Results: Too two setups based on my system today and got stopped out twice on a low-volume chop up day.
-3.7 ES points
Lesson: Take the day (even the week) off on a low volume holiday.
Next....!!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Don't trade on low volume days
Summary: Good trade execution with discipline today!!
Results: Too two setups based on my system today and got stopped out twice on a low-volume chop up day.
-3.7 ES points
Lesson: Take the day (even the week) off on a low volume holiday.
Next....!!
Results: Too two setups based on my system today and got stopped out twice on a low-volume chop up day.
-3.7 ES points
Lesson: Take the day (even the week) off on a low volume holiday.
Next....!!
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Low volume chop-fiesta! Probably a good idea to skip trading during holiday week
Up for the week so far...
Today stung a bit....took 6 trades, 3 long and 3 shorts.....
3 longs - losers
3 shorts - winners
As I would expect on a trend day down like today, I got stopped out on all the longs, but was able to recoup some back on the shorts.
My P&L is up for the week, but I need to be careful about giving profits back...
Right now we are at pivot support on the ES, and I expect a test of the 50dma in SPX tomorrow.
Will be looking to buy the dip, for an end of the year Santa rally...but not going to hold my breadth that it will happen.
Trading Nuggets that I repeat to myself before the start of each trading day
1. Always trade with stops - use OCO/ATM strategies for stops and profit targets at all times (especially stops)
2. The market is not out to get you, as long as you listen to what the market is trying to tell you.
3. The market is an ocean, it moves - the only question is when.
4. Have a positive expectancy and always trade "only" your edge. Don't expect the market to do what you want it to do, rather anticipate what is it trying to do, and trade accordingly.
5. There is no room for emotion and ego. The market is always right, and I have a tendency to be always wrong. So do what is right, and expect your edge to fetch you more winners than losers
6. Don't ever think about betting the farm, no matter how sure you are of your edge today. Follow your 2% rule, and when you are down 5% on any given day, stop trading.
7. If you are down 10% in a week, go back to trading only with 1/4 size or single lots, until you recover your drawdown.
8. This is serious business. Like one of my good friend Glenn say's "The trading capital is like your baby. Treat it with care. You would never dangle your baby with two fingers, so don't dangle your trading account recklessly and hope for a positive outcome".
9. Trust your system. You have proven yourself with a 65-70% win ratio, so you will win more than you lose in the long run. This is a marathon, not a sprint, so don't hurry to make all that money "You don't need it today anyway". Remember to "Crawl, walk, run..."
10. It's ok to book your profits. Don't give them back.
11. Once the trade is over, it doesn't matter how much you left on the table,it wasn't your's to begin with anyway.
12. Trading for profits is easy....keeping them is hard. Don't squander your profits recklessly.
13. Blowing up is easy...you have done it more than once, you will do it again, if you don't internalize and follow the above !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
14. More later...
2. The market is not out to get you, as long as you listen to what the market is trying to tell you.
3. The market is an ocean, it moves - the only question is when.
4. Have a positive expectancy and always trade "only" your edge. Don't expect the market to do what you want it to do, rather anticipate what is it trying to do, and trade accordingly.
5. There is no room for emotion and ego. The market is always right, and I have a tendency to be always wrong. So do what is right, and expect your edge to fetch you more winners than losers
6. Don't ever think about betting the farm, no matter how sure you are of your edge today. Follow your 2% rule, and when you are down 5% on any given day, stop trading.
7. If you are down 10% in a week, go back to trading only with 1/4 size or single lots, until you recover your drawdown.
8. This is serious business. Like one of my good friend Glenn say's "The trading capital is like your baby. Treat it with care. You would never dangle your baby with two fingers, so don't dangle your trading account recklessly and hope for a positive outcome".
9. Trust your system. You have proven yourself with a 65-70% win ratio, so you will win more than you lose in the long run. This is a marathon, not a sprint, so don't hurry to make all that money "You don't need it today anyway". Remember to "Crawl, walk, run..."
10. It's ok to book your profits. Don't give them back.
11. Once the trade is over, it doesn't matter how much you left on the table,it wasn't your's to begin with anyway.
12. Trading for profits is easy....keeping them is hard. Don't squander your profits recklessly.
13. Blowing up is easy...you have done it more than once, you will do it again, if you don't internalize and follow the above !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
14. More later...
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Beginning by blogging journey!
Hello,
This blog is intended to be my online trading journal. I have hooked to the markets for almost 10 years, have had many roller-coasters, and made the mistakes that 95% of the people who lose money make. I have finally come to peace with me and my trading and have only recently started to be consistently profitable.
The most important criteria that I have found that has made a remarkable improvement in my trading performance is "Risk management".
How much? That one question has changed my game. Some great books that I have read have driven it home for me including "Trading in the Zone" by Mark Douglas, "The Daily Trading Coach" by Brett N. Steenbarger, "Trade your way to Financial Freedom" by Van Tharp ...etc.
By the medium of this blog, I intend to be transparent with myself and also jot down my thoughts regarding my trade execution, trading performance and most importantly identify bad trading habits that can creep up every now and then, and keep them at bay.
I am strictly a technical trader, and trade the charts. I use a bit of technical analysis including moving averages, fibonacci retracements & extensions, support and resistance pivots, Elliott waves (waves 3 & 5), and a custom MACD oscillator, RSI & Stochastics.
I have traded everything under the sun from stocks, to options, to bonds, to commodities, to forex and finally settled down on just one instrument. The E-Mini S&P futures or the "ES".
My goal is to keep it simple and trade well. I like to trade for points, rather than a dollar amount.
The overarching goal is to make 6-10 ES points on an average every week.
I look at the Daily charts for support levels and the big picture...ie, the direction of the IT trend. I look at the hourly charts to identify the short term trend, and for tradeable setups. I trade mostly of the 5 minute charts (entries and exits in the direction of the daily trend, in the case of retracement setups, and off the key support and resistance levels in case of reversal setups).
A full stop on my trade is 5 ES points. On occasion, depending on volatility, I might allow upto a 10 point stop (that's very very unusual in my trading these days).
I use Ninja Trader SUPER DOM as my trading platform and both Ninja Trader and ThinkorSwim for charting.
I am a RBI, and a quick hit and run type trader. In other words, I do not plan, anticipate, expect or try to execute a home-run "EVER!!!!!". The goal is to make upto 10 ES points every week while never risk more than 5% of my trading capital on any trade.
If I have three consective losers, I timeout of the markets and go back to simulation with single cars until I can get some confidence back. Upto a 10% loss in any given week is the max drawdown that I will allow before I switch from the existing trade size to a very small size (single lots mostly..), and I allow myself adequate time to recover my drawdown back to parity by only trading (scalping) the most probable setups and put a string of small winners.
In my trading simulation over a 6 month period, I have clocked about 22 trading days as the max time it has taken me to recover up to a 10% drawdown in any given week. I am comfortable with that.
I like to keep reminding myself, that capital preservation in key, and that the markets will be there every day, so it's important to live and fight another day.
Crawl, walk, fast walk, run!!!! .....when tripped down, don't try to get up and start running. Instead, start over ..."Crawl, walk, fast-walk, run !!!!"
Please bear with some of my random thoughts around my trading. I am open to suggestions and ideas and welcome constructive criticism in the comments.
Welcome to my blog and my journey!!!
This blog is intended to be my online trading journal. I have hooked to the markets for almost 10 years, have had many roller-coasters, and made the mistakes that 95% of the people who lose money make. I have finally come to peace with me and my trading and have only recently started to be consistently profitable.
The most important criteria that I have found that has made a remarkable improvement in my trading performance is "Risk management".
How much? That one question has changed my game. Some great books that I have read have driven it home for me including "Trading in the Zone" by Mark Douglas, "The Daily Trading Coach" by Brett N. Steenbarger, "Trade your way to Financial Freedom" by Van Tharp ...etc.
By the medium of this blog, I intend to be transparent with myself and also jot down my thoughts regarding my trade execution, trading performance and most importantly identify bad trading habits that can creep up every now and then, and keep them at bay.
I am strictly a technical trader, and trade the charts. I use a bit of technical analysis including moving averages, fibonacci retracements & extensions, support and resistance pivots, Elliott waves (waves 3 & 5), and a custom MACD oscillator, RSI & Stochastics.
I have traded everything under the sun from stocks, to options, to bonds, to commodities, to forex and finally settled down on just one instrument. The E-Mini S&P futures or the "ES".
My goal is to keep it simple and trade well. I like to trade for points, rather than a dollar amount.
The overarching goal is to make 6-10 ES points on an average every week.
I look at the Daily charts for support levels and the big picture...ie, the direction of the IT trend. I look at the hourly charts to identify the short term trend, and for tradeable setups. I trade mostly of the 5 minute charts (entries and exits in the direction of the daily trend, in the case of retracement setups, and off the key support and resistance levels in case of reversal setups).
A full stop on my trade is 5 ES points. On occasion, depending on volatility, I might allow upto a 10 point stop (that's very very unusual in my trading these days).
I use Ninja Trader SUPER DOM as my trading platform and both Ninja Trader and ThinkorSwim for charting.
I am a RBI, and a quick hit and run type trader. In other words, I do not plan, anticipate, expect or try to execute a home-run "EVER!!!!!". The goal is to make upto 10 ES points every week while never risk more than 5% of my trading capital on any trade.
If I have three consective losers, I timeout of the markets and go back to simulation with single cars until I can get some confidence back. Upto a 10% loss in any given week is the max drawdown that I will allow before I switch from the existing trade size to a very small size (single lots mostly..), and I allow myself adequate time to recover my drawdown back to parity by only trading (scalping) the most probable setups and put a string of small winners.
In my trading simulation over a 6 month period, I have clocked about 22 trading days as the max time it has taken me to recover up to a 10% drawdown in any given week. I am comfortable with that.
I like to keep reminding myself, that capital preservation in key, and that the markets will be there every day, so it's important to live and fight another day.
Crawl, walk, fast walk, run!!!! .....when tripped down, don't try to get up and start running. Instead, start over ..."Crawl, walk, fast-walk, run !!!!"
Please bear with some of my random thoughts around my trading. I am open to suggestions and ideas and welcome constructive criticism in the comments.
Welcome to my blog and my journey!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)