NexusFi: Find Your Edge


Home Menu

 





" DeSimulated " - Ceerock81's Awakening


Discussion in Trading Journals

Updated
      Top Posters
    1. looks_one Ceerock81 with 83 posts (138 thanks)
    2. looks_two bobwest with 8 posts (20 thanks)
    3. looks_3 SoftSoap with 4 posts (17 thanks)
    4. looks_4 rocksolid68 with 3 posts (13 thanks)
      Best Posters
    1. looks_one SoftSoap with 4.3 thanks per post
    2. looks_two rocksolid68 with 4.3 thanks per post
    3. looks_3 bobwest with 2.5 thanks per post
    4. looks_4 Ceerock81 with 1.7 thanks per post
    1. trending_up 18,869 views
    2. thumb_up 207 thanks given
    3. group 15 followers
    1. forum 109 posts
    2. attach_file 116 attachments




 
Search this Thread

" DeSimulated " - Ceerock81's Awakening

  #31 (permalink)
 
Ceerock81's Avatar
 Ceerock81 
Raleigh, NC
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Sierra Chart
Broker: AMP/CQG
Trading: Futures, Options, Crypto
Posts: 112 since Sep 2016
Thanks Given: 353
Thanks Received: 196


bobwest View Post
Some thoughts:

- Any week you finish even is a good week.

- Chipps is a good source. He has dug a hole and climbed out, and knows a thing or two about it.

- There are lots of other good sources on FIO. The only problem will be possibly getting overwhelmed by all the info and points of view. Ultimately, there is only one point of view for you, and it's your own, not anyone else's. (That is, unfortunately, the truth.)

- Sierra is a good resource. The platform is not what makes for success, but you will probably like it. It Ill take getting used to.

Good luck with it all. Keep us posted.

Bob.


I do get overwhelmed with all the information on this forum. I take it one day at a time with the info because its just so much. I'd rather have too much than not enough. This way I can pick out what i want to use and what I dont wan t to use.

It's only been a couple of days and i am already getting the hang of sierra. going through their help forum and watching videos on youtube has definitely given me an advantage.

Thanks again

"It's not about being right or wrong, it's about how much money you make when you're right, and how much you don't lose when you're wrong"
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
Thanked by:

Can you help answer these questions
from other members on NexusFi?
ZombieSqueeze
Platforms and Indicators
New Micros: Ultra 10-Year & Ultra T-Bond -- Live Now
Treasury Notes and Bonds
Better Renko Gaps
The Elite Circle
NT7 Indicator Script Troubleshooting - Camarilla Pivots
NinjaTrader
Build trailing stop for micro index(s)
Psychology and Money Management
 
Best Threads (Most Thanked)
in the last 7 days on NexusFi
Get funded firms 2023/2024 - Any recommendations or word …
59 thanks
Funded Trader platforms
37 thanks
NexusFi site changelog and issues/problem reporting
24 thanks
GFIs1 1 DAX trade per day journal
22 thanks
The Program
19 thanks
  #32 (permalink)
 
Ceerock81's Avatar
 Ceerock81 
Raleigh, NC
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Sierra Chart
Broker: AMP/CQG
Trading: Futures, Options, Crypto
Posts: 112 since Sep 2016
Thanks Given: 353
Thanks Received: 196


SoftSoap View Post
I took my first live trade in May, and between May and August I had to stop live trading about 5-6 times and go back to sim because I just lost money week after week. Once you are able to find out what is holding you back though, your live performance will start to catch up to your sim performance.

Also, I would challenge you to post regular updates even on your sim, but to focus more describing how you feel before, during, and after taking trades. Once you are out of sim you should also write similar updates, and compare the 2. You will learn what emotional mindset makes you successful on sim and then you can slowly work on bridging the gap.

For example, I found that on SIM I was very patient, and almost all of my trades were logical. But on live I suffered from hard FOMO and I took a ton of emotional trades. Understanding the contrast between the 2 allowed me to set goals around FOMO and emotional trades which drastically improved my trading.

I started following your journal in September, so I only read the profitable part of your journey to "Softgold". Your journal is extremely detailed and I always assumed that was the way you approached your trades. I'm sorry you had a rough start, but I'm kind of relieved. It shows me that with some perseverance and commitment and can be a better trader (at least profitable).

Your challenge seems a bit ..... Challenging... I will accept your challenge and give it a try, but I am sure that my journal with pale in comparison to yours. Let me first get a hang of this Sierra Charts. I think I'm almost there.

I had a similar experience in SIM where my trades seemed so logical and made sense, now its all about emotions ... I have manged to get a grip on my emotions though. A few losses will humble you very quick..

I appreciate your insight, thanks again..

"It's not about being right or wrong, it's about how much money you make when you're right, and how much you don't lose when you're wrong"
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
  #33 (permalink)
 
Ceerock81's Avatar
 Ceerock81 
Raleigh, NC
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Sierra Chart
Broker: AMP/CQG
Trading: Futures, Options, Crypto
Posts: 112 since Sep 2016
Thanks Given: 353
Thanks Received: 196



IzhakHaim View Post
Ceerock81,

I think your first step should be to NOT login and follow Alex the kid.

All you learn there is to gamble on the random lines of h/l/s/r and listen to a nonsense market analysis from a kid that has no idea what he says. You learn there to double down when in a losing trade and jumping from market to market and how to become a bond trader expert in a month of sim.

Go learn here from dozens of old timers and stay away from the noise.

P.S. Do not trade shadow/follow ANYONE, the charmer talker as he is, that do not trade live. Don't see real account info- do not believe any stories you hear.

Whats Up Izhak ?

Thank you for your concern. I dont go there as much as I used to. It is a bit distracting. But I do want you to understand that I am extremely new at trading and I am only looking for guidance. I spend a lot of time reading and roaming this forum, but anytime I can hear a live market analysis I feel it is to my benefit.

I dont shadow anyone. I did it one time out of maybe greed or desperation. I dont think it is a proper way to learn especially at my level. The "old timers" here do have plenty to contribute. I get 90% of what I learn everyday from these "old timers", as you call them. lol

When we used to be in the trading room together, I seen you take some nice trades, so I know your comments come from a place of concern that I might take the wrong path. I appreciate it, Thanks.


I'm right here having some chinese in flushing !!!!

"It's not about being right or wrong, it's about how much money you make when you're right, and how much you don't lose when you're wrong"
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
Thanked by:
  #34 (permalink)
 
SoftSoap's Avatar
 SoftSoap 
Canada
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: NinjaTrader
Broker: InteractiveBrokers
Trading: NQ
Posts: 594 since Aug 2015
Thanks Given: 347
Thanks Received: 1,227


Ceerock81 View Post
I started following your journal in September, so I only read the profitable part of your journey to "Softgold". Your journal is extremely detailed and I always assumed that was the way you approached your trades. I'm sorry you had a rough start, but I'm kind of relieved. It shows me that with some perseverance and commitment and can be a better trader (at least profitable).

Your challenge seems a bit ..... Challenging... I will accept your challenge and give it a try, but I am sure that my journal with pale in comparison to yours. Let me first get a hang of this Sierra Charts. I think I'm almost there.

I had a similar experience in SIM where my trades seemed so logical and made sense, now its all about emotions ... I have manged to get a grip on my emotions though. A few losses will humble you very quick..

I appreciate your insight, thanks again..

Long post incoming, but I'm stopped out for the day and I promise it'll be worth the read. Maybe @bobwest can summarize it into 3 words

Starting out with losses
Honestly I think starting out rough was one of the best things that could've happened to me. It forced me to tighten my boot straps right away and to get into the 'bad-habit fighting' mode as soon as possible. As a new trader there is no better time to turn around bad habits than when you start to build them.

Losses tell your mind that you are doing something wrong

If I started out with wins, I wouldn't have worked on my bad habits, I probably wouldn't even know about them.

I didn't understand this when I started trading and I'm saying this because you aren't starting out as well as you would've hoped, and I want you to not just be ok with it, but embrace it!

You'll see some traders who were extremely successful in the pits but couldn't adapt when the market changed electronically. One reason is that their bad habits stem years or even decades, and those habits are now easily punished by a changing market. It is very hard to change a habit after you've been doing something for 20 years that led to good results in the past.

Challenging you to keep journaling on SIM
I'm not challenging you to be more detailed with your journal entries, I'm challenging you to focus them around emotions a bit more. It doesn't have to be every day either. Add a goal that you want to learn more about your emotions during trading and every time you journal ask yourself - does my journaling get into something that can help my learn more about my emotions? If yes, then great (even if it's one sentence). If no, then try to think a bit harder.

My journaling is super detailed because I found that it is what works best for me. But journaling should be about YOU, and nobody else. Do what is best for you to learn as much as you can from your own journal. If people like it, that's just a bonus.

Funny enough, my journal post today would be a good example of what I mean. I didn't post any of my entries and I didn't take any screenshots, because today I completely failed on my emotions.


How journaling can help you identify your emotional issues faster

Writing down your emotions as you are experiencing them is like creating a time capsule for that event. You can go abck and read how you felt on X day and then see how it impacted your future trading (I have done that a lot).
Your journal doesn't have to be shared on FIO, but making it public helps IMO.
Once you get into the habit of learning about what emotions you have during trading, you start to learn how to deal with them, and how not to deal with them.

Continuing to use today as an example. I lost 4 trades in a row, 2 pre-market and 2 literally 2:39 minutes into the open. They were bad trades, and only 1 of them followed my plan. What had I done in the past when this happened?

I would get mad, I would think all day about how stupid I was, about how well I could've done today (if the market trends one way or follows my trading plan). I would look at the market every couple of minutes and wish I was in a trade, then I would get mad at myself some more. Not only would this do nothing to change the past, but it would also have a negative impact on my future performance.
All of this is extremely bad, and I traded like this for a long time before realizing it. The worst part is that days like today would start a huge drawdown because I just wouldn't be able to shake the bad mentality.

But through journaling on FIO I realized what a crazy person I was, and what a bad way to react to my losses this was (sounds like Yoda, I was going to edit it but I'm in a funny mood today ).

Once your issues are out in the open, it gets easier to improve them
Now what do I do? Actually let's talk about what I just did today to make sure this doesn't carry on to tomorrow.

I tried self-deprecating humour. I'm okay with laughing at myself on the dumb mistakes I made today, because I know I can change them in the future. In the past I was very self-conscious about sharing my mistakes and I would avoid talking about them or it would take me days to muster up the courage to post them, but that did nothing to fix the issue.

Within 7 minutes of being stopped out today, I went on FIO chat and posted this so I could change my mood around:



I then looked at things that make me laugh, today I shared them on FIO as well


I spent some time with my dog, watching funny videos, and listening to some of my favorite jams.
I'm about to work out as well and make a nice lunch I wouldn't normally have the time for.

Now I'm happy and honestly I could care less about my losses today. They've been added to my trading spreadsheet, I've written about them, they are tracked on my daily spreadsheets, and at the end of the month they will be part of my monthly numbers. But life goes on.

Honestly, I feel like I could open up my charts and trade according to my plan 100% right now, that's how fast I've been able to turn around my mentality. And you know what? When I wake up tomorrow I will not wake up in a bad mood and in 'loss aversion' mode. I will try and trade like it's just any other day.

Also, I'm writing about my improvements, so it might seem like I'm at the end of the road with some of my emotional issues. I'm not, and you need to have the destination in mind at all times, but you do want to think about how far you have come in your journey sometimes. Specially when you get knocked down, because sometime we don't realize the progress we've made before getting knocked down again.

Sorry if I'm cluttering up your journal, I hope this helps.

Cheers.

Yesterday's excellence is today's standard and tomorrow's mediocrity
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Reply With Quote
  #35 (permalink)
 
bobwest's Avatar
 bobwest 
Western Florida
Site Moderator
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Sierra Chart
Trading: ES, YM
Frequency: Several times daily
Duration: Minutes
Posts: 8,162 since Jan 2013
Thanks Given: 57,343
Thanks Received: 26,267


SoftSoap View Post
Long post incoming, but I'm stopped out for the day and I promise it'll be worth the read. Maybe @bobwest can summarize it into 3 words

No, I can't.



Good post, though.

Bob.

Reply With Quote
Thanked by:
  #36 (permalink)
 
Ceerock81's Avatar
 Ceerock81 
Raleigh, NC
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Sierra Chart
Broker: AMP/CQG
Trading: Futures, Options, Crypto
Posts: 112 since Sep 2016
Thanks Given: 353
Thanks Received: 196


SoftSoap View Post
Long post incoming, but I'm stopped out for the day and I promise it'll be worth the read. Maybe @bobwest can summarize it into 3 words



Sorry if I'm cluttering up your journal, I hope this helps.

Cheers.


LOL agree with @bobwest , nice post.... I'm not worried about clutter as long as it's something beneficial for all. I think everything you shared is beneficial.

Your novel... I mean your post has inspired me to make my notebook journal visible to the public... well.... at least some of it. I'll type it up now before i go to work with some screen shots, if I can figure out how to post screen shots ?????

"It's not about being right or wrong, it's about how much money you make when you're right, and how much you don't lose when you're wrong"
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
Thanked by:
  #37 (permalink)
 
bobwest's Avatar
 bobwest 
Western Florida
Site Moderator
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Sierra Chart
Trading: ES, YM
Frequency: Several times daily
Duration: Minutes
Posts: 8,162 since Jan 2013
Thanks Given: 57,343
Thanks Received: 26,267


Ceerock81 View Post
I'll type it up now before i go to work with some screen shots, if I can figure out how to post screen shots ?????

If you really aren't sure about posting screen shots, this may help:

1. I, and probably most people on FIO, use a free screen-capture program called Jing. You can download it here: https://www.techsmith.com/jing.html

They have tutorial videos on the site that take you through using it. You can capture anything on your screen, annotate it, and save the image as a file.

2. You can use the steps here to import the image file to a forum post:



Let me know if this is not clear, or if you have any questions.

Bob.

Reply With Quote
Thanked by:
  #38 (permalink)
 
Ceerock81's Avatar
 Ceerock81 
Raleigh, NC
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Sierra Chart
Broker: AMP/CQG
Trading: Futures, Options, Crypto
Posts: 112 since Sep 2016
Thanks Given: 353
Thanks Received: 196

Basically, This is what the scribble in my NQ journal looks like for the day:

Pre-session
1-No major events
Leading indicators @11:00 am
KC FED manufacturing index @12:00 pm
Baker-Hughes rig count @ 2:00 pm

2- Yesterdays range about 40 points. expect the same today. Yesterdays volume low except @ opening, closing and random throughout the day. ON range only about 20 points at it's peaks.

Theory
-Uptrend all week.
-@ opening market might test ETH low of 4815-4817 area, then begin a slow uptrend.
-End of day could see 4860-4880 area????
-If market drops @ open to 4817.50, I am willing to take a long entry w/stop @ 4809. If I am correct then I will ride trend up until somewhere around 4858-4865.

Thoughts
-Feel very confident
-If my theory is wrong , I will not let it discourage me from making better trades.
-Will avoid emotional decisions @ open
-If my theory is wrong I will take my time to reevaluate and create a new plan
-Election day high @ about 4842 "ish". If price goes up @ open and fails at 4842 "ish", I might immediately reconsider bullish thesis.

9:30 market open
9:36 price fails @ 4842 "ish"

-Maintaining a Bullish hypothesis until proven otherwise
-market very vow volume, small range.
-Long entry @ VWAP
-Immediately went against me... HOLY CRAP!!! was it just waiting for me to go long?????
-stopped out 4.75 point loss
-Time to reevaluate .......

________________________________________________________________________________________________

I believe failure at 4840.50 might be a sign of bulls not being able to take price higher. might be a down trend day. Let's wait and see.....

@ about 10:00 am market jumped down below OR-low about 9 points in like 1 minute. That might be my confirmation for a bear trend. IDK !!! I will wait for a retracement and possible short entry @4828 w/ 5 point stop-loss.

-Order filled @ 4828. Low volume worries me . VWAP above my entry @ 4830 ish
-Trade in the green about 4 points. I will leave my desk for a little while to avoid any emotional decisions. Stop-loss @ 5 points, Target @ 15 points 10:00 am

Left my desk for about 24 minutes seems like my revised hypothesis has been a success. I am glad I left my desk because price dropped to 4814.50 then retraced to 4823, then finally came down to my target. If I was at my desk I would have probaly flattened @ retracement.





My original target was 4810 , but changed it before I left the office due to , of course FOMO. As I write this, the market is down to 4803 . Thats 10 points I left on the table.




I won't dwell on it. I'm leaving now up 10.25 points with only 2 trades. One winner One loser. My winner was like 3.25 times bigger than my loser. I'll just type this up and go to work.


"It's not about being right or wrong, it's about how much money you make when you're right, and how much you don't lose when you're wrong"
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
Thanked by:
  #39 (permalink)
 
Ceerock81's Avatar
 Ceerock81 
Raleigh, NC
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Sierra Chart
Broker: AMP/CQG
Trading: Futures, Options, Crypto
Posts: 112 since Sep 2016
Thanks Given: 353
Thanks Received: 196


bobwest View Post
If you really aren't sure about posting screen shots, this may help:

1. I, and probably most people on FIO, use a free screen-capture program called Jing. You can download it here: https://www.techsmith.com/jing.html

They have tutorial videos on the site that take you through using it. You can capture anything on your screen, annotate it, and save the image as a file.

2. You can use the steps here to import the image file to a forum post:



Let me know if this is not clear, or if you have any questions.

Bob.


LOL I must have been typing while you wrote this... as you can see I didnt get the screen shots. Let me check out your links and fix them. I have to go soon, so hopefully i have time.


Thanks Bob that was easy. Of course after you showed me

"It's not about being right or wrong, it's about how much money you make when you're right, and how much you don't lose when you're wrong"
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
Thanked by:
  #40 (permalink)
 
Ceerock81's Avatar
 Ceerock81 
Raleigh, NC
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Sierra Chart
Broker: AMP/CQG
Trading: Futures, Options, Crypto
Posts: 112 since Sep 2016
Thanks Given: 353
Thanks Received: 196


Focus was off today

No major news today
ON range was low 20 points
last week was uptrend most of the week but failed at election day highs
all time highs still above

Possibilities @ open

-@ open market drops to 4816-4810, then begin an uptrend day
-@ open market can test 4842, then come down but ultimately I think it will trend up.

Avoid any emotional trades
Steer clear of initial open and see what price does.
If price doesn't react as expected, just reevaluate and adjust approach.

Short entry @4841.75 ( price reached my target zone for short)
tight stop target @ 4817 pivot.
-Price just continued to skyrocket to 4837.50 STOPPED out !!!!
*bad move ....Should have waited.

If price breaks zone above 4842, I will have to reevaluate my entries

-Market might be looking to reach all time highs again or at least recent high... Not sure !!maybe i'll wait for a pull back to 4834 (VWAP) area and buy again with a tight stop.

-Volume reducing with every 2 min bar



went long @ VWAP .... WAs stopped out immediately . tight stop another 5 points. Long @ VWAP 4834 , price shot down like 10 points stopped me out and turned around....



I am done for the day Good luck to all. I'm down like 10 points.....

I wasn't very focused; I dont know why ....

"It's not about being right or wrong, it's about how much money you make when you're right, and how much you don't lose when you're wrong"
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote




Last Updated on June 14, 2020


© 2024 NexusFi™, s.a., All Rights Reserved.
Av Ricardo J. Alfaro, Century Tower, Panama City, Panama, Ph: +507 833-9432 (Panama and Intl), +1 888-312-3001 (USA and Canada)
All information is for educational use only and is not investment advice. There is a substantial risk of loss in trading commodity futures, stocks, options and foreign exchange products. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
About Us - Contact Us - Site Rules, Acceptable Use, and Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy - Downloads - Top
no new posts