Big Mike 

With trading, smarts and hard work alone are not nearly enough to be successful. ... Trading is a very humbling experience, a very humbling career and occupation.

Hi Mike

I appreciate very much your taking the time to respond and share with us! I feel like having a guardian angel .. Thank you!

Yes, Trading is a very very humble career! Thanks for the reminder. Certainly not taking a trade too personally. I'd like to add "Trading should be Fun and Relaxing". Minimal emotion is okay and not getting too excited though .. haha ..

Quoting 

Dr. Brett Steenbarger, an awesome author of three fantastic trading psychology books, literally hooks himself up to a biofeedback machine that monitors his heart rate and etc. I've actually considered buying one!!

Me2 and let's find a good deal! You described exactly what happened to me when I was in a real $ trade in February - gosh! I was in that "stupid" trade for 2+ hours and lost almost $1K. Frozen for unknown reasons - couldn't think and act! I'll never want to be in that vicious circle again!

Quoting 

Everyone needs to find their own path. For me, automation is a hobby. But discretionary trading is what pays the bills.

I will start with discretionary trading before considering an automation hobby at a later date .. smile .. For me, baking is my favorite hobby LOL!

Oh, I dig out a pocket-size guide which I compiled for free distribution years ago. Would like to share the following Quotes for Thought:

The Importance of Flexibility

It's important to be flexible! If one approach doesn't work then try something else. Learn different ways of tacking each life issue!

Emotional and mental flexibility and the ability to be self sufficient will be the most important attributes for success in the next century (still do). It will be increasingly important to embrace change rather than run from it.

The only thing you have to fear is FEAR itself

People frequently fear what they do not know and do not understand. The key to conquering fear is understanding

False
Evidence
Appearing
Real

The necessity of a WINNING ATTITUDE

Your attitude determines your altitude! You need a positive attitude toward life. A positive attitude is a function of

1. Confidence and
2. A realistic emotional attitude and goal!

Be a REALIST! Not a Perfectionist!

The realist keeps things in perspective. Note the difference between high achieving perfectionists and high achieving realists. If you can't make a reaonable choice in a reasonable amount of time, cut your losses and guess. The realist will do this naturally. The perfectionist will have to learn to do this.

My heartfelt thanks again Mike!

Beth

Hi Beth

your spirit and determination are an inspiration. You'll get there because you are a fighter. From my personal perspective, I would say that you are switching between markets/ inicators/ approaches too much and it does not have to be so overwhelming. Why don't you just concentrate on a single market, such as YM or ES and one or two timeframes? Also, why don't you spend a week taking a breather from info overload and just sit and look at the dynamics of say a 5 min chart. I'd also say that it's all a grey area trading and essentially about identifying favourable probabilities which takes quite some time of just watching price. This is where the psychology comes in because you will have to accept getting it wrong as part of the game. So discretion is a grey thing and not black and white, you just have to identify when you think turns are coming and be patient enough to wait and perceptive enough to anticipate. And I would look for these based on prior day's highs/ lows/ closes and not be too rigid about 'trend following'. There are opportunities all over the place if you are looking for them. Some days are better than others, sometimes it's almost impossible to find a clear trade, part of the 'job'. you can't force it and have to go with the flow. On average is the way to think as the market can be bvery generous some days and stingy others. Also, I would say don't put too much pressure on yourself and maybe trade I contract once a day for starters. It's just a matter of time but survival is key and trading less often is, in my opinion, a way to survive until you've got a clear routine, a simple clear routine that is conservative and is stress free because YOU understand what is happening minute to minute and YOU will decide when you want to initiate a trade

ZCars 

... Also, I would say don't put too much pressure on yourself and maybe trade I contract once a day for starters. It's just a matter of time but survival is key and trading less often is, in my opinion, a way to survive until you've got a clear routine, a simple clear routine that is conservative and is stress free because YOU understand what is happening minute to minute and YOU will decide when you want to initiate a trade

Hi ZCars

Thanks for sharing more tips (incl your wisdom) with me! A simple, clear, conservative and stress free trading routine sounds Great! Here it comes my ideal live trade routine as a start:

1. Trade a single market, ie ONE instrument
2. ONE trade per morning which maybe a 1- or 2-contract trade. Some mornings NIL when there's no trade signal (I plan to trade until 11:00 am/11:30 am)
3. 2 timeframes, ie 30-minute for MP and 4-Range for entry
4. Previous day's OHLC: I have been manually captured them EOD. The daily trading range helps giving me an idea on PT/SL when I'm in a trade (sim or real).

Preserve Precious Capital (key to survival) and Good Money Management are the keys to Successful Trading on a Consistent basis!!

Taking a breather?! May is Nelson's birthday month. I am taking him to Mytle Beach for a short vacation LOL! We both deserve a break .. haha .. Oh, I'm very good at finding bargains. When I was single, I made 5 4-day US trips within 2 months. Each cost less than US$400 incl direct flights from Toronto to USA (say Los Angeles), hotel, meals and transportation. Certainly no car rental (I don't drive anyway) and I walked an average 6 hours/daily from the hotel to the sightseeing spots or took a bus/subway.

FYI: After years of overwhelmingly occupied lifestyle, I now have a KISS (Keep It Simple & Stupid) life goal .. smile .. I still remember the response from a Canadian co-worker (my first job in Toronto) when I asked her why there's no training program on Sun. Oh, I succeeded in filling all evenings and Sat. She said: "It's only you who wants to study/work on Sun. Everyone else wants a break LOL."

Back to be a SMART bookworm! Continue enjoying your evening.

Beth

My philosophy too (but I'm a lazy bloke!). Good luck with the plan and have a great break.

Another baby green morning for ES!

Goals Accomplished:

1. Followed the trading rules.
2. No over-trade. I did 2 1-contract trades (1 loser and 1 winner).

My Emotion:

1. The first ES short is the first losing trade I have this week (hopefully the only one .. smile ..). It went up 3 ticks to my favor (a few times) before struggling up. I noticed the long buying tail while strong selling around 1194.50. I stayed in and felt the heat. The comfort feeling came from having a SL order in place while waiting for the PT to get filled.

2. For the second short, I had both PT and SL orders in. It's a 30-minute trade and I did not stay looking at the ES charts. Just let it take its course. Instead, I looked at CL and entered some long trades which will be covered in the subsequent post.

Having both PT/SL orders in soothes my psyche substantially! I MUST continue this practice for both sim and real trades! Money management LOL!

Beth

I got to know CL via the Hurley Method Automation thread. Not very familiar with it though I can tell it's a popular trading instrument here. This morning I spotted a long trade opportunity (based on MP) and it's a profitable one. Could be more profitable if I have the courage to let it run .. oooo ..

Observation:

1. A very fast market.
2. Candidate on my nice-to-do list, ie when I am getting more experienced .. haha ..

Now I only need to decide between ES and YM when I trade live .. Quite challenging for me to choose .. Maybe I should put them on 2 pieces of paper and draw?!!

Beth

I uncovered the following and it has been posting trades and Natural Trading Range (they named it Jardine Range) on-and-off. From this morning's posts (which I only checked after 10:15 am and missed them), it went long on ES when it's 1188 (while my VPC was 1187.75) and no rejection:

Enthios live index futures trading ES Trades

It's using a 50-Range chart (with slow and fast Stochs) for entry. I cannot figure out how to have a 50-Range chart since it's been a blank chart when I tried?!

Based on this, I noticed YM (VPC @10967) had a good long too.

Beth

I did a quick tabulation on this week's sim trade results (discretionary trading only and excl automated trades) as follows:

ES and YM: $362.50 (main instruments)
CL: $340.00 (testing it out)
Total: $702.50 after commission

All 4 mornings Green Green .. haha ..

Soooo I'd like to have a Green week and am taking Friday off (no sim trades)! Plus I'm a good girl and listen to both Big Mike and ZCars' advice ... Do some non-trading activities such as

- read the Mind Over Markets book
- review my MP notes
- watch some MP videos the 2nd time
etc etc

Last but not least, MUST pay more attention to my lovely hubby .. smile .. Hey, I created his blog and he's really happy now!!

Oh, don't be surprised if you hear from me tomorrow or over the weekend.

Happy & Successful Trading!

Beth

ES Trend Reversal - Long when it traded above the previous day's value area!

Per the green ellipse on the enclosed chart, a Long signal was triggered @1198.75 when 2 consecutive 30-minute bars got in the value area (I learned it from The Likos Letter). Not necessarily be the first 2 30-minute bars and do not need to wait for the second bar's completion. First PT close to the previous POC (1203.5) and second PT close to previous VAH (1205).

You will notice I have a Volume Osc indicator on Panel 2. I went through some threads last night that emphasize the importance of volume matching price action. I need to explore more on that (seemed to be a critical element) as I do not really get it yet. Maybe it's too late (close to midnight) and my petite head was not functioning.

Beth

Here it comes the first and last weekly report on YM Trades:

Mon $235
Tue -$100
Wed $25
Thu $100
Fri $265

Total $525 before commission (about 12 contracts: approx $465 after commission)

Soooo, it's a Green week for YM TSSuperTrend too! Smile. No wonder it has so many fans LOL!

I do what I said - No sim trades today! It's very important to be a disciplined trader + protecting my big white teeth. There's a Chinese saying (at least that's what my mom taught me): One will have healthy teeth if he/she always delivers what he/she promises. According to fortune-tellers, those who have big white teeth will enjoy prosperity and do not need to worry about feeding their belly .. smile ..

Take care and have a Lovely weekend.

Beth