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Thanks for your recognition. I do appreciate it. lol, but i dont think I am any smarter...not by a long shot. i have done some pretty foolish things in my day, I assure you.
I think being in the investment business certainly is an advantage. Being self employed as well, as I am used to having to rely on myself for my income. So I always, from the beginning, have approached trading as a business first, never as a hobby.
All of my work has been in the gathering of assets, because I was paid not for the trading of assets. We have fund managers for that. The restirctions placed upon advisors in canada for trading in discretionary account on behalf of clients is staggering. In order to be fully compliant with security regs on the retail side, i would have to call a client every time i was going to buy or sell a security, and get their go ahead. To do otherwise, I would have to be a discretionary trader for other peoples money. I wont go into the details, but take it from, it isnt pretty. The compliance is unbeleivable. But, ultimately, it is in place to protect the client. Ask any financial professional what is their biggest challenge, and 9 out of 10 times it is the compliance side.
I have been through some tough times. September October November 2008 is an example. Some accounts were down 40% in that period. They have since recovered, but it is a shock to have to tell a client they are down 200K on their lifes savings account and to tell them it will be OK. I have learned to lose money, as well as make money. ANd pretty significant sums.
Being able to assimilate material? interesting that you put it that way. Ever see someone that seems to have natural abiltiy in something, like a child that can play the piano,? I have a better memory than most people, and I have good recall ability. Always have. Born that way, dont know any differently.
And you are right about coming from a successfull family. my father and his 2 brothers had 14 children, and all of them went to university, at least some university, not all of them graduated. So I can rightfully say that higher education was always part of the equation.
About Brooks... I got Brooks right from the beginning. His approach made sense to me. now, there are others that speak of price action as well, but I had his book, so it was as good a place as any to start. his reading of the 5 minute chart encouraged me because here was someone who appeared succesful with a very simple single chart and his own beleif about the market. The breakthrough for me, if you can call it that, was his first webinar on futures.io (formerly BMT). I got a chance to hear him and his thought process. It gave his writings further depth, like a professor presenting a paper at a conference. Academics refer to it as publish or perish. He is willing to stand up to peer review, and I find that impressive. So thats why i learned the basics from his book.
I have a friend who subscribed to Shadow Traders, and I sat in on a couple of classes that he was taking. They were talking about fractals and stochastics and line crosses and some other stuff that i found difficult to follow. And when i asked a question why, they really couldnt explain to me why it was supposed to work. They referred to some proptietary software that one would have to subscribe to, which I never did. I have seen my share of so/so investments, and Shadow traders seemed to have all the earmarks.
This forum has been a big help to me as well. I have been helped in a number of areas, and, as I look back, I am very grateful for ones that have taken their time to comment on my journal. Many of their comments have led me to make leaps in my progress.
But I have the good sense to realize that any success i have enjoyed so far lacks longevity. I have only been trading derivatives since August 2011. I beleive its a worthy pursuit, and I will continue on with it as long as I am able. its been interesting thus far, and my only regret is that I didnt come to it sooner. (Of course, where i live, it wasnt possible until the the internet took over) No doubt about it, if i had been born in Chicago, i would have been looking for a job on the CME.
Another month. Another month. i like the beginning of the months. Start over with a clean sheet of paper, no marks on the calender. And march is ideal spring skiing weather and the time when the weather isnt deep freeze in this part of the world. Already planning camping trips.
I like to camp in the backcountry. canoe, tents, pack everything in. Been doing this for over 10 years, and tho its hard work, its very relaxing. No phones, no interuptions, the only people you see not in your group are ussually a mile away canoeing past, and then, only if you are on a major thoroughfare. That means 3 groups a day paddle by.
I was in Ottawa last wek because my mother was having open heart surgury. Went very well, and she was realeased yesterday, exactly 5 days after her operation. Thats really amazing. The Ottawa Civic Hospital is really dedicated to cardiac care, and that is what they focus on at the Cardiac Institute. Its a open heart surgery factory, and they truly know what they are doing. They explain in detail every step, so that patient and their families are fully prepared. They do a great job.
She is still in Ottawa, staying at my cousins home(her nephew). I was there till last Sunday. Nice place, very comfortable. They got a new car, that I had the priviledge of driving. Mercedes C300. Cant beat that new car smell. navigation system is very cool, esspecially if you dont know city. Plug in the address, and off you go.Almost drives itself.
Today was ok...caught 1 good mover, as I was watching we may get to 108. It almost got there, but it was a difficult climb, and as of right now, it sold off quite strongly thereafter.
Fridays are always slow days fro me. Generally they are days when I can catch up on the weeks paperwork.
I have a personal assistant for my wealth management business. She answers the phones, pays the bills, arranges client meetings and handles the administrative paperwork. She has worked for me for over 10 years now, but his week she has a bad cold that developed into a chest infection, so she was off all week at home and taking antibiotics. Made for a more difficult week, for sure.
I had a pretty good week this week, as I was positive most days. had a few stop outs, but i suppose thats to be expected. Keeping my own council on that, but I am always looking to improve.
+15+12-15+30-15+23+33=+83
Had 2 big movers, and I almost didnt take that last trade, as I was already a head 50 ticks, and I didnt want to give any back. I saw avery tight balance channel for over 1 hour and a half, and I took a couple of trades during that time, as I was expected a break, either higher or lower. I wasnt sure which. BUt teh geeneral trend was down, and becasue of the 3 failures to break the EMA, and the ticght consolidation toward 11:30, I thought it was a reasonable short. I went short at 107.27, and it collapsed as soon as I placed the trade. Took a picture in the trade. A nice way to finish the week.
Monday 45
Tuesday 65
Weds 80
Thurs 60
Friday 83
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Total 333
========
This is my best week since I started, no losing days. I am looking to keep doing what I am doing beause I feel I am making very good progress. But i think I can get better. i have a few things I still want to work on. I am gaining confidence, but I realize I have very little experience compared with many on this forum.
am enjoying the process, and I know I have a lot more to learn, and a lot farther to go.
Great record for the week. There was an instructor at www.traders-secret-library.com (most of it was bunk; mainly a paid forum for the "Surefire Trading Contest" held every year.) that I was a member of for a year. His bio on the board said he "trades for a living". He claimed to have averaged 40-80 ticks a day on the 6E mainly doing countertrend scalps of of BBands and/or CCI trendline breaks with 8 to 12 hours sessions on the 1min or 5min, mainly the 1min. He was retired and trading was all he did now besides the instruction. We only had a couple of live webinars a month. All of us who attended could never get to that average trying his method but that was the kind of goal , at least 20-40 ticks a day average, we would want to strive for. (when we asked he said he had a "feel" for the market that one is supposed to eventually acquire. And he said he had become CP a few years ago, but it took him also a few years prior to get to that level of CP in the first place) And you've surpassed that average imo.
As i look back over these last few months on my journal, I do recognise that my average day is improving. Significantly. I have to attribute this to a significant difference in my approach to the Cl.
A few weeks back, I had much smaller targets, in fact, I was operating with an 10 tick SL and a 16 tick target. But I felt like I was trading on pins and needles. Seldom I would get to 16. in fact, my average win was alot smaller. If I got to 15, that was a big deal. Mostly my winnning trades were 1:1 risk. Even though they started out at 1:1.6. I had to have a 60 to 70% winning precentage for me to be profitable, because I would have a few BE in the mix.
So I focus on placing better trades with better risk management ratio and better money managment. That meant bigger targets, exersizing more patience and fewer trades, which for me, was liberating. Its wasnt about better technical skill. Its about better phsychology. And I can pinpoint the exact moment it happenned, when the light went on for me. Will it stay on? I hope so.
But I do know, for me, I will never go back to the way I traded a few months ago. I am a completley different trader, and much more successful. Absolutely, no doubt about it.
So now its about contunuing to improve, and frankly, this is really a lot of fun. It has renewed my interest in the financial markets. Now, all I need is the experience that only time will bring.
Just reveiwing what I can anticipate on the CL at the open. It can go higher, it can go lower, it can stay the same.
Last week was quite the week. Large swing in the price of CL, but it seemed to be tradable all week. Interesting to see what this week has in store for us.
Not going with PFG Best. I haevan account ready to fund, but they only have 32 bit Ninja Trader platform, and I cant seem to get it to run on my 64 bit platform. A few days of fiddling, and running it on my laptop parrallel to my other account, but trying to migrate over to my main trading computer with the 64 bit platform and to maintain my account configuration with AMP Futures is causing me too much grief. So, I am going to set up an account with VanKar trading.
Looking at market Profile approcah to refine my setups in the CL. It seems to me that if one wants top be a serious trader, one needs to have a good grasp of the overall context of the market, and market profile aoppears to be a good way to plan. Looking at the market as an auction, to my way of thinking, is good way to attempt to anitcipate price movement. More buyers than seller, pricce goes up. More sellers than buyers, price goes down. Buyers = sellers, price stays the same. Elegant in its simplicity.
Certainly is an aid to setting targets and where to place stops as well as how ot trail a trade so that one can capture the majoprity of a move. one can read much of this in a 5 minute candlestick as it paints, but visually seeng the amount of participents in the market, as well as how far price has migrated form a balanced position has to be an aid in planning a trade. Anyway, I am looking to Market Profile as an addition to what i am currently doing. My entries and exits are all dopnje on the 5 minute chart, and reading PA is still my main focus.
what was to be expected on the CL today? Well, after last week I thouught that we may test the highs of last week. Support of betwenn 105 to 105.50, and aftert he overnight, I thought it might test the low.
10 trades today. 3 BE trades. I was aggressive with my stop to BE today, thats why the 3 BE trades. I took 3 full stops early, so that colored my approach today. Was more cautious than ussual, but I pulled it together toward the end of the morning. My BE trades were later.
After 5 trades, I was BE. Just wasnt seeing the chart clearly for some reason. My 5th trade wasnt a good entry, and i shoud have recognised the trend was running out of gas. Overall a bad trade.
I took the short on trade 6 like the previous trade should have been.
After the 6 th trade, i took a bit of a break, as I felt myself a little anxious and out of sorts. Took a break and tried to calm down and think carefully what i shoud do for the rest of the session, to try to see if the CL was still tradable, given my state of mind. Being able to recognise when I am going off the rails is helping me to keep my losses under control. I captured 29 ticks on that move.
4 more trades for +21. thats where the 3 BE trades came in.
A couple of snaps of where I spend a few hours each day.
Its a bit messy at the moment. i use the laptop as a backup just in case, and I have a backup power supply that gives me 15 minutes should i have a power failure.
I have a high speed internet connection, 150bps. I have 2 acer moniters, 23.5 inch as wella s an older 19 inch LG that I use for email. I was thinking of getting a 27 inch monitor, just for more real eastate, adn becuase I have lousy eyesight.
My computer is an i5 with somekinda special video cards as well as 3 fans and some cool led lights that glow in the dark. All in all, seems to work very well together.
Anyway, thats the setup. The desktop is a dedicated trading conmputer was built specifically for trading, so it has no other use.
I now have to enter my jouranl on page 2. I post mostly every day, and untill the last few days, my journal was always on page 1. Now its on page 2. An indication of not only the popularity of journaling, but also the added incentive of prizes for the March for the best journal, with uploads.
Great incentive, and now all the closet journalers are taking the plunge and coming out of the woodwork. Thats truly a good thing, because the best piece of advice i took was to journal on a regular basis. i journal in my book, as well as on futures.io (formerly BMT). That is strictly a precautionary measure, in case somthing happens to my system.
Had a better plan today, after yesterday, when i went over my trades, i noticed i was a little too anxious on a couple of trades. Today I was determined to take what i determined to be the best setups, because I wanted to be in the position to hold for longer moves, and I was anticipating a break to the high or low. I was also determined not to be as aggressive with narrowing my stop. Narrowing ones stop is an indication I was not confident of my postitioning and therefore, likely should not have made the trade.
Support was 104.85- 105.00. 2 profitable trades off that area.
5 trades today, 1 premarket short, had one working at the open long which I thought was original support. Got back in when I realized the market was heading lower.
+15-14+26+28+28 = +80
Still feel the CL is preparing for something big this week, waiting for news, or confirmation or something.
