Leaderboard

Live trading summary for week ending 5/17/19. It actually was a good week of trading. I had the highest score card average since I have been tracking it (7 weeks) of 89% (last week was 74% and last month average was 81%). Not happy that I was red this week. I had a win% of 50% which means I should be positive for the week. But, I shouldn’t be too disappointed. My two trades this week that really ran I took half shares (one trade was 20 sec from the open and the other was on a Friday which I am starting to take half share size). But, all four of my stop outs, this week, were for a full -R, so I was -0.6R for the week. It is a busy weekend so I don’t have much time to back test, so I just looked at the main players. AAPL should be pulled from the top two focus spots for the 2min ORB. AAPL had an amazing run. It gave us 8 great weeks of ORBs. Generally gave us 2 or 3 a week and a false setup was unusual. Then 3 weeks ago it gave us a marginal week. But two weeks ago it gave us an OK week (but not great). Then last week it gave us as many false setups. So until better data appears, AAPL will be downgraded off of the Montage to a minor chart on a small side screen. AMD looks still in play. Though the number of setups has reduced from a month ago, AMD is at most only giving a false setup once a week. FB had a really good week last week and showed two weeks in a row of good setups. FB has a very different personality that it tends to ORB from the 1min candle not the 2min, so there will be some learning curve trading it. Plus, you must trade FB really close to the open which I don’t really like, but I need to adapt to that. MU is showing marginal data so I will keep it on one of the side charts. Here is my plan for next week:

Thanks Mark for your comments I appreciate, I think going back in sim could be an good option, maybe I'm a little bit hard on me and I have to accept more that the learning curve is tough. I will maje a setup to record my trades this week. Thanks for your advices.

I created this Google Spreadsheet to help myself with position sizing, and I thought I would share it with you guys. I always have this printed out and laying on my desk while I am trading. I did take this a step further and created a custom keyboard with hotkeys, but I will share that info at the end. With this spreadsheet you are able to calculate your position size on the fly, just by knowing the distance to your stop loss. By default, the risk is set to 100. This means every single trade that you take, you should lose no more than $100. An example would be, if my stop loss is 0.30 away, my position size for that trade would be 334 shares. You are able to change the default risk to what ever you are willing to risk, and your share sizes will automatically be calculated. Here is the link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iD0qiPLulbYSFri9r38SG1Ke7eNiZdFHNg8MldGwSng/edit?usp=sharing To use this Spreadsheet: make sure you are logged in to your Google account, so you are able to copy the spreadsheet to your Google Drive go to File -> Make a copy... -> Then save it to your Google Drive Once you have copied the spreadsheet, you can now edit the default risk of 100, and your share sizes will be calculated accordingly A step further... The Keyboard Having this printed on your desk does help you easily calculate your position size, but it does have one drawback. You have to enter your position size in manually, which does eat up precious time. I wanted the idea of the chart used as hotkeys, so my solution was a custom keyboard. I have attached the proof I got back from http://www.wasdkeyboards.com, as well as a photo of the physical keyboard. How it works As you can see from the images, the distance to stop loss is printed on the alpha keys. If I have my hotkeys set up to risk 100 per trade, Short+Modifier+E would short the stock with 667 shares: Risk: 100 Distance to stop loss: 0.15 100 / .15 = 666.6 (667 rounded up) Conclusion Having the spreadsheet printed in front of me while I trade really helped with my position size. The keyboard really helped me execute my trades faster.

Start at the beginning of this thread, and read all of the replies. It will answer your last two questions.

Don't be ashamed of bad trading or hulking out. We're all guilty of it and the whole point of posting is for reflection and where we can improve. One thing I do when I have a bunch of losses in a row is to go back to sim and just practice recognizing setups and getting good entries. If i get stopped out then I try to take notes on my feelings and frustrations to start to correct the behavior. The first step in changing patterns is recognizing them. Something else that's really helping me right now is recording my trading and watching the replays at night. You notice so many things not apparent in the heat of the moment. Above all, be kind to yourself and patient. The learning curve is very steep and while trading comes natural to some, most people take years and years before they're successful (if ever) so never forget its a marathon not a sprint.

Friday 5/17/2019 I had a well-being score of 6/10 this morning. My nerves were very good, eager to trade. Normally I dread Friday trading, the day I give all my profits back. But after last Friday, which was an average Friday for me so it was bad. I decided until further notice, I will take half shares on Friday. It really kills my weekend trading so poorly on Friday, I was hoping the half shares would remove some of the sting. Then last night I thought I should take advantage of that? If I am forced to trade half share size it’s a good day to step out of my comfort zone. So the plan for today was half share size and no AAPL or AMD trades allowed today. Actually, I didn’t put them watch-list or give them a chart. Instead my two Montages I had NVDA and BABA. From my back testing NVDA isn’t in play that often. But when it is, it trades at the open well. My back testing says the opposite for BABA for my setups, at the open, BABA is completely unforgiving at the open if you take a B+ setup. Though A+ setups do work great on BABA at the open. But if it is just a “good” setup, the win% is low. So I have an instinct not to watch BABA at the open. Then I thought actually that’s perfect, I shouldn’t be taken the B+ setups anyway. So BABA was on my second Montage. This actually got my mood in good spirits. I was looking forward to the opening bell. I took one live trade today on NVDA. Just as I normally do, I contemplate some scenarios in my head (if then stuff). Though I did not know if that works on NVDA and BABA. I don’t know them that well. So NVDA sold off and bounced off of the $157 mark. When it reached VWAP it had a really nice hammer and good volume. I went long when it broke VWAP. Though it broke it by 10c it immediately reversed on me. I should have waited for the break of the $159 level as well ( a few pennies higher), but my R/R was 1.9 so I was probably pushing the entry a bit. The price retraced and tested my S/O level (158.12). It bounced and moved back to VWAP helping prove that I picked the correct S/O level. The price rose and reached my first target (159.39) but I got a horrible fill almost at B/E. My second and third partials were fine, then another bad fill on my fourth partial. At that point I really wanted to wait and see if NVDA ran more since it was a red to green, but at half shares I had very few shares left. So I got out at the top of the candle. Even though I was trading half share size, getting $2.50 from NVDA is a one and done day. Plus, I REALLY wanted a positive Friday for a change. So I was not going to trade any more. What it looked like when I took the trade: 1min 5min My score card for today: Nice setup and well chosen S/O level, but entered the trade too early. Too many partials as well. What I did good today: Created a good plan for today. How did I challenge myself today? I stepped out of my comfort zone and didn’t trade AAPL or AMD. What I did bad today: Still early on the entries. What can I do better tomorrow: Don’t press the entry. If you like the trade but R/R is a little below 2, still take the correct entry. A bad entry is worse than a slightly low R/R.

Hi Andrew, I am really benefiting from the community you and your team have established. I like the morning chat room and the educational videos. Keep up the excellent work. -Devin

Would love to add a stop on that double click. Did you have any luck with this? Please say yes

I just wanted to point out that a journaling/analysis software called Edgewonk now supports TradeZero .csv statement import for faster journaling. Also, both TradeZero and Edgewonk have free trials.