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Went live for the first time since January. Very mixed results. Live trading really screws with my discipline.
Recognizing your demons and dealing with them are two different things.
20 trades - more than 4 goal. Still Overtrading.
Positive $350 but only followed rules 40% of the time, and and only 20% rule following trades were profitable.
Understandable fear on many trades, first time back in the pool, but managed fairly well.
Best Result - mostly traded with trend, maybe have cured myself of guessing tops and bottoms.
Impatience waiting for 4 ticks a big problem. Out early more often than not.
Trailing stop worked well on one trade.
Only moved stop 3 times, improving, once to good effect.
Added 4 times, to losing position, worked out twice and not, twice.
The BB Dots currently configured are not working for me.
The 5/11 cross is keeping me on the right side, but sometimes in too early.
I love the sound of the ATM trailing stop chinging away.
Tomorrow
4 trades, on right side, no increasing stop, wait for target, no adding, unless choosing TS ATM.
I've been profitable for long stretches, but then will take a big hit, off plan.
Am committing to staying on plan, to make this a profitable career.
My rules may need tightening up.
I realize my biggest rule to keep me from ruin is a circuit breaker to stop trading after a set loss.
I was happy with the result of today. But have not moved as far towards unemotional trading as I had hoped.
I keep a poker face, but an itchy trigger finger.
Most Important Demon - I cannot take a loss. I need to be right.
Results - adding contracts to losing positions, exceeding stop limits, moving stops, too big losses, ignoring rules, ignoring new information.
Solutions - set and forget ATM. Hard and fast per trade loss, and per day loss circuit breakers. Single contract only til beat this demon.
Other Lessons from today - BBdots are not adding anything. Remove. All pieces in place for setup delivers 80% of the time. Proved again. Watching ticks in P&L in chart trader does not instill enough urgency, need to watch $ readout. Have a "Following Price Action" column. It's a woulda, shoulda, coulda column. Useless, will remove. Still overtrading. Taking every signal, anticipating many. Trying to ride a runner is not for me yet.
Bottom Line today - chipped away at a $755 cumulative loss back to $452.50. It was an -$857 4 contract I wanna be right loss that almost ruined my day. But I came back for 12 trades following the rules and recovering quite a bit. So, oddly, I call today a win. I rediscovered my discipline. Almost back to even for 2 day adventure back in the trading deep water.
5 in, 5 out, all profitable, all followed rules, 30 minutes total, done for day, $225
Stopped trading, even though having a great day - no overtrading
Followed rules to the letter, kept anticipation to a minimum
Did not add or move stops
Waited patiently for all triggers to fire on setups
Had no losses to accept, new mindset/rules untested today
So the first live day, made money, but was unhappy broke rules so much
Second day, broke one rule very badly, but came back following rules. Happy for rules comeback
Today, followed rules and profitable. Very happy.
One day does not a successful trader make. String this average together for April and May and I'll revisit extra contracts and trailing stops. But I need more 'todays' under my belt first.
Identified, but have not been able to fix. I get in a trade, I have to be right, I add to a loser to average out, and it works half the time (positive feedback) and it does not work the other half and I take it in the shorts. I have identified a solution - ATM - set and forget, but I still screw the pooch, and do not follow my own rules. Analysis today shows I was only trading about 50/50, but if I had followed the simple rule, I would have about broken even. And if I had followed all my rules, I would have been profitable. So even with analysis, cold hard facts, solutions, I can't beat the lizard brain. Will ponder this for the weekend.
There is a NEW reality...................you have just entered it. ADDING TO CONTRACTS DOESN'T EXIST!
This is what is really happening.......(at least my humble opinion)........fear starts to set in because you see a trade starting to go against you.......so add a contract to to cut your losses. Funny thing is THE TRADE IS GOING AGAINST YOU. Reptilian brain kicks in..............where's the quick fix? I know...........ADD CONTRACTS. This is like bailing the row boat with a thimble. The brain registers that you are at least doing something. However, most of the time this fails and fails miserably.
Possible fix: Adding contracts and scaling in and out simply do not exist for you. They sound exotic and feel sophisticated. 1 or 2 contracts ONLY; a resonable profit target 3/4 ticks (expand profit target with more experience); a reasonable stop loss (one you can live with). A stop loss of 4 is too restrictive. 5 ticks against you and things are getting dicey. 6 ticks against you on a 4 range chart and you are already into the second candle going against you. Pretty good indication that you need to bail. (Test tolerances with market replays - what is the average number of ticks going against you before price direction reverses?)
The trade: All the work is done upfront. Very little thinking is done once the trade has been entered. Using Ninjatrader's DOM is almost like a bot - no after thinking required. Each trade is a discrete happening. You must let the DOM do its thing. You cannot interfer. You can only hit the abort (close) button. Otherwise, you have to let the trade play out. This is a different kind of trading - not like riding a runner for several hours.
And here is the kicker: THERE WILL ALWAYS BE ANOTHER TRADE AROUND THE NEXT BLOCK. Small "turtle-like" trades that are firm, positive and successful will be the ticket. There is no "grabbing" trades. The market is like a sea filled with fish and the profits will always be there. Don't get wrapped up in feeling like you have to get into a trade or you'll miss something. There is a sense of urgency when you are live on the market looking at the candles forming and seeing price action moving. Makes you want to jump in. This sense of urgency makes you want to do something - anything. But wait........you have the control in your hands as to when YOU assess the correct setup and decide upon the correct entry. You are the master............you can control when you want to enter the stream of price action.
Be plodding, methodical, non-reactive when making entry decisions. Also, set a goal for yourself - for now, all I want is a 70% success rate. We are not shooting for perfection only a reasonable percentage............reasonable percentage of success, reasonable profit target, reasonable stop loss.
In my humble opinion - I'd rather be the turtle than the hare...........I'll make more money.
