I took 9 trades today. A few too many, however, I am happy with the out come. My entries were pretty good, but becaquse of the ranginess of the day, I had a number of BE trades. 1 loser.

+18 +3 + 18 -13 +7 + 18 +8 + 6 + 13 = +78

Its a real test to let your winn ers run....but that is where the majority of the profitabilty is going to be. And teh ability to maitain your cool when you are taking heat, having confidence in that your strategy will play out the way you anticipate.

Another balmy day in Canada. Thunder Bay, actually. Think Toronto when you hear Thunder Bay...its just way farther north.

Had arounde 3 inches of snow today. Add that to the 3 inches yesterday, and Saturday = had to get gas for the snowblower. And broke my snow shovel trying top clear where the snowplow piled it up on my front sidewalk.

Anyway, worked out of my home office for most of the day. My assistant holds down the fort at the office while I'm not there, and keeps in touch by phone and email. I love having an assistant...makes my life so very much easier. She is good at the things I am lacking.

As it was, made a few trades midday, something I dont do too often. But, seeing as it was quiet and I was stuck inside, I looked to make a few trades.

Develop as I was too early on i got stopped on one, BE on the other. -17 on the 2 trades.

Caught most of a long move from 98.86 at 12:05 EST to 12:50EST

4 trades +56 ticks

Had a long trade working at 13:25 EST 99.91, but I closed it out manually at 99.98. +8 ticks. Thought there might be a pull back at 100.00 and erase the previous nice trades i had going. Turned out to be a mistake, as it made the daily high of 100.24 10 minutes later 13:35 EST. Had i not pulled the pin early, i would have had my 18-20 ticks easy instead of 7. Happens.

Went to the bookstore today, when I had to go to the local mall (it may be snowing, but I have all wheel drive...amazing, I could run the Baja in my SUV) ...and what did they have? The book by Daniel Kahnman, Thinking, Fast and Slow. On sale 30% off in hardcover. I just read a journal that made reference to it, and I read the review in the New Yorker. By the sounds of it, it has to help me with my trading.

Got a call from my broker today. Courtesy call, hey hows it going and stuff. Anything I can do (to help you generate more commission for our firm) He means well, just trying to scratch out a living. cant fault him for that.

Today was a really good day. Calling it a B+. more ticks today than I have got in some time. I was on the right side of it for the most part. Fairly tight range for the CL tho from 7:30 to 14:30 EST.