Mike B

Hey Everyone, Well sample set 5 brought to light some issues in the numbers in relation to ratios and proper account building. I think this is a product of being more comfortable with my entry point, so I have started focusing more on profit taking and the actual management of the trade. Here is the biggest change for this sample set. After analyzing my numbers, they did not make sense. My daily goal was below 2% of my actual account (not $ amount in the broker due to it being offshore) and I was risking 1% each trade with a daily max loss of 2% of my actual account. See the numbers do not make sense. I think I ended up with this as I was looking to increase my $ risk per share, but never changed what I was looking for as a daily target. Four areas I want to work on during this sample are: (1) Taking profits only at 1R, 2R, and Profit target (2) Holding through the initial pullback if the stock does not drop right away (3) Learn it is ok to be wrong and lose. My desired outcomes I am looking for at the end of the sample set are: (1) Focusing on the execution of each step in my trading plan. (Indicators, confirmations, risk analysis/management, entry, and profit taking) (2) I want to be comfortable being wrong. (3) I want to see the results of trading using a 1% max loss per day and a 2% daily goal based off a $5000 account size. All of my indicators, confirmations, and risk analysis that defines my edge is based on information obtained in Andrew’s book, lifetime Webinars, William's & Aiman Trade reviews, and the BBT website. Edge Defined – I am trading 3 strategies. Trading Plan: I plan is to trade (1) 5 min Orb, (1) 15 min Orb, (1) Moving Average crossover. If I do not trade a 5 or 15 min orb those trades can than transfer to the afternoon Moving average crossover trades. Edge Criteria 5/15 Min Strategy: I have three parts to my trade plan: risk analysis, indicators, and confirmations Risk Analysis: 1:2 or Greater Indicators: Must meet 3 of 5 Trades within the ATR Small share size with high volume ORBO closes above VWAP/ORBD closes below VWAP No large wicks (wick cannot be larger than body) Close Should be close to the VWAP Confirmations: Must meet 2 of 2 Pullback towards VWAP in a “ꓥ” (long) or “V”(short) Direction Rejection of VWAP with Moving Averages in a favorable position Edge Criteria Moving Average Crossover Strategy: Risk Analysis: 1:2 or Greater Indicators: Must meet 3 of 5 Fails to make a new 15 Min High/low 9/20 EMAs cross the 50 SMA on 1 Min chart 9/20 EMAs sloping to cross the 50 SMA on 2 Min chart 50 SMA on 1 Minute is Semi-flat 50 SMA slopes are the same on the 1 and 2 min charts Confirmations: Must meet 2 of 2 Has a 5 Minute Setup Has a 15 Minute Setup MAs are above/below the entry point Profit Taking Plan: I decided to completely overhaul my $ risk per trade and the $ account size I base my trading off of to be more in line with the teachings of BBT. (I keep only a portion of my equity in the CMEG account). So, I am seeing if I can grow an account that is smaller than my total equity. If I can't grow this how can I expect to grow my total equity. I figured I should use what BBT recommends as the minimum to trade with. Account Size: $5,000 Max loss per Day: $51 or 1.02% of Account $ Risk Per Trade = $17 Daily Profit Target: $102 or 2.04% of Account Partial Plan: Plan A – 25% Out 1R, All out 2R, profit target, or break even (minimum 1.75R) Plan B – 25% Out 1R, 75% out 2R, rest out at profit target or 1R (minimum 1.56R) Plan C – 25% Out 1R, 75% out 2R, rest out at profit target or break even (minimum 1.38R) Share Size: I am taking share size based on a fixed dollar amount. Thanks to KyleK29 & fjmocke for the hotkey setup. Daily Trading Goal: My daily trading goal is to trade only within my edge, stick to my profit taking plan, control my emotions, and be disciplined. If I meet these then it is a green day regardless of what my P/L says.

August 13, 2019 - Partial ($AMD) So I have a what is wrong with the snap shot question for everyone? It is not very obvious with the first image but the second image it is very clear. Today I was looking to take $JD short if it rejected the VWAP. It did not, so I moved onto $TME which was not giving me a pullback towards VWAP. Eventually, I went with trusty old $AMD. I got a B+ setup on $AMD as it popped above VWAP but than lost it. There were a lot of large Bids, so when it sold off hard below all the moving averages and lost VWAP, I took it short once it broke the support level at 32.06. I took a partial at 1R and than I exited at what I thought was break-even. As you can tell this was after the tariff news came out and I started having some issues with my DAS platform being delayed. When I hit the cover hot key I got filled almost .08 above where the price marker was. My ping rate was fine, I just think the market got flood with orders so since I was on WIFI, I wasn't get the most current data. If you didn't see what the issue was on the snap shot below, look at the level 2 data. In real time the BID was moving but the ASK with stationary for me. Overall I call it a win, because I could have gotten squeezed really badly. Tomorrow I will start my new sample set. Sample Set Results, S E P S P 16 G G P

I was looking to take the same engulfing crack on $AMD, but I saw all moving averages below and decided not to trade into them. Nice afternoon trade on $AMD.

The open was really tough today. I sat on the sidelines and choose not to take any trades.

Good trading later in the morning. The open was hard to trade today.

No trades again today. I only had about 30 minutes available this morning before having leave for the train. Everything seemed to choppy for me, as I am not one of those traders that trade before the 5 minute mark. There were some nice 1 min and 2 min Orbs this morning. Looking forward tomorrow.

I have noticed that but the 1R out helps with my emotions. I am now tracking, the difference between taking the 1R and not taking the 1R out before the 2R level. This may help with my emotions as well.

August 8, 2019 - Profit Target ($AMD) Today was a good day trading. I had $KHC, $CRON, $AMD, and $SYMC on my watchlist. I dropped $CRON as soon as it sold off as I did not have shorts. I started watching the other three and really was looking to $SYMC long at the VWAP when I noticed $AMD sold below the VWAP and right before the close popped back above right below a 31.83 level that I had marked. On the chart I moved the line up to my 1R level. I decided to take it long if it broke above that level. It had a couple of candles that tested VWAP again that really pushed my limit on my new profit taking plan. Additionally, Andrew was in the same trade long and decided to get out. As it was holding the 9 EMA, I decided to stick to my profit taking plan. I took a partial at 1R and 2R. I set a range order to exit at the profit target or at 1R. This would give me a 1.32R if I hit my 1R again or a 1.49R if I hit my profit target. I make a mistake and put the wrong range order in, so I ended up buying more shares. Luckily for me the stock continued to move up and once I realized the mistake I exited the trade. I ended up with a 2.14R. Overall I was happy with the day. 1 trade left in the sample set. If I get it in tomorrow I will record it, but if I do not, I still plan on trading my new sample set on Monday. Sample Set Results, S E P S P 16 G G 20

August 7, 2019 - Profit Target ($BAC) Coming off vacation was much better than before going on vacation. Came back after about a week off and took a short on $BAC. This was definitely not the top stock on my watch-list, rather it was just a standby that I saw my entry start to form and decided to take the trade when it appeared. I executed my profit taking with the revised plan that I developed while sitting around the pool in Arizona. I took a partial at 1R another at 2R and than set a range order to let the rest ride to the profit target or back to 1R. The range order executed when the stock moved back to my 1R level. I plan on posting the update this weekend when I transition to my next sample set. It does feel good to be back in my normal trading area. Sample Set Results, S E P S P 16 G 19 20

July 31, 2019 - Nothing What a way to start a vacation. Terrible trading all around. I gave into FOMO and took a trade that wasn’t even close to anything I trade. Why? Simple, For two days in a row I have no setups and I have this huge urge to work my profit taking plan. Absolutely, positively the worse trading day in a very long time. I even took a sim trade because nothing was there and then went back and took a live trade. No Trading for me tomorrow as I will be on the road. Hopefully, I will trade on Monday and Tuesday. There is one good thing. I stuck to my stop loss and only had a 1R loss. I guess that is a highlight to focus on. Sample Set Results, S E P S P 16 17 18 19 20

July 31, 2019 - Nothing All I have to say today is that July aka "Adversity Month" is over and I am glad. Yeah for August. Sample Set Results, S E P S P 16 17 18 19 20

July 30, 2019 - $PFE x 2 (Stopped, Partial) A much better day today after revising how I am taking partials. The first trade I got stopped out on $PFE after the rejection of VWAP, break of the previous candle and the quick pop back above VWAP. Second trade, I started looking at $AMD and $UAA, but either of those stocks had any good setups. I looked back at $PFE and I could tell the stock just did not have the buying power to stay above VWAP. I entered again when it lost VWAP and broke the 15 min candle to the downside. I made a mistake on the placement of stop loss as I had it too high, so my 1R was quite large. I was able to execute my profit taking plan and took a partial at 1R and got stopped out at break even. The only thing I would have changed here is that I would have taken a larger partial due to my large risk and the smaller ATR of $PFE. Other than that it was a good day. Sample Set Results, S E P S P 16 17 18 19 20

Welcome Glenn.

July 29, 2019 - Nothing I am just ready for July to be over with. I did not take any trades today as nothing met my entry criteria. I had $MYL, $PFE, $YNDX, and $AMD all on watch. $MYL and $PFE pullbacked back towards VWAP but both lost it and did not reject it. $AMD and $YNDX started a pullback but did not get close enough to provide a good risk to reward entry for me. The best part all four stock worked out as long as you took them short. Maybe today was just one of those days. Anyways, tomorrow's another day. I can't wait for August to get here. Sample Set Results, S E P 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

July 25, 2019 - $AMD (Partial) Today was all about execution. The goal today was to execute each step of my trade plan with violating any rules. Identify Profit Targets - Accomplished Place Stop Loss - Accomplished Analyze the Risk - Accomplished Entry Execution - Accomplished Profit Taking - Accomplished The only rule I violated today was trading a stock not in play. I had $BMY and $TAL on my watch list. The entry I look for did not form on $BMY and $TAL went on SSR. (I do not trade SSR stocks). So, I went to my favorite list and to see if I could get an entry to work my profit taking as that is my focus right now. Proper execution of my profit taking plan. I found an entry and executed the profit taking to a tee. Took a partial at 1R and left the rest to either hit the profit target or stop out at the break even. I will say I met my plan today and advance my understanding of controlling my emotions when the stock moves in my direction. Sample Set Results, S E P 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

July 24, 2019 - Did not Trade Well on my original watch list today I had $SNAP and $AMRN. Everything else was outside my normal pre-market screening because of price or ATR. I marked up $AMD as a standby, since I did not have shorts on $SNAP or $AMRN. $SNAP bought off quickly and never looked back. It never gave me an opportunity to enter and $AMRN sold off, so I had to resort to trusty old $AMD that got band from Andrew's list. lol. I knew it was not in play today, but I had a feeling that it might breakout from the range on the daily and head to either $34 or $34.21. For now the $34 level seems to be a strong level. I got a decent setup for a 5 minute ORBD, but just like the past three days it broke VWAP, test it a couple times and bought off. At this point I knew it was going to 34, so I simply walked away from the platform as I needed to reset after seeing the same pattern three days in a row and not taking it. $MU stop out, $KO went to moon, $AMD went right to my planned target. I came back after calming down and got an okay setup for a 15 min Orb at the tail end. I hesitated a little bit as I knew the stock was not in play, but I said to myself it is your setup and it meets your trading plan, take it. I implemented my knew routine after entry to help with holding to around the 1R and even though I broke some rules today, I could notice it helped a lot. As you can see from the bottom 5 minute chart, if I had stuck with my trading plan of taking a partial at 1R and exiting the rest at 2R, it would have worked out and I would not have gotten stopped out. Overall a good trading day and a lot was taken away for tomorrow. I have had 3 straight losing trades, so I think a little bit of the urge to take some profit and stop at break even was I just needed to walk away in the positive today. Sample Set Results, S E 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Welcome Joey, See you Saturday

July 22, 2019 - Did not Trade I had some issues last night as I forgot to bring my chargers for my laptop and USB adapter for the screens.I spent a good hour trying to figure a solution out for the morning trading session. This resulted in getting about 4 hours of sleep. Therefore, I decided to have a real tight trading plan for the day. I was only going to trade A+ setups and made the decision I would not vary away from this as my performance on days with little sleep do not turn out well. I stuck with the trading plan and did not make any changes, although $KO was a great trade, it just did not meet my entry or risk:reward plan. Oh well, tomorrow is another a day. I have decided that the month of July has been a real test to my commitment. If something could go wrong, it has. Rear-ended at a stop light, forgetting chargers, not being able to exit a trade, not being able to enter a trade, trip to the ER, and another surgery next week. Couple this with working a profit taking plan. It been challenge after challenge this month. Can't wait till August. lol. Sample Set Results, S 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

July 22, 2019 - $MU (Stopped Out) I know you should go all the way through a sample set before changing it up, but in the middle of this set I needed to make a change in how I was trading after entering a trade. The major change was how I was taking profits and exiting the trade. During the first part of this sample set I have been exiting way to quickly causing me to miss the moves. For the reminder the sample set I have hard rules for exiting a trade. This may cause me to stop out more, but I want to see the effects on the bottom line. Sample Set Results, S 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

July 18, Sim on $QCOM Day 3 of no trading at the open. Tomorrow I might be able to trade, not sure yet though. I came back in the afternoon again to work some more on my entry for a moving average cross over. Just like yesterday, after opening the platform I saw a good setup according to my gut at 1405 on $MSFT and $AMD. This time I didn't trade, as I had somewhat of a trade plan that I wanted to test out and see if it would work. Both trades did move the way I was anticipating. About 1/2 an hour later I saw the setup on $QCOM and decided to take the trade as it broke the support level with the moving averages sloping to crossover the 50. On the five minute made a new low right at the support level. Also made a new 15 minute low along with rejecting VWAP 3 times. Overall, I think I now have a set of criteria that I can start testing in sim to see the accuracy and profitability of the trade. A big step that I been trying to accomplish for the last month or so. Safe trading tomorrow for everyone.

I agree, I am not sure what the 29.62 level was but it definitely was a resistance level yesterday. The line I marked is my stop, I have to have a visual stop as it triggers my mind to exit the trade. I caught another one of these today with $QCOM, Double top and broke a support level with moving averages slopping to cross over on the 1 and 2 minute charts.

I have found, that when I trade sim if I focus on a specific element of my trading plan to work on it allows me to focus and feel more productive. i.e. yesterday, I focused on taking an entry for moving average cross overs and analyzing why I thought it was a good entry. I did not care about the rest of the trade just analyzing why it appeared to be a good entry to myself.

Hey everyone, Venue information for the meetup on July 27th. Venue: El Cholo Cafe, 300 E. Col.orado Pasadena, CA 91101 Time: 5:00pm to as long as we want Parking: There are multiple parking garages within a couple blocks, as well as some parking on the sides streets if you get lucky. I recommend trusty Google to find one that fits your needs.

July 17, Sim on $BAC Overview SIM, I am working on trying to identify criteria when taking a moving average X-over trade. The purpose of my afternoon trading today was to work on finding stocks that had a setup along with taking an entry with a good risk. The profit target did not matter to me as I was working entries with this strategy only. Why did I enter: So here is the thing. I see certain chart patterns with the moving averages about to cross and more times than not I am right in that the stock moves in the direction I was thinking. So I literally opened my platform, looked at $BAC and saw what appeared to me as a good entry. The problem is I do not know exactly why it appeared to be a good entry. When I trade Orbs, I have a predetermined criteria to enter, for this type of trade I have nothing other than a gut feeling. The one thing that did stick out to me was the stock rejected 29.62 4 times on the 15 and 3 times on the 30 minute charts. I was wondering what do you all see that makes this a trade that worked out? Or was this just a random occurrence just getting lucky? Thanks

July 16 No trading today due to work. I was able to come back in the afternoon and work on my afternoon Moving Average X-cross strategy. I am working on being able to scan stocks and pick out the ones that have a setup developing. I am still in the process of determining what I want to appear before entering. The last couple of days have been real productive with this. Same routine tomorrow.