Yes, another CL trading journal. She seems to be a popular date among traders these days, despite her mood swings and violent temper at times - actually reminds me of some of my more interesting relationships from my past!
My purpose for this journal?
Reason #1 - I have reached a pretty comfortable place in my trading, but there is something to be said for "exposing" oneself on a public forum ( don't take that the wrong way - no, I am not wearing a trench coat). Anyone who has been trading for any length of time has probably found themselves in severe draw down situations, bouts of revenge trading, breaking of rules, taking crazy risks, etc, though happily I can say that is something I have been able to control much better these days. But, a swift kick in the ass my forum members in certain situations can certainly be a good thing if needed.
Reason #2 - Honestly, this is a strange business, unlike any other. People who trade understand all the ups and downs, stresses and satisfaction, that non-traders really can't understand. You have to have a little bit of an oddness about you to stare at a screen with weird little colored bars and squiggly lines for hours on end. But, I have loved it since I was exposed to it - wow, 13+ years ago! I am feeling my age! - and I have seen a great community here at futures.io (formerly BMT), and felt it was time to join all the great people here.
Reason #3 - In the years I have been trading, I have probably seen or tried just about every method of trading and instrument out there, or at least it feels like it. I have also come across many different types of traders who all trade in their unique ways. I have spent the thousands of $$'s (yes, thousands) that many have spent on books, trading manuals, systems, signal services, and chat rooms, that of course, I could not make work consistently, or at all. I was angry at myself, vendors, traders, pretty much everyone about all the time and money spent for no result. But, I eventually realized, every step of that "journey", showed me something. Maybe it was a hundred things that didn't work - maybe a little piece of this method stuck in my head, or a couple of pages of that book that helped me come around much later - all of it had a purpose.
So, there is a term of "paying it forward". Let me throw something out there right now - I am absolutely NOT some type of market or trading guru, and I make far, far more mistakes everyday than correct decisions. But, if maybe a few things I post out here help someone, then it is worth the effort. However, there are no holy grails here - I know that even if I laid out a step by step roadmap to trading, it isn't going to work for anyone else - everyone has to find their own way.
Would love to see this as a "helping" thread for anyone trading CL - have something to say, ideas, thoughts - post it.
More to come.......
The following 14 users say Thank You to Maelstrom for this post:
Figured a trading journal without any actual.....well, trading displayed, probably wouldn't be very interesting. So, my trade in the wee hours of the morning, since I don't see anything going at the moment.
The following user says Thank You to Maelstrom for this post:
Did you go long or short? And you have your Dynamic Pivots set to only display the high and low of the day....the other pivots are transparent. I'm assuming you don't use the other fib levels?????????????
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
The following 2 users say Thank You to PandaWarrior for this post:
Actually laughed after reading your post.... and reviewing mine - so much for clarity in my posting!
Long entry on that one.... guess I should turn on the trade indicators, but I hate a cluttered chart and prefer drawing things in manually.
And no, no fib levels..... all I have is current day high/low, and previous days info. Other than that, just trading price action.
I will try to be clearer on future posts and images, as well as provide some info on the why's as I see them. Though I won't be trading tonight/tomorrow due to having to attend to my other business, I will try to post charts and trades prior to or as realtime as possible when I can.
Thanks,
M
The following 2 users say Thank You to Maelstrom for this post:
As I mentioned yesterday, unable to trade today, but after getting home, thought I would take a look at the day and see how I think it would have gone. Again, nothing on these charts was taken live today.... just reviewing.
Not sure that this was the most ideal type of day for me.... would have started right off the bat with a loss, then the second trade would have left a lot on the table, which is fine, and then the last one pretty spot on.
I am going to mark up the charts a bit more in depth later to show why I would have taken the trades where I did.
Long day yesterday, and after passing out early waking up at 2am to check the charts, I didn't see anything worth staying awake for. May have been a good thing as I would have had a small loser this morning.
Currently long from 94.39, stop loss at 94.17 and target currently at 94.89, though that may change.... a bit choppy for me so far, so may bring that to a more conservative area.
Orange arrows showing the pattern I look for - low, lower low, higher low for longs.
