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My Wife has been telling me that I have the head for Day Trading for Many years. In the past we have worked hard on a small business in Key West and since have always had Jobs along with some kind of retail business weather it was the Art store in KW, a Donut business, an online retail business that we still operate and recently an Amazon PL business. This last adventure cost us a few bucks but fortunately I was able to get ride of most of the product and not fall too far in the red. I have recouped enough for a small Day Trading Account. I talked to a few people at work about this and they all had the same thing to say "Its tough and no one makes money doing it" after talking with them a bit more I realized that they were willing to put the money in but not put the time in to educate themselves and of course they lost money. Most of them are still holding on to Bitcoin for the long haul. I decided to start reading some books on this and I started with Stock Trading for Dummies and realized that was not the right book for me. I then found Andrews first book and was hooked. I should have listened to my Wife a long time ago. It just so happens that I work nights Sunday - Wednesday as a Poker Manager from about 3:30pm to 3:30am (home to home) eastern time, so I am able to get a few hours sleep before I wake at 7:30am to get ready for my Classes I joined BBT as a Lifetime Member on the 4th of July. I was almost done with Andrews first book. I woke up in the AM to watch the premarket show and at the time I would follow along on Think or Swim. I did this till the 15th of July. From the first day of practice I did keep a journal on paper until now (I think I will still write it as I feel like doing it twice cant hurt help me remember). I showered last night right before bed. I woke today nice and fresh, brushed my teeth, made myself an espresso and ate a protein bar. I had plenty time to do some of my own research before Carlos came on at 8:30. The last 2 days I have been very happy with my premarket analysis as most of what I have is either on Carlos watch list or is a low float (which I can not seem to get the info from the Das Sim platform). 9:34 +MGM at 30.99 (should have been 30.90 but I was slow on the hot key) I partialed out at 31.13, 31.25 and 31.34 and got all out at 31.60. My stop was previous candle 30.89 and Target 31.61 from the daily charts Realized +25.63 I took this Slower moving stock in play as I felt more comfortable with it. 10:02 +INTC 52.62 P - 52.69 and out at 52.56 (again I was slow on the trigger on both) My stop was prev. candle 52.55 and Target 53.00 on 5min VWAP Realized +.50 My total day +26.13 This is at 100 shares of each. If starting with $5000 my 1% rule would have been 500 shares of each for a realized profit of +130.65 The last two days after I have decide I was done for the day I went back to just play around and try to learn more midday strategies I took -TWTR misread what I thought was a drop and lost out along with a reentry +TWTR and this time it fell, LOL my mini Hulk.... I know myself and If I was in for real money I would have never even come back to the market for the day. but I will add this ticker also so maybe I can figure out what I misread.

Good work on WFC @Glenn Budde

Janaury 23, $PCG I feeling a little behind the markets all day today. Missed a 5 min Orb on $MU, and a 15 min Orb on $JD. I knew coming into today that I was just not on top of my game. I wasn't tired but I could just feel my mind was not operating at the speed it was the past couple of days. I was able to keep myself calm and I got a setup for a breakout on $PCG. I was a little worried about it prior to entering because, I just like the previous trades, I had missed my normal entry. If you look you can tell the entry came on the second time it broke the price level. When I saw it hold the moving average and go for the break, I decided to enter anyways. I should have moved my stop up from my original stop and it would have given me a better risk to reward. I ended up cornering myself and introducing added friction to the trade as I was on a time crunch with taking my daughter to school and I had not gotten the partial yet. I have no plan for this situation, so tonight I developing a plan when this happens again. I was lucky and got the partial prior to leaving and set a range order for my 2R level. As it is a morning trade I only look to get to 2R on this. Overall, a good day and I will take it. I am not worried about the run afterwards, because it in not within my current plan. Maybe later I will start at looking to take advantage of these. Once I get through 20 of these moving average breakout trades, I am going to consider looking at increasing my risk per share. But for right now I need to gather data on this setup.

I usually look on the 1 or 2 minute chart for the touches. Once you start looking for them you will be surprised at how easily they jump out at you.

Mike, Any particular time frame (1min chart?) you look for the resistance/support touches?

Mike, thanks for the explanation. Let me know if this is correct: 1) 9/20 cross on the 1min 2) 5/15min low/high in the wrong direction vetoes trade 3) 9/20 sloping towards 50MA on higher time frames 4) Watch/wait for support/resistance levels. 5) Entry on L2 signal beyond the support/resistance levels. So which longer time frames do you need for step 3? I know the more the merrier. But is 2min enough or you need it on 2/5/15min? Do you look for the min of 3 touches of the support/resistance like Thor? Do you need to see a ascending/descending triangle? How large of a Bid/Ask do you need to see to call it a signal? Thanks again. Due to my recent start in swing trading and looking for a good entry, I inadvertently started taking trend trades. Which I now better learn fast before the bull market disappears.

Hi Huntermac, welcome. I really like the second trade on SPCE. It's great to see setups on two different time frames. It was a good 15min ORB and on the 1min chart a good ABCD or cup and handle. Aimen, one of the moderators, would have taken that trade when the price bounced from the 9MA. I would have done the same as you and waited for the break out.

1-6 to 1-10-20 What I did bad this week: Took my eyes off of one of my main stocks in play and missed one of my setups Chased a couple trades this week Left the Chat on and participated in a Chat group before 1000 last two days What I did good this week: My pre-market plans (IF/Thens) panned out Used L2 and T&S for adding along with patterns and MAs Feeling better about my in-trade management Getting better about trusting my entries when they present themselves Changes to be made this upcoming week: Make sure I only take PB#1, PB#2 or PB#3 trades Rules to stick by this upcoming Week: After I call it a day by either MAX Loss, Profit Target or what I am comfortable with, only use the rest of the day for Chat, Journal, Playbook ect. In-Trade and Daily Stops Do Not chase or revenge trade Make sure I only take PB#1, PB#2 or PB#3 trades Edit: Only one loosing trade before 1100 Challenges for myself this upcoming Week: No pre 5min trading Only A or better setups at time of trade No Voice Chat before 1000 Take a planned break at 1100 for other Bus. @ 0915 do some exercise and then meditate to calm myself Stay unbiased Notes: Rules are not to be broken, these will cost money every time My Challenges are almost as important as my Rules, Pay attention to them If I feel overtired I will try going back to bed and coming back to Trend Trades later.... Goals and Rewards: +10Rs or more at end of the month to consider trading with more size in the future two months +6R for the week

Hi traders, I like to discuss in this forum why having a daily profit target is important. Why I am walking away after I made some decent money, and stop trading. Why? I do not honesty 100% know what is the secret in it, but I found myself losing statistically significant after made my daily goal. What is the reason? I read about having a daily goal, but I never learned why. Can you discuss this here? I love to hear your stories and ideas? You might discuss anything you think it is relevant. like: 1 .You do not believe it is true, and since each trade is independent of others in probability it should not have any effect. 2. Psychology plays a role, you look at your P&L more than focus on good trading. 3. Time of the day? As time goes by, market gets choppier. 4. ...... Help me in this discussion as I like to have it my next book on psephology! THANK YOU for being with BearBullTraders!

10 Best Reasons to Quit While Ahead The discussions is whether it is best to stop trading, even very early in the day, if you have made “your money” (whatever that is for you). For me, a relative newbie (just went live 2 weeks ago after 8 months in Sim) the answer is YES - better to stop. Here are my reasons why: Part of Risk Management - right there with setting stops (hard or mental) and putting controls on your account. Don’t let “trading” become an “addiction.” Keep it in moderation in your overall lifestyle. 8. The mathematical laws of probability - even though every trade is independent, odds favor a neutral outcome over a lot of events. Even if the mathematical odds mentioned in 8 are not activated, the psychological knowledge of this likelihood may play on you in the background of your mind. Time of Day - If you have made some money, some time has passed, and the longer you stay in, the more conditions change. So, whatever type of trade you like best will wane as time goes on and you will need to be thinking about a different strategy, which can be challenging and add to likelihood of diminishing returns. 5. If you do stay…. - It is very natural to want to have another good trade, and there is nothing wrong with staying, but if you do, make a change to your rules. For example, only take the very best setups, or for experimenting switch to simulator, or do NOT let yourself give back more than X percent of your gains (I suggest 10%). Then you can still walk away proud and yet have tried to improve on the already good situation. Helps you stay with A+ trades - If you adopt the suggestions in #5, then you only allow yourself to take A+ trades if you do stay because Who wants to give back money? This general concept of cautious selection of trades will spread naturally into the times before you “make your money” - not just after you do it. 3. Minimize self-loathing - If you have not felt this after giving back what you worked so hard to earn, then you are not yet trading - even in Sim. It is universal. But, it does not have to continue to happen. This mistake does not have to be repeated. Try waling away a couple of times with some good early profits and notice how good it feels for the rest of the day. More time to learn - If you love trading, you probably also love reading about trading, watching videos about trading, thinking about trading strategies, etc. So, just because you have stopped trading for the day, does not mean you can not be engaged in other exciting trading activities. Have time and better energy for your journal and other trader improvement activities. AND, the number 1 reason to stop trading after making money is: RESPECT and PROTECT your account and live to trade many more days. Now, if I can only listen to myself….. Regards, Emily

Personally, I have trouble stopping at times because I've had success making significantly more than my goal. So the thinking then is if I stop when I've "only made $500" then how am I going to make that $2,000 that I made the other day. I'm giving up a lot of upside by stopping at my goal...or so the thinking goes. The counter to that is one day I kept trading because I had a very good read on a particular stock and racked up +$3,000 after fees. Because I was trading so well, I continued and went on to give all of that back and end the day down $2,000. So did I really "make $3k"? No, I lost $2k because I didn't stop trading. I'm still in the middle of developing a strategy to deal with this sort of thing but what I'm leaning towards a two pronged approach. First, while individual daily PnL are important, I'm beginning to focus more on the week. I'd like to make $500+ per day so roughly $2,500 per week. This week, I made roughly that amount on Monday and Tuesday so my goal is to not jeopardize that for the rest of the week. If I hit my goal for that day I have to stop. I can't afford to turn a win into a loss because I'm looking at the week, not just the day. The second thing I'm working on is once I meet my goal for the day if I chose to continue trading then I have to cut back my sizes so as to not jeopardize profits already made. If I'm still trading well I'm still making money but if I revert to the mean I'm losing less than I otherwise would. I've been trading live for less than two months and have had good stretches (+7k over 10 straight green days) and really really bad stretches (-12k over three days in one week to give back all my gains and then some). Right now I'm pretty much right at break-even from when I started and I'm tweaking my trading rules every few days as I learn more about how I'm trading and where my problem areas are. Trying to limit the max losses, etc. Ultimately it will be the psychology and my ability to formulate and follow rules that mitigate negative psychological tendencies that will determine how successful I am in the long run.