Skye

Right, I meant locked, not closed. Thanks for clarifying, that's what I needed.

Thanks for responding Abiel. The info. in those links don't give me this answer. So you are saying that if I put say 30k in an IB account and losses brought me under 25k my account would be closed?

I'm in the US so I need 25k to open an account with IB. Can someone tell me what minimum balance I need to maintain?

I have been working on a HUGE house project on the outside of my house for the last year. It got too hot in the summer here to work outside in the afternoon so I started working outside early morning & tried trading afternoons. My risk got dropped down though so it didn't cost me too much.

Hi CTP, finally got this updated. The forum won't allow me to attach a spreadsheet so I sent you a direct message asking for your email. Get back to me & I'll get the spreadsheet over to you. After more time with the dynamic risk control, I have to say I really like it.

Hi CTP, sorry for the delay. I tried responding sooner but issues with the site prevented it. I was thinking nobody was going to respond! I thought at least I'd get some comments about my fantastic summer performance in the graph above! Too hot to work on my house in the afternoons so I tried doing that in the morning & trading afternoons. Won't do that again - at least not in the summer. Don't think I can swing a video but I'll make sure the spread sheet is ready to share and get it to you this weekend.

I have been trading the open, then working, and for the last 9 or 10 months, then working on a major house project with the rest of my daylight hours so time has been very short. I've tried various forms of journaling, from simple DIY to other people's elaborate spread sheet, software, and web apps. I am very happy with what I'm doing now as a way of getting the information I need while keeping the process short. That last part is important. The less time it takes, the more likely I am to stay on it and get useful information out of it. So here it is. It's really simple but is working the best for me by far: 1st, recording video with audio (the chat and me on a head set). I use OBS to record and VLC for playback. I have the days trades displayed in DAS and it's super easy and quick to move the slider to just before a trade and then watch/listen. The speed is really easy to adjust with hot keys which is really great to study trade management especially (and Andrew is really entertaining at 1.8x speed:-) I also talk my way through which helps while I'm actually trading. And wow, watching video, especially while listening to what I was thinking real-time is worth SO MUCH more than pictures! 2nd, I use a daily spread sheet to enter my risk, Gross $, estimated net $, gross & estimated net R, and gross & net account balances. I only need to enter my risk, gross $, and shares bought to get this info. Here's what it looks like: Date Gross Net R Shares Gross R Cum. R Gross Bal. Net Bal. 09/21/20 14 7 13 158 1.1 0.0 6274 3910 09/22/20 -6 -17 26 598 -0.2 -0.2 6268 3893 09/23/20 17 10 15 168 1.1 0.9 6285 3903 09/24/20 26 22 15 169 1.7 2.6 6311 3926 09/28/20 -14 -22 25 300 -0.6 2.1 6297 3904 09/29/20 16 2 24 694 0.7 2.7 6313 3906 09/30/20 -70 -83 34 1530 -2.1 0.7 6243 3698 I also have monthly totals and average R & win rates over a few time frames: Average R 0.2 Last 5 Average R 0.4 Last 10 Average R 0.5 Last 20 Win Rate 60% Last 5 Win Rate 70% Last 10 Win Rate 75% Last 20 This data also generates charts for cumulative gross R, daily R scatter plot (with 10-day moving average), and a gross & net account balance graph. All of this stuff is based on days, not trades. Then the newest thing, tracking whether I followed the rules or not, the accumulated R for each, and some notes. This is per-trade, not day like above. This has been a huge help to me! I can calculate what I would be doing if I actually followed my stupid rules!!! I can see how much it's costing me not to follow my stupid rules!!! And I can see which strategies might be working better or worse. The big value this has brought me is understanding that my trades are working (if I would just follow my stupid rules!:-) and what my results would be if I did. It means, if those results are what I want, I can focus on what's important (following the stupid rules!) instead of looking for some amazing strategy which will make everything better. And that rule-following data, it's in my face every day: R 3.8 -2.0 Trade # 28.0 5.0 Average 0.1 -0.4 Followed Rules September Yes No 09/21/20 0.7 1 ORB Would have been more but got out late after 1st cover. -0.7 MA 1.4 MA -0.4 MA Shorted just above the 50 on the 5. 09/22/20 -1.1 5 ORB -0.2 5 ORB -0.3 MA Tried reversal w/Brian 1.2 MA Did 2nd cover a bit to early. -0.3 VWAP VWAP before Z 0.4 MA VWAP – Z 09/23/20 -0.1 1 ORB Entered near VWAP for close safe stop but after 1 min. engulfing 1.6 1 ORB In w/Brian -0.9 5 ORB 2nd 1 min. ORB 0.5 VWAP 09/24/20 1.7 5 ORB In under MA Weekend Need to work on: MA rules, closer stops, cut losers sooner 09/28/20 -1.3 VWAP Didn’t sell after low vol. On 1 min. -0.1 VWAP Low vol. 0.6 1 MA Not on 5 MA 0.2 VWAP 0.0 1-5 MA Low vol. 09/29/20 0.0 1 ORB Low vol. -0.1 5 ORB Low vol. -0.1 1-5 MA -0.1 1-5 MA 0.7 1-5 MA -0.9 1-5 MA 1.1 VWAP 09/30/20 -1.5 1 ORB Was struggling & gave me chances to exit near BE. -0.2 VWAP 1.8 VWAP -1.1 Rev -1.0 1 MA I am also experimenting with a dynamic risk calculator which raises & lowers risk based on the average R and win rate over the last 5 days. The idea is that it will pull the risk out automatically when I start veering off the righteous path (like I did in July - ugh...). I think I like it but may tweak the calculator some after I have had more time with it. I hope this helps someone. I'm happy to share the spread sheet with anyone who would like it.

pommyg, welcome! It's a good place to be. I have found it to be such a helpful and supportive environment, which is so important when learning something which is seemingly so simple and yet so difficult to become proficient at.

Actually he did say that some stock trade predictably as in you kind of know what they're going to do. He referenced mu which we traded for a very long time. Not that you know exactly what it's going to do and you can always win on it but it wasn't going to do crazy things that you weren't expecting. You figure it out by Trading long enough. You see the stock day after day in for stocks like mu where you trading it day after day you kind of learn how it reacts. A good example is AMD. It followed spy for a very long time it was predictable that if spy would do something AMD would follow it. You will sometimes see Traders specialize in certain stocks as well. And really get familiar with them. I think Norm traded Apple quite a bit at the end of last year and really got familiar with it and had good results.

Yes adding to a position is an advanced move. It's one that I almost never do because I have enough to learn already! What I see about this is that the entry was good but when it pulled back it did it with volume and it dropped below a level. You would never add to a position in that circumstance. When I see people like Andrew add to positions it's when it pulls back with lower volume and then is supported by a level. Indications that it may bounce and then head higher.

Lenny, sorry nobody has answered you. Are the red lines daily levels? If so, you shorted the first trade right above a level which is risky. You also entered a little early I think, instead of waiting for it to close below the MA and then start dropping from there. The 2nd trade was the same, in before confirmation & right under a MA. Volume looked good though so I could see getting tricked, but I almost never enter right at the levels anymore, and never when there is another level very near in the direction I'm heading.

First, don't beat yourself up if you get fooled by one like this. I have taken so many early entries like this... That red candle is just begging you to short, but there are a couple of tells that wold have made me pause. The biggest is that, when that red candle finished it still had a higher low & higher high than the one before. It also had lower volume than the ones before. Those two things would probably make me pause until the next one made a lower low (ideally with volume) which it never did. Avoiding entries like this is one of the biggest changes I've seen in my trading recently.

nikkib, I recommend trying afternoons. After lunch, say starting at 1pm or so. Not sure how long you've been trading but mornings are hard for a while. Afternoon give you more time to think, assess your entries (and bail if you realize it was bad), manage trades... It's much slower. It's a bit different too with more trend then momentum trading. Great training ground I think though.

It's been a while since I used a hard stop but I believe that that is what I found as well.

I asked CME about when this would be available and got this response: Thank you for your email. Kindly note the DAS replay feature is due to be enabled on the next official release of the platform. The platform is currently in BETA version. It should be available within two to three weeks. Regards, Your team here at Capital Markets Elite Group LTD.