Leaderboard

Routine: -My night was so so, my yougest daughter was sick so I get up several times -Reading -Music Psychological and physical state before session: -Calm -A little enthusiasm from yesterday result -Honnestly a little overconfident, I will have to focus and turn off this thoughs Goals for the day: -1 trade max -Patient, wait for a real setup and opportunity (save your ammo) Psychological and physical state after session: -Obviously I wish I took profit @ 54.15 but I didn't because it wasn't my plan and dont have any technical levels. But I'm ok with this is part of the game, I managed it good and I learned from it. What I did good -Preapartion and analysis -Have a good idea and follow my plan -Doesnt get disapointed when the price suddently goes against my and I reacted to this What I could did better -Being more aware of potential support/resistance and maybe taking part of profit, something like 1/4 of my position Big picture -Spy gap up 0.6% in premarket -Still some incertitude about China/US trade war -Also some incertitude about the relations with Iran -A lot of resistance near in the uspside of SPY in a daily chart (3MA just above actual price and daily levels) -Y low and YY low could be a potential support @ 285,50 and 285 Intraday fundamental -Gap down 10% in premarket -Bad earnings news Technical analysis long term -Trade below all MA -Next daily level give a great Risk/Reward -Trade below previous day range Technical analysis short term -Show some respect for VWAP and all MA in premarket -Bounce several times from premarket low @ 55.88 Reading the tape -At the beginning the tape was very clean but suddently it change -The second time it was much slower and shows some support level -Sometimes huge ask pass very fast Trade management -The first time prich shows respect to VWAP and level @ 55.83 so I went short -Put my order at 53.9 but price bounce at 54.15 so I didn't get fill -It was a huge squeeze and the tape really change so I said myself ok people cover so I get out with small profit -I was patient and telling myself if I had another opportunity I got it if not I'm ok with this. -Price goes to 55.83 (support level from premarket) ang go back down so I went short again this time my profit target was low of the day -I took some out @ 54.85 because it seems to be a potential support level -The stock struggle to went lower and big ask pass time to time -When I saw 54.70 could be a potential support level I put an order to cover half my position but I didn't get fill and the stock start to squeeze so I got out @ 55.09 Trade review -Overal I think it was a good trade, I like the idea and I manage it good, I could were more aware of the potential support to adapt my plan to exit -I think one major difference to my yesterday tradey is the SPY doesn't move in the same way as my trade

20.Mai.19 Green day, after 3 consecutive red days. I didn't trade on the 17.Mai, it was a No trading day, after 3 consecutive red days. Not my Rule, but just wanted to take a break. On the 20th May I had the following on Watchlist. $MU, $TWTR, $S, $PINS AND $OTLK (which I traded in SIM on 17.Mai). But I traded $PDD, after it came up in the TI scanners. Shooting star on the 15 min and I took short below VWAP. As always, I tried to put in 2 Range orders and move out. But a mistake happened, may be I typed the price wrong, and 300 shares got closed immediately for a small loss. I closed the remaining 200 shares after a small move (after a new HH on 5 min). I think I just wanted a Green day today to change the trend Entry- $20.65, Stoploss - $20.75 (above VWAP) Profit1 - $20.4 (RR - 2;1), Profit 2 - $20.2 (RR - 4;1), Size - 500 shares, Good: Very good A+ Setup. The price also reached my intended final target ($20.2), so reading price action was good. Didn't panic after first mistake on Range order. Improvement: It was a great setup, that I messed it up due to my error. I would not have profited early, if not for my first mistake and a small loss. P.S: Ignore the first trade, that can be seen on 15 and 30 mins. This was a reversal I took on SIM, after $20 support wall (which was also great setup) and worked well for me.

May 20, 2019 - $MU (Stopped Out) $INTC (Partial) Today was a sloppy day of trading. I was so focused on my entries that I failed to look at the larger time frame and realize that I was trading outside of my edge. Both trades today were terrible execution of my designed trade plan. Thankfully, I had good risk management which allowed me to walk away with minimal losses. I did get rewarded for bad behavior today. The trade I should have taken was a 15 ORBD on $AMD. A perfect setup with a perfect entry near VWAP. I just missed it as I looked away at $INTC. The move already happened so if I entered later the Risk to Reward was no longer there. In the end it was a growing day. Stopping out on the first trade is becoming easier and easier. Sample Set Results S P P P P S P 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

If you are consistently red, it makes no sense to be live. Don't think of it like you are missing out on good trades; you are saving yourself from further losses. My tips based on your journal: 1. Don't focus so much on the 1-min chart. It takes many years of experience to play price action. Beginners should stick to patterns and setups off the 5-minute chart. 2. Try using the 2-min as your smaller timeframe. Here's an example of where the ABCD was much more clear. 3. Overtrading and impulse trades. Read "The Daily Trading Coach" by Dr. Brett Steenbarger to kick bad habits. 4. Trading pre-market involves low liquidity, bad spreads, and unexpected moves. Stay away unless you have a working strategy. 5. Setups and patterns: define them in your playbook. Know what you are looking for everyday. This will help with the impulse trades. If it doesn't meet your setup: don't take the trade. 6. Prove you can trade consistently in simulator before going back live. Good luck.

You was good to follow your plan and initial stop loss, that give you to survive the spike in the next 5 minutes and turn in a very good trade.

Tuesday 5/21/2019 I had a well-being score of 7/10 this morning. My nerves a little bit negative, already feeling the AAPL FOMO since the plan was not to trade AAPL at the open until more favorable data is collected. But seeing Andrew’s T-shirt got me in a better mood and eager to trade. I took two live trades, one with FB and one with MU. The plan, based on back-testing, was not to trade AAPL and have FB as my primary focus. FB quickly got the minimum trading volume for its setups (>300k in under 1 minute is the minimum for FB). FB had a OK setup bouncing off the 184.25 support level. I didn’t want to go long at the VWAP since the PM high and the $185 level was just above it. So I was waiting for the break of those levels, but thinking it would be above the Boulinger bands and extended at that point. So I was a bit on the fence on this setup. Then a large ask appeared on L2 and went long. Actually the stock moved so fast I had a 15c slippage and not a great fill. What it looked like when I took the trade: 1min 5min FB moved higher quickly and I got 3 partials in the next minute, each time when the price stalled a bit. Then volume really dried up and I exited on weakness. My next trade was with MU. I was waiting for the 5min candle to finish, but then I saw a really strong bounce from the 9MA and punched through VWAP. I did see that AMD was continuing its slide so I made it a tight stop but I still went long. Price reversed and I got out as fast as I could, but it was dropping fast so had a bit of slippage. I probably shouldn’t have taken the trade since MU may follow AMD. Even though setup no longer looked like a flag I took the trade since it bounced so strongly. I was wrong. At least the 1min ORB on FB paid for my learning on MU. My score card for today: What I did good today: I like I was able to utilize L2 for the entry on FB. How did I challenge myself today? Traded a new stock at the open. Controlled the FOMO on AAPL. What I did bad today: MU was too weak to go long, more than half of the bull flag pole was already lost. AMD was falling and I ignored that signal. Plus I should only trade the bull flag/ABCD. What can I do better tomorrow: Keep learning the 5min ORB.

In this moment I read The playbook from Mike Bellafiore and something I found really interesting is the focus he puts on let the winner run until you have a reason to exit (profit target reached, trend have change, something in the tape, etc.) I partial a lot too and when I see my results often my losers are bigger than my winners because only a part of my position reach my profit target when I'm in a winner but when I lose it's all my position. You seems pretty good to cutting your losers, maybe letting you winner run could help you. I feel pretty weird trying to give some advices, but I really appreciate what you do for me so I try to give you back.

i'm in no position to give advice either! I agree with all this, hiding the unrealized window really helped me and as an additional note, DAS risk controls on both unrealized position and total realized for the day keep me from hulking out. i don't like having to use them but that's the reality of the situation.

Monday May 20th, 2019 Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. i think my nerves got to me today at the open because the 2min ORBU in T looked really good but i just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger, chalk it up to trading live again after a couple weeks break . I waited for a 5min ABCD setup as well but that fell through too. I was starting to think i wouldn't get any trades today but then i saw AMD making a double bottom so i got interested in taking a position. i ended up getting in on a new 2min high. it wasn't the best entry but pretty good. i was not at all confident in the trade, nerves again. i took off about 75% at 2R and the rest i saved for $27.04 right under the 200 MA on the 2min chart but i had to keep moving it down as the MA moved down and ended up getting out at $26.93. i could have just left it at $27.04 GOOD: took a setup, pretty good R/R RFI: could have got a better entry MOOD: good CONSISTENT: yes. What i did good today: took only setups, didn't chase or FOMO What i did bad today: could have got a better entry in the trade i took What can i do better tomorrow: get better entries.

I admired the other traders that post their trades on the BBT site. I have been trying to get the courage to start. If I am embarrassed to post the trade, I shouldn’t have taken it. So I want that consequence on my shoulder. So I promised myself when I switched from Etrade-pro back to DAS, which is much easier to journal, I would post my trades. I have been live for 3 months now. First week live on DAS. 1st week of February Risk: $25/trade Max allowable trades per day: only 1. I am having an over trading issue that I am trying to resolve. So I have a self-imposed limit of one trade per day. Friday 2/1/19 Well being score of 5.5/10. My one allowable trade was with FB. I do apologize for the chart. This was my last trade with Etrade-Pro which doesn't automatically show entrance/exits. The tech level I drew at 167.51 was too weak to act on (that is why I drew it in yellow - stronger ones are orange) so I let it go by. After the 2min candle the price sat for awhile, until it started to move and I went long. I took a partial at 1R. Price just missed the second partial at 2R by a few pennies. The 5th 1min candle spooked me and I exited. Monday 2/4/19: I gave myself a “well being” score of 4/10, which is below allowable limit to trade live. So I traded on SIM. Made 3 good trades, but since they were on the sim I won’t journal them here. Tuesday 2/5/19 Well being score of 5/10. My one allowable trade was with AAPL. A very bullish 2min candle was created and I went long as it passed the recent premarket high. I didn’t have a strong technical level for the entry or exit so I cut my shares in half (so only a ~$12 risk). Got lucky on the last exit. Wednesday 2/6/19 Well being score of 5/10. My one allowable trade was with MU. Stock made a nice ABCD inside the 5min. I was going to wait for the 5min candle to finish, but when it made a new high on increased volume I went long at 9:33am. It fizzled quickly and I got all out when it looked like it was reversing. Thursday 2/7/19 Well being score of 5.5/10. My one allowable trade was with TWTR. I made a mistake on this one. But, it didn’t cost me much to learn a good lesson. I have learned to be sloppy when zooming in on a chart not to look carefully at the tech levels because Etrade always lists the next level you drew on the edge of their chart. So you always know the next level with a quick glance. So I was careless when zooming in on TWTR and caught the 2nd tech level and not the first. The price dropped below the tech level I was going to short on, but I thought the risk/reward was so large I let the price make a new low of the day. Once that happen I shorted. Once the price dropped a little the real tech level appeared on my chart and I realized I trade now has a 1 to 1 risk/reward ratio. If I was aware of this level I would have shorted at the 31.1 level I drew where the risk/reward was OK or just not trade it. Usually, when I realize the risk/reward is wrong I get out of the trade. This usually occurs when you get a bad fill. But, since the price was moving in the right direction I waited for the 1st tech level to close the trade. It missed by a penny and retraced. Since this is not a real trade anymore, just one I am trying to get out, I stopped out at break even. Friday 2/8/19 Well being score of 6/10. My one allowable trade was with MU. The tech level I drew and the 1min VWAP coincided making it a strong tech level and I really like it when the 1min VWAP and 5min VWAP get a large separation. I took the trade at the 1min VWAP and made the 5min VWAP the first target. This trade had a very tight stop out level (just below 1min VWAP). I took the first partial at the 5min VWAP with the plan to take the next partial at the 2nd target (200MA). But, I got cold feet and made the 2nd partial in the middle of nowhere. Then all out a few cents below 200MA. It's interesting what a different perspective I get on my own trades when I post them like this. After what I thought was a good week trading and was reasonably happy after reading my journal entries, I now look at the these trades posted and I am not really proud of any of them. They look quite haphazard and not well thought out. The Friday trade with MU would be the closest, but not quite. Something for me to think about. Thanks for reading, Rob

May 21, 2019 - $AMD (Partial) I took 1 live trade on $AMD a couple minutes before the 15 minute candle closed, but I saw the pullback towards VWAP, rejection of VWAP, and a break of the previous 1 minute. Along with this the moving averages were above on both the 1 and 5 minute charts, so I entered. I got a partial and was looking for it to go to the 200 moving average on the 15 minute for a second partial and let it run to the profit target, but it pullback and I got stopped out at the breakeven. Unfortunately, I could not trade longer than the first 30 minutes due to work, but looking at the price action this evening, that is probably a good thing. Sample Set Results S P P P P S P P 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

I got burnt by $AMD on the exact VWAP trade setup, funny you mention about $AMD in your post. Both $AMD and $MU daily gapped up at the open and looked strong that also biased my view.

Interesting, I have been trying to figure this out for the past few days myself. In my case I was looking to buy right at market open and sell automatically with a +.10 gain. I haven't nailed it just yet though. I used average price +.10 in the sell side of my script. I don't have it handy right now.

Tuesday May 21st, 2019 Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. i had some personal stuff come up so i had to miss all my pre-market work and the first 15 minutes. when i finally got to trade, the only thing that looked like it was trending was ARRY and it was really extended so i didn't bother messing with it. Plus i just feel off without doing my routine so i thought it better not to take any trades today.

16.Mai.19 Earnings season, I had $CSCO, $MU, $TWTR $BYND and $GPRO on the watchlist. I traded $CSCO. Red day. I have marked 54.4 to be an important level for $CSCO, At the open it broke thru the level and went up. It didn't give any pullback and I didn't want to chase it. i waited for the reversal. A shooting star appeared on 30 mins at resistence, next candle opened below the resistence. I took short and put in a range order to profit at VWAP, went for shopping. I was so confident about this one, because this also happened after 12PM, which is usually when the strong reversal happens (higher timeframes). The price went my way about 10c and then pulled up. Got me stopped out. $CSCO was very strong thru the day, even $SPY reversed to VWAP that day. Usually $CSCO follows $SPY but not today, may be due to the Earnings. Good: Patience, didn't chase at the Open, waited for the Reversal on a Higher timeframe, after 12PM. Improvement: I don't think I would have done anything different. P.S: Now I can see that when I took short after the shooting star, all the MAs are trending up. It is safer to take Reversal, when the MAs are Trending down, or atleast Flat.

i try to do both medium and high float, i cant say trading both types is my problem, i seem to make the same errors on all of them. for now i continue to do both i think. im not sure yet if one fits better then the other for me. but i do stay away from low priced and or very low float.

Hi Robert, yes you are right, it doesnt make sense to be live. ill give it a shot with the 2 min, i still think for the first few minutes the 1 min is better but yes im a beginner and i shouldnt think i know. i know the book but i havent read it yet.i just got "the new trading for a living " from alexander Elder as i read good reviews about it. i like reading actually so also the daily trading coach is on my list but ill move it up in priority. I was thinking im taking setups and patterns but lately i have been doing more impulse trades, its true. i will continue posting my trades but they will be on sim.

may 20, pl -39 but with 49 tickers... first trade on aapl , well there are 6 trades on this. first i went short at the opening, small share size. but it went above vwap, and i got out. it didn't show any sign to break higher and i believed its still a short so i got back in even still above vwap. well it turned out to be a really nice short but my execution was probably the worst i have ever done getting out way way too fast. i took a small size and if you scale out then there really isnt much left. but that really should not matter. i was in a winning trade at least my last partial i should have let it ride the wave and risking to get out at breakeven. its often said dont trade first minutes but in reality the few months im doing this my PL in the first minutes is green. 3th and 4th i tried to short it again. it looked like it was stalling near vwap but i let myself stop out. 5th, i went long took some off and last at breakeven, again maybe i shouldn t haven taken this trade. the volume didn't show it wanted to go bullish yet. but i dont think i was looking at the volume that time. 6th, i went short 1 more time be;low vwap thinking it was a fals breakout but stopped out amd i also had on my charts. i actually was thinking of going short if it crossed vwap but then Andrew was calling it out for a long so i was ok..im not going to argue with that. and i just blindly followed him. got in at vwap then stopped out. well that serves me right for following someone else. Even Andrew can not be right the whole time. some trades on roku, i went short on a pullback to the moving average and stopped out above, i tried it 1 more time but got a really bad entry unfortunately and let myself stop out again, that really wasn't necessary. i stepped back a little and saw this pattern coming up and went for a long. i planned to stop out with a break below the wick of the left shoulder but i let myself stop out just before that, what a shame. at that moment Andrew called it out for a long too. so i kinda jumped in again, it didn't move very much and i let myself get out of last piece at breakeven which was just a few seconds wick before going up again but ok,... so yeah.. what can i say. im not trading well. im getting in and out way too much, it seems the barrier to get in and out has become quite low. but im jumping in with the thought that it will go my direction immediately and if not im wrong. i need to learn more patience, patience to tell myself what is the reasonable stop which would confirm im wright or wrong. i probably need to learn more about what would actually be the more acceptable stoplevel. to tell myself something good, i at least dont let my loosers run anymore as i have done so in the past. quit the contrary mostly now. there is a balance which i have not found yet. over trading, most of the days, i have no idea how many trades i put. it starts with 1, and then i stop counting. i dont like it but i must accept im not ready to go life. my results are clear, in fact they are getting worse. go to Sim is something i would tell someone else for sure so why i have not done yet i dont know. i think im going to miss out on good trades if im in sim, the truth is im missing out on good trades while i am life . and it costs money. maybe i take a day off off trading.. but i must go to sim, its unfortunate but im not ready. i have know all along but didn't admit it to myself. im writing this down now because i need to tell someone so i can convince myself. one day at a time from now or ill pay when tomorrow comes today

Hey Pat, Je parle français, du Qc également, on a un groupe aussi Mtl si ça t'intéresse.. on peut créer des rencontres ou se contacter. Je Daytrade à temps partiel, mais comme objectif de virer temps plein. Si tu cherches quelqu'un qui fait ça temps plein, laisse un post dans le Club de Mtl, tu trouveras peut-être quelqu'un. a+ Karl

i can really relate to that! great trading!

thanks Rob. i thought about bailing especially after that big dump at 11 but i figured if i get out now it's about the same as stopping out at breakeven so i might as well hold and see what happens. a lot of that price action i'm not seeing as well because i use range orders and step away from time to time so maybe i would have bailed had i been really watching. i thought for sure i was going to be stopped out right after i got in but glad it worked out.

Monday 5/20/2019 I had a well-being score of 6.5/10 this morning. My nerves would have been good, but when I saw I may trade AAPL today my mood went sour. Before I start complaining too much, let me say I had a good trading session. I took 2 live trades with AAPL. The plan, based on back-testing, was not to trade AAPL and have FB as my primary focus. But at 1M shares and almost -3% in premarket I couldn’t ignore AAPL. And yes you see the punchline coming. I got stopped out on AAPL and FB was a nice 1min ORBU. AAPL created a really nice hammer with very high volume. I was concerned since the R/R~1.5 with 200MA-1min as the target, but it had two strong daily levels above it with R/R>2 so I went long when it broke VWAP. It did move a few pennies before reversing and stopping me out at my planned stop 183.50 (daily level and 50MA) What it looked like when I took the trade: 1min 5min My stop out: I started looking for other trades and saw FB’s nice 1min ORBU, but I would be chasing it so I didn’t take it. Oddly AAPL was setting up again, though I really didn’t want to get burned again on AAPL. But it was making a nice mini ABCD on good volume and had a really good R/R (182.98 as a S/O and 180.78 as the target). I shorted when it broke the LOTD. My partialling (my spell check says that’s not a word) was horrible. I do notice I partial worse after a S/O, but this was really bad. My aim for my first partial was 181.50, that was my third partial!! My first was at 182 and I got a bad fill essentially covering at B/E. When I only had enough shares left for one last cover I told myself I must wait for my actual planned target or original B/E. Luckily I didn’t have to wait too long and took my last cover on my 180.78 target. Anyway I got my $1+ move from AAPL, so it still all good. My score card for today: Same score on both trades but for difference reasons. My first trade the setup was just OK, but was executed well. The second trade had a great setup but not executed well. What I did good today: I had a win% of 50% but still profitable for the day! How did I challenge myself today? I took a short after 2min from the open, which is unusual for me. What I did bad today: Between the substandard R/R and the plan not to trade AAPL I shouldn’t have taken that first trade. What can I do better tomorrow: AAPL is too much in my comfort zone, I need to break out more, at least for the 2min ORB.

Routine: - Reading -Music Psychological and physical state before session: - Really calm and focus - Want to be well prepare Goals for the day: - Only 1 trade - Having a clear trade plan before market open Psychological and physical state before session: - Really happy - Proud to my preparation and follow my plan and goals What I did good - Preparation - Having a plan before market open - Stick to 1 trade max What I could did better - Was a little scary by my big position I dropped half too soon with no reasons to cover Big picture - Spy down more than 0.70% in pre-market - A lot of incertitude about China, Iran and some comments from the president Trump about EU Intraday fundamental - Down 2.8% in pre market - China/US commercial incertitude - Drop hard in the last 2 days - Analysts downgrade price target Technical analysis long term - In a down trend for the last 3 days - All Ma above actual price -200 SMA on daily as a resistance level -The next daily level give a really good risk/reward Technical analysis short term - Trade below previous day range -Trade below VWAP in all the pre market -Daily leval at 165.03 as a resistance in pre market -All MA above actual price action -Break the low of pre market in the first moment of opening Reading the tape -There wasn't big bid but constanly went low and I ave a lot of volume -The time and sale was very clean almost all at the bid and really fast Trade management - I expected to wait for the first 5-15 min and watched if 165.03 was a real resistance level, but the price just fall so I jump in with half of my share size -When the price continu to fall without any pullback I add more fo reach my full position -Being full position in this range of price and in the first minutes make my a little nervous so I dropped half my position at 162.91 -I put an order at 160.55 a little above the next daily level to be sure to get fill Trade review - I felt confident in the setup -Really focus on price action and the tape - Good Preapartion and analysis - I waited for my profit target - I could controlled better my emotions in the beginning and be fully confident in the set up and dont Exit half my position too soon -All signals and analysis show a short trade -I jumped early but no FOMO just be reactive to chart and analysis -Really proud of this idea, trade management and how I manage my thoughts and feelings

I feel a little uneasy giving advice since I am struggling so much on my own. Plus, I am sure Mark can explain things better than me. But what I thought I would do is list the changes I made that helped me and maybe you can find something useful in the list. My first 3 months of live trading I had 6 hulk days and 16 max/loss days. Since I made these changes 3.6 months ago I have had zero hulk days and zero max/loss days. 1) Switched brokers to CMEG so I could reduce my account size so blowing it up is not as much of an impact. 2) Added risk controls from CMEG/DAS. Realized max so it would prevent me from going hulk and unrealized in case I lose internet in the middle of a trade. 3) Made a simple goal for 3 months. Don’t go hulk. I could trade terribly but as long as I never went hulk I reached my goal. 4) Started with 1 trade per day max. I tried the 3/day rule during my first three unsuccessful months, but I kept breaking it. 1 trade a day is very much an on/off switch with very little gray area. It was REALLY painful and FOMO was high, but after a week it got easier. The satisfaction of having enough discipline to stop at 1 trade was enough to be proud of myself. After about one month I switched to two trades a day allowed if the first trade was a winner. If the first trade was a loser, I am done for the day. I use to trade terribly after a loser. 5) Remove the unrealized gain window. This was tough, but surprisingly after a week I got use to it. So that worked for me. Hopefully that helped.

Tuesday 4/30/2019 I had a well-being score of 6/10 this morning. Nerves were OK. Woke up early again and had plenty of time to prepare. Took two live trades first with AAPL then MU. AAPL was in play from premarket so I was focused on it at the open. AAPL had a nice “Vish” setup, I just was waiting for the price to break the $203 level. It took a few tries before it finally broke. But I completely missed the entry by 20c. I had to look at my video to see what happen. It looks like my finger was on the trigger then AFTER it broke the level I realized that it is almost 9:32am and my share size was still on the 1min ORB size. So I quickly switch to full size and took the trade. Though I did this fast (~0.5 sec) I lost 20c on the entry destroying my R/R. So my rule is just to get out of the trade, but the price moved in my direction almost immediately. So the next thought was should I get out completely at my first target and insure a small win. So I asked myself would I take the trade now, if this was a new trade? The answer was yes, if it broke the 200MA. So I took a partial, enough that my stop would be all the way back to VWAP. Price never broke the 200MA, then fell back to VWAP. When it broke VWAP I S/O. So it only cost -0.5R. If I remember that lesson about changing the share size after the break it will be an inexpensive lesson. What it looked like when I took the trade: 1min chart 5min chart My next trade was on MU. I am glad I got to practice on a 5min ORB. MU had a strong 5min candle, but still small compared to ATR. The 1min chart looked very bullish. I didn’t take the trade at the break of the 5min candle because there was a strong TL just above it. So I waited for the break of the TL. I guess the break wasn’t clean enough because the price floundered for 2 minutes. Now usually when I see three 1min candles get deflected from the same resistant level I am very bias to get out of the trade. But I hesitated because I thought the last push through really did break. So I wasn’t able to recover back to reality quick enough to take an early stop. The price very quickly dropped to my S/O point and I exited at full -1R. What I did good today: I did take two good setups and I learned a lot on these trades. How did I challenge myself today? I let my Trade Ideas account expire and I used my Etrade account instead today (which has TI included for free though a little less bells and whistles). It was OK, I need to fine tune it a little. What I did bad today: Poor trade management. One bad entry and one not so great exit. What can I do better tomorrow: Must change share size between 1min ORB and 2min ORB much more smoother.

Monday 4/26/2019 I had a well-being score of 6/10 this morning. Nerves were OK. As planned woke up at 4:45am to start the day earlier. Since I woke up earlier I had time to prepare and wrote a full plan for the morning trading as follows: Took two live trades first with AAPL then TGT. Right at the open I was only looking at AAPL for the 1min ORB (per plan). It really setup nicely as a “Vish” setup when it broke through VWAP/200MA/50MA, but at only 22 seconds after the open. I was too uncomfortable to take it that early, though in hind sight that was the perfect entry. Instead I waited until it broke the 204.50 level for more confirmation then went long. The price did make it to my first partial (high of premarket), but then reversed back. Following the rule not to S/O at B/E after 1st partial if there is a strong TL (AAPL only rule), I waited and survived the pull back. I then took two more partials at the 1min highs then finally S/O at B/E. A small winner, but it would have been a solid winner if I entered the trade when the setup occurred. But I shouldn’t be too angry at myself, I am just not prepared to enter a trade that early yet. So it was just a good learning trade that it may be OK to take really early trades if the setup is there. When I took the trade: 1min Chart 5min chart The next trade was with TGT. It was setting up for a nice 5min ORB with an ABCD pattern already forming on the 1min chart. I shorted when the price looked like it was breaking out with a stop the $78 which the last three 1min candles respected. I took a first partial at the $77.50 level and another at previous close. Took a third partial back at the $78.5 level as I was losing faith in the trade. Then out at B/E. What I did good today: Created a morning trading plan. I think it helped my nerves. Also, I shorted a stock. Shorting has been infrequent lately. How did I challenge myself today? I like I didn’t trade a 2min ORB today. I need to learn other setups. What I did bad today: Didn’t enter the AAPL trade when I knew that was the right time to enter. What can I do better tomorrow: Take the trade if the setup is there. If I am uncomfortable how early it is, just take a smaller share size.

I've chatted with a few women about how we're wired differently when it comes to the challenges of day trading. Personally I struggle with wild swings between self doubt/fear in ok times and over confidence when things are going great. It's been a very up and down 12 months with my trading though for the first time I can tell that certain lessons have finally sunk in. I often feel that I have two very different sides to my trading personality and they are often at odds. Please feel free to share

hi to the people who have joined! As soon as I started this discussion a huge work opportunity came up in my day job and I'm taking about a month off from trading to focus on this project. I hope the discussion will continue!

OK, I'll go. Each of us will have a unique combination of experience and stage-of-life pressures, I imagine. I took 15 years off from active trading because I was devoting my time to raising kids and also helping my husband build a business. It is fun to be back at it! I joined because I want to diversify my investing style. I'm part buy/hold, part swing trade. I thought it would be nice to round that out with occasional day trading opportunities. Oh yeah, and also, I'm part gambler. A small portion of my capital is set aside to make an occasional, inexpensive, but truly crazy bet. It is hilarious when one of those works out. QiRa, I say trading/investing is very similar to surfing, which I took up at age 48. And in surfing, I pretty much feel overconfident one minute and very doubtful the next. Kind of 2 sides of the same coin. Over time, I think equilibrium is more easily achieved. Or maybe that's just because I'm getting older....hmmmm...

hi all, First, its not my intention to exclude anyone in the BBT community but several of us female members have chatted about how nice it is to find each other and be able to discuss our trades. In my experience women make great traders and have different challenges with psychology, pressure and expectation. I would love a place to have discussions about those topics as well as anything else that comes up. We all know there is no small amount of "bro" culture in the greater day trading world, definitely less here in BBT but still it's nice to have a group of women to support each other in our trading challenges!

Yes a Garmin watch. Its helped my sleep tremendously. I bought it for running (has a very good GPS), that after a couple of months I happen to find a really good book on sleep improvement. I would try something in the book for a few days and the watch would let me know what affect it had. Took a couple of months but I got my sleep back in order. Though with demands of family life I can only get 6 hours a sleep a night (I rather have 8), I am usually in deep sleep for >60% of the night. Its also really good on the days you wake up really groggy and think you had a bad sleep. Then the watch informs you you had a good sleep but you accidentally woke up (by alarm) in the middle of a deep sleep cycle. Thus I know in 1 or 2 hours I will feel back to normal.

Daily Trading Log Monday 2/11/19 Well being score of 5 (calculated in last post). Still on self-imposed 1 day a trade max. More nervous than usual knowing I will be posting the trade later. First thought is I really need to take profits a penny or two earlier. This was almost a good trade. AMD was forming a very bearish 2min candle. So I shorted on the new low (VWAP was my stop loss), but took half shares (cut my risk in half). I don't know why I did that at the last second. Need to search my psyche why I did that. Took 1st profit early, before the 22.88 tech level I drew (in yellow) because I am usually nervous before my 1st partial. After that I relax (too much) and patiently wait for my 2nd target, 22.8 on the 5min chart (200MA) which missed by a penny. Then got out on a new 1min high. So I need to take those partials a couple of pennies before any target. So instead of a good trade, I would call this one a fizzle. The trade did enforce the need to take partials a little early and I need to soul search a bit to see why I cut my shares in half. I have been doing that more often lately. Overall a good learning trade.

Mark, this is my well being calculation from this morning. In general I don't score well in Winter. The cold and short days impact my work outs and energy levels. My Garmin informs me of the first 6 categories on the table. Fatigue level is self determined. I did have a headache this morning but that is unusual. I won't see a good score >7 until late Spring. My resting pulse doesn't drop below 50 all Winter.

thanks for sharing Rob. can you explain how you calculate your well being score?

I figured it would. Thanks for confirming... As far as it being a back-end DAS issue... It may be, but it's something pertaining to the CMEG version of DAS only ("Traders Elite Pro"). I say this, because I don't have the same issues when I use DAS with my Interactive Brokers account. With IBKR, I can just use my normal hotkey (sell at bid - .05 cents). My guess is CME has some sort workaround that allows US residents to clear through the various brokers they work with, without subjecting us (US residents) to the PDT nonsense; and this "work around" somehow involves them recording/documenting the order under their entity (as opposed to our entity/name), so the process is seamless... I may be completely wrong, though, so don't quote me... If this is the case, they probably disable the ability to place an order lower than bid (when on SSR), so they don't end up on the figirative hook for an order they cleared (filled for us), that shouldn't have gone through. As we all know, you can still short a stock on SSR, you just can't hit the bid when doing so... And disabling our ability to do so inadvertently is probably a safe bet on their part (again, I'm speculating, and could be completely wrong)... Anyways.. glad the hotkey proposal worked.. when there's a will, there's always a way! Lol... STAY GREEN people!

Today I was wondering if there is a sweet spot for how much I should be trading each day. The image shows the trades in my best & worst results, seems like in my best days I trade less. Have you find your ideal number of trades per day?

This has happened to me as well. Overtrading never ends well and it is usually the situation you just explained by Robert. I have been negative and try to make my money back by trading into mid day even late afternoon. At that point I am just desperately looking for anything to trade. Taking poor quality trades and set up. I have gone from down $300 to down $700 trying to make my money back. I should had just left and taking a small red day at $300 and not make things worse by adding on. Is all about training your mind to do what you know you should do. You know you shouldn't try to make your money back but I still did it. You know you should trade stocks by chasing and trying to make your money back as it takes you out of the game but I still did it. Slowly I am braking these habits and training my brain to follow the rules and not act on emotions. Takes time a lot of discipline to learn how to take a small red day and still be able to trade tomorrow, next week or even at all, then to try to get back and take a lost that takes you out of the game... PS: And in some cases I have overtraded trying to get back to green and have been successful but that's a bad habit you don't want to build as it is not sustainable in the long run. I called those lucky moves and not really strategies you are following and good quality trades. Carlos M.

That is no coincidence! I have found that days I over-trade, I lose money. This is because I am desperately trying to make back losses and it spirals out of control. It also highlights that I am probably taking lower quality setups and trading midday. My answer to your question would be: the least number of trades to hit your daily goal. If that means one, then that is the ideal number. Today I hit my daily goal with 2 trades and I quickly locked up my montages!