"Home again home again like a turtle to his balcony
and you know where that's at."
First Published
"A Taste of the Taste of Brautigan." California Living 16 May 1971: 7-10.
The magazine of the San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle.
Introduction reads: "Richard Brautigan, an Aquarian born in Tacoma, Washington, January 30, 1935, has grown from an unknown poet of the Haight Ashbury during the days of the Flower Children, to one of the country's leading writers—in less than ten years. Among his works, widely read and discussed on college campuses—as well as in the general mainstream— are (novels) Trout Fishing in America, A Confederate General from Big Sur and (poetry) The Pill versus The Springhill Mine Disaster and Rommel Drives on Deep into Egypt. "
I read that when I was in college, Marshall University 198something... I just laughed. The guy was obviously a pure nutcase, but those were some of the words that cracked me and my friends up. The book of Brautigan's poems worked it's way through many hands over a series of days or weeks or months. "Fuck me like fried potatoes..." was another memorable one. Have not thought of Richard Brautigan since... those were different times.
But tonight as I have been packing a moving truck, 15th move for me an my wife since we have been together, having left behind a long thread about many things, and finding the desire to have another expressive outlet with it's own pulse, and coinciding with my resuming trading after a well-needed sabatical...
Not wanting to call this anything that sounds like trading, but wanting a place to collect my trading thoughts again, like a turtle to his balcony. A place to be, maybe, or really nowhere?
My approach to trading has shifted, my time for it has been greatly reduced, my network of frinds outside of trading expanded immensely, health in line, money flowing, life is good.
Traded crude briefly in sim today, just feeling it. Nailed me the majority of entries, maybe 6? It was the first time I clicked the mouse for awhile.
Can you help answer these questions from other members on futures io?
Traded in the background today, enter a position, set the target and stop, and then minimize the screen. 2 entries, both long, one was a 20 tick target (20/8), made it to 18 ticks, then hit my -4 tightened stop, and 2nd trade made it to 16, and then I closed it within a breath of 2:30pm EST for 15, to net 11 ticks on the day.
Trading as a means of survival is far different than trading with no attachment to the outcome. The former teaches things that might never been learned otherwise, but the latter allows for the proper execution of those skills. In various visualization methods, the concept is to focus on on what is desired, but trading has a way of reversing the rules.
The entry was beautiful so far, this is the place where I start to question moving my stop and target. If I tighten my stop, I risk less. If I bring my target in, I guarantee a win...
Had roughly 20 ticks, which is about where price will stop in my favor if it will lose...
Really, a safer stop is below the LSP at around 96.80...
The "background" trade worked today. I am not allowed to rethink my trade in that mode. It is weird how if I watch I continue to make judgements that can conflcit with my reason for taking the trade.
CL has been in a strong uptrend, with the medium trendline shown as the upward sloping line below price. The morning's open brought a high volume washout below yesterday's prior pivot, but then quickly returned to break above the overnight high, signaling strong support for price remains.
The buy area became a ratio of the upmove, not measured beforehand, but turned out to be roughly 50%. The real signal was the high volume in that area, and the sole trigger for the entry.
I set the stop at an arbitrary number related to price action, but going off my recent minor stop penetrations. 25 was todays tick distance, not great for a 38 tick profit target, but going more for probability than PF. The target could have been higher, but it was the most likely event, just breaking above the most recent minor high pivot. Price did stall at the target, and the 1min volume shows the increase in activity in that area coincides with the target justification.
A 20S/40T would have been perfect for the way hindsight shows this trade, but math was not top priority. What I thought was most likely was more important to me, particularly when setting a "hands off" rule after the entry. What my trading lacks is not math, or analysis, or anything like that. It is confidence after the entry. I find that more often than not, my initial thought is correct. Not due to lucky guesses, but having spent thousands of hours trying to sense every breath of price action, some of that eventually sinks in. It is the not-knowing part, coupled with my own insecurities, that causes me to get a little scattered sometimes in trading.
The indicators I have today mean very little, other than to get a feel for what is happening at a quick glance. There are no trade rules today, I am done wiht them. Price action, structure, volume, and experience, and when I see something that seems right to me, and I can accept that once I am in and the exit points are established, I am done with it. Nearly impossible for me to do while watching it, so I minimize the charts and go on with the day.
Uncertainty is not comfortable to me. I am so wired to be super-analytical, was so driven to learn to trade that I obsessed way beyond sanity...
