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Hi all,
I finally have decided to start my journal here after reading and trying to post in every ones journal. My story is PATHETIC. Hopefully once I become like Rory, MLM,Inlet, Big Mike, I can open my DUMB self. I am ee with a phD, and trying to get success in this trading business. My biggest issues is not understanding the market but to to battle against my emotion and my logical side. I just don't know how to get rid of that issue. My sim account makes more money than my real account (actually real account looses). And I do take care of making sure the sim account takes care of order being filled for eg if i am interested in buying at 60.25 i put it to buy at 60 on my sim account. But slippage, cannot help it. The other issue I have is how to average in. My emotions overcome me and I average in quickly. Sometimes I get stubborn on a trending day. 99% i have been right and been able to average in and get out with a small gain. But in my sim I end up reversing and has a bigger gain. I am hoping you guys will help me how to trade mechanically in my real account like do i my SIM account. AND BTW, if I make mistake in my writing, I have reading and writing disability.
Finally I need to get rid of TOS, though I have been able to use that successfully in my SIM. Need to get Ninja..
My Trading system:
Mostly ES currently
Pretty Much identical to most here
(a) look at profile-VAH, VAL...
(b) Look at VWAP
(c) Look at termination of contracts at critical points
(d) Opening Range (to establish my bias)
(e) recently added pre-market range-experiment on the way
(f) Volume exhaustion
(g) watch the ticks
(h) watch the spread between es/ym/nq
(i) bonds
(j) floor traders pivot and support
(k) look at the top stock- IBM, DJTI, FANG, Banks..
(l) on ES look for a 10 handle range from lows in RTh
So starting Monday will be posting my thoughts instead of just reading everyone's and posting in their journal.
SEEE YA ALL SOON and REGULARLY
Welcome. You have no idea how much i failed TST just because i tried to keep averaging in even i know its trending day and i cant accept it. Just stop average in unless you know for sure that it will, it took me too many errors to know averaging in doesnt work for me. If you persistently cant stp avering in, try to pick up some tools to see if somebody buying heavy in your direction before averaging in (maybe im wrong about this). Find what works for you, and again welcome to this wonderful site.
Welcome, Pramadas!!! Just make sure u try to document each day what happened...even if it's a disaster!! I have found it has helped so much to do that. It also really helps to crystallize your trading plan in your mind because the holes start showing up very rapidly lol.
Welcome and good luck with the journal. Look forward to reading it.
I started mine recently and am finding it helpful at the end of the day to post ALL my trades, particularly the bad ones. When I try to explain the rationale behind a trade and see how dumb it sounds in retrospect, I see it reinforces the lesson to stick to my plan and avoid impulse trades. Or conversely if I see that it is a good trade that just went against me, it helps to to feel better about the loss (and avoid learning the wrong lesson).
Another thing I found to be true for me (YMMV) is that the less I look at (indicators, other instruments etc), the more clear I'm in reading the price action. The reason is that as you expand the number of things you look at, it becomes more confusing (some going one way, some another) - you hesitate to enter until all the signs are confirming the trade, at which point it is typically too late jump on the train.
Welcome Pramadas, nice to have you here. I am looking forward to read your journal. I really love to read everybody's journals as they teach me almost as much as my own journal.
I had the very same problem when i first started in this business, 2 years ago. I was trading binary options (if you can call it trading) and as long as i kept trading in demo everything was amazing. good profits and so on.
Then i decided i was time to open a real account and guess what, a story you've heard i bet 1000 times... almost burnt it. Went down from 1000 euros to 203. I was "playing" the real account like the demo account. No proper money management, fear and greed just ate me alive. What was that? How the hell i did so bad if in the demo was going great? I kept those remaining 203 euros in the account but was about to withdraw them and bye bye tradin, But i thought: what if this is the lesson i was missing? I mean i had the stategy, i had the money management, i had some bucks to start with... so whats wrong with me? A-AH! The real money was the problem. Demo is useless, really useless for teaching us the foundation of trading: having the right mentality and the perfect psychology. Those 203 euros slowly became 2800, then 18400 then i withdrew them and moved to forex and now i am here trading futures. I protected those 203 with my own life (if you pass me the term) and they gave me reason. Demo is ok for testing strategies but you probably lack mental discipline, you have to strengthen it. How? Forget everything you learned in demo, start from scratch like if you never traded before, but use your real account, the smallest positions possible, 1 contract at a time. You will improve faster than you could ever think. I hope it helps
Welcome Pramadas! I am looking forward to reading your journal and wish you the best. I agree with Alex's suggestion below and would suggest that you trade only 1K until you are profitable for several months and confident in your plan. Once you have proven that your plan works and you have confidence in it, then increase your trading size to 2 contracts and see how you handle that pressure. Again, after you have proven that you are able to be consistently profitable with 2Ks for several months, then you could add a 3rd contract and so on.
Don't be controlled by GREED, Led by FEAR, or Puffed up with PRIDE!
My thoughts: ES sold off during overnight in an attempt to fill the gap but fell short. Overnight Inventory is 100% short as of now. When ES took out the low of asian session, NQ,YM and Tf could not make new lows.
Scenario 1: its possible the other markets pull ES to test the VAL and settlement. POC and settlement are together good area to short. So this is look into overnight high and come back down
Scenario2 We touch 77 area and fall back down. I would be looking to short that area.
scenario3 we sell off at the open in an attempt to touch the overnight low.
Ofcourse I will be watch the ticks and all the major stocks.
Last to add. if the market goes above 81.25 I will be looking to go long to 85,88
This plan may change as the market evolves so I will keep editing this.
So I did pretty ok on my real and did good on my sim.
I went in short at 73.75 (sim was 75.50) Reason, Russel was showing weakness and NQ was weakening and During the asian 74.25 was a major resistance. The market could not break 76 despite many tries so on the next lower high I went short. I was offering 77.5 never traded there https://tos.mx/hGH0Gt
Covered my short at 7850 and the first touch it never reached 77 (for a gap fill)
In my sim went long at 78.5 (reason NQs started to catch a bid and also euro close there was possibility that shorts would cover as everyone was short (during the 11:30am time frame).
Did not take the long in my cash account. Looking to short around 77.5
to note the ticks are very weak so possible till EOD short is the way togo.
Mistake mades, should have added to my short at opening range high. I need to do that instead of averaging aloss
should have gone long at the opening range high for a gap fill at 76.25 to VAL 77.5
Looks like a balanced day and very narrow range. Short VAH, buy VAL (2370.25) and Short VAH 2375.50 both the trades can very small stop. 2367 is key area below that should bring many sellers.
Below 2350 I will load up to 2 contracts.
Not much, I think we are in short on ES. But I should not let this bias effect me.
So above 74 on a retest I will go long and add above 75.50 to test 80 (ofcourse will be watch all the major stocks and vix and ticks)
I have not forgotten to continue my journal. I was away. So here how last night and day progressed
Went long last night at 64 looking to exit at 71. Covered at 67.50 because some one said
The reason I went long during asian session: and i did not catch the low because i was not at my computer https://tos.mx/klmEJq
Mythought going long.
it broke the downward trendline
I wanted to buy 62 but it was not going down. I think this is going to be trending day
i will look to buy pull back
And than some said its a short so i shorted after the long even though i could see NQ was strong. Lost all that i made.
Next trade I shorted 71.75 (rth) covered at 66.25 (my best trade in my real account) All of the above is real account
reason for my my short: poor high on a thirty min time frame it made lower high and only a few contracts were trade at 73.75 i got in late but sim i got in earlier I was looking for 63.75 but covered at 66.25(just above the settlement and value area high and than chilled.
My hands were itching to short 77 it couldn't take out 77. In my sim I shorted 77.25 and went for a ride to 60 (close to val and extended point)
My reasons for short has to be posted and edited tomorrow as I have to post the chart of what i saw, since I was trading live
but then i went long in sim (chickened out in my real)
reason for going long thinkorswim Sharing thinkorswim Sharing thinkorswim Sharing thinkorswim Sharing
so see when the market came back down how it made lower highs almost a double bottom and tick made higher high and volume went up and add lines started to tick up
that was reason for me wanting to go long and it was yest settlement area
Reasons for not going long in my real
I have put credit options, so cannot get long as I need to neutralize my long deltas to get neutral delta.
and got out at 69 (10 handle rule from low)
than i shorted 69 (real account) as that was the 200 MA and R2 and 10 handle rule and covered 67.50 (real account)
So my sim still does better than my real.
So my thoughts for Monday depends on Sunday opening
Any way I made 200 at the end with one.
I need to spend than for that is much than what I used to make....
