Welcome to NexusFi: the best trading community on the planet, with over 150,000 members Sign Up Now for Free
Genuine reviews from real traders, not fake reviews from stealth vendors
Quality education from leading professional traders
We are a friendly, helpful, and positive community
We do not tolerate rude behavior, trolling, or vendors advertising in posts
We are here to help, just let us know what you need
You'll need to register in order to view the content of the threads and start contributing to our community. It's free for basic access, or support us by becoming an Elite Member -- see if you qualify for a discount below.
-- Big Mike, Site Administrator
(If you already have an account, login at the top of the page)
Trade Strategy. I trade ES looking for breakouts, trends and reversals… I’m trying to journal the next thirty days. I will trade one contract at a time and limit myself to 3 trades per day. (Or $150 limit loss per day) I don’t have a set amount to exit at… looking for support and resistance as exits. All trades will be live Money.
Why do a journal…I’m a mess… No discipline or self-control (Being a cowboy isn’t working) Bad practice of jumping in and out of trades. Hoping a journal will help correct some of these issues… (I have many)
Day one… 8-7-2017
First Trade- Long 1 ES @ 2474.50 (08:13) Stop at 2473.00 ($-75.00)
Why: Broke through trend line. Looking for pre-open move.
Outcome: UGH! After 45 minutes in trade, and getting close to open, I decided to get out. This is where it all went wrong… Trading trough Trade Station… Entered exit trade on Matrix… Nothing happened… (Bad mistake, I entered exit again. Nothing happened. Decided to hit CLOSE Button) I exited out of trade for -$27.00 loss. Should’ve been break-even… then matrix entered a short trade (WHAT?)… I hit close again. Matrix then entered a long trade… Shear panic has hit me NOW! When will it stop??? 3 Trades later, I’m down $47.00 with commissions… Shaken but not stirred, I moved onto Trade 2…
Trade 2-
Why: Double Top formation. Looking to Sell
Outcome: Double UGH! Matrix won’t enter trade… Shutdown TS and called for help…
One hour later… decide enough was enough…
Looking forward to Day 2…
Day Two… 8-8-2017
Trade #1 Short 1 ES 2475.75 MkT Order (10:13)
Why: looked like break of trend line…
Results: Stopped out @ 2477.00 ($-62.50) Jumped the gun, thought I knew what was going to happen (Looks like a slow grind up… For some reason I always struggle with these…
Trade #2 Long 1 ES 2477.75
Why: I believe this is a long slow grind up… Followed trend Long…
Outcome: Stopped out @2476.50 (-$62.50) This turned out to be a small pull-back and then continued trend up…
Absolutely Brutal to watch market take out stop and then continue on…
Hindsight: Stop to close? Also missed 2 earlier trades… Not sure why I didn’t take them…
Results for day (-$130.00) difficult to enter into Journal…
DAY 3 8-9-2017
Trade #1 Short 1 ES @ 2463.00 (07:41) Stop at 2465.00 ($-100.00)
Why: Double Top in Downtrend, looking for $100.00 2point move.
Results: Actually this was a late entry, first signal was at 7:10… Exited out @ 2462.25 for (+$75.00)
Thoughts: Really glad for the winning trade, disappointed I didn’t see the trade to the end. (Not because there was more money to be made, because this is the habit I need to break. (Jumping out early)
Trade #2 Long #1 @ 2462.50 (09:39) Stop @ 2460.50 (-$100.00)
Why: Hit Support line…
Result: Stopped out in Super-fast move DOWN… (-$100.00)
Thoughts: Hindsight, bad trade… Should’ve waited for next bar up, which never happened…
Trade#3 Short 2 @2461.00 (09:42) Stop @ 2463 (-$200.00)
Why: Strong downward movement (Got caught-up in the move)
Result: Didn’t mean to sell 2, accidently hit button twice… Covered 1 @2460.00 (+$50.00)
Closed position @ 2459.50 (+$75.00) Results for day + $100.00 minus comm.
Thoughts: Extremely fast market…Hard not to get caught up in the quick movement…Missed at least 4 Trades today…Have to let the market dictate movement, stop trying to “think I know” where the market should go…
I like how you are including your thought process in the journal entries. This plus what price did after the exit will be super helpful to you in the long run.
DAY 3 8-10-2017
Trade #1 Short 1 ES @ 2461.75 (9:35) Stop at 2463.75.00 ($-100.00) Later dropped to (-$75.00)
Why: End of counter move … Very Bearish Market (North Korea?)
Results: Covered @2460.00 (+$87.50)
Why: Came down and hit Low of the day. (Didn’t know if it would continue down or make a double bottom… Market was also moving very quickly…(Panic and jubilation at the same time...Didn't want to give back gain)
Aftermath: Went and made new low…went to 2456.00 (+$200.00) I hate hindsight…
Trade #2 Short 1 ES @ 2458.25 (9:56) stop at 2460.25 (-$100.00)
Why: Thought this was a pull back before continuation.
Results: Covered @ 2457.25 (+$50)
Why: Wasn’t sure if market was putting a new higher low or would continue down…
Aftermath: Like the previous trade, exited way to early… Market broke down to 2449.00… Ouch! (Another $400) EOD… +$137.50… Very happy with this. Note to self, need to get a time machine, so I can accurately tell when to exit trades… Seriously, in my own defense, haven’t seen this type of movement in a while…
Trade #1 Short 1 ES @ 2432.25 (07:13) Stop at 2434.25 ($-100.00) Later dropped to (-$50.00)
Why: Break-through of trend line.
Results: Stopped out @2433.25 (-$50.00)
What Happened: Terrible execution on my part… Entered way to late…(Maybe I wasn’t ready or doubting myself) Trade was good for +$50 or brk-even…
Trade #2 Short 1 ES @ 2433.00 (08:02) Stop @ 2435.00 (-$100.00) Later exited on MKT ORD.
Why: (I had made up my mind the market couldn’t go higher) Hit resistance line… This trade I jumped in early… This was actually a buy signal which I ignored…
Results: Exited market @ 2434.50 ($-87.50)
Aftermath: As I mentioned, there was a buy signal, which I didn’t take… And it was good for $400.00
Trade #3 Short 2435.25 (08:30) (Are you seeing a theme here?) Stop @ 2437.25 (-$100.00)
Why: Still can’t believe the market could go any higher (Also, forgot Consumer Price Index came out @ 8:30)
Results: At least the wait was quick… After I entered, market continued up sharply taking out my stop…-$100.00…
Aftermath: Just a bad trade on my part…
Weekly results:
Monday -47, Tuesday -130, Wednesday +100, Thursday +137.50, Friday -237.50… -$177.00 for the week.
Well, I lasted 4 days until the meltdown… Thoughts, shouldn’t have taken the 3rd trade on Friday…
The quickness of the market makes it difficult to trade (For Me)… I see reoccurring problems (one at a time) Not knowing when to stop… OK, two, formulating in my head where the market is going to go…
