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AJ's Journal

  #651 (permalink)
 
tderrick's Avatar
 tderrick 
Nashville, Tennessee
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Ninja / Jigsaw / 9G
Broker: AMP / CQG
Trading: NQ, YM and ES
Posts: 1,588 since Sep 2010
Thanks Given: 4,260
Thanks Received: 2,532

When I became a little successful at trading, I set aside the self-improvement bits I had been working
on, thinking " I had arrived "

It appears you simply cannot stand still in this business because the markets certainly won't.

So, I picked up my copy of "The daily Trading Coach" that I got about 10% into and started over.

Having much more live trading experience under my belt, ever passage spoke to me and hit
me deeply.


This book is a must have for anyone experiencing confidence or emotional issues of any type and
perhaps for those just wishing to understand why traders feel what they do.

....Pure Gold

Amazon.com: The Daily Trading Coach: 101 Lessons for Becoming Your Own Trading Psychologist (Wiley Trading) (9780470398562): Brett N. Steenbarger: Books


AJ
Nashville, Tennessee


"Life On The Edge of SR"
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  #652 (permalink)
 
omni72's Avatar
 omni72 
Tulsa, OK
 
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tderrick View Post
I'm thinking about breaking out the old crock pot and making meals that would last throughout the week.
That way, I could have at least one solid meal a day. I appear to need this.
I have come up with following. Pot Roast w/ potatoes and carrots
Beef Stew
Red Beans and Rice

These are the hardy type of meals I have eaten all my life.
Do you guys have any other crock pot ideas that are a little more modern and healthy ?
Or, actually any type of food that can be prepared in bulk batches.

My wife got a book of crockpot recipes for Christmas and she's already tried out about 30 different meals from the book:

Crock Pot Recipe Collection Binder: With Entertaining and Appetizer Bonus Section: Editors of Publications International: 9781450846189: Amazon.com: Books

Awesome stuff. All kinds of different meal ideas. My boys and I certainly enjoy our jobs as official taste-testers

Hope that helps and a belated congrats on the big step

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. ~ Seneca
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  #653 (permalink)
 
tderrick's Avatar
 tderrick 
Nashville, Tennessee
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Ninja / Jigsaw / 9G
Broker: AMP / CQG
Trading: NQ, YM and ES
Posts: 1,588 since Sep 2010
Thanks Given: 4,260
Thanks Received: 2,532


I had another relatively flat week.

I find myself caught between two worlds again. Scalper or BO / Full range trader.

This means, of course, I am being average at both.

It is amazing how sometimes you can be so opposite of the market - meaning, when I take nice
tight profits, the market runs off and when I'm playing for breaks, the market is pulling back and
closing me at BE. It should be noted that I am usually correct with the direction, and BE does
me a disservice - I have been stopped out within one or two ticks more times than I'd care to
mention. It seems best to stay above / below the previous swing level and leave it there until
price is out of the Combat Zone. A clear winner or loser is best, for when I get taken out at BE,
the initial concept is still valid, making it have no logic what so ever. It is simply an emotional crutch
it seems. I will jump right back in, leading to over trading and feeling of being lost and chasing the
grinding trend.


I believe playing for the larger range is the game for me, as my most emotional demon is
" the fear of missing out". I hate it when price moves off strongly without me and I have yet
to overcome this feeling.


So, this weeks focus will be studying the larger game again and taking trades for the longer haul -
looking to scale in on trends.
The target will be each side of the perceived range - whether it be micro, macro or both.
No BE moves.

Less, more strategic trades trades are the ticket.

Emotion control is the key for me, also. I must learn to stay in the game when I miss a move and
have to sit and watch it. I tend to get pissed off and lose focus just so I won't break anything
I get mad at myself because I usually always see the moves coming and for some reason there
will be an illogical hesitation of some kind causing me to miss the move, then the play goes
something like. ---

Hesitate - miss the initial surge.
Price breaks free, but wait, it could be a fake out.
No, it's continuing, but don't chase, you're late to the party, wait for the PB
Oh, come on, price is almost to the Macro target and hasn't pulled back once.
etc....


Too many times I have shut it down because I lost it, only to look at the chart the following day
to see perfect setups on the next few swings.

Two things are holding me back from being very successful at this fairly straight forward
(if you'll let it) game.

My temper and
My patience.

Are there any two emotions more deadly to trader?

So once again, the demons I have had all my life are still hounding me.
It is obvious that this is my Karma level to be mastered. I will be a much better trader
and human being when I can learn to master these Emotions.

I keep reading the first few chapters of "The Daily Trading Coach" over and over again.
He is speaking directly to the emotions I fight.

The draw down curve has stabilized and I am on an upswing.
These next few months are critical in my development.
I survived my first draw down without having a nervous breakdown
or committing a felony on a fellow human being.

OK ... let's take it to the next level.


The journey continues


AJ
Nashville, Tennessee


"Life On The Edge of SR"
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  #654 (permalink)
 
tderrick's Avatar
 tderrick 
Nashville, Tennessee
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Ninja / Jigsaw / 9G
Broker: AMP / CQG
Trading: NQ, YM and ES
Posts: 1,588 since Sep 2010
Thanks Given: 4,260
Thanks Received: 2,532

This weekend's Week in Review segment is comparing the
Prior Day Range with the opening range of the ETH session
by the time I get to it, which is just before the London open.


Searching for any patterns such as travel to previous day vwap or VA's .
Whether the range sizes have any use for target size, etc.

Everything is so news driven these days, I'm sure any correlation would be random.
We'll see.

I am on NQ at the moment and I'm sure each instrument is different
on these observations.


AJ
Nashville, Tennessee


"Life On The Edge of SR"
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  #655 (permalink)
 Cloudy 
desert CA
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: NT7, various
Broker: various, TDA
Trading: NQ,ES
Posts: 2,124 since Jul 2011
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I was intrigued by your "spike edge" strategy AJ and how it would fare with swing trading. I tried it out
on chartgame.com with just a bare chart. No indicators and ma's. And I was amazed how well it worked along
with a few other price action ideas.

I have to say the edge trading idea is just ingenious! An amazing discovery from all your hard work chart watching. Almost feels like paying back the HFT spikers and frontrunners at their own game. Thanks so much.

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  #656 (permalink)
 
Adamus's Avatar
 Adamus 
London, UK
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: NinjaTrader, home-grown Java
Broker: IB/IQFeed
Trading: EUR/USD
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tderrick View Post
I have started a new technical journal, which is merely a folder on my computer desk top containing screenshots of
PA tendencies. This is the only edge I have. Tendencies. If price moves in one fashion, a certain result is expected.
I am a reversal trader. Whether it be micro or macro in scale. There is a point in every Price move where the other side
takes control. My job is to know EXACTLY where this is. Within 5 ticks for lighter volume and 10 ticks for high volume.
This is the point of maximum RR.

Hi AJ

I just picked this out of one of your posts because I have been trying to run this kind of journal of screenshots for a while, and I'm not doing well with it. I was just wondering how many screenshots you keep, and how often you review them. I mean, if you've built it up and you've got a lot of them, have you started categorising them? I tried that but it just got out of control and I end up chucking them all out every 6 months or so and starting again.

Interesting stuff, as ever on your journal....

You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.
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  #657 (permalink)
 
tderrick's Avatar
 tderrick 
Nashville, Tennessee
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Ninja / Jigsaw / 9G
Broker: AMP / CQG
Trading: NQ, YM and ES
Posts: 1,588 since Sep 2010
Thanks Given: 4,260
Thanks Received: 2,532


Adamus View Post
Hi AJ

I just picked this out of one of your posts because I have been trying to run this kind of journal of screenshots for a while, and I'm not doing well with it. I was just wondering how many screenshots you keep, and how often you review them. I mean, if you've built it up and you've got a lot of them, have you started categorising them? I tried that but it just got out of control and I end up chucking them all out every 6 months or so and starting again.

Interesting stuff, as ever on your journal....


To tell you the truth, I have never reviewed any of them. It's just the process of marking up the charts
and talking to myself that helps burn the PA into my memory.

Everything I note to myself is just a variation of the same theme -
counter entries of extreme edge or wick formation at some type of SR.
targets will be set in accordance to whether I am with the macro trend or not.

I guess it's more of a memory tool than an actual "Journal"...
and I suppose this is why I stopped posting technical stuff in my futures.io (formerly BMT) journal because the technique
is proven to me now.

What is NOT proven is control of my emotions - to trust myself to take entries I have seen
a hundred times before and hold them. AND not freak out in the odd case they don't work out.

My technique is solid - my emotions are not.

This is why I am speaking in global terms now on my futures.io (formerly BMT) journal. It's the big picture at this point,
like emotional control and when to eat and sleep


AJ
Nashville, Tennessee


"Life On The Edge of SR"
Follow me on Twitter Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
  #658 (permalink)
 
PandaWarrior's Avatar
 PandaWarrior 
In the heat
 
Experience: None
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tderrick View Post
To tell you the truth, I have never reviewed any of them. It's just the process of marking up the charts
and talking to myself that helps burn the PA into my memory.

Everything I note to myself is just a variation of the same theme -
counter entries of extreme edge or wick formation at some type of SR.
targets will be set in accordance to whether I am with the macro trend or not.

I guess it's more of a memory tool than an actual "Journal"...
and I suppose this is why I stopped posting technical stuff in my futures.io (formerly BMT) journal because the technique
is proven to me now.

What is NOT proven is control of my emotions - to trust myself to take entries I have seen
a hundred times before and hold them. AND not freak out in the odd case they don't work out.

My technique is solid - my emotions are not.

This is why I am speaking in global terms now on my futures.io (formerly BMT) journal. It's the big picture at this point,
like emotional control and when to eat and sleep

LOL...when to eat and sleep. I really had to laugh at that one.....a common affliction amongst traders and other Type A personality types.....if you don't have a schedule, and you don't want one, then my suggestion is:

Eat when you're hungry, stop eating when you're full. Sleep when you're sleepy, wake up when you wake up.....

Otherwise if you dont have a schedule and you want one, figure out how you want your life to look like, then work trading around that.....and don't deviate.....

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci


Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
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  #659 (permalink)
 calitrader 
San Jose, CA
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: SC
Broker: Multi
Trading: CL
Posts: 733 since Mar 2012
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Hi AJ,
I just started reading your journal today and thought I would chime in on the diet thing. You should try and get some raw greens in there too, if its green salad thats cool. If you want to give 'green drink' a try.

This is the best I have found:
Vitamineral Green? | HealthForce Superfoods

Its helped me alot. But it's very 'green'(not so much the flavor since its pretty tastless, it looks like swap water when you mix it up), and its even a little over the edge for some of the Santa Cruz hippies.

Congratulations and good luck on your new journey into full time trading.

Chris

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  #660 (permalink)
 
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 Xav1029 
Tampa, FL
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: NinjaTrader, Sierra Chart
Broker: Mirus Futures/Zen-Fire
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tderrick View Post
To tell you the truth, I have never reviewed any of them. It's just the process of marking up the charts
and talking to myself that helps burn the PA into my memory.

Everything I note to myself is just a variation of the same theme -
counter entries of extreme edge or wick formation at some type of SR.
targets will be set in accordance to whether I am with the macro trend or not.

I guess it's more of a memory tool than an actual "Journal"...
and I suppose this is why I stopped posting technical stuff in my futures.io (formerly BMT) journal because the technique
is proven to me now.

What is NOT proven is control of my emotions - to trust myself to take entries I have seen
a hundred times before and hold them. AND not freak out in the odd case they don't work out.

My technique is solid - my emotions are not.

This is why I am speaking in global terms now on my futures.io (formerly BMT) journal. It's the big picture at this point,
like emotional control and when to eat and sleep

I think a steady schedule would help you buddy...and getting out of your own head...maybe you should start chatting during London again

London Calling
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