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A) What are the top five benefits you have seen as a result of regularly posting in this journal?
1. It forces me to be accountable. If I have to speak about my experiences publically, it as helped me to carefully think before I act throughout the trading day. There are more than a few times where this has prevented me from making a questionable decision.
2. Provides a record of my trading tendencies,patterns and emotions that I can review and adjust or correct.
3. Enabled me to clarify trading strategies and provides me with peer feedback.
4. Helped to create common ground with fellow traders and to collectively share new ideas and opportunities that I was previously unaware.
5 Has served as a conduit to gain greater understanding of the the derivatives market and greater insight into the mind of the retail trader.
B) What are the top five problem areas you have identified as a result of regularly posting in this journal?
1. I find at times getting stale in my posting, and feel I dont have any new ideas.
2. Reluctance to tell everything about my trading for fear I will sound like I am insincere or, I come across as a braggart, or worse, particularily in a public forum. Or fear I will lose my edge if I reveal too much.
3. I find it a challenge to not respond to queries or statements from individuals who have a limited view of trading/investing or business. Exersizing restraint in not telling some what I really think. One particular request that i find particularily idiotic, is the insistance that a trader must have documented proof of success before their comments or observations are considered valid. I cant beleive a knucklehead made that statement. If there was a blocking feature, he would be my first entry.
4. Lack of others comments or constructive suggestions. (From successfull profitable traders that can provide proof, either from an audited financial statement of their trading activities or from last years audited tax return)
5. Lack of consistency in posting information in an understandable format. I have changed the pattern of my postings a number of times since I started.
C) Were you initially reluctant to start this trading journal? If yes, why?
Not really as i was journaling from when I was advisaed to by Big Mike. in fact, he tells everyone to journal, so i took him at his word to do so. i figure that as founder of the forum, and with over 20,000 members, he has tremendous opportunity to see all the common mistakes begginning traders make. Based on that, I felt i should journal. i dont have the statistics, but likely a majority of all successfull traders journal record their trades in some fashion. Its not that you have to journal to be successfull, but, as a begginning day trader, I wanted to do what the successfull majority was doing, and emulate their actions.
D) How do you feel, overall, about your journaling experience?
It has been a worthwhile experience. This past month has helped me more consistent as a journaler on this forum, and, this last month has been the best month I have had in trading thus far. i dont think this is a coincidence. I do keep a hardcopy journal in greater detail, but the public journal on this forum has been a benefit.
E) Would you recommend to others that they should also start a trading journal?
Without a doubt I would reccomend one keep a trading journal, either privately or publicaly. If you dont keep a trading journal, it will make your learning curve much steeper. Keeping a trading journal has helped me more than i can put into words, and is a mojor contributing factor to the success I have achieved thus far in trading derivatives, and halped me gain much needed perspective in the Wealth Managment side of investment.
Wasnt sure what the day had in store, but last week, CL was on a definate downward trend. But, I dont thnk the price is going to China, so I was keeping an open mind. I was thinking oil oversold last week.
Reading Mind over Markets again. Skimmed it the first time around, now I am giving it a very studious examination. There are elements of MP that I use in my trading, but I feel that looking at the market in the context of the auction process to a greater degree will help me with my entries and target placement. Lokking at it as an aid to Price Action.
i was fortunate today, as I was able to capture the swing off the daily low as it developed.
5 trades.
First trade was a loser, right around the market open. I still am trying to trade that time, and it seems I get wrong more often than not. Of course, I would not be saying this if it was a winner.
Fairly tight trading range today on the RTH opening, which makes perfect sense given the strong trend up of yesterday.
Daltons book Mind Over Markets can help to give context of a market. It is a general approach which holds some appeal for me, as it provides a framework for macro market understanding. However, Dalton emphasizes that it unlike a historical indicator, it is a forward looking overview to help one anticipate the logical movement of future prices. Thats why it cannot be backtested, as markets are contantly changing, but changing in a way never to be repeated. By applying this set of parameters while trading, one can more accuratly anticipate buuyer and seller tendencies and therfore, place trades with more confidence at key price areas. Of course, one has to develop the skill in doing this, with hours of screen time, to gain the confidence required to apply this methodology to ones trading.
granted, i dont have the 10000 hours of screen time to be a virtuoso, but yesterday, in MP speak was a trend day, on the CL (No surprize there). So what is today? Today is a normal day, range day, or balance day in preperation for news this afternoon. But then again...I only have 100 hours invested in the approach...9900 to go..
I am a price action trader, and tho i havent mentioned it much lately, I am a Al Brooks supporter. The Market Profiling will serve to refine entries and exit prices, and can help me better manage my risk.
It can also help me with trade management, particularily with adding to or scaling into a trade, something I have been meditating on using. This, however, forces me to calculate my risk as perentage of account in my head, as the trade is working. Using a calculator is too slow. So I need to keep to using round numbers, as odd lots force me to use a calculator. And I rather not take my eyes off the screen.
so, how did I do today?
7 rades
+20+12-12+12+59+10+9=110
Took some heat on the trades earlier in the session.
Caught the double bottom at 10:30, and I got a good percentage of that move. My best trade of the day.
Last 2 trades ran out of momnetum, so i closed them both early.
Is the question about why I took the 2 last longs?
I had moved the tend line (Support). I went long early based on the DB to the left at the price 104.58. First time, it came back, but I had tightened my stop. It happened again on the next bar, and I tightened again.
Thats when I decided to call it a day. I wasnt about to go to the well again.
i understand....wasn't sure how much weight you put on the trend line that was broken and the lower low combinations.....I did essentially the same thing a couple bars later but took a loser on it....I spaced out the lower lows and the broken trend line....I THOUGHT I saw another one being broken to the upside there....but it was just the deeper pull back against the down trend.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
It was an aggressive trade for me. I called it a day after the second trade, so I wasnt watching a few bars later. As i have mentioned before, i watch how the bars paint on the 5 minute very carefully for my entries. But these last couple of weeks, I am anticipating where price should be. If I can pick up a few ticks on my entries, I find it gets me green faster. It seems to be working, particularily on narrow range days.
Canadian stock market is taking a beating. Why? Because Canada is resourse based, and overnight the price of commodities was down across the board.
Did it go too far? Likely. Where will it turn? Given today is DOE report at 10:30, always causes some crazy things to happen.
I am thnking its oversold, but volume is thin, but I am looking long anyway. 2 winners, and 2 losers. 2nd loser was a bad entry.
Missed the short after the DOE report. I was thinking about my last 2 trades yesterday, and how I was fortunate i was able to scalp a few ticks. I was thinking long, and missed the short setup. That was my 2nd error of the day. The cost was the opportunity lost.
Thats not good. Its very difficult to trade, and even 1 error can be costly. If 1 error cost you 15 ticks, and you have a few errors a week, they cut into your profits significantly.
