Smartblonde ES Journal

August 25th, 2017, 07:43 AM

I have skimmed through most of your journal and feel I am several months ahead of you. I traded many years ago and started up again last Fall. I have read many books on both method and psychology, the later being the most important for trading, the former should be done carefully as you find yourself looking for the holy grail, and there is none! It is a matter of finding your edge (seems obvious but you have to have the confidence to follow through that is easier said or written than done). I personally use Market Profile to establish key decision zones and fib's to look for entry/exit/targets. Yes trading today has changed dramatically - Dorothy you are no longer in Kansas! Today the market is controlled by the Algo's.

I recommend 2 books for starters: The first is Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas (you can see him here -

). The second is Trading the Measured Move, David Halsey. David works with Fibonacci series and provides an excellent understanding of entry/exit and targets.

I know internals have been mentioned here, but I though it important to bring it up again. My setup has 4 monitors, I have 1 devoted to internals, I find it critical to my trading as it provides an overview of the market at any given moment and allows for overall visualization of the market. I have two windows on the 1 monitor each with its own quad, for the NYSE and Nasdaq, respectively.

https://prntscr.com/gcv5d7

There are many small nuances you can pull from monitoring internals. If the breadth is positive for both NYSE and NASDAQ and the bodies of the ticks spend most of the day above the 0 line, meaning there is more buying than selling, and the a/d's are moving in sideways to up direction, then I think twice before opening any short positions, vice versa for longs.

Alternatively, if the breadth of one is negative and the other positive then probabilities suggest a rotational day, just like seeing 1's at the front of the ratio's, which suggests a likelihood of a rotational day or value moving slightly up. As the A/D or Breadth approach 0 from the either direction, there is a probability of seeing the market stop with a possible reversal.

I read that you are still uncertain on scaling out of trades. I suggest looking at from the perspective of creating a free trade. So for instance, you enter long 2 contracts, where you feel the probability of winning is greater than 2:1, you automatically put in a SL of 6 ticks, when you are up 3 ticks, close 1 contract and move the SL up 3 ticks for the open position, so you have now reduced your risk from $300 to $0 (assuming /es).

Did not want to go to long, but hope this helps.

PS - Turn off CNBC if you haven't already! Your trading will improve!

Good Trading
Pugpack

August 25th, 2017, 01:24 PM

Day 15, 8-25-2017� (Made it three weeks with a journal�. This is Crazy Talk!)
Trade #1 Long 2 ES @ 2447.00 @09:31. Where do I begin? On Trade Station, I hit BUY MKT, nothing happened (Why I hit, �BUY MKT� again, I don�t know) There is about a 10 Second delay� Now I have two contracts long� This is the second time this week it has happened�I immediately hit CLOSE.
Results: I get filled @ 2446.75� What is going on? � Down $-29.80� I restarted computer and decided to not let it get to me�
Trade #2 Long 1 ES 2450.50 @ 10:53
Why: Bust-out of Flag Pattern and continuing up trend�
Result: Covered with Market order @ 2452.75 @ 10:01� +$110.10
Thoughts: Late entry, should�ve been sooner� Still feeling doubt from computer snafu�
However, I did exit at near HOD!� That�s right, you heard it� Up $80.30 for the day�
Weekly results:
Monday-107, Tuesday+70 , Wednesday+20.20 , Thursday +20.20, Friday +80.30� +$86.00 for the week.
Aftermath: Getting a new i7, 16g Ram 17inch laptop�Did I mention, Touch Screen? From here on it will be known as the mean machine� Hoping that this clears up the problems from the week and it isn't Trade Station causing the errors...

August 28th, 2017, 03:28 PM

Day 16, 8-28-2017�
Today I�m trading the Simulator� I have my new Laptop up and running today. Very nervous about trading real money with untested laptop� I�m also buying two contracts instead of just one. If I have a quick profit, I will cover one, move the stop to break-even and let the single contract run� Hoping to eliminate early trade exits

Trade #1 Short 2 ES @ 2447.25 @09:32 Stop @ 2448.75 (-$150.00)
Why: Even though market was up, I thought there was a downward bias.
Results: (Just a side note, I actually wanted to go long earlier in the day� @2445.25 This would�ve been a good trade for 4 points +$200.00� I don�t know why I didn�t take the trade�

On to the real trade� Market moved to my first target. Covered one @ 2446.25 (+$50)�
The market continued down to my second target, covered @ 2444.25 (+$150) Total for the day +$180.00�
Aftermath: Market moved sideways for some time then made low of day� 2442.75 possible +$275.00�
Thoughts on the day�I actually let the second contract run without getting out early. Hit my target of 1:1 for trade. It was much easier to let the trade run when I knew the worst I could do was break-even.
I also moved the break-even stop down several times� Not comfortable with letting a big trade turn into break-even trade� Feeling much calmer today. Great to have $180.00 winner�

September 5th, 2017, 12:11 PM

Day 16, 09-05-17, Tuesday�
Premarket thoughts: Market looks like a Sideways Day�Should be looking to be counter-trend player today? I will also be trading Simulation for the rest of the week�

Trade #1: Wanted to sell @ 2469.50 @ (09:33) But didn�t� Not sure why I couldn�t make the trade�This would�ve been a good trade to start the day (+$200)�

Trade #2: Long 2 @ 2467.00 @ 09:41 Stop @ 2465.50�
Why: Came down to resistance and moved up�
Results: stopped out @ 2465.75 @ 09:43 (-$130.00)� I moved the stop up when I saw market going against me�
Aftermath: Market did what I thought it would do, came down then moved up to 2470.50 (+$137.50)�
Had the right idea� Stop might have been to close, but this is part of system� I also got in several bars to soon�

Trade #3: Short 2 @ Average 2470.63 @10:13 Market orders�
Why: Counter-selling the uptrend�
Results: Covered 1 @ 2469.50 � Covered 1 @ 2467.25 ($+225.00) +$ 85.00 for the day

Aftermath: Thought this was a great trade� followed plans and got out with a good profit�
Market continued to go down, showing where it was heading for the day (Down� North Korea set off hydrogen bomb over weekend) Went to 2458.00 (+$500)�

Smartblonde ES Journal

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Smartblonde ES Journal