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Zen & the Art of The Small Account


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Zen & the Art of The Small Account

  #631 (permalink)
 
bluemele's Avatar
 bluemele 
Honolulu, Hawaii
 
Experience: Intermediate
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aztrader9 View Post
Haven't really posted in a few days. First of all, my entire family has been sick. My kid got over it pretty quick but my wife totally relapsed. That left me to trade, take care of the kid and the wife all at the same time. Basically its not really possible to do all three well, so I opted for the family and just traded hit and miss. Mostly miss. While I ended the week slightly positive, I had more loser days than winners. I just happened to have a real break out day one day that saved my bacon but in the end, it was a terrible trading week.

I had time to think about things quite a bit as you might imagine and I've come to this conclusion:

I trade to much. To many trades. I know I talked about 30 ticks and out and I will do this beginning Monday but after reviewing the trades today for the past week, I just traded to much. I fear it could become an addiction and that is the last thing I want. I want to trade to live, not live to trade. I have spoke and written these words before but today I really mean them.

So going forward, I'll be looking for the HPO on my MTFA method, taking my money when I have it and walking away for the remainder of the day. I will no longer spend all day in the front of the computer. I am tired of it and life is to short to spend watching squiggly lines ALL day.

I did that for a while, 'day' trading and boy it does ware you out doesn't it!

Good move and you will probably be 10x more profitable!

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  #632 (permalink)
 
tderrick's Avatar
 tderrick 
Nashville, Tennessee
 
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tderrick View Post
Exactly the the road I am on, brother...


Good luck to us both...


Of course, I will need much more luck than you!


AJ
Nashville, Tennessee


"Life On The Edge of SR"
Follow me on Twitter Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal
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  #633 (permalink)
 
PandaWarrior's Avatar
 PandaWarrior 
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tderrick View Post
Of course, I will need much more luck than you!

Luck is more aptly defined as skill meeting and recognizing opportunity and taking advantage of same. I am still on the skill acquisition part of the journey.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci


Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
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  #634 (permalink)
 
bluemele's Avatar
 bluemele 
Honolulu, Hawaii
 
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aztrader9 View Post
Luck is more aptly defined as skill meeting and recognizing opportunity and taking advantage of same. I am still on the skill acquisition part of the journey.

Seneca the Younger said that! One of my favorite quotes.

Along with "Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of" - Ben F.


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  #635 (permalink)
 
PandaWarrior's Avatar
 PandaWarrior 
In the heat
 
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I had a lot of confidence coming into today. I started getting my charts ready around 30 minutes prior to the opening. During that time, prices moved enough with great signals to have enabled me to quit for the day. After my charts were ready, chop ensued. There were a couple of counter trend trades that I passed on as I had decided I would not trade against the higher time frame. I did get a couple of trend signals but there was no real follow through and so I took quick profit and was up about 26 ticks. Then I got a signal or so I thought to start looking for longs on the higher time frame. (HTF). So I looked for one on the lower time frame. (LTF). This lead to a stop out. And then I just waited until the chop was over. I really do have a second entry mentality on chop. Most of the time, the range is broken, price goes back into the range and then it escapes out in the "run". Not today. So then I commenced chasing. More stop outs. Now I am frustrated and to be truthful, kinda sick of losing when I should be winning. This felt mildly like my revenge trading episode last summer. I recognized it before it was disastrous.

So decided to just watch for a while. More short signals. More great trades without me. And since this journal is for my benefit, I will choose this opportunity to insert severe and prolonged cussing here. I didn't actually cuss....but I sure wanted to......f bombs flying all over the place coupled with the word mother a few times....I haven't cussed like that in years, but for some reason, today was the day.

Lots of good trades or one really great one went by, but I knew I was so mad it would be fatal for me to enter. So I just sat there. SOB. I am exercising my chooser here.....I am choosing not to lose control but I sure want to. Today trading has brought the worst in me.

Is there a cure for this feeling of supreme frustration? I sure hope so. I hate days like this. Days when I do a good job of waiting and still lose money. Should I have quit when I was ahead? Probably. But the day was just getting underway, I was not to my target yet and even though no follow through caused some good signals to go bad, I was positive so I elected to continue to in order to make my target for the day. In hindsight, I should have quit, but who knew. I was up, and feeling decent at that point. I was even proud of myself for waiting out the chop. It was missing the breakdown entry that never really came back to let me in that did it. When I did re-enter, out of frustration I might add, it was over.

So today my attitude is screw it. I don't even feel like reviewing the trades today. I'd rather just go outside and keep right on cussing. Maybe I will. I'll tell you later if I do.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci


Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
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  #636 (permalink)
 
bluemele's Avatar
 bluemele 
Honolulu, Hawaii
 
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Well, I doubt anyone will have the courage to post today. haha.

I have had my worst week and now my worst day ever if that makes any kind of good feeling come back. Not that you want bad to happen to anyone, but to know that you are not the only one feeling pressure.

For me, back to my conservative, 2+ points a day vice trying to hit the grand champion run.

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  #637 (permalink)
 
PandaWarrior's Avatar
 PandaWarrior 
In the heat
 
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Well in hindsight, I was a damn fool today. I decided to review the trades instead of going outside and cussing the bark off the trees.

Signals were fine. My head must have been up my @$$ today. Only reason that makes sense. Dang, its dark in here. Ok, some of the signals were suspect, but still, no reason to take those.

Now I am done for the day.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci


Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
Started this thread
  #638 (permalink)
 
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 tderrick 
Nashville, Tennessee
 
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aztrader9 View Post
Well in hindsight, I was a damn fool today. I decided to review the trades instead of going outside and cussing the bark off the trees.

Signals were fine. My head must have been up my @$$ today. Only reason that makes sense. Dang, its dark in here. Ok, some of the signals were suspect, but still, no reason to take those.

Now I am done for the day.


Ha! Ha! you make me smile, AZ... I know every emotion you just described far too well. I'm not quite over my last
episode. It can't be good for us....


Just think... someday we'll be able to trade with zero emotion... just know that it's part of the game and reload.


AJ
Nashville, Tennessee


"Life On The Edge of SR"
Follow me on Twitter Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal
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  #639 (permalink)
 itrade2win 
New York
 
Experience: Intermediate
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I'm right along with you guys and got my ass kicked as well. I have been trading so well lately and I was over confident and took a severe beating today even with two nice winners of +24, +20 and some small winners, but got killed with several small losers and the big killa was the last trade that I took a full stop of -22 ticks thinking that buyers would come back and take prices higher towards the end of the day. I kept in some trades that I could have scalped for 10+ ticks, but I kept waiting for the home run hit especially when price broke the HOD on the tri top I had my target set for 50+ ticks, I had 20+ ticks and ended up with +2. Its going to happen guys and it was one of those days.

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  #640 (permalink)
 
PandaWarrior's Avatar
 PandaWarrior 
In the heat
 
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After reviewing the trades....no way I am posting them today....I realized I have strayed fairly far away from what got me to the dance in the first place. Especially after my trading buddy ripped me a new one today. I guess I needed another hole to stick my head in as the first one was simply to small to fit my big over confident head in......

So on his strident suggestion....read very loud (for him anyway) insistence that I produce a mechanical entry system based on what I have learned thus far in my career, I came home from volunteering at my daughters school and set about to produce such a system.

The attached chart incorporates everything I know about trading so far.

1. Trend trading with MTFA albeit a simplified version.
2. Counter trend trading against the higher time frame
3. Volatility based stops.....and possible entries with smaller ones
4. Targets based on trend vs. counter trend.

I added some indicators to do all this for me and I deleted one that seemed to always get me a stop out and cluttered the screen anyway.

I gotta run now but feel free to comment on the appropriateness of said system.....

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci


Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
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