NexusFi: Find Your Edge


Home Menu

 





" DeSimulated " - Ceerock81's Awakening


Discussion in Trading Journals

Updated
      Top Posters
    1. looks_one Ceerock81 with 83 posts (138 thanks)
    2. looks_two bobwest with 8 posts (20 thanks)
    3. looks_3 SoftSoap with 4 posts (17 thanks)
    4. looks_4 rocksolid68 with 3 posts (13 thanks)
      Best Posters
    1. looks_one SoftSoap with 4.3 thanks per post
    2. looks_two rocksolid68 with 4.3 thanks per post
    3. looks_3 bobwest with 2.5 thanks per post
    4. looks_4 Ceerock81 with 1.7 thanks per post
    1. trending_up 18,845 views
    2. thumb_up 207 thanks given
    3. group 15 followers
    1. forum 109 posts
    2. attach_file 116 attachments




 
Search this Thread

" DeSimulated " - Ceerock81's Awakening

  #21 (permalink)
 
Ceerock81's Avatar
 Ceerock81 
Raleigh, NC
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Sierra Chart
Broker: AMP/CQG
Trading: Futures, Options, Crypto
Posts: 112 since Sep 2016
Thanks Given: 353
Thanks Received: 196

I haven't posted since Friday morning, just been very busy. I want to continue to post so I don't abandon the habit. Seems like posting gives me a different perspective.

Friday i did make a bit of money. Not much . Like 13-14 ticks.

Monday, I didn't even take a trade. The market just did not reach any of my zones and when it finally did reach my 2120 order, it came down so fast to get it, that I pulled my order before it was filled. Turned out to be a bad move because thats exactly where it reversed and gained some points. After that I had to go to work so, I just called it a day. Checked the markets in the afternoon, but avoided any trades.

Today was a red day for me. I kept going against the trend. In hindsight, i should've known day was trending downward. Originally I was down about 20 ticks, but then after some scalping, I ended the day down like11 ticks.

I guess it could've been worse. Could've been 20 ticks.

Thoughts for the day:

I am learning a lot about handling losses. It's tough !!!! This emotional roller coaster of winning days vs losing days is an experience I would have never had through simulation. My first few losses were big ! I went to bed with a guilty conscience. Like I did something bad . My losses have been getting progressively smaller.

I don't want to be that guy that blew his first account. I am going to set an account loss limit. If i reach that limit, I will revisit my strategy and try to improve on it.

I have to spend more time studying. Since I Desimulated I haven't been able to put in as much reading time. I used to find time throughout the day, now I'm busy a lot more often.

Progress Report:

Trade analysis: Unsatisfactory
Trade management: Satisfactory
Risk management: Satisfactory
Trade execution: Needs improvement
Emotional control: Good


Sent from my iPhone using futures.io

"It's not about being right or wrong, it's about how much money you make when you're right, and how much you don't lose when you're wrong"
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
The following 7 users say Thank You to Ceerock81 for this post:

Can you help answer these questions
from other members on NexusFi?
Request for MACD with option to use different MAs for fa …
NinjaTrader
ZombieSqueeze
Platforms and Indicators
My NT8 Volume Profile Split by Asian/Euro/Open
NinjaTrader
NexusFi Journal Challenge - April 2024
Feedback and Announcements
 
Best Threads (Most Thanked)
in the last 7 days on NexusFi
Retail Trading As An Industry
62 thanks
NexusFi site changelog and issues/problem reporting
47 thanks
Battlestations: Show us your trading desks!
35 thanks
GFIs1 1 DAX trade per day journal
32 thanks
What percentage per day is possible? [Poll]
31 thanks

  #22 (permalink)
 
Ceerock81's Avatar
 Ceerock81 
Raleigh, NC
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Sierra Chart
Broker: AMP/CQG
Trading: Futures, Options, Crypto
Posts: 112 since Sep 2016
Thanks Given: 353
Thanks Received: 196

Two more losing days in the books. Small losses ,maybe 10 ticks per day. That means I've had 3 straight losing days actually.. including Monday's no trade day i am having a hell of a week.

Controlled all my losses. So even though I've been losing , i can say that i have been sticking to my plan. My trades just haven't been handled properly. I have been on the wrong side of every trade and trend so far.

Thoughts:

I have to re evaluate ;

Noticed 4 straight downward trending days this week prior to election. Then ETH slowly brings price back up. What could the markets be telling me ?

Progress Report:

Trade analysis: Failed/Unsatisfactory
Trade management: Satisfactory
Execution: Needs improvement
Risk management: Good
Emotional control: Good


Sent from my iPhone using futures.io

"It's not about being right or wrong, it's about how much money you make when you're right, and how much you don't lose when you're wrong"
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
The following 2 users say Thank You to Ceerock81 for this post:
  #23 (permalink)
 
Comeback King's Avatar
 Comeback King 
Tampa, FL/USA
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: TradingView
Trading: NQ, ES
Posts: 269 since Aug 2016
Thanks Given: 191
Thanks Received: 382


From your first post I gathered that you are trading around support and resistance zones that you identify yourself. Are you blindly entering at these levels or is there something else you are using to trigger your entry? Are you keeping a log of your support and resistance zones and if price is respecting these areas or not? Do you have a predefined exit condition or conditions, say the next SR zone or something else?

In an earlier post someone asked if you have a trading edge and you said that you did. Is that based on your time Sim trading and if so, how long was that? A trading edge would be defined as a mathematical or statistical probability of a positive outcome given a large series of events. If your edge was based on 50 Sim trades, that's really not enough to say that what you are doing will be profitable long term. You could flip a coin 50 times and get 35 heads, so if you base everything off of that test you might say that you can flip a coin and know that 70% of the time you'll be able to get a heads - but of course that's not really true.

If your plan is more discretionary then it's really going to be impossible to know if you have a statistical edge in your trading, which is fine but that will make the emotional part all that more important to come to grips with. If this is the case, and you have a way of replaying previous days (I think Ninjatrader can do this), then you might spend some time doing this and practicing.

You might also check out the yourtradingcoach blog. The guy sells a program, I think it's $500 or something but he also has a blog of thousands of posts that are free and very good...perhaps something like that would help.

I do agree with your statement about learning on your own instead of spending money on some guru. There may have been a time when spending money on a guru would have been the better route, but there is so much online these days that you can get more than a lifetime's worth of material for free if you just do a small amount of digging.

Please don't take any of this as me being critical. I've yet to make the turn myself so I'm not trying to be Mr. Expert here...many of the questions I asked I'm still trying to find the answers to myself.

Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Reply With Quote
The following 2 users say Thank You to Comeback King for this post:
  #24 (permalink)
 
Ceerock81's Avatar
 Ceerock81 
Raleigh, NC
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Sierra Chart
Broker: AMP/CQG
Trading: Futures, Options, Crypto
Posts: 112 since Sep 2016
Thanks Given: 353
Thanks Received: 196


Comeback King View Post
From your first post I gathered that you are trading around support and resistance zones that you identify yourself. Are you blindly entering at these levels or is there something else you are using to trigger your entry? Are you keeping a log of your support and resistance zones and if price is respecting these areas or not? Do you have a predefined exit condition or conditions, say the next SR zone or something else?

In an earlier post someone asked if you have a trading edge and you said that you did. Is that based on your time Sim trading and if so, how long was that? A trading edge would be defined as a mathematical or statistical probability of a positive outcome given a large series of events. If your edge was based on 50 Sim trades, that's really not enough to say that what you are doing will be profitable long term. You could flip a coin 50 times and get 35 heads, so if you base everything off of that test you might say that you can flip a coin and know that 70% of the time you'll be able to get a heads - but of course that's not really true.

If your plan is more discretionary then it's really going to be impossible to know if you have a statistical edge in your trading, which is fine but that will make the emotional part all that more important to come to grips with. If this is the case, and you have a way of replaying previous days (I think Ninjatrader can do this), then you might spend some time doing this and practicing.

You might also check out the yourtradingcoach blog. The guy sells a program, I think it's $500 or something but he also has a blog of thousands of posts that are free and very good...perhaps something like that would help.

I do agree with your statement about learning on your own instead of spending money on some guru. There may have been a time when spending money on a guru would have been the better route, but there is so much online these days that you can get more than a lifetime's worth of material for free if you just do a small amount of digging.

Please don't take any of this as me being critical. I've yet to make the turn myself so I'm not trying to be Mr. Expert here...many of the questions I asked I'm still trying to find the answers to myself.

I accept all criticism and I thank you. You do bring up some valid questions for me.

"Are you blindly entering at these levels or is there something else you are using to trigger your entry?"

I don't use any indicators to or anything to trigger my entries. I do enter blindly. thats why i've been questioning my strategy so much lately.

"Are you keeping a log of your support and resistance zones and if price is respecting these areas or not? Do you have a predefined exit condition or conditions, say the next SR zone or something else?"

I do keep a log of my levelers, but it seems like when they don't work out I don't respect them and start to either revenge trade or just lose money.

Trading Edge-A mathematical or statistical probability of a positive outcome given a large series of events.

Love your definition. I feel thats a clear explanation of what it is. So I guess I don't have an edge. I thought I did. What I thought was an edge was, like you said, based on my SIM trading for a few months. From reading other threads I gather others are using similar strategies, but the more I read the more I realize that I am missing something. Thats why you probably notice my confidence dwindling. After going live, I've learned that trading isn't as easy as I thought it was in SIM, and that I would have to re evaluate my whole strategy.

Thats also why I didn't take any trades today. I wanted to spend a few days trying out some things i've been reading about in SIM first. I placed some SIM order entries and had to go to work for a while. when I came back to the office one was in the green one was in the red.

I still say that going live was my best decision. It helped me realize how hard this really is and has made me look at other ways to improve on my trading.that gut feeling you get when you lose money is REAL . I will look into the blog you suggested, I probably won't pay for anything, but maybe there is something useful.

Thanks again for your opinion. Thats why I started this thread, so people can point me in the right direction.

Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
The following user says Thank You to Ceerock81 for this post:
  #25 (permalink)
 
Comeback King's Avatar
 Comeback King 
Tampa, FL/USA
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: TradingView
Trading: NQ, ES
Posts: 269 since Aug 2016
Thanks Given: 191
Thanks Received: 382

Glad it was helpful. I agree that going live and trading real money is something that should be done pretty early on, if for nothing else than to be exposed to the reality of the psychological pain that is trading.

Another person/website you might check out is Adam H Grimes. If you do a search you'll find his website where he has a free trading course that seems very extensive (I've not gone through it so I can't say for sure). Adam also has an advisory service of some sort but he's not too pushy about it.

I have pretty much the same mindset as you do with trading educators. I have only made 1 purchase and that was a Tradestalker ebook. I wanted it to be very useful and I really wish it was, but I'm not using anything from the book currently.

Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Reply With Quote
The following 2 users say Thank You to Comeback King for this post:
  #26 (permalink)
 
Ceerock81's Avatar
 Ceerock81 
Raleigh, NC
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Sierra Chart
Broker: AMP/CQG
Trading: Futures, Options, Crypto
Posts: 112 since Sep 2016
Thanks Given: 353
Thanks Received: 196


Comeback King View Post
Glad it was helpful. I agree that going live and trading real money is something that should be done pretty early on, if for nothing else than to be exposed to the reality of the psychological pain that is trading.

Another person/website you might check out is Adam H Grimes. If you do a search you'll find his website where he has a free trading course that seems very extensive (I've not gone through it so I can't say for sure). Adam also has an advisory service of some sort but he's not too pushy about it.

I have pretty much the same mindset as you do with trading educators. I have only made 1 purchase and that was a Tradestalker ebook. I wanted it to be very useful and I really wish it was, but I'm not using anything from the book currently.

I checked out Adam Grimes website and signed up for the free course, let see how it goes.
Going live has definitely humbled me and opened my eyes. I used to think that trading was as easy as reading supply and demand levels and just trading off of them. click a button and voila ! money in the bank !!

"It's not about being right or wrong, it's about how much money you make when you're right, and how much you don't lose when you're wrong"
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
The following user says Thank You to Ceerock81 for this post:
  #27 (permalink)
 
Ceerock81's Avatar
 Ceerock81 
Raleigh, NC
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Sierra Chart
Broker: AMP/CQG
Trading: Futures, Options, Crypto
Posts: 112 since Sep 2016
Thanks Given: 353
Thanks Received: 196

I found myself in a place of self doubt. I realized my reasons for entering trades had poor rhyme or reason. "DeSimulation" has been a great experience for me. I have truly been humbled. I would have just blindly kept trading SIM, thinking I was profitable , who knows for how long. I had gotten lazy and was not studying anymore. I wasn't bothering to practice. My recent losing streak cost me about $1000. I know that's not much compared to some peoples draw downs, but it did help me realize my faults. I still have a decent beginners trading account, so i figure why keep depleting it, when i can just take a short break and revisit my faults.

My first step is reading some information that @chipps1983 has recommended. It is very useful information and has helped me understand price action a little better. He has also recommended some steps I take in pre-market prep that I have found helpful.

My second step is that I have downloaded a demo of Sierra charts. If I am going to try and play with the "Big Boys", why not use a platform that is of better quality and performance. I have found it a bit difficult to set up to my preference, but slowly I will get it where I want it.

Third step is the refine my strategy. Figure out why it was working in SIM and not live. Is it the fear factor ? Is it a crappy strategy ?

I'll keep the thread up to date with my progress until I return to LIVE trading again. and just so everyone knows, election week was ok. election day i made about $200. But overall that week I finished about even

"It's not about being right or wrong, it's about how much money you make when you're right, and how much you don't lose when you're wrong"
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
The following 4 users say Thank You to Ceerock81 for this post:
  #28 (permalink)
 
bobwest's Avatar
 bobwest 
Western Florida
Site Moderator
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Sierra Chart
Trading: ES, YM
Frequency: Several times daily
Duration: Minutes
Posts: 8,157 since Jan 2013
Thanks Given: 57,287
Thanks Received: 26,253


Ceerock81 View Post
I found myself in a place of self doubt. I realized my reasons for entering trades had poor rhyme or reason. "DeSimulation" has been a great experience for me. I have truly been humbled. I would have just blindly kept trading SIM, thinking I was profitable , who knows for how long. I had gotten lazy and was not studying anymore. I wasn't bothering to practice. My recent losing streak cost me about $1000. I know that's not much compared to some peoples draw downs, but it did help me realize my faults. I still have a decent beginners trading account, so i figure why keep depleting it, when i can just take a short break and revisit my faults.

My first step is reading some information that @chipps1983 has recommended. It is very useful information and has helped me understand price action a little better. He has also recommended some steps I take in pre-market prep that I have found helpful.

My second step is that I have downloaded a demo of Sierra charts. If I am going to try and play with the "Big Boys", why not use a platform that is of better quality and performance. I have found it a bit difficult to set up to my preference, but slowly I will get it where I want it.

Third step is the refine my strategy. Figure out why it was working in SIM and not live. Is it the fear factor ? Is it a crappy strategy ?

I'll keep the thread up to date with my progress until I return to LIVE trading again. and just so everyone knows, election week was ok. election day i made about $200. But overall that week I finished about even

Some thoughts:

- Any week you finish even is a good week.

- Chipps is a good source. He has dug a hole and climbed out, and knows a thing or two about it.

- There are lots of other good sources on FIO. The only problem will be possibly getting overwhelmed by all the info and points of view. Ultimately, there is only one point of view for you, and it's your own, not anyone else's. (That is, unfortunately, the truth.)

- Sierra is a good resource. The platform is not what makes for success, but you will probably like it. It Ill take getting used to.

Good luck with it all. Keep us posted.

Bob.

Reply With Quote
The following 3 users say Thank You to bobwest for this post:
  #29 (permalink)
 
SoftSoap's Avatar
 SoftSoap 
Canada
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: NinjaTrader
Broker: InteractiveBrokers
Trading: NQ
Posts: 594 since Aug 2015
Thanks Given: 347
Thanks Received: 1,227


Ceerock81 View Post
I found myself in a place of self doubt. I realized my reasons for entering trades had poor rhyme or reason. "DeSimulation" has been a great experience for me. I have truly been humbled. I would have just blindly kept trading SIM, thinking I was profitable , who knows for how long. I had gotten lazy and was not studying anymore. I wasn't bothering to practice. My recent losing streak cost me about $1000. I know that's not much compared to some peoples draw downs, but it did help me realize my faults. I still have a decent beginners trading account, so i figure why keep depleting it, when i can just take a short break and revisit my faults.

My first step is reading some information that @chipps1983 has recommended. It is very useful information and has helped me understand price action a little better. He has also recommended some steps I take in pre-market prep that I have found helpful.

My second step is that I have downloaded a demo of Sierra charts. If I am going to try and play with the "Big Boys", why not use a platform that is of better quality and performance. I have found it a bit difficult to set up to my preference, but slowly I will get it where I want it.

Third step is the refine my strategy. Figure out why it was working in SIM and not live. Is it the fear factor ? Is it a crappy strategy ?

I'll keep the thread up to date with my progress until I return to LIVE trading again. and just so everyone knows, election week was ok. election day i made about $200. But overall that week I finished about even

Don't let this get you down. Sometimes you need to take a couple of steps back to take a giant leap forward.

All traders hit the same roadblock you are hitting right now, the key is learning from it so you can easily pass it the next time around. The psychology game is what truly makes a successful trader, and you're slowly starting to realize that.

I took my first live trade in May, and between May and August I had to stop live trading about 5-6 times and go back to sim because I just lost money week after week. Once you are able to find out what is holding you back though, your live performance will start to catch up to your sim performance.

I think the most important thing you've noted is the following:

Quoting 
Figure out why it was working in SIM and not live. Is it the fear factor ? Is it a crappy strategy ?

Also, I would challenge you to post regular updates even on your sim, but to focus more describing how you feel before, during, and after taking trades. Once you are out of sim you should also write similar updates, and compare the 2. You will learn what emotional mindset makes you successful on sim and then you can slowly work on bridging the gap.

For example, I found that on SIM I was very patient, and almost all of my trades were logical. But on live I suffered from hard FOMO and I took a ton of emotional trades. Understanding the contrast between the 2 allowed me to set goals around FOMO and emotional trades which drastically improved my trading.

Take everything I say with a grain of salt though as I just recently turned my account into the green and I have lots to learn. Just my 2 cents on what helped me overcome a similar issue.

Cheers.

Yesterday's excellence is today's standard and tomorrow's mediocrity
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Reply With Quote
The following 5 users say Thank You to SoftSoap for this post:
  #30 (permalink)
 IzhakHaim 
white plains new york
 
Posts: 66 since Apr 2016


Ceerock81,

I think your first step should be to NOT login and follow Alex the kid.

All you learn there is to gamble on the random lines of h/l/s/r and listen to a nonsense market analysis from a kid that has no idea what he says. You learn there to double down when in a losing trade and jumping from market to market and how to become a bond trader expert in a month of sim.

Go learn here from dozens of old timers and stay away from the noise.

P.S. Do not trade shadow/follow ANYONE, the charmer talker as he is, that do not trade live. Don't see real account info- do not believe any stories you hear.

Reply With Quote





Last Updated on June 14, 2020


© 2024 NexusFi™, s.a., All Rights Reserved.
Av Ricardo J. Alfaro, Century Tower, Panama City, Panama, Ph: +507 833-9432 (Panama and Intl), +1 888-312-3001 (USA and Canada)
All information is for educational use only and is not investment advice. There is a substantial risk of loss in trading commodity futures, stocks, options and foreign exchange products. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
About Us - Contact Us - Site Rules, Acceptable Use, and Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy - Downloads - Top
no new posts