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One of my shortcomings is that I jump from one idea to another. This trade plan attempts to curtail that.
• One YM contract only. Sim. Only enter from 9:30am-11:15am, and be out of the market during news.
• Always specify rationale for entry (S=structure, D = dom, V=volume profile, B=borrowing, L=price levels, M=momentum, P=patterns, T=other traders). At least three qualifiers for each entry.
• Define target and stop on entry. Only move with clear justification.
• Stop for the day after passing profit target ($150) or daily loss limit (-$150). Don’t cut current trades short, though.
• Document each trade in a public journal and rate how well trades followed the trade plan rules. Also include a life score every day (wake early, exercise, spirituality, diet, online habits, work ethic, etc.).
• Limit exposure to other trading ideas. Focus mainly on executing ideas already at hand consistently (even if they fail). Maintain at least a 3/1 ratio of experience to education.
• Do not change plan until there is at least 10-20 days of consistent adherence and clear results (good or bad).
While profits would be nice, the main goal is to achieve consistency, and then slowly and methodically tweak the methodology.
L@17836 09:38.30 -- DL -6
L@17837 09:41:09 -- SDL +10should have held out for more
S@17904 09:56:17 -- DLT -5good setup w/ minimal risk
S@17907 10:03:32 -- DmT 0could have been +13, but brought stop to breakeven and it only went two ticks below that. hmmmph!
L@17908 10:19:02 -- DB -11chasing it, got whipped around
L@17874 10:23:50 -- DBLt +17raised stop and swung down and hit my stop to the tick!
L@17885 10:45:49 -- VBM 0scratched as cumulative delta moved against
L@17885 10:53:05 -- SDBM -13a little late getting in, widened stop, took it in the chin
L@17863 10:58:21 -- SbLM +17could have gotten more out of this if held on…
3 wins, 2 be, 4 losses, +$9
trade plan 65% - 17 pts of losses were from trades that didn’t have three qualifying elements. and the two biggest losses were from chasing trades. i need to scale back a little and not be so anxious to get in. also, all winners seem to have been exited too early.
life plan 55%
(weekend life 40%/50%)
resolutions going into Monday:
• avoid chasing trades.
• be stricter on having three qualifiers to enter.
• if possible, less tightening of both profit targets and stop losses.
• repeat to yourself “it’s okay to miss a trade, it’s okay to miss a trade.”
• if feeling anxious to get into the market, step away for a few minutes.
L@17969 09:29:55 — DBLM +21
S@17727 09:46:39 — SDB -11
S@17729 09:47:18 — SDB -13re-entry
S@17744 09:52:49 — DVM +13
L@17715 09:59:20 — SBT +22should have quit right here, but just a little short of daily profit target
L@17705 10:22:44 — SDBL 0absorbtion, up, down, scratched, went up&down again
L@17692 10:30:32 — SDm -1not best entry, essentially scratched, up&down again
L@17700 10:46:04 — DlMP 0called breakout, but came back down for scratch—another point where I should have called it a day
L@17686 10:56:41 — SDM -11
L@17657 11:01:11 — SBLm -6lower risk attempt
S@17651 11:04:01 — SDM -1stop reversal from prior trade
S@17644 11:08:42 — DLM 0trying to catch a downward move
L@17638 11:10:28 — DLM +8 finally caught part of a move, but it just wasn’t big enough to merit all these additional trades
S@17626 11:39:07 — DLM -6trying another lower risk break to the downside. trading after allowed timeframe. profits for the day would have been more respectable if I hadn’t taken this extra trade.
4 wins, 3 be, 7 losses, +$19
trade plan 70%—overall better than Friday, but still taking trades that I didn’t feel good about in the latter part. basically gave back profits. I sense I’m overtrading, but not sure how to reign it in without then erroneously sitting on the sidelines when decent setups emerge. I’m probably not following the last two resolutions above.
life plan 90%
Thanks for sharing. I like how you've set up your plan, it's practical and they're essential for traders - also the life score is a really neat idea!
Good luck
resolutions going into Tuesday:
• Slow down; trade less.
• Only take the trades you feel most certain about. Avoid anything that feels impulsive, even if you can justify it.
• Feel free to stop if profitable, but not quite at profit target.
S@17579 09:52:34 — SdbT +22not a good entry, but a good exit
L@17550 10:00:20 — SdBT -1scratched, up&down but more upward moments
L@17531 10:14:01 — SDL -2should have held on, didn’t’ go any lower and went up 20+ pts. too much fear to lose profits for the day
S@17566 10:26:46 — VL +12phew, had to sweat this one out. got out at a nice level, although it did go further with time
L@17520 10:50:44 — BDL -6had pretty much stopped trading for the day, but took one more trade. another one where I’m stopped out at the low of the move. another 20+ pts if I could have held on. I’m too scared to give up my profits. dang!
2 wins, 3 losses, +$105
trade plan 77%—definitely traded less. I wish I wasn’t so chicken and did less stop tightening.
life plan 90%
resolution for Wednesday:
• Try not to tighten stops too much.
S@17695 09:53:28 — VL +1scratched quickly as justification lacking
S@17698 09:55:34 — VBL -1good setup, but had to flatten for news
S@17701 10:01:41 — SVBL -11got back in, almost survived it
L@17694 10:08:10 — VBLM -11
L@17687 10:10:48 — SVBm -10if this was worthwhile, I should have just widened the stop on the previous one, rather than losing 4 more ticks exiting and entering
L@17684 10:13:38 — sBL +1got out right away as I was already at daily loss limit
L@17646 10:32:05 — SBL -11hmmm… I shouldn’t be trading at this point
L@17619 10:51:28 — BLl +14revenge on the failed revenge—not good practice
none of the trades above list DOM/order flow as a criteria for entry. I know I’m still using it, but maybe I need to be more cognizant of it.
1 win, 2 be, 5 losses, -$172 (counting +1 trades as breakeven)
trade plan 60%—I was more or less following the trade plan until I kept trading after the daily loss limit was hit. I was lucky to not lose more on those extra trades. I need a mechanism to stop me from trading after I quit for the day. I kept with my daily resolution, but unfortunately it was a bad day to not tighten stops. one thing that could improve days like today is to step aside temporarily after a loss—as if you’re out of sync with the market, it’s dumb to continue trading. although other days i’ve been able to follow a loss with a nice win.
life plan 89%
longer view: +$120 over 5 days = $24/day. not too great, although an improvement over my last effort. while I could do better as discipline improves, today would have still have been a loss. days 1&4 were decent winning days, but I gave up most of it on the losing day. days 2&3 were pretty much breakeven, although those were days that might have been better. hmmmm…. so, it’s too early to say whether the methods would work fine over time w/ better discipline, or if I need to tweak my methodology more.
After some research and reflection today, I think I'm going to put this current approach and journal on pause. I want to enhance my methodology with auction market theory, market profile, and order flow (the last I'm using to a degree, but still don't know if I really grasp it).
If I do come back to this journal, here are my resolutions for the next trading day:
• Adjust daily loss limit to $100, to keep losing days from exceeding winning days. Profit target will stay at $150, although I can stop a little below that.
• After a loss, do not follow it with another immediate trade. Sit back for a bit, as you may be out of sync with the market.
• Turn off DOM after trading is completed. It would be nice to turn off the rest of the software, but I want to be able to review the trades.
Thanks to futures.io (formerly BMT) for providing this space. I may come back to this journal or start a new one in the coming days, weeks, or months. Time will tell.
