kevinkdog 

I definitely agree, keeping track of your statistics is a very good idea. Numbers don't lie, and staring at those numbers can really help you identify weak points in your approach.

Cool. Any suggestions on the basic stats I should keep track of? Simply trade, net profit, # of contracts?

scalpingticks 

Cool. Any suggestions on the basic stats I should keep track of? Simply trade, net profit, # of contracts?

It really depends what your are going to do with the information.

Below is one I use to track a strategy. I like to add the time and date, to go back and review the trade. I add in slippage, have calculations built in for commission, and assume every trade is 2 contracts (since I trade multiples of 2).

This works for me, and my particular system.

For you, to start, just record everything for that trade. If it is discretionary, you can even record your feelings at time of entry and/or exit. You never know what you might need a piece of data for.

Ugly day today, 8 trades and kept fading an obvious move down in the ES looking back. I'm a bit frustrated in myself for allowing the 8 and 10 tick losers and also to continue trading once I realized I was off my game. I need to set a firm rule that once I'm down 10 ticks I'm out for the day. Traded like a rookie today.

trade 1 -6 long
trade 2 -10 long
trade 3 -4 long
trade 4 +4 short
trade 5 +2 short
trade 6 -8 long
trade 7 -6 long
trade 8 -4 long
net loss of 32 ticks

The other thing that I notice happening when I have days like today is that I abandon my game plan looking for that miracle trade. At one point I was down 20 ticks or so I had a nice 8 tick unrealized profit from the downtrend that I should have taken as a profit but I decided to let it ride to "try to make back my losses" and ended up with a 4 tick stop out. If I would have been even on the day I would have taken that 8 ticks but when I get down I guess I don't think those 8 ticks are worth it since I'm already down on the day. Emotional capital taking a big lump today.

scalpingticks 

The other thing that I notice happening when I have days like today is that I abandon my game plan looking for that miracle trade. At one point I was down 20 ticks or so I had a nice 8 tick unrealized profit from the downtrend that I should have taken as a profit but I decided to let it ride to "try to make back my losses" and ended up with a 4 tick stop out. If I would have been even on the day I would have taken that 8 ticks but when I get down I guess I don't think those 8 ticks are worth it since I'm already down on the day. Emotional capital taking a big lump today.

I can relate well to that, a big part of my progress/process is now to remember 'a trade is a trade is a trade' - maybe think that if you took those 'just 8 ticks' every day you would beat most traders..., now that's worth it!

I've learned that a lack of discipline is my biggest challenge. I'm actually a pretty decent trader most of the time but not abiding to a specific set of rules is killing my results. IMO being discretionary is to my advantage but I need to develop a core set of rules that I stick to. I'm going to list some rules, if anyone has some additional insight please let me know.

Rule #1: Individual trade loss rule. No losses greater than 4/5/6 ticks per trade
Rule #2: Daily loss rule. Stop trading when loss hits daily limit, 10/12/15
Rule #3: Losing trade limit. Stop trading when I hit 2/3/4 losing trades in a row
Rule #4: Weekly loss limit. Stop trading for the week if either $ amount of # of tick amount is exceeded
Rule #5: Some sort of high watermark profit rule. If I hit X profit intraday, I walk at minimum with X

I know it sounds like an oxymoron and probably is but I was wondering today if it is possible to program an algorithm based on my thoughts on when to enter a trade which is based on pure discretion? In other words, when I take a trade, I always have a very specific reason why I took the trade; for example the high of the day is breached on a slow day, the bids don't follow the price up and it appears longs are covering a few ticks above the high to get out at a good price. Can discretionary "scenarios" be programed?

Hi scalpingticks,

my scalping strategy for ES and other instruments has mostly discretionary entries. For the Exit I use a program to Takeprofit or Stoploss.
If I want to move Stoploss manually I leave the screen and do something else.(That is one part I have learned from my trading of such "bad" days you talked some posts earlier)

The only rule I allow is to move Takeprofit manually to bigger Profit.

The biggest Problem in trading is not to find your own rules but to follow these rules.
I think this is what makes a Trader profitable.

aiti

scalpingticks 

I've learned that a lack of discipline is my biggest challenge. I'm actually a pretty decent trader most of the time but not abiding to a specific set of rules is killing my results. IMO being discretionary is to my advantage but I need to develop a core set of rules that I stick to.

aiti 

The biggest Problem in trading is not to find your own rules but to follow these rules. I think this is what makes a Trader profitable.

Eternal truths indeed. After umpteen years of system development my entire focus is now on this area of psychology, each day I can touch progress but I can't yet hold on to it. Thanks for the posts, I have made decent enough progress on stop rules that I can now contain over-trading days to not be account destroyers, even though I haven't yet managed to stop the over-trading. This was a surprise to me so maybe there is hope yet for the Main Rule to come to fruition soon.

scalpingticks 

I've learned that a lack of discipline is my biggest challenge. I'm actually a pretty decent trader most of the time but not abiding to a specific set of rules is killing my results. IMO being discretionary is to my advantage but I need to develop a core set of rules that I stick to. I'm going to list some rules, if anyone has some additional insight please let me know. Rule #1: Individual trade loss rule. No losses greater than 4/5/6 ticks per trade Rule #2: Daily loss rule. Stop trading when loss hits daily limit, 10/12/15 Rule #3: Losing trade limit. Stop trading when I hit 2/3/4 losing trades in a row Rule #4: Weekly loss limit. Stop trading for the week if either $ amount of # of tick amount is exceeded Rule #5: Some sort of high watermark profit rule. If I hit X profit intraday, I walk at minimum with X

outstanding short and sweet the number of trading plan rules you outlined

keep them to heart and repeat them each morning with stretching exercises (Japanese psychological approach to marketing at big box retailers)

also, keep in mind, not to over trade or chase, when your timing is off, wait until the world gets back in sync with you!, not you with it!

if you use NinjaTrader, look into configuring the HotKey functions for order submission, maintenance and cancellation. These might help with your trade acuity (the ability to see, decide, act and accept the outcomes) all without emotion....

hotkeys can also be the express train track to ruin and being thrown under the bus and having the old ladies trample you down... (see how that progressively smaller and lower decline occurs?, humor)

ATB! (all the best, that;s my motto)