Yep you read it better than me! PA was clear.

Hope you took some profits.

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no got out be. time to short?

yeah its something like 90+%, havent run it in a while but its around that, looks very much like a range day, would be v interested in anything below OR mid / near OR bottom / -2sd

I cant speak for what risk you are happy to hold, or your style, can only talk from my way of doing things. My method should return approx 60%+ winning trades, and I look for swings of approx 5-6pts+, and I am happy to accept about <=2pt risk. So thats RR of close to 1:3. So that means I only need to be right 25% of the time to BE. If i am right at 60% of the time then thats a great return on risk. Since I have been doing this journal my strike rate is >60%. At 50% trading 3 lots, taking 2 trades a day = +9pts return average, daily.

So i am looking for levels where I can enter in which look to be turning points, and at my puke point/where I am wrong (2pts below my entry) i wouldnt want to be taking another trade in that direction - so I wont be averaging stupidly and skewing my risk/return. My targets depend on whats happened that day, eth, vwaps etc....but i need clearish room to get to 5pts+. Generally you are 'betting' on it being a range day - and you want to find the low(or high) of that range to fade, and more often than not it will extend or swing to the other side of the range, which should be greater 5pts as ADR is ~15pts on ES. (~10pts is roughly normal at moment for ES on range days).

My RR is fairly tight as I am trying to build account and not get too many big down hits - but if and when account is built up nicely i may be get bit more aggressive and have wider stops - at the moment though there is no need, I seem to be reading market ranges ok (despite just getting stopped out very stupidly).

Position size for me is roughly risking 2% of account on each trade - main size is 3 lot, but happy to add another 2 with tight stops (1pt) so i can play around scalping mid range. It will take 50 consec losing trades to wipe me out. 3 lots mean that if i take 1 off to bank some profits before reaching target - hoping to scalp and improve my basis, but market continues straight to targets - i still have 2/3rds of full size on so should still be making 12pts+on that trade.

So all these things need to align: RR / confluence of levels / targets etc plus internals for me to take a trade. The rest is for the market to do, whether it stops me or goes to target. There is no question of letting losers get bigger than winners; nor whether i only have 1 contract on for a winner vs 3 on for a loser - it is always 2-3 contracts per winner or loser.

Its as simple as that. Doing it is not easy though.

You really need to have all this worked out well before risking any of your money.

(This is all my way of doing it, so please dont take as definitive, plenty of other ways to do similar).

so do you start of testing with 1 contract than add the 2nd and then the third? or when you decide that you want to get it u get with 3 lots, and when do you add?

If thats my area of interest, then yes it will be in stages.... will put 1 lot on with 2pt stop..... see how price reacts....happy to average down as my RR is even better...as my puke point stays the same and i may get the other 2 on at 1pt better...ie only 1pt away from stop loss now...so total risk is 1.33pts (×3). The stop stays at same price level. If price moves quickly into the money and i have only 1 on then may just pay market price to get others on...it rarely does though....you have plenty of opportunity to put remainder size on as it normally retests the area soon....or even extends range slightly.

I will add only when reasons for entering are supported.....its bounced nicely away from entry.... and then pulled back as the shorter time frame traders take profits....so i will add as others are closing out. But will be doing this at defined levels (eg break through of day vwap and retest) and using internals tick div etc.

Hope its clear.

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say when you long 1 with stop 2 handles. do you put another trade on at the 2nd handle or get stopped out. Or add the second based on internals? also if you dont mind, you say you work, what is it you do, and can you with your work do daytrading?

I would get stopped out.....this is a clearly defined area that i am wrong....no argument. If its not clear then i either dont trade it or trade smaller size...it could be that its a wide area of interest eg the levels could be 30-36s....which is wide enough that makes it difficult to manage risk....but the internals should help.

Due to it being a clearly defined 'puke point'...i am happy to add up to the 2 handles. I wont add 1 or 2 ticks close to this puke point as its likely i will get stopped if i get filled....the puke point has some breathe space in case of random push through these levels.

Re these puke points...they are much tighter than say @Inletcap et al....and hes a much better trader with much more experience. So take mine with a pinch of salt.

I am a business consultant.....specialising in small company growth through aquisition/mergers/JVs/seed funding. Its manageable outside of US RTH at the moment. My focus does wander though, and i have taken a lot on at the moment, so there may be a downside. Time will tell. And on reflection you raise a prescient point....i was in meetings prior to the open today, i got back 10 mins into the open and had little time to prepare....this is the first time since journalling. My confidence in the lod level was low.....based on v little evidence it seems.

Thks for your questions btw, they make me think and analyse more. I didnt realise this would be a by-product of the journal, but its very welcome.






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thanks a lot. And you scale 2 and let a runner go? i guess.

All depends on what happens as day unfolds ....sometimes its obvious theres exhaustion in market so exiting All is wise, and if its low volume day then a range day is to be expected so i would aim for obvious retail targets to close out....but ideally, and smthg i need to work on is, i would have scalped up to this point that leaving a runner is inconsequential, my day targets are hit plus some+++....and this is a bonus. And i hopefully would only exit this positon when an obvious setup occurs in the opposite direction, or a return to value/vwap is more likely ie end of day.

Thats the aim anyway, whether i achieve it i dont know.

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