Damn unfocused day yesterday!! Mind wasn't on trading. Need to be focused till end of trade. Look at how the market is working. Get out when in doubt.

Move those stops closer where you know you don't want to be in the market. Otherwise you just end up rationalising to yourself about how it will come back. Take those small losses, you can always come back.

Took a couple of trades yesterday. I got lucky, and didn't get hurt. Moved my stop for my second trade, which is a mistake!

I have to remember that I cannot make this into a habit, getting away with it teaches your brain that it's ok. Just this time, it won't matter, and before you know it, it becomes a built in habit.

2 things to focus on:
- Don't move stop. Taking the loss now is better than getting ripped a hole in your account, because you been getting away with it in the past, and thought this time it will be ok. Been there many, many times.
- Don't trade first 5min of open, let it settle. Again, just because you got away with it this time, doesn't mean you won't get stung in the future when you least expect it.

It all comes down to having respect for the market, and respecting risk management above all else. I get too confident, and think I'm freakin Nostradamus, like I could predict the market. That just becomes gambling, and makes it harder to trade for the long haul.

Took 3 trades, with 3rd trade trading reduced size. Today was just one of those days that was hard to read. Looking at my execution, I can't really fault it. I controlled risk, cut losers short. Didn't over trade. Traded within my own daily risk limits.

I think I'm more bothered about my weekly PnL. I need to focus on my long term trading habits for success, and not worry about individual days. I would probably end up having a losing week, but looking at the sample size I traded this month, I'm going to be profitable. Lets stay focused on the process of trading, and not be overly concerned about individual days.

Was good volatility today. Took 2 trades, with the second trade I was able to add after scaling out.

What I did well was really preplanning alot more by writing out what I'm seeing for the setups, and fleshing out what scenarios could unfold. This is good and also bad, bad because I could overthink that my analysis has to be right, and forget that anything can happen. Nevertheless, writing it out helps me flesh out the trade in my head better.

What I didn't do well was not getting out when the market is telling me to. Holding onto the trade, need to put stops in to automatically get out rather than let it be done manually.

Time to do the monthly report for November:


Monthly PnL%: +12.4% (+10% after broker fees)
Days traded: 17
Days profitable: 11
Days with loss: 6

Weeks traded: 5
Weeks profitable: 3
Weeks with loss: 2

(These are NinjaTrader stats, I recorded 35 trades but I think the way I add more after scaling makes it register extra trades)
Trades: 38
Long Trades: 15
Short Trades: 23
Percent Profitable: 63.16%
AvgWin/AvgLoss = 0.93

I had 5 days where my daily loss limit was hit, and 2 of those days exceeded daily loss limit.

If I hadn't exceeded my daily loss limit on those 2 days, I could have been up 15% rather than 12.4%

This month I did increase my risk and contract size from 2% to 2.7%

Looking back at some of the points I made last month, and how I improved:

Some of these mistakes I could have avoided include:
- Trading around News. More aware of news now, but still a couple of trades held prenews
- Watch out for entries around the MA Improved
- Trading premarket Stopped trading premarket
- Scratching out if market goes against you and entering better prices. Could still improve

Some of the improvements to my trading will be:
- Utilizing volume profiling alot more. Using it alot more, but still not looking at it as the holy grail.
- Better scaling out methods Improved alot
- Waiting for good entries that are way outside of the mean. Improved

Now reviewing my trades this month, and improvements I want to work on next month:
Risk Management:
- Daily risk limit is a must
- Reduce size if first trade is loser, in order to keep within daily risk limit and give enough room for trade to work.

Things to watch out:
- Don't trade first 5-10min
- Watch out for entries around MA

Execution:
- Tuck stops behind area where you don't want to be in. Take the small loss.
- 15min is probably a good time to think about getting out if the trade hasn't started to work and hit your first scale.
- Don't move BE stops

Psych management:
- Take 10min break after loss, come back and write out setup. Prevents revenge trading
- Write out setups, flesh them out
- Keep doing the psych noting and journaling.
- Stay focused first couple of scale outs.

There it is, looking forward to Dec, probably only 3 weeks of trading before Xmas break.

Took 1 trade, looking back I could probably have taken more trades, but I wanted to get the month started on the right foot.

Took two trades today. Good execution. Need to stay focused on risk management and execution. Which means, being patient for the right trades, and getting out not being stubborn about your direction bias. Think in terms of sample size and let each trade do what it wants to do.

Felt tired today, so finished up early after a couple of small trades within first 45min. Was thinking of trading more, but lets stay disciplined.

Took a trade first 5min of market. Not a good habit to form, so have to keep a watch on that.

I stayed focused on first couple of scale outs, which I need to keep doing. Lets finish this week off strongly.

Good trading day. Took 3 trades with the 3rd trade being half sized. I felt it was too choppy and no followthrough, so I decided to quit while I was ahead. But the market headed up shortly afterwards. Oh well.

Keep staying focused in the trades, especially the first couple of scale outs. Don't be afraid to take a small loser, tuck stops in when in doubt. Check if you still want to be in after 15min if market doesn't go your way. Best trades work immediately.

Watch out for first 5-10min, could be choppy, stay out. Keep in mind where you are at the MA.

Couple more weeks till the break, and rollover is this week. Stay focused!!

Took 3 trades. Market was pretty much biased upwards when I was trading. I should have seen that.

My mistake was two things:
- Didn't take a break to walk away after my first loss, which would have allowed me to clear my head and reassess to see the upward bias.
- I was trading half size with 3rd trade, but I added. Big mistake.