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I deleted my posts about the combine/funding . If it helps with accountablility and the competitive aspect those can be good things. But they are not design to fund traders please keep that in mind.
Volatility is good for the market and trading.
Preservation of capital is the most important concept for those who want to stay in the trading game for the long haul. - Van Tharp
One of the main drivers behind trading in that manner is having account large enough to effectively trade. It doesn't get enough attention on here and it is overwhelming the source of most failures I've seen on here. That is why the funding combines with their 1,000 loss limits (and back to the combine), are not design to fund traders. Someone cant be worried about losing 1k and effectively trade.
Volatility is good for the market and trading.
Preservation of capital is the most important concept for those who want to stay in the trading game for the long haul. - Van Tharp
That has been a shift in focus for me as volatility has come back into the market, although I have not executed it as well as I would like. But that is ok, as long as I am growing, and my most profitable day(s) must continue to grow larger. Like I have mentioned, I feel like learning to recognize the potential signs of a trend day, then shifting gears early in the session and positioning for it are key to maximizing the day, IF it unfolds the way you had planned. Yesterday was a bit tough for me PnL wise because I did not take partial profits at obvious key areas, I was focused on the home run. Taking partial profits as I was long, then switched to short would have at least cushioned the blow of the losses, while still keeping the bulk of my size on. So I need to dial that in a bit.
How I have adjusted that in my plan going forward is to be fairly aggressive in getting the first third off at the first point of S/R, then letting price action dictate whether I need to get back in full size right away, or re-add once we rotate back to S/R. Again, another advantage of scaling.
For so long trading one contract in the combine had handicapped my ability to scale up size, and so now I am fully transitioning back into a growth mindset. As I start the next combine where I can trade with all my strengths should really begin to be a new exciting chapter in my trading.
Thanks @Rrrracer you sparked the fire to get me posting more again, thanks for reaching out to me a little while back! Really enjoy the conversations everyone!
Rule number one in the markets is to never lose money. Well since that isn't realistic, I say if you're going to lose some money anyway then lose small, but when you win, give it all you've got and win big!
I see volatility as sticking around for a while, I think it is going to be a very good year for us traders potentially.
I try very hard not to focus on my PnL during live trading. I want to have a general idea of where I am at profit/loss wise, but I keep it in the back of my mind vs. the forefront. Like I know if I have taken two full size stops at specific distances from entry, then I know I am at my max loss for the day or at least very close to it. When it comes to profits, then I want to stay as engaged as possible with what the market is telling me, and how much more I think it has to run. My booked/current open profits have absolutely nothing to do with how much opportunity is left in the market, as even my best days have still left plenty on the table. So I focus on the price action and my process where pulling more money out of the market actually lies. Oh and volume, volume can tell me whether or not a trend that should be tiring out, is getting fresh juice to continue in a certain direction.
Rule number one in the markets is to never lose money. Well since that isn't realistic, I say if you're going to lose some money anyway then lose small, but when you win, give it all you've got and win big!
I do feel that it is quite limiting. But in my opinion it all comes down to leverage. If you can de-lever then the number is no longer important, then it just becomes a matter of how long it takes you to make any actual money.
Rule number one in the markets is to never lose money. Well since that isn't realistic, I say if you're going to lose some money anyway then lose small, but when you win, give it all you've got and win big!
It's great to have you back man, and thank YOU for the recent conversation on asymmetric returns.. I made a really nice trade today and was ready to call it quits but that has been lodged in the back of my head, waiting for an opportunity to really push it, and today was the day. My best yet, thanks to this. You rock man
Just a quick update: I have decided against going into the combine for now. I deposited more funds into the FOREX account, and will use part of the previous allocated funds to deposit to the account each month, AND pay for Tradervue to enhance my efficiency and performance. Has anyone heard of Edgewonk? Thinking about giving that a try, $200 for a lifetime license vs. $50 a month with Tradervue. Will update more later!
Rule number one in the markets is to never lose money. Well since that isn't realistic, I say if you're going to lose some money anyway then lose small, but when you win, give it all you've got and win big!
They have a free demo you can check out. I didn't like the reporting as well as Tradervue, but there is something to be said for a one time fee. Also check into the import function, I heard they were having some trouble with Sierra stuff but maybe have it all sorted out by now?
Aaaaaaaaalright! Well I fell off the face of the map for a hot minute, and a lot has happened since I have been gone, including almost completely walking away a month and a half ago. So I will try to recap then dive in a little deeper, and if I get time I will try to post all my weekly reviews since I stopped posting. Otherwise hope every one has been making lots of money, and thanks to @bobarian for the recent PM conversation. Good to be back, and I need to maintain consistency in my presence here, good or bad. That is a downfall of mine, and I am sure others can relate. When things are really not going well, it takes a toll to post about it here in the public spotlight, but most of us are here to encourage each other. So I will at least try to bring some value back to my journal. Time to dust off those boots!
So since I have been gone I have traded every possible day. Win or lose. One thing I have learned over the years is that you have to grind out those bad periods. Journal and take notes as much as possible, and study those stats. @Tradervue has really been a blessing here. What a quick and awesome way to to dig deep into the data and hunt out issues. Greg was awesome at answering questions and helping me get set up over there, and it has been a pretty invaluable tool.
So a quick recap of where I was at before I left, just so all this will make more sense, is that I was at the top of my game and feeling very confident. I was leaving the TST futures combine, and had decided to fund my own account again at OANDA. With my new ability to scale contracts in whatever leverage level I needed was my ticket to making it to the big leagues. Well turns out not so much. APPARENTLY more flexibility can also lead to more careless entries and trading, who would have thought?
Sooooo for the past 4 out of 5 months I have literally had a negative sloping equity curve, and like I mentioned a month and a half ago I was about ready to give up. My wife was over it, and so was I. Well that was until one day I bumped into a thread that @Private Banker was very active on This one here:
i am looking for a thread similar to the spoo nalysis thread, but for the cl
Mind you at that point I was kind of desperate just to find anything I might have missed, (cause we tend to think we know it all) that could help me become successful again. And holy cow did I find it.
In that thread were two key concepts that are so critical that PB harped on day in and day out, that really started to vibe with me as I read deeper into the thread. Then as I pulled up Tradervue, and applied those contextual concepts to all my losing days, VOILA! there was hope again. So this breathed new life into my trading and my fire to keep pursuing this crazy dream.
So the two key concepts are very simple. Which of course everything that is successful long term in markets usually is. In my experience, the more complicated something is, the less robust it also becomes. Here they are in all of their glory: Markets(even trending markets) constantly oscillate toward and away from value, throughout the different sessions during the day. And trade from the extremes. That's it. Holy smokes how stupidly simple, and how close I was to finding it out on my own, but never fully grasping the true meaning or power of those words. Obviously it is a bit deeper than that, but that truly is the gist of it at its heart, and they are concepts explored by James Dalton and friends in the book "Markets in Profile". I was already using TPO charts to make trade decisions for crying out loud!
How much better would your trading look like, and how much more profitable would you be if you could a. start to develop a sense of what the market was going to do. b. know how to find the superior levels to trade from with a nicely skewed R:R trying to capture the majority of the day's range. And c. have full conviction in your trade decisions every time you entered the market? Those examples are life changing for a trader, and that is what I found through exploring those concepts and applying them to my own trading. As a disclosure I am not saying I am some trading genius now, just that I didn't have to change a dang thing about my own trading method to do a complete 180 in my equity curve. It was all about market perception, and looking at things the right way. Previously I was constantly fighting the market almost every day.
If the daily trend is up we should only be taking longs right?? Wrong! Statistics show that if the market has moved very well ON, then chances are you should be looking for a reversion to the mean trade during the day. I literally had no idea. Next was to figure out what the heck that looked like. Where should I be entering, where do I know I'm wrong? Days that I struggled with so hard, and would be generally max loss days are now profitable days for me. There hasn't been a losing day lately that shouldn't have been profitable if I would have traded it according to plan. Like I said this has all been quite recent for me, but results have been very real and the change very quick.
So my goal is to start posting here again consistently, quite a bit more humbled, but hopefully a hell of a lot more profitable. This is my last shot, and I am gonna give it my all! And hope to provide some value to a community that has helped me when I needed it most.
It's good to be back, please feel free to hold me accountable if do not hold up to my expressed intent. Hope everyone has a great week. Plenty of charts and trades to dissect coming this way soon.
Rule number one in the markets is to never lose money. Well since that isn't realistic, I say if you're going to lose some money anyway then lose small, but when you win, give it all you've got and win big!
