Mark D.

agree with this. When a trade never goes in my favor it kills my psychology. shame about that wick out on the short but it happens, that also kills my emotions. you're right, it was a good trading day that just happened to not work by a penny.

thanks! tough to say i was thinking of just ignoring the opening range breaks and taking the first pullback as an ABCD. AMD did the exact same thing to me monday, stopped me out on the ORBD and then i got in for the run higher but today i already lost on LCI so that was it for my daily max loss. AMD has been crazy choppy at the open the last like 3 weeks or so.

Wednesday August 28th, 2019 Sleep: 7.5 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. tried a 2min ORBU in $LCI that didn't break $8.50 and i got stopped out almost immediately. i saw some buying right at the HOTD it just couldn't go through. i usually look at the T&S to confirm it's over the high but i thought i'd catch it before it jumped on the break. not a great trade but not a bad one either. GOOD: got out at stop RFI: maybe wait for the break? MOOD: not happy getting stopped out again CONSISTENT: yes kept to my stop then i took a 5min ORBD in $AMD. sold on a new 2min low after a 2min spinning top, set my stop as VWAP. couldn't break LOTD and stopped out. i think this trade was better than the first, just didn't work. GOOD: got out at break even, did have good R/R and new 2min low confirmation RFI: i don't know, maybe i should have seen if it was going to break the LOTD first? MOOD: getting real tired of getting stopped out CONSISTENT: yes, respected stop, followed trading plan think i'm going to stop trading the first 10-15 minutes. i'm going to spend some time today looking at my trades from the month and see where i'm taking most of my losses. i'm pretty sure it's right in the beginning of the day. I keep trying to trade the first couple minutes of price action and i'm just not quick enough to get it right. i do sometimes but more often then not, i don't. What i did good today: got out at my stops. came really close to breaking this cardinal rule today. very pleased i haven't broken this rule since implemented What i did bad today: i'm only supposed to take one trade after getting stopped out twice the day before. that's not a major rule but tomorrow i'll only be taking either one trade or sim. What can i do better tomorrow: don't trade the open.

Tuesday August 27th, 2019 Sleep: 8 hours. Mood: good ready to trade. Bad trading for me today. saw $ROKU breaking all time high and i jumped in half size then got in the rest on break of the day high. traded this as an 5min ORBU giving it space and wanted to add to my position when it went in my favor. once i got in the other half, i moved my stop loss to a new 5 min low and got stopped out. this trade wasn't terrible, i realized that i was FOMO'ing but i got in anyway and didn't wait for a pullback is why i'm unhappy with the trade. otherwise, it was a 5min ORBU and i added when it went my direction so all in all not a terrible trade i just let my emotions get the better of me sometimes and i'm not happy about that. GOOD: changed stop, added more on HOTD break RFI: FOMO and i knew it and i traded anyway MOOD: excited, angry with the stop out CONSISTENT: yes, i respected my range stop I'm guilty of trying the same trade again if i feel like i just barely got stopped out. and what happens most the time is i get stopped out again because i'm trying to force my position when the market is clearly saying this isn't the right move. i choose to ignore that the 2min "pullback" was probably a reversal sign and got back in on the long side. my reasoning at the time was i saw three huge buy orders on the time and sales. This trade is why i said it was a bad trading day. The reasons are it's not a setup that i trade, and having big buy orders without a setup is not a reason i get in to a trade. i was just looking for any reason to get back in long to make back my loss then ignored the new 2min then 5min lows hoping it wouldn't hit my stop. GOOD: got out of the trade RFI: no setup, no stop level that was resistance. engulfed and broke VWAP and i still held, could have limited my losses. MOOD: not pleased with myself right now CONSISTENT: yes, got out on range order, lost a little on slippage. What i did good today: stopped trading. a small consolation is knowing that i'm not being objective right now so the best thing to do is take the L for the day and come back fresh tomorrow What i did bad today: took a trade without a setup. haven't made that mistake in two or three weeks What can i do better tomorrow: trade setups, if you notice FOMO it's better to relax and wait for the feeling to pass than to act on it and ingrain bad trading patterns.

Monday August 26th, 2019 Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. first trade was an ORBD in AMD. i thought that with the bounce off the 2min 200 MA and all the MA supports on the 2min and 5min was good enough to take the trade so i didn't wait for a new 2min low for confirmation. i kept on waiting for that 2min low all the way to when i got stopped out. AMD was just crazy strong right at the open. GOOD: got out at stop RFI: didn't wait for confirmation. could have got out earlier MOOD: good CONSISTENT: yes next trade was a 2min wedge/15min ORBU in AMD. i thought that if it broke the HOTD it had some potential to the HOPM. waited for an entry once i saw all the buying right below the HOTD. set my range profit target for $30.73, missed my exit by a penny!!!! it looked like a hammer was forming on the 5min so i bailed 7 cents early. really glad i did because it dumped and then chopped around the rest of the morning. GOOD: got out with a good profit RFI: maybe next time only got 2cents over the target level MOOD: great, really pleased i got out with a profit CONSISTENT: yes. last trade was a SIM 5MIN ABCD in AMD that is currently living in Chop-town. What i did good today: didn't let my stop out effect my trading. took a good trade right after What i did bad today: didn't wait for the new 2min low confirmation on the ORBD What can i do better tomorrow: thinking about not taking ORBs if i don't get the new 2min in my favor as confirmation

Week 34 Recap Ok to good week for me. Got shook out of a good trade Monday which caused me to take a -2R loss on Tuesday by holding on to my stops when I should have got out. Thursday and Friday were better trading days though I’ve been more cautious and fearful with my entries. The upside being I’m more often right on the direction of the trade, at least initially. · Weekly stats o 2.9 planned R/R (Goal: above 3.0) [Previous Week: 2.8] o 19/20 95% (Goal: above 80%) [Previous Week: 100%] o $9.23 (Goal: $150) [Previous Week: -$0.01] o 3/5 60% trades with the trend (Goal: 100%) [Previous Week: 100%] o 2/5 40% Non-optimal Entries (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 17%] o 0/5 0% Letting Losers Run (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 0%] o 0/5 0% No Setup (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 0%] o 3/5 60% true win percentage (Goal 45%) [Previous Week: 33%] · Highlights o BA trade on Friday that went straight to my profit target o For the most part I’m doing a better job waiting for the pullback and getting in on a new 2min · Ongoing things to work on o Trying to work on a systematic way to get out of a trade before my stop that doesn’t include my emotions. I.e. looking for specific reversal patterns (shooting stars, hammers, 2min engulfing) that I can use to exit my trade. Like my CGC long on Tuesday. Could have got out with a small profit instead of a full R loss. o Need to revise my point system for setup/trade management. It is no longer providing useful information.

Friday August 23rd, 2019 Sleep: 7.5 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade but feeling fearful this morning. i missed so many good trades the first hour. $HPQ wedge, didn't take it because of the 200 MA on the 2min. $BA 2MIN ENGULFING because that's a new pattern i'm working on and i don't trust it to take it live yet. and another $BA textbook ABCD that i was just too fearful to pull the trigger. finally convinced myself to get in to $BA after a hammer and holding the 9ma on the 2min chart. got out $0.10 early on fear but ended up losing $0.30 on the spread. still happy with the trade. glad i finally convinced myself to jump in the trade. GOOD: took a good trade, entry was good, R/R good RFI: exited on fear, hit my profit target with no trouble MOOD: happy, good trade CONSISTENT: yes but no i should have held to my profit target. What i did good today: took a good trade, didn't FOMO What i did bad today: left so many good trades on the table What can i do better tomorrow: take the dang trade!!

Thursday August 22nd, 2019 Sleep: 8 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. didn't get a chance to trade yesterday so i was ready to go this morning. took an ORBD in $LB. waited for a pullback and a new 2min low because i was cautious of the first 5min candle, those have reversed on me and stopped me out too many times so i waited for the new 2min low for confirmation. took off half when it couldn't make a new 2min low and the rest at breakeven. could have played it as a double bottom but i wasn't at my computer when it turned around. i was stopped out by the time i got back. GOOD: waited for confirmation RFI: shouldn't have left the computer MOOD: good CONSISTENT: yes What i did good today: took a good setup with confirmation What i did bad today: left my station and left money/potential reversal opportunity on the table What can i do better tomorrow: try to watch as much of the trade as possible

awesome trade! i used to track them individually so that i could see where my partials could be improved but i've recently moved to just and average of all the partials so i get a more accurate overall win/loss percentage. i'd say there's no right way, just whatever you think is more valuable information.

Tuesday August 20th, 2019 Sleep: 7.5 hours. Mood: good ready to trade but at home and i got another monitor and i feel off today like information overload first trade i tried an ORBD in CGC. got in on a pullback to the moving average, risking the HOTD, hoping it would go lower. never broke the LOTD and stopped me out next 2min candle GOOD: entry on the pullback RFI: should have waited for a bounce/new 2min low for confirmation MOOD: fine CONSISTENT: yes, lost a couple cents on my exit on slippage last trade i took a 5min HOTD wedge in CGC. hoping to get to the 200 MA on the 15min chart. made a shooting star and i thought i should get out but i remembered yesterday when i bailed and it ended up working also i had all the moving averages below. held to my stop. should have got out and reversed. new rule is a shooting star or 2min engulfing on the break of the high of the day, i'm getting out on a pullback. need to start doing that consistently, if i have specific things that i'm looking for on HOTD/LOTD breaks i can start practicing them and see if it improves my trading GOOD: stopped out, entry was ok, chased it a little bit RFI: clear reversal signal with multiple chances to bail for a small profit and i ignored them MOOD: a little frustrated to get stopped out twice but all in all, ok CONSISTENT: stuck to the plan What i did good today: took setups, got out at my stops What i did bad today: Trade management could have been better What can i do better tomorrow: shooting stars on HOTD or hammers on LOTD are now exit trade criteria with possible reversal. i'll try this strategy for a couple weeks and see if it works better.

Monday August 19th, 2019 Sleep: 7:30. Mood: good, feeling like not wanting to do anything this morning. i'm typically on vacation around this time so my body is in relax mode Only took one live trade today. i took an ABCD in NVDA. great entry, but the r/r was a bit of a stretch. i added the ATR to my daily chart and i saw NVDA was already over it's daily ATR so i was concerned that it would not hit my profit target. I got out at break even with a 2min shooting star with volume and a new 5min low. i'm happy with that exit, I want to work more on minimizing my losses. improvement for this trade was i could have got back in when it was holding the MAs on the 2 min pretty much exactly where i got in the first time. GOOD: entry, exit management RFI: R/R was far for NVDA ATR could have changed it to 2R MOOD: ok, not pleased i got shook out but it's something i'm working on, should have got back in CONSISTENT: yes i followed the plan and exited when i didn't like the price action. tried some SIM reversals, NVDA triple top didn't work and PCG double bottom that did work. What i did good today: managed the trade all the way to the end What i did bad today: didn't get back in the trade when it turned around What can i do better tomorrow: practice getting back in to trades that end up working.

Week 33 Recap Started out the week trading well but didn’t get the moves I was looking for. Really turned the week around on Wednesday with the AMD ORBD then on Thursday didn’t trade as well as the other days but did some good trade management on my exits. All in all, an ok week. Look forward to next week. My confidence is slowly rising now that I’m trusting myself more to trade setups and not jump in an unplanned trade. My cardinal rules of position size and stop loss are really effective, I haven’t missed a stop loss since I implemented the rules. · Weekly stats o 2.8 planned R/R (Goal: above 3.0) [Previous Week: 2.9] o 24/24 100% (Goal: above 80%) [Previous Week: 100%] o -$0.01 (Goal: $150) [Previous Week: $41.50] o 2/2 100% trades with the trend (Goal: 100%) [Previous Week: 100%] o 1/6 17% Non-optimal Entries (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 50%] o 0/6 0% Letting Losers Run (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 0%] o 0/6 0% No Setup (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 0%] o 2/6 33% true win percentage (Goal 45%) [Previous Week: 100%] · Highlights o AMD ORBD A+ setup and execution, started an A+ setups folder and added that picture to it. o Kept the losses to break even with my win % being really low this week. o Starting to feel more comfortable taking two trades in a day o CSCO trade management · Ongoing things to work on o Need to start trading reversal setups when I see them. Like the shooting star at HOTD on MU Tuesday. o Keep working on getting out of trades that aren’t working. I can always get back in if I’m wrong. I need to cultivate that mindset.

Thursday August 15th, 2019 Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade but busy all morning. First trade was an ORBU in CSCO. Almost took this in sim because the 50 MA was resistance on the 15 min chart and because i was afraid it wasn't going to break the HOTD but it did look like it was going to pop so i got in risking a new 2 min low. i planned to take half off at the 50MA on the 15min chart, which i did and then i held the rest to a new 2min low which happened immediately. Going back, I would have either taken all off at the MA or got out the other half at break even i pretty much broke even on this trade. GOOD: didn't FOMO and jump in, got in on a plan and did pretty well executing RFI: didn't have a full exit plan and ended up giving some profit back MOOD: good CONSISTENT: yes, but need to plan more Next trade was in $GE. took a reverse ABCD. My stop loss above VWAP at $8.52. I wanted to get in at $8.41 which would have been an ~2R to the $8.21 daily level. ended up hesitating on the new 2 min low then again on the new 5 min low, finally got in on the break of the low of pre-market at $8.38 giving $0.14 risk. it made new 5 min lows but it was not selling off like i thought it would. as soon as i got in and saw the daily range of 60 cents and saw my reward being $0.30 (2R) or $0.45 (3R) i figured it wasn't possible so i wrestled with the getting out because i didn't accept my risk or because it's just not selling off like it should be. finally decided to get out after a new 2min high, i just bailed at break even. glad i did because i would have got stopped out. it ended up doing a VWAP false break and then selling off hard. should have jumped back in but i don't have that capacity as a trader yet. i get too stuck on my opinions once my minds made up about the direction the stock is going to head. GOOD: got out of a trade that wasn't working RFI: too far of a risk given the range of the stock MOOD: fine, glad i got out. CONSISTENT: yes, ended up being a good choice to get out at break even What i did good today: trade management better than Monday and Tuesday What i did bad today: should have got all out at BE on $CSCO. What can i do better tomorrow: work on not letting my personal bias on a stock direction effect my trade entries. Can't trade tomorrow so this is it for the week. Ended up at almost exactly break even for the week. hope everyone has a green trading day and green Friday!

thank you sir!

Wednesday August 14th, 2019 Sleep: 6:45. Mood: good, excited to trade but feeling cautious this morning after Monday and Tuesday's results. Saw the harmonious short in AMD. it broke the pre-market low and was down trending on all the time frames. i waited for a pullback to the pre-market and even dollar $31 for the entry but pulled the trigger a little early. set my profit target for 3R and once it never really got close to my stop, hit my profit target on the second LOTD break. Extremely happy with this trade. GOOD: setup, R/R, entry, exit. well executed trade. RFI: could have got a better entry MOOD: pride. feel really great getting one trade that puts me flat for the week CONSISTENT: yes What i did good today: pushed myself to take a trade in the first 15 minutes What i did bad today: could have got a little bit better entry What can i do better tomorrow: keep trading good setups

Tuesday August 13th, 2019 Sleep: 8 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. took one trade in $MU. tried to do a 15MIN ABCD. got in on a new 2min high with volume on the 2min chart. it did a 2min engulfing the next candle which is a signal for me to get out but instead i held to my stop loss. GOOD: entry was good, stop loss was appropriate RFI: too flat for a true ABCD. had an early exit signal that i ignored. MOOD: frustrated CONSISTENT: yes, stuck to my plan What i did good today: waited for an entry on volume, stuck to my stop What i did bad today: I want to practice getting out of trades when i see clear indication is't not working and i should have done that today but i didn't What can i do better tomorrow: keep taking setups. Other comments for tomorrow: i want to keep trading but i'm tilted now so i'm just going to trade in sim. i do feel like i'm going a little crazy because i see the things i need to do after the fact but then everyday i keep repeating the same mistakes over and over. there's really nothing else to do besides keep practicing but it does feel like walking through quicksand some days.

Monday August 12th, 2019 Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. first trade was a 2min ABCD in FTCH. didn't take it the first one for the ORB because i didn't like the spread. then i didn't take the second one out of fear, finally took it on a pullback with a new 2min high hammer. great entry. it went up close to the HOTD but couldn't punch through and i got stopped out. GOOD: entry, R/R, exit at stop RFI: felt the trade wasn't going to have the volume and momentum to follow though on the move. gut was right. MOOD: fine, glad i got out at my stop CONSISTENT: yes, exactly to plan i noticed in my July trade review session that if i get stopped out. I pretty much always stop out on the next trade so I was thinking about only taking 1 trade a day to combat this. i decided though that i can't just take a 1R loss and be done with my day every time i stop out on my first trade so i took another trade in FTCH. it looked like it found a bottom and came up above VWAP and was holding the MAs on the 2min chart. i waited for an entry right on the MAs. nailed the entry, it just couldn't get the momentum to make a new highs and once it made a new 5min low, it dumped. i blame myself for not getting out on that new 5min low. i half figured that it might do a fake out and head higher but i should have been watching, instead i chose to shut the window and use the bathroom. got stopped out at my original 1R loss. GOOD: entry, stop loss level, setup RFI: should have got out earlier. MOOD: disappointed to start the week down -2R CONSISTENT: could have bailed earlier but i stuck to my plan. took a reverse ABCD in AMD on SIM that worked perfectly. should have just waited for that setup. didn't take it live because i'm at my max daily loss and it would just stop me out the moment i get in. What i did good today: did a great job with my entries and exits today. What i did bad today: traded FTCH which didn't have the volume to follow through on moves. What can i do better tomorrow: stop revenge trading the same stock i get stopped out in.

Week 32 Recap Ok week for me. Two live trades both winners. I regret not taking a couple other trades I was on Tuesday and Wednesday. Friday, I saw a trade in the afternoon that I almost took live but didn’t because I don’t trade in the afternoon but it ended up being a great trade. · Weekly stats o 2.9 planned R/R (Goal: above 3.0) [Previous Week: 2.5] o 8/8 100% (Goal: above 80%) [Previous Week: 94%] o $41.50 (Goal: $150) [Previous Week: -$73.67] o 2/2 100% trades with the trend (Goal: 100%) [Previous Week: 33%] o ½ 50% Non-optimal Entries (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 42%] o 0/2 0% Letting Losers Run (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 0%] o 0/2 0% No Setup (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 17%] o 2/2 100% true win percentage (Goal 45%) [Previous Week: 33%] · Highlights o All green trades this week o Great handle on emotions o Taking 1 live trade a day seems to be the right thing to do. · Ongoing things to work on o Have to take that 1 trade everyday o Try next week to take 1 live trade every day. o I’d like to work on my ORB setup in sim next week o Keep working on sticking to 3R range orders.

Friday August 9th, 2019 Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. quiet morning. no trades today. didn't like the market action in the first hour so i didn't take any live trades. took some sim trades in the afternoon. one in AMD worked great, got chopped up in MU

Thank you! You're right, I just don't like the total return less than 2R

Thursday August 8th, 2019 Sleep: 7.5 hours, Mood: good, ready to trade, quiet morning. Only took one trade today. i took an ascending wedge in AMD. After watching Aiman's recaps, all i'm seeing are wedges! i got in right at the break of HOTD. I was nervous about this trade because i get burned a lot taking trades at day lows and highs. i ended up taking off half at a daily level that i was thinking was 2:1 but realized it was only 1R. sold another half when it was hesitating to go higher and the final piece at 3R with a new 5min low. i should have just set my 3R range order and sat on my hands but i just didn't have the confidence this was going to work. i was planning on adding more on a pullback to the 9EMA on the 2min but it never happened. GOOD: took a trade! RFI: partialled too early MOOD: good CONSISTENT: no, selling was not to plan. What i did good today: took a good trade What i did bad today: nerves killed my exit strategy What can i do better tomorrow: stick to 3R plan.

Wednesday August 7th, 2019 Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: busy with work stuff all premarket. didn't take any live trades again. i wanted to take the WW ABCD but the spread was high and as soon as it broke the new 2min high it jumped 30 cents and i didn't want to chase it. took another ABCD in WW but in sim. it is currently in my favor 1R but i don't know if it's going to hit my PT. i did not take this one live either because it's getting later in the day and it looked like it wasn't going to break the $29 level so i took sim just to keep myself from taking a dumb live trade. My fear of entry is starting to worry me on the surface but the more i think about it the more i'm fine with it. my immediate concern is that if i keep missing these good trades i'm going to end up FOMO'ing a bad trade. I seem to be oscillating between overconfidence causing me to take too many trades and being too fearful to take a good ones. That being said, i think one of the most important parts of trading is finding that sweet spot between fear and overconfidence and i see my current situation as part of the learning process that will help me eventually get it right.

Tuesday August 6th, 2019 sleep: 6.5 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. a little tired. no trades today. didn't like anything for ORBs and i almost too ACB on an ABCD but after making a new 2min high, it didn't have the momentum to move higher so i didn't get in. like SQ for an ORBD but i didn't like the 200 and 50 MA on the 5 minute chart at the time but looking back i could have used those as profit target. i thought the price would just bounce around the two. missed two more short entries at pullbacks to the MAs in SQ. oh well.

Monday August 5th, 2019 Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. I spent a couple hours reviewing all of my July trades and i'm working on making a longer post this week but from my initial pass it looks like when i'm wrong, i'm immediately wrong and when i'm right, i'm catching a nice 3-4R move. i looked in to scaling out more but only on two or three trades would that have made sense last month. Goal moving forward is to stick to my 3R range orders and just try and make sure i'm taking setups that i'm comfortable with and getting good entries. Giving up on the momentum trades again for now, they're just not in my wheelhouse. First trade of the day was in TWTR. almost took it short on the new 5min low at 10 but it wasn't a good R/R to the LOTD so i held out. played this as an MA trend plus reverse ABCD. stop was a new 5min high, got in at the break of the first 2min low after touching the 9MA on the 2min chart. Almost got stopped out, it came within 4 cents of my stop but then it started making a descending wedge and once it broke lower, it hit my 3R profit target. GOOD: stuck with my trade, went according to plan RFI: could have got a better entry MOOD: good CONSISTENT: yes. What i did good today: took one good trade What i did bad today: still taking entries at new lows and not on pullbacks What can i do better tomorrow: wait for better entries

thank you! sure, here's a dropbox link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/i3b8wfi9903dobq/Blank Trade Log 2019.xlsx?dl=0