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Yesterday night we hosted a party for my girlfriend's birthday. She was born on 9/11 but we didn't want to party on that day, so we did on 9/12.
Lots of friends, music and fun and of course... I got drunk like hell!
To my surprise today I had a big headache, so I couldn't trade.
I just watched the BUND all day and there were plenty of good setups.
I'm really liking the bund, hope to start trading it seriuosly this week.
Today I woke up early after a good sleeping, and was ready to trade at 9 a.m.
I took these trades on the BUND (see chart):
1 . Seeing a slingshot forming, but entered too early, the stop loss was hit precisely up to the tick and then price reversed up. This was not a setup (not yet formed).
- Broken rule: "Take trades only according to my setups".
2. The slingshot formed and I went long 2 contracts, with a first scalp target of 5 ticks and a second target 1 tick below R1. This was a winner, however I should have let the second target run more.
3. Wrong trade, no setup, plain mistake. I knew it, so the stop loss was small.
- Broken rule: "Take trades only according to my setups".
4. Went long a supposed "confirmed breakout", but accidentaly hit the close button closing the trade. This was not a setup trade, so both entry and exit were mistakes.
- Broken rule: "Take trades only according to my setups".
5. Frustraded by the accidental closing, I immediately re-opened the same trade on purpose. This time I had the time to realize this was a mistake (not a setup trade) but I was lucky enough to close both contracts with a fast scalp target of 3 ticks.
- Broken rule: "Take trades only according to my setups".
Result: -€30.
Considering that only 1 out of 5 trades was according to my plan, I was lucky of losing only 30 euros.
I hope to learn something from today mistakes.
I keep track of everything, re-read my journal statistics often, the problem is cristal-clear on my mind. But... this is not trading related. I'm calm when trading, I don't have heartbeats, I yawn even when into a trade.
My entire life doesn't require discipline. I can do (and I do) all I want all day. I've got no boss, no childs, my girlfriend is always nice to me and... everything is working good without discipline... everything except trading and weight control.
It seems to me that all the important choices I made in the past were all aligned with an inner desire to avoid discipline... glad I realized this, thanks for making me think about it!
Where this inner desire originate from? This is what I have to understand now. Do I need a psychologist?
Another busy day of working. I had some time to watch the ES this evening, price action was choppy during the day, and a nice upmove occurred during the last 2 hours.
I made a profit of 2 ticks, this is nothing, but I'm happy for today because I resisted many random trades. I have to concentrate on avoiding non-setup trades, cause this is my biggest weakness. I felt focused and narrow-minded and I was able to anticipate in my mind the upmove into the close.
The trades:
1) This was a scalp trade on a first pullback short. Price went against me immediately, I saw no further downside for the moment, moved target to +1 tick, which was hit. Good trade, no mistakes, no broken rules. And the price was clearly about to move up.
2) I was distracted by my mother (who came into my house unexpected) and missed the start of the final move. I went long late, realized this, was unhappy for the late entry, thinking I should not stay with the trade and closed at +1 tick. There were no signal to close the trade, but I really wanted to close it because of the late entry mistake. However, this was an excellent long slingshot signal, five bars before my entry.
- Broken rule: "Take trades only according to my setups".
Result: +$25.
I feel better than yesterday, today I have the sensation I can learn to avoid non-setup trades. I have to see it not as enforced discipline, but as a thing that I positively want to do. I always did what I want in my life, and now I want to take only setup trades.
Excellent journal ... I have enjoyed watching your charts. As I trade the mof and sling setups as well, its refreshing to check in on your your setups and comments. I appreciate your ES chart today as that is one of the main instruments I monitor. The ES 9000V chart is one of my favorites.
Thank you for your journal ... and I will be sure to keep visiting.
and of course... I got drunk like hell!
