Sorry to hear that. I've enjoyed reading your posts. It's funny - I sometimes think about how I am going to explain things since I started my own journal, especially when I screw up an execution, or don't act in a disciplined manner. So I get what you're saying about thinking about what you're going to write affecting your thought process.

But there is one big difference. I don't care what anyone thinks of my trading. That sounds bad, but believe me, I don't mean it that way. I do what I feel is best for me because that's what I need to do to be successful. If somebody likes what I do, great! but if they don't that's OK too. We can go about things in various ways and each find success.

I do hope you post updates on occasion (or more) and I do hope you have the success you are working for. This is a great way to make a living.

Zachary Standley 

I've decided that I'm going to privatize my trading. The main reason for this is that I no longer have the desire to put my progress on display because it inevitably becomes a social posture for me. I find it as gratifying to get "Thank You's" as I did whenever I received likes on Facebook in the past. This may sound silly to some of you, but it's the truth. I've realized that I've been curve-fitting my account of daily trades here to adjust to the possible judgments of the community, which only hurts me in the end. By no means am I saying this is a bad place- because it's not at all- I just know how I operate, and I think this is the best decision for my trading right now. I will continue to update this journal, but not as frequently as I have been the past 8 months. I won't be posting about my PnL or how many points I made on a given day, because it seems to fuel my attachment to wanting to win and make money. I'll come here to philosophize to the extent that I can, and I will keep everyone who is interested updated on my general progress.

They say that trading is a lonely business....I say: for many it should be. Best of luck!

Matt Z
Optimus Futures

There is a substantia risk of loss in futures trading. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Zachary Standley 

I've decided that I'm going to privatize my trading. The main reason for this is that I no longer have the desire to put my progress on display because it inevitably becomes a social posture for me. I find it as gratifying to get "Thank You's" as I did whenever I received likes on Facebook in the past. This may sound silly to some of you, but it's the truth. I've realized that I've been curve-fitting my account of daily trades here to adjust to the possible judgments of the community, which only hurts me in the end. By no means am I saying this is a bad place- because it's not at all- I just know how I operate, and I think this is the best decision for my trading right now. I will continue to update this journal, but not as frequently as I have been the past 8 months. I won't be posting about my PnL or how many points I made on a given day, because it seems to fuel my attachment to wanting to win and make money. I'll come here to philosophize to the extent that I can, and I will keep everyone who is interested updated on my general progress.

I understand exactly what you are saying. I think the journaling "thing" is a very individual decision. For me, at this point in my trading, I find the encouragement and the occasional critique helpful. Plus, when I have to write down honestly even the bone-headed trades i make, I find that helps reinforce whatever lesson I learned from that trade. So I will continue as long as I find it helpful for me and as long as I feel I can make positive contributions to the other traders here.

I wish you the very best of luck and I'll continue to watch for your occasional updates. Happy trading!

Hi Zack,
I fully understand and respect your decision. Here is a suggestion, do your own blog and post daily, still. Most probably no one will find/read it ( no pun intended). Writing a daily will help you as it helped me. I did that for a long time before coming back to FIO. It's like the boss at the end of the day that you need to explain your actions to. It's never about how much money you make, its about did you do what you suppose to do. It's hard to do that on your own; the cycle may continue. Trading has been, and still is, the hardest thing I ever tried.
I look forward to seeing you back soon.
Take care,
K

You have to do what is best for you. I'll miss your terrific writing (at least in the quantity I am used to), but I totally respect your decision. I hope you'll be around here somewhat regularly, you've inspired me many times, so thank you for that!

Zachary Standley 

I've decided that I'm going to privatize my trading. The main reason for this is that I no longer have the desire to put my progress on display because it inevitably becomes a social posture for me.

I've been there many times, and currently am also somewhat in a break situation. Some of the reasons are similar, some are not... but the only thing that matters is to do what works best for you, as you see it.

I have also enjoyed your journal, as many have said, but it has to help you or it's not worth your time.

Do well, and let us know what's going on, when it's a good time for you.

You do have a ton of friends here, who all wish you well.

Bob.

Zachary Standley 

I've decided that I'm going to privatize my trading. The main reason for this is that I no longer have the desire to put my progress on display because it inevitably becomes a social posture for me. I find it as gratifying to get "Thank You's" as I did whenever I received likes on Facebook in the past. This may sound silly to some of you, but it's the truth. I've realized that I've been curve-fitting my account of daily trades here to adjust to the possible judgments of the community, which only hurts me in the end. By no means am I saying this is a bad place- because it's not at all- I just know how I operate, and I think this is the best decision for my trading right now. I will continue to update this journal, but not as frequently as I have been the past 8 months. I won't be posting about my PnL or how many points I made on a given day, because it seems to fuel my attachment to wanting to win and make money. I'll come here to philosophize to the extent that I can, and I will keep everyone who is interested updated on my general progress.

join in on the chat on the home page, you don't have to talk trading but its nice to be able to communicate with like minded people

-P

I have learned a lot from your daily posting and will miss it! I too have taken a hiatus from daily journaling and have often wondered how much it affects my trading. I have no answers there my friend and if I did they would only be applicable to myself I'm sure. I find the introspection that is required for writing a worthwhile journal post valuable but often difficult to lay out to the world. I would often get caught up in how my thoughts and actions would be received by others traders and this probably skewed my rationalization of things sometimes. Or it would translate into a less than truly honest presentation. But I'm aware of this now so I've been thinking about giving it another go sometime...maybe.

Keep in touch and trade well @Zachary Standley !

Just a quick update.

I haven't really been trading much the past week or so; instead, I've mostly been hanging out with friends, and doing whatever I please while the summer lasts up here. I especially haven't been motivated to trade in the mornings, so I don't trade as a pre-caution, because that apathy and state of mind has hurt my account in the past. I only took 2 trades early last week, and they were good trades. I'm just not into it right now, and I'm not sure why. Maybe I'm having too much fun?

I'll re-commit to my old morning routine this coming Monday. Getting sloppy over here.

I did a pretty great job today, regardless of not going through my expected morning routine. I looked at my charts at 9:35ish (I only trade after 10am now), right after taking a nap. My analysis was brief and very simple, and in the end of today's trading- I didn't follow one of my rules, that I'm thinking I should get rid of altogether. I was to go long if price regressed back down to a promising LVN- but that didn't happen. Instead, price rose ever-higher, surpassing some lesser-significant prices, and reaching lesser LVNs as well. I actually went short right before lesser LVN 2981.75 after noticing (or thinking..) price was slowing down a little bit. The delta in hindsight shows that price wasn't slowing down bullishly- it was actually increasing. I suppose I was viewing the market in somewhat of a distorted way, because I expected it to turn around because I perceived price action as being slow- and ordinarily, in my experience, what follows that kind of behavior is a reversal. Anyways, I quickly got stopped out from the false breakout, then price reversed in my direction. I was just early.

I believe my read of the OrderFlow was correct, as price action did reverse, and I say this because I believe this type of read (my real-time analysis) has longevity as an edge, regardless of the daily chart being the other sentiment. I've pulled this trade off before, and I like it because it's so inconspicuous. It's funny, right after I got stopped out, I thought- yeah, now it's going to reverse.. I naturally became on the side of caution after that loss, so I just watched price action, then closed down NT after noticing I had missed my opportunity.

I'm just now coming out of my haze, a haze that has come and gone over the course of this last month. I have felt mentally weak in my trading and in my personal life, but I felt confident today, even after losing. I felt especially confident in my entry- and that matters the most to me.