I have been meaning to start this journal for about a week, but Mike’s contest got me motivated to finally do it. While winning a tablet would be good, becoming a profitable trader would be better. Either way thanks Mike!
Past:
I have been trading part time for about 2 years. After first 3 months my first account was the big fat zero. Like most, I kept looking for the wholly grail. About 9 months ago, it finally clicked and I realized there isn’t a wholly grail. There have been many of those “ah-ha moments” which have helped me become better, but I am still not there.

I funded my second account about 6 months ago. I was trading the TF and 6E. I have managed to draw the account down to $2K. I stopped trading for about 3 months and just studied charts and did some sim trading. After reviewing my personal journal, I have pin pointed my 2 biggest weaknesses: revenge trading and jumping into a trade without a clear plan. If I can overcome these two challenges, I will be a profitable trader.

Trading
I will be trading from 6:00 AM to 9:30 MST. I have a fulltime job.
I am trading Forex mini size
Primary looking at EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/CAD
I am trading pure price action. I do not have firm rules on entry, more discretionary.
1. Double tops/bottoms
2. With trend, entering on pull backs
3. Reversals of trends after 3 pushes

I am using 7 range and 14 range charts to look for over all market direction and entry.

Some Rules
Exit all trades 5 minutes before major news
Wait 10 minutes after major news before entering a trade
3 consecutive losers and turn off the computer and walk away
No more than 5 trades per day
Know where to exit before you enter

Money Management
10 pip stop lose
2 contracts 20 pip 1st target, 40 pips 2nd target
Move stop to BE after 10 pips
After first contract hits move stop lose to last swing pivot and/or S/R
Weekly goal of 200 pips (total), do not trade once goal is reached.
Do not risk more than 2% of total account on any trade

Goals
To become a profitable trader
Stop revenge trading
Stop jumping into trades

I got a late start. My wife’s cat was sick last night and the wife is out of town. I would prefer a dog, but it was part of the package when we got married.

Trade 1:
I started late, and I enter this trade once news was released. The trade was a winner, but was a bad trade.

Pros of trade:
I followed my plan regarding moving my stops to BE after 10 pips.

Cons of trade:
I just entered after news, broke one rule
I jumped into the market because the marketing

My overall grade on this trade is a D. Jumping into a trade will blow my account

Trade 2:
After the market settled down . There was major support at 1.6254. The second leg down was slow to get there, so the momentum to break this support was not there. Once it bounced off of the support I put a limit order in to go long. There was some support at 1.6277 the last swing, but it didn’t seem strong to me. The next support area was at the swing where news had broke more than 50 pips away.
I took a graceful exit once it couldn’t break the first swing. I should have stayed in, because as soon as I exited it took off.

Pros of trade:
Followed my plan on the entry.
Followed my rules on the moving my stop to BE

Cons of trade:
Exited to early I was a BE and should have given it some breathing room

My overall grade on this trade is a B. Patience young grasshopper

Today’s Total 37 pips
Weeks Total 37 pips

Nice start, looking forward to more

Mike

3/2/2011
I got to my computer on time, but for some reason Windows decide to restart while I was sleeping. Oh well didn’t miss too much.
The wife called me at 6:40. I did not take the entry (see chart) because I was on the phone. Normally she will not disturb me while trading, but since she was traveling it was the one time we could talk.
Trade 1
There was some support at 1.3842, two previous pivots, one today and one from yesterday. The market retraced without much force, so I took a double bottom. I entered in on a market order once it turned around. I would normally enter with a limit 2 pips above support, but there wasn’t enough support to warrant a limit order.
I moved my stops to B/E after hitting 10 pips. The market turned around and came back and stopped me out. I had 2 pips slippage on my stop.
I thought about taking the triple bottom (see chart) but with the failure to make an H/H, I opted not to.
Pros of Trade
I followed my rules on entering
I followed my rules for moving my stop to B/E

Cons of trade:
None I followed my plan, it just didn’t work

Trade Grade: A

Trade 2
I was watching for this trade. I had a limit order at 1.3869, 2 pips above the previous H/H. I had 1 pip slippage. I could not see any resistance, so it looked like a good trade.

Pros of Trade
I followed my rules on entering
I followed my rules for moving my stop to B/E

Cons of trade:
Again, I followed my plan.

Trade Grade: A

Over all review
I was happy I didn’t make any revenge trades or just jumped in the market.

I am thinking about changing my stop and target strategy.

I might move my first target to +10 pips, instead of +20. Then move my stop somewhere below support. I am going to watch this for a little bit before doing anything.

Any feedback on trailing stops and moving to B/E is appreciated.


Todays Total: -4 pips
Weeks Total 33 pips

Cheers!

3/3/2011

Not the best day. I had a relapse of jumping into trades without a plan. I need to figure out a way to control my emotions and stop doing these stupid trades.

Trade 1:
10 minutes after news broke; the momentum was still going up. I limit order entry and got a few pip slippage in my favor.
Pros of trade:
I followed my plan regarding moving my stops to BE after 10 pips.
I waited for things to settle down after news, followed my rule
Cons of trade:
Not the best entry. I entered to early.
Lost 2 pips on slippage with my stop at B/E
My overall grade on this trade is a C. Jumping into a trade will blow my account

Trade 2
I had a limit order for a long right above the support. I had a couple of pips slippage in my favor.
Pros of trade:
Followed my plan on the entry.
Followed my rules on the moving my stop to BE
Cons of trade:
I should have moved my stop on the 2nd target to be a few pips below the P/B, would have yielded a couple of pips profit
My overall grade on this trade is a B

Trade 3
After getting stopped out on trade 2, I got all excited thinking this was going to turn around and jumped in the market.
Pros of trade:
NONE
Cons of trade:
I should have not been is this trade.
My overall grade on this trade is a F

Trade 4
Broke support of a D/B, then P/B then started to move. As I watched PA I had a clear plan on entering and exiting. I did move my stop up above the previous swing high. It was a 12 pip stop instead of the normal 10 pips.
Pros of trade:
I planned the trade well.

Cons of trade:
I was wrong in reading the market.
My overall grade on this trade is a B

Trade 5
Again, I was planning this trade. The run up to the high was choppy. Then it triple topped. I didn’t take the triple top because there was chop below
Pros of trade:
Pre planned the trade
Stayed out of chop
Followed my rules on the moving my stop to BE
Cons of trade:
I should have moved my taken a graceful exit after the 2nd up bar.
My overall grade on this trade is a B

The day was not a total failure. There was a trade on the GBPUSD I was going to take but, then looked left at all the chop and opted to not take the trade.

I need to figure out a way to keep from jumping into trades. This is going to blow my account. If anyone has had any success in developing a way to keep yourself from jumping into trade, I am all ears.

I am really thinking about taking profit at 10 pips instead of 20 pips, and keeping the runner. Any feedback on this?

Today’s Total (37) pips
Weeks Total (4) pips

03/04/2011

Interesting day. Denver started restaurant week, so we went out with some friends, and I drank a little too much the night before. I woke up late and had a little bit of a hangover.

New rule. No trading when hung over. I felt compelled to trade due to the challenge. However, I could have just traded sim and been fine.

Trade 1
Looked like a D/T was forming.
Pros of Trade
I followed my rules on entering
I followed my rules for moving my stop to B/E
Cons of trade:
To much chop. There wouldn’t be enough room back to support to meet my 1st target
Grade D+

Trade 2
Jumped into the trade, revenge trade
Pros of Trade
NONE!
Cons of trade:
Revenge trade
Grade F- (I don’t know if there is such as thin as an F minus, but I am giving myself one)

Trade 3
Broke out of chop and broke resistance. Somehow I got stopped out 1 tick above the bar. I don’t understand this one. Anyone care to explain (see image)
Pros of Trade
Planned the trade well.
Cons of trade:
I didn’t see the S/R to the left and I really shouldn’t have taken this trade
Grade D+

Today’s Total (68)
Week’s Total (72)

I’ll do the weekly wrap up tomorrow.

Well the P/L Is does not look good, but I did learn some things this week.

What I am happy about:
2 days I followed my 3 losing trades and done for the day.
I only had 3 times when I jumped in the market without a plan.
I started my journal and made a post every day.

What I am not happy about:
I took 3 trades I when I didn’t have a plan. I need to reduce this number to zero.
I am taking to many trades. I should be only making 1-3 trades a day. I need to be more patient in picking trades.
I traded hung-over.

This is what I am going to do different next week to try and help move me forward to being a profitable trader.
New rule of not trading if I am hung over.
New rule: If I jump into the market without a plan, regardless if the trade is a winner, I while either have to stop trading or trade the rest of the day in sim mode.

I am going to change my profit targets and stops. My first target is going to be +10 pips. After hitting 10 pips, my stop is going to move to -5 from B/E. Once the trade moves +20 I am going to move my stop to B/E+2 pips (slippage). I will place my 2nd target at a logical S/R area. The 2nd target must be a least 30 pips from my entry. I want to maintain a minimum of a 1:2 risk/reward ratio. I will manually trail my stop of the 2nd car, based off of momentum, S/R and pervious S/H and S/L.

Can please I get some feedback on my new profit target and stop method. Or any other advice you would like to throw out there.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Cheers.

Monday morning, blah. I made it to my computer early this morning. I couldn’t sleep.
I will say I am starting to dig the journal. I talked to my wife about it this weekend and she thought it was a great idea.

Trade 1
The GBPUSD had been trending up all night and turned around. There was some support at 1.6300 from Friday, nice round number. I was wavering on if it was going to bounce or keep going down. Dead cat bounce then down she went. I got in a little late. Hit my 10 pips in about 10 minutes, then it took off and then stalled. I had my 2nd target at 1.6245; there was a lot of support there. I kept messing with my stop.

Pros of Trade
Had a clear plan for profit targets set and stop set before entering
Followed my plan on moving my stop after the first target
I was almost about to bail on the trade after taking some heat, but learned from last week "patience young grasshopper”

Cons of trade:
While I followed my plan for the profit and stops on target 1, I really started to wavier on my stop for the 2nd car. I kept moving my stop around. I couldn’t make up my mind where to put it. I ended up getting stopped out, right before it turned back down. I would have hit my predefined profit target.

I didn’t take a reentry, because I had to get to the office early this morning.
Grade C+

Today’s Total: +29
Week’s Total: +29

I was hoping some of the more experience traders might be able to give me some feedback on what I have posted from last week. I am open to any constructive criticism you might care to share. I am here to learn!

The streak continues. I feel like a one legged man in a A$$ kicking contest. I can keep trying but it’s hard to win.

Trade 1
Enter on a bounce from a break in support. I waited for the trade to come to me. I had a good plan in place. Problem was there was no follow through. I ended up doing a graceful exit with a loss of 4 pips
Pros of Trade
Planned the trade.
Waited for the bounce off of support
Cons of trade:
Exited to early, should have let it run and would have hit my profit.
Grade C+

Trade 2
Again broke support and I waited for the price to retrace then bounce, which it did.
I hit my first target of 10 pips. I moved my stop to -5 from be. The up bar had a quick move up so I moved my stop to be.
Pros of Trade
I follow my plan.
Cons of the Trade:
I don’t see any, but I will take some advice.

Trade 3
Oh trade 3, how I hate you. A small winning day now becomes a losing day. I jumped in the trade thinking I moved my stop to close on the P/B of trade 2. Jumping the trade broke one rule. I then proceed to move my stop up to where I thought it was safe. Well I gave someone 7 pips.
I feel like such an idiot. I broke 2 very big rules! The only smart thing I did do was I traded 1 car instead of 2
Pros of Trade:
Umm none
Cons of the Trade
Jumped into a trade with no plan
Moved my stop
Do I need to say anything else? Nope.

The one good thing that came out of today, is after breaking 2 big rules, I managed to follow my new rule of trading on Sim after jumping into a trade. So there is a little silver lining.

Today’s Total: +16
Week’s Total: +13

Can a I please get some feedback from the futures.io (formerly BMT) community? Any constructive criticism, please.