Rob C

Worse day in 9 months. A bit ironic I wrote in my monthly summary last night that I hadn’t hit max loss in 9 months. I am not trying to place a blame, though it will sound like it. I had an incident on Friday morning, after the trading session, which completely threw me mentally. I couldn’t focus on Friday and Saturday. But on Sunday I thought I recovered and then traded live this morning. Wow, I wasn’t myself from the moment the opening bell rang. I was breaking rules without any second thought. Finally, when I was down 1.5Xmax loss I was just waiting for the platform to auto liquidate my position as I requested through my broker. But it didn’t happen. I finally hit the panic point and exited my position at 2.5XMax Loss. Of course the stock instantly reversed the moment after I exited my position and went for a big run where I would have made a killing. I then immediately turned off my platform and walked away. Looking back on it now the reversal was a good thing. I shouldn’t be rewarded for breaking my rules. Maximum pain is what should happen. I checked my emails with my broker and I see the request for the liquidation of my position and no new trades when I reached unrealized+realized loss of 1.5Xmax loss. Then I saw the broker saying they can’t do that. Not sure why I missed that I thought I had that risk control for months. I requested it again today and hopefully they are able to comply. I have a reasonably sophisticated way of determining if I am physically able to trade. If what is preventing you is completely in your head it is a bit vague to set limits. I guess if you are not sure if you are ready, you are not. I will be on SIM only until I know I am ready to go back. Hopefully, everyone else fared better today.

Live trading summary of the month of October. An interesting month. I made 34 trades, which is about average. I am flat again for the month (as usual) but I think positively of this month. I was down -8R by the halfway point. I made a few adjustments and I ended up the month up +0.5R. The adjustments I made: First, I switched so I only have one montage. I started taking two trades at once and I was doing well, but I knew that was a bad habit and I needed to stop. Once I did I was better at reading the tape, because I could focus completely on it. Second, was I moved my B/E stop outs by 4 cents (not in my favor). I missed two HUGE runs early in October by the stock dropping down and stopping me out at B/E by 1 or 2 cents and going on for 10R runs. Third, I lowered my R from $30 to $10. I always used a R that was the maximum I could handle mentally. But that is not correct. I need to place it in a sweet spot. High enough I feel I am trading live but not stressed about the money. Actually I am increasing now from $10 to $15 next week. Finally, I set up buttons that automatically setup a limit order at 1.5R for a 50% selling of shares. I take partial profits way to early. With that limit order in and on my screen I have more patience waiting for it. A lot of members of my chatroom set a limit order at 2R, but my data shows that very few of my trades make it to 2R. But 1.5R is common enough to make it worth while. Though I create a score card for each trade, I don’t track it any more on a monthly level. I am glad to say I did not hit the max daily loss on any day this month (and the last 9 months). Goals for November: 1) Don’t go hulk. 2) Learn to control your emotions after a loss. 3) Keep using the limit order on 1.5R 4) Increase risk per trade $15. 5) Keep improving health. 6) Keep making SIM trades on 5/10/15 min ORBs 7) Start taking small live 5/10/15 min ORBs. At least once a week. 8] Take a break with the Van Tharp course for traders. There was one recent chapter actually took a month, working almost every day, to finish. It burned me out for the course and I need a break from it. At least a week, but I am OK restarting in December. 9) Work on being able to manage a trade with a bad entry. Either exit or take shares off the trade to renormalize the risk. 10) Allow a third trade if a previous trade was exited well early for a tactical trade management purpose. 11) Stop out at B/E if price reached 1R and retraced. 12) I can look at P/L window again once the trading session is over. 13) The goal is to make money. Stop caring if you are right or wrong about a trade. If it was a good setup and well managed, you will always be right. Plan for next week. BABA is in play at the open (1min ORBs) but not showing much for the 2/5/15min ORBs. AAPL is only in play for the 5min ORB. MU choppier than usual and only should be a focus if gapping big or unusually high volume.

Friday 11/01/2019 I had a well-being score of 7/10 this morning. Due to my wife having car troubles I was unable to trade yesterday. Today was the last day of my trading month (I always end the month on a Friday). I took 2 live trades this morning with BABA. My watchlist today was: AAPL, BABA, MU, AMD, ANET and PINS. I didn’t take PINS that seriously because I did not have shares to short. My game plan was brief, no trading before 1min except for BABA. BABA had a good quarter, popped in premarket than dropped and slowly moved back to the positive all in PM. Thus, the daily showed a nice hammer for the day. I had a strong bias that the price will pop at the open and if I could get in when it broke the 179.30 tech level I would go long. 15 seconds before the open I saw a L2 signal and went long. This was a bit too aggressive and not well disciplined. The 180.41 daily level was my target with 178.70 as my stop. Though in normal trading that stop would have been OK but for premarket that was a bit tight and should have at least went half shares. But I went full shares I was so confident. But, looking back that was too reckless. I placed a limit order to sell half my shares just below the 179.80 level which was both a daily and PM level and is at ~1.5R. Luckily the price did pop at the open and my order was filled. Then the price dropped really fast and I should have exited the trade, but thought to set an order at B/E. Wow so much for the stop order, the price flew through my B/E with such a big slide I gave almost all of my profit back in the bad fill. Then the trade looked like a short with this high volume reverse hammer and two very large sells at the bid. I hope that was the reason and not revenge for the bad exit, but I flipped the position and went short. It was a tight stop at 179.02 daily with a target of 177.94. I did place a limit order at the 1.5R to help me be more patient, but the bad exit on the previous trade had me a little jittery. So I sold 50% at 1R. But after that I partialled better, with 25% at 2R (VWAP) and 1/8 shares at 4R (200MA-5min). Then sold the last 1/8 at a new 1min high. I also took a trade with AAPL in SIM for +1R. Score cards (live trades). BABA BABA 81% 87% What I did good today: I can say that both my trade ideas were correct. What I am grateful from today? I am grateful for ending the month on a +2R day. I know I didn’t execute well today, so the profit helps take the sting away. What do I need to improve on: Too aggressive on the first trade on the entry and not aggressive enough on the exit. Essentially, I need a lot of work on trade management. But, at least I feel like I am making progress this month.

Wednesday 10/30/2019 I had a well-being score of 7/10 this morning. Nerves were a bit high due to running a little late in the morning so I wasn’t finished with my PM checklist until moments before the open. I was also nervous by my end of the month self-destructive behaviors were going to kick in. I took 2 live trades this morning with MAT and AMD. My watchlist today was: AAPL, BABA, MU, AMD, GE and MAT. My game plan was brief, no trading before 1min except for MAT and only if it breaks all through all the tech levels. MAT gapped heavily up. And it open with a ton of daily levels below and all the MAs above it. So if it could punch through all the MAs above it I was planning to go long with hopes of the price breaking the PM high then there are no levels to hold it back. The price action on MAT at the open was way too wild with 20-30 cent swings every few seconds which is huge for a $13 stock. The price swings started calming down and I was looking for an entry then I saw 18K shares buy hit the ask and I went long. My fill was bad, but expected. I only took a small share size because my stop was all the way down to the 200MA-1min due to the huge price swings. My target was the 13.45 daily level. After about 90 seconds of wild price action the price calm down a bit and I moved my stop up to the 12.80 level which allowed me to increase my share size. Under one second after my fill someone dropped 19k shares at the bid and tanked the price through my stop. But I watched the price being bought up and dropped and bought up over and over. Looks like there was strong support under 12.75 so I held. Was this good discretionary thinking or was this a drop in discipline? Difficult to tell. I think it was a bit of both. The price moved up but I was nervous so I sold 25% at HOPM. But the price moved right through it to my 1.5R target and the limit order was filled. The price was so wild again that I placed a stop order at B/E. B/E was reached soon and there was an expected slide with the fill. Once the trade was over the 5min chart looked very bearish but there were a ton of daily levels below that I was not willing to take another trade on it. Now usually on my last week of the month, due to very high self sabotage behaviors I usually switch to SIM after I make any profit. So my first instinct was to switch to SIM but I held myself back because I like the setup I saw on AMD. AMD had huge volume in PM and I really like that it open the premarket at the PDC then dropped 50 cents then for the last PM hour the price worked its way back to PDC. The first 1min cadle was a doji then it really sold off. Then 3 white 1min candles with HLs. I went long when the price broke all the MAs. My target was the 33.16 level and my stop was the bottom of the candle wick. R/R was only a little over 1 but I liked the look of it. And the T/S was really flying so I was hoping it would keep moving in the same direction. There were huge green buys flying in but the price did not move much. I placed a 1.5R limit order and waited. The price suddenly dropped and that is when I noticed my share size was wrong by 50% (too large). I wish I realized that when I was in the profit I could have shed some shares off, now in the negative find it more difficult. But now my stop out trigger finger was twitchier knowing my incorrect share size and I stopped out at the break of the 32.7 level and not the bottom of the wick as planned. The price instantly reversed on the penny of my stop. I had to walk away from the platform after that because I knew it was going to go back up and reach my target. And I really wish I stopped trading live after my first winning trade. When I came back to the platform I switched my platform to SIM and then took a look at AMD and yep the price had punch through my target. That is when I noticed I forgot to remove my limit order which was triggered as a short. So I had to switch the platform back to live and cover. I did take a nice reversal with AAPL in SIM. I usually don’t try reversals since it always goes bad. So it was nice to have a reversal winner. Score cards (live trades). MAT AMD 86% 76% What I did good today: I can say that both my trade ideas were correct and if properly executed it would have been a profitable day. What I am grateful from today? I am grateful for only being -0.7R down today. My self destructive behaviors were in full gear today so I was lucky to get out with not too much damage. What do I need to improve on: Watch the share size this week. Though I usually am quite solid at it, the wrong share size is my most common self sabotage weapon I use against myself.

Tuesday 10/29/2019 I had a well-being score of 7/10 this morning. PG&E (ticker PCG) turned our power back on yesterday afternoon. I took 2 live trades this morning with AAPL. My watchlist today was: AAPL, BABA, MU, ROKU, AMD and GRUB. I actually had a small game plan this morning. Don’t trade AAPL <1min since the last two days it gave false setups <1min. Make sure you wait for the volume to arrive on BABA before you determine direction. And don’t take GRUB on a trade <5min since I have no idea how it trades. Of course I broke the first part of the plan. L I had BABA on my main chart, but I couldn’t help to see AAPL making a perfect setup. It open higher and bounced hard off of a tech level at 249.25 and dropped and made a nice hammer finishing breaking the PCD and going green to red. I couldn’t help it and moved it to my montage but still resisted entering the trade. But, on the montage I saw that all of its >400K volume was small size trades which I really liked. Then finally the last straw, someone hit the bids with a 10K share sale and the whole T/S tape went red. So I shorted with the LOPM as my target and with the 249.25 level as my stop. Luckily the market was good enough to teach me a lesson not to break my trading plan by instantly reversing and getting stopped out quickly for a full –R. I am even upset that I didn’t exit the trade as soon as it went against me since that is what happens when AAPL is no longer in play. It creates a nice 1min hammer than reverses. But no, I apparently prefer trying to be right than making money and held on until my stop. What the chart and T/S looked like when I took the trade: As soon as I exited and thought to myself it looks like a good long now some big buys hit the ask and I went long. I actually got a good fill with $250 as my target and 200MA-1min as my stop. Soon after I entered I created a limit order for 1.5R. The price missed my order twice by 5 cents so I was feeling some anxiety. The price finally filled my order (barely, so I felt lucky). Two minutes later I was feeling shaky about the trade and sold some more shares, then all out at B/E. Thus, I made +1R and finished the day flat. I really liked GRUB as a 5min ORB since it was making an ABCD pattern as well. Since I stopped out for a full –R and broke my trading plan today I was not allowed to take a third trade. Thus, I took the trade in SIM which turned out to be a +3R win. Score cards (live trades). AAPL AAPL 85% 95% What I did good today: Waited for my 1.5R limit order to fill. Sold some shares when I lost faith in the trade instead of waiting for B/E to sell. What I am grateful from today? I am grateful for being flat today. It should have been worse since I didn’t follow my trading plan. What do I need to improve on: Follow my morning trading plan! Must control the FOMO.

Thanks Mike. And I have been very impressed with your discipline and amazing journalling this year.

Plan for week starting 10/28/19. Well PG&E (stock ticker PCG) has cut off our power again starting yesterday. So I will not be trading Monday and possibly Tuesday. Interestingly Friday was the end of 4 weeks of trading this month. Though October is a 5 week month. So at the end of my months I tend to be finished at B/E. I guess my subconscious thought it was on the end of month so I am at 0.2R so far in October. But I was -8R down this month and slowly worked my way back. It should be interesting what happens next week and what week my subconscious thinks it is. Back test data shows AAPL is back in play at the open. But for 1min or sooner ORBs. BABA is also back in play at the open for 1/2min ORBs. MU and ROKU are no longer in play at the open. Due to a shortened week don’t worry about the 5/15min ORBs. If you take one great, if not that is OK. AAPL may be good right at the open, BABA after 1min. Keep $10 risk per trade. Try to set a limit order for 50% shares at 1.5R. Also try and get out at B/E if the price reaches 1R and retraces. Keep trading 5/10/15 min on SIM Continue with the Van Tharp’s Peak Performance Course for Traders. Remember you can take a third trade in a day. Try and take partial profits on the way down as well if you lose faith in the trade. Instead all out at B/E or exit too early.

Friday 10/25/2019 I had a well-being score of 6.5/10 this morning. I took 1 live trade this morning was with AAPL. My watchlist today was: AAPL, BABA, MU, NVDA, INTC and YNDX. INTC was on my primary screen at the open. I was watching and waiting for INTC to settle down and I saw AAPL setting up. AAPL quickly created a nice hammer and I went long when it broke the 50MA which it was respected in the premarket. My target was $244 with my stop at the LOPM. The price moved up reasonably quick as SPY started moving up as well. I took 25% partial at PDC and another 25% at the HOPM. Both partials were planned and were fine. Then I took a poor partial at the 1.5R level. I think just because I am use to taking one there. But had no reason to. Then the 1min chart started forming a really nice wedge with the top at 243.97. I really thought if it breaks that level it was really going to move and I will end the week with a nice 2R trade. It did break the wedge, but quickly fizzled and I exited the trade, shortly there after, when things started looking gloomy. The wedge that formed: Once the trade finished, all the other stocks on my watchlist, either already moved or did not have a setup. After a few minutes I called it quits for the week. I didn’t even take a SIM trade. Score card (live trade). AAPL 94% What I did good today: I like the AAPL trade. I liked I caught the top with a partial profit. What I am grateful from today? I am grateful to get +1.2R today, since the trade fizzled after less than a 2R move. What do I need to improve on: For the most part I liked my trading today.

Thursday 10/24/2019 I had a well-being score of 5/10 this morning. Only 4 hours of sleep again. I took 1 live trade this morning was with AMAT. Lots of gappers this morning. My watchlist today was: AAPL, BABA, MU, PYPL, TWTR and AMAT. TSLA was too crazy for me, so it didn’t make the watchlist. I really liked the daily chart for AMAT. Just before the open the price popped up and found resistance at the last daily level before a lot of open space. Then about 30sec after the open it popped up again and found resistance at the same level. Volume was good but it sat at the level for a few seconds. Then a mild signal appeared in L2. It was only 11k shares, which for a $50 stock is not big, but it was the final signal I needed to go long. But there is an issue, Since we have broken out of a range in the daily I don’t have any target. Also, the only possible stop was 50 cents away at the 52.69 level. So I went small share size so I had the correct risk for a 50c stop. But, I was hoping I may be able to add some more shares later. After 2 minutes the price formed a good level at 52.40, so I can add shares with VWAP as my stop. As soon as I did the price dropped and almost stopped me out. Then a minute later finally broke out a bit and I took a 25% early partial mostly due to nerves and seeing SPY really dropping. But, I should have been more patient because the price continued up and I took another 25% at 1.5R shortly after (which should have been my first partial). Then 3 minutes later I took another 25% at 2.5R. Then the price dropped fast and I thought SPY is finally acting on the price and I exited the trade. I took 3 SIM trades which I am flat. Score card (live trade). AMAT 92% What I did good today: I like the setup on AMAT What I am grateful from today? I am grateful to get +1.4R today, especially since I was long when SPY was plummeting. What do I need to improve on: Add shares on the pull back!!

Wednesday 10/23/2019 I had a well-being score of 6/10 this morning. I took 1 live trade this morning was with AAPL. TXN gapped down and took the rest of the semi’s down with it. So they were my focus. TXN was on my primary chart at the open and side charts were: AAPL, BABA, MU, NVDA and ROKU. TXN open with no direction. I quickly noticed AAPL had lots of volume without any large blocks. I also liked it was bullish going into the open. The price moved up slowly and broke the 242.20 level than the price sat on a spot for several seconds with T/S really moving. It felt like it was a coiled up spring. Then I saw some reasonably large asks in L2 and I went long. Since we are at an all time high I didn’t really have a target but I had a tight stop using the 242.20 level. The price immediately moved a few cents buying up the asks then sat again. I placed a limit order at 1.5R (50% shares) and tried to sit on my hands. About 45 seconds later it filled my limit order. Then a minute after that I was stopped out at B/E. AAPL’s L2 entry signal: I switch to SIM right after the AAPL trade since I really wanted to take a trade with TXN but was really nervous trading it live, even with small share size. So I switched to SIM early today and took a losing trade with TXN (-1R). Then I took two more SIM trades, both winning, to finish my SIM trading positive. (+0.8R). Score cards (live trade). AAPL 94% What I did good today: I liked I caught the L2 signal today on AAPL. What I am grateful from today? I am grateful I switch to SIM early and locked in my live gains (+0.7R). What do I need to improve on: I was happy with my trading today.

Tuesday 10/22/2019 I had a well-being score of 6.5/10 this morning. Feel surprisingly OK for having only 4 hours of sleep Took 3 live trades this morning was with NVDA, MCD and HAS. I liked a lot of stocks in the premarket. I chose AAPL, BABA, NVDA, ROKU, MCD and HAS. HAS was on my main screen, but NVDA set up first. NVDA had gapped up ~1.5% in PM and has strong opening volume. It created a small hammer and went through the MAs. I went long when it broke the HOPM and got a good fill. My target was quite far away at the 202.74 daily level and my stop at the 200MA-1min. the R/R was really large. Then I made a hot key mistake. I meant to press my hot key to set a limit order at 1.5R instead I instantly sold 50% shares at 0.7R. So even though it reached my target I only made 2R. But after that kind of hot key mistake I am really happy squeezing 2R out of it. My next trade was early 5min ORB on MCD. The price created a mini ABCD below VWAP. I was waiting for the new 1min low to go short, than I heard Andrew say he was going short. I usually don’t do well on stocks that Andrew and myself are in the same trade. I did hesitate a second then went short with half share size. Though my target was $200 there were some really strong levels to pull the price down (LOTD and the 201.20 daily level). My stop was the high of the previous candle. As soon as I took the trade T/S screeched to a halt. I got all out before my stop. I do like I bailed on the trade before Andrew announced that he did. I really liked HAS for a 15min ORB. HAS created a small 15min candle that was just breaking through VWAP. The 5min chart looked great with three bullish candles HH/HL. Volume was solid so I went long (half shares) when the price broke a PM level I had marked. I thought the 103.82 daily level above it was weak so my target was the $105 level with the 103.07 level as my stop. To my surprise the price did bounce hard from the 103.82 level and I was quickly stopped out. Investigating after the trade to double check if that daily level was stronger than I thought I noticed my chart was set wrong. It was set for 2 days data not one so the 200MA was in the wrong place. Actually, the price bounced from the 200MA. I wouldn’t have taken the trade at that time if I saw that. The chart I used for the trade (2 days of data). See below for the correct chart. Compared to the chart I should have used which showed the strong resistance obvious. Score cards (live trades). NVDA MCD HAS 87% 93% 91% What I did good today: Lots of good learning today. I traded a 1min, 5min and 15min ORB live today. What I am grateful from today? 33% win rate. A big hotkey mistake and another chart mistake, that both went against me. So I am really grateful I am still up +1.4R for the day. What do I need to improve on: Watch the chart settings. It looks so obvious now that my chart Y scale was off, but I didn’t notice during trading.

Hi Mike, thanks for the note. I did have exiting rules but they have proved incorrect. I analyze the data again and create new ones which again prove to be incorrect. Then I don't trust my rules anymore and take partial profit to quickly. So right now I am trying a "discovery" style, where I will try some different rules, more to teach myself patience and discipline more than optimized for profit. So far so good. Hopefully a more permanent set of rules will be designed from this.

Monday 10/21/2019 I had a well-being score of 7/10 this morning. Was on a >1min restriction this week. Took 2 live trades this morning was with YNDX and ROKU. YNDX, ROKU and AAPL were the stocks I liked the most in the PM. I liked ROKU the most but it was on SSR. AAPL’s daily chart looked great, ready for a breakout. YNDX gapped up big with lots of volume and I liked how it traded last time. Though I liked YNDX the least of the 3, I placed it on my only montage. So I actually traded all of those 3 stocks today. Two live and one SIM. All 3 setup really nicely before 1min after the open and all 3 would have been winners. But due to my 1min restriction I had mixed results. YNDX opened with good volume (but not great) and created a nice hammer and broke a daily level when it finished its hammer. This is my favorite setup. But it occurred less than 1 minute so I waited. After a minute the price passed all the obstacles and there was just open space. It did move 1% from open, but since it gapped 10% I thought t wasn’t extended. So I went long at the break of the 1min wick with 33.68 daily level as my target and VWAP as my stop. The price did move 10 cents in my favor than retraced and I was stopped out (yes by a penny as usual) for a full -1R. But that’s OK I was going to get stopped out a minute later anyway. ROKU had a strong open with OK volume (also not great) but went red to green. I was about 50 cents late to the entry, but I was still in the YNDX trade. R/R was still good even with the late entry. My target was the 200MA-5min with $130 as my stop. I set a limit order at 1.5R (50% shares) and waited. It took a minute to get my limit order filled, but then the price dropped fast and I was out at B/E. A few cents lower it reversed again and reached my target. I took 1 SIM trade with AAPL for +2.7R Score cards (live trades). YNDX ROKU 89% 92% What I did good today: Traded fine with the new DAS setup. I was patuent waiting for my 1.5R limit order to be filled. What I am grateful from today? Not trading in the first minute. Grateful for my -.3R today since I did not trade my best today. What do I need to improve on: Patience. Both setups were just OK. I should have waited for a setup with more volume.

Plan for week starting 10/21/19. I reduced my risk per trade, last week, to $10 and it worked out OK. I changed my DAS setup, this weekend, so I only have one Montage. I am starting to get more comfortable taking two trades at once. I need to prevent that. Back test data shows the usual stocks are no longer in play at the open. AAPLs amazing 15min ORBs from two weeks ago were gone last week. The only stock showing promise is ROKU and only on the 1min/2min ORB. Here is my plan for this week: No trading before 1min after the open I must take at least one 5min ORB and one 15min ORB live this week. If I have not taken either by Thursday I am placing myself on a no first 5min rule for Thursday and Friday. ROKU is worth a chart since it may be in play for 1min/2min ORB. AAPL 5min ORB may become in play later in the week. Keep $10 risk per trade. Try to set a limit order for 50% shares at 1.5R. Also try and get out at B/E if the price reaches 1R and retraces. Keep trading 5/10/15 min on SIM Don’t add to any trade, even winners. Continue with the Van Tharp’s Peak Performance Course for Traders. Remember you can take a third trade in a day. Try and take partial profits on the way down as well if you lose faith in the trade. Instead all out at B/E or exit too early.

Van Tharp Institute Peak Performance Course for Traders Vol 3: How to Control Losing Attitudes Chapter 4: How to use your brain We mostly receive low quality data from the markets. Psychologists estimate that 80%-95% of the information we pay attention to in our heads is total junk. So our thoughts are mostly junk we mistake as reality and the only info we get from the markets is vague concepts that adds more junk to your head. Oh boy! This means that traders do not have direct sensory feedback about their trading performance. Research shows that one of the most important attributes a trader can have is personal control. Only 10%, of the top traders, answered this question true: “I don’t have control over the direction of my life is taking.” 60% of the bottom traders answered it true. There is a large difference between the world and our experience of it. Investment success comes from internally representing events appropriately; it has nothing to do with the events themselves. You trade your beliefs in the markets not the markets themselves. Investment success requires that you develop an adequate internal representation of yourself and the market. Internal models develop through three processes: generalization, deletion and distortion. We generalize what we see or experience in the market. If we believe something about the world we pay extra attention to information that supports that belief. Contrary information is deleted. Deletion reduces the world to proportions we are capable of handling. An interesting experiment performed on distortion. A group was given playing cards and asked to recognize them In the deck there were a few abnormal cards (like a red spade). Many, in the experiment, identified the abnormal cards as normal. Some, even with a long exposure (40x what was needed to recognize a normal card) were still not recognizing the abnormal card. They saw what they expected to see. We see patterns in the charts that we want to see. We have to break through the distortions by analysis. The course now asks to take the answers from the DT (Distorted Thinking) test taken in the last chapter and the answer questions to help you evaluate your internal models. If I answered true on any DT Test question I need to answer questions listed in the course. I only answered true on 3 questions out of 15. That seems like a low number. Not fully sure why I don’t generalize much. I did notice on my trader’s inventory profile, one of the very few positive attributes I had was I take responsibility over my trading performance (or lack of it). Maybe that helps. The question I stated was true: After that one big loss, I’ve been afraid of that market. Q: How does that loss cause you to be afraid? Do not feel in control. Q: How specifically are you afraid? I feel that any trade in that market has a high probability for failure. Q: What is it about the market that scares you? I feel I cannot trust any stock (or the CEO of that company) in that market Q: Does that have to do with the market or you? Both I should always cut my losses short? I answered true. Q:What would happen if you didn’t cut your losses short? Their accumulated sum would be larger than my winnings. Q:Should you always cut your losses short? No. If you have a really good stop and indicators are still in your favor, you may miss the big move. Q:How should you cut your losses short? Ideally at break even. Whenever my account value drops by more than 30%, I get depressed. Q:If your account value did not drop by more than 30%, then you would not get depressed? Is that true? Not necessarily. If I am not seeing progress, or digression that would affect my mood negatively. Q:What specifically depresses you? Not seeing progress over a large time scale. Q:You would be fine if your account dropped by 20% or 29%? If I saw progress in my trading at the same time as the drop, that would be fine. Trying to learn how I internally represent a memory the course ask you to choose a memory that occurred yesterday. Then review it step by step with respect to the submodalities supplied in the course. My memory from yesterday occurred while my family and me were at a pumpkin patch. First the course wants to answer the questions from a visual memory perspective. Was the memory visual? Yes Visualize, did you see the picture? Yes Angle of view? From my eyes Brightness? Darker than I know it was yesterday Color? The memory is in color, but minimally Color intensity? Weak Contrast? Weak Distance from you? Closer than I know what really happen. Focus? A bit blurry Framed or panoramic? Framed Movie or still? Still Number of pictures? ~5 Self in or out of picture? Out Size of central objects? Correct human size Size of picture? ~3X3’ 3-D quality? Good Then you are asked to answer questions on how to remember while using your Auditory system. Did you hear voices? Yes Whose voices? My wife’s and daughter’s Where were the voices located? To my side and behind me Were they clear? Yes Loud? Yes What was the pitch? Realistic Timbre? Realistic Was the rhythm present? Not really Then you are asked to imagine you are on the ledge of a 40 story building, with the wind at you back. Then imagine looking straight down. What were the details from your memory on the ledge, were the feelings intense or weak? Surprisingly intense Was movement present? Yes Was it steady or intermittent? Intermittent Where were the feelings located? Heart pounding How much of your body contained those feelings? Just the chest Were your feelings warm or cool? Cool Did you feel texture? No Rough or smooth? NA Was it flexible or rigid? NA Was any pain present? No These details are called kinesthetic submodalities. Next ask to compare a time that you were stuck versus when you were resourceful. I compared when I was unable to get out of a trade on Etrade and another time I was stuck in a trade on DAS but figured my way out. My memory of both are just visual. Stuck, Resourceful Was the memory visual? Yes, Yes Visualize, did you see the picture? Yes, Yes Angle of view? From my eyes, From my eyes but a closer view Brightness? Darker than I know it was, Darker than I know it was Color? The memory is in color but minimally, in color Color intensity? Weak, normal Contrast? Weak, normal Distance from you? Normal, Closer than I know what really happen. Focus? A bit blurry, still blurry but better Framed or panoramic? Framed, Framed Movie or still? Still, Movie Number of pictures? ~3, NA Self in or out of picture? Out, Out Size of central objects? Correct, Correct Size of picture? Screen size, Screen size 3-D quality? Good, Good

Thursday 10/18/2019 I had a well-being score of 7/10 this morning. Was on a >1min restriction this morning. Took 2 live trades this morning was with ROKU and GIL. ROKU and KO were on my two primary charts with MU, AAPL, and GIL on my secondary charts. I liked KO and GIL, but was nervous trading GIL since I have never looked at the stock before so I had it on a side chart. ROKU open with OK volume and made a small 1min hammer. Then made a bullish candle and I went long at the break of the 50MA-1min. My stop was VWAP and my target PDC. R/R~2. It took about a minute to get stopped out. I keep forgetting I need to trade ROKU like I trade BABA and give it a large stop since it tends to slide through VWAP and reverses a lot. Essentially this is what happen. The price dropped a few cents below my stop and reversed and reached my target. I should have used the bottom wick as my stop. Right after I stopped out on ROKU I looked around and saw GIL dropping back to VWAP. I was hoping to go long after it bounced from VWAP. As I transferred GIL to my main screen I heard Andrew announcing he was going to take GIL. Usually if I take the same trade as Andrew it is usually doesn’t work out well for me. So I hesitated for a second, then decided to take the trade. For some reason I took a really tight stop (at the end of the wick). That is not correct and it should have been VWAP. So what looks like I took too many partials, really wasn’t. I took partial profits a t 1R, 2R, and 3R. Then after 3 minutes and 3 rejections of the $25 level I decided to take a large partial if it bounced from $25 a fourth time. It did get rejected and I took a large partial locking in 2R profit. Then seconds later it shot through $25 (figures). I didn’t have many shares left but I decided to squeeze out what I could. Though I caught a 7R run I only made 2.3R I took 3 SIM trades where I am flat. Score cards (live trades). ROKU GIL 83% 88% What I did good today: Setups were fine. What I am grateful from today? Not trading in the first minute. Grateful for my +1R today. What do I need to improve on: As usual trade management. Plan for tomorrow: I plan redesigning my DAS Platform this weekend and work on my Trader Performance course. I am losing the momentum on it.

Thursday 10/17/2019 I had a well-being score of 6/10 this morning. Took 2 live trades this morning was with NFLX. NFLX and ROKU were on my two primary charts. I really liked NFLX was selling off into the open, though I didn’t have a bias. Then NFLX had lots of volume at the open and was strong. In 20 seconds the price moved up a dollar, engulfed the last 1min PM candle and almost engulfed the PM 5min candle. I waited for a break of the 305.84 daily level and I went long. Though I have traded BABA a lot, so I should know better, you need a REALLY clean break with these stocks that always have a large spread. It was just a small break, so I should have waited. My target was the 200MA-1min and 50MA-5min with a long stop down to the 304 level. What the chart looked like when I took the trade: The price instantly reversed on my and hit my stop within seconds. At that moment it looked like a really good short and I flipped my position. My new stop was the 305.84 daily level and I really didn’t have a target since it was just wide open space on my chart. Which I have learned is not a good thing. But there was a 301.67 daily level that could be a good place to take a first partial. The price did move in my favor. But then the price stalled and the one big bid disappeared from L2 so I took a 25% partial. Then there was a really big buy on T/S but the big bid came back. So I had mixed signals. I was right at B/E and I remember my prefrontal cortex trying to convince my reptilian sector of my brain that it is time to get out of the trade for a small profit. But the reptilian part one and I stayed in the trade. I stopped out when I clean break of the $304 level was made and a sizable ask appeared. So actually the setups were fine today. It was my trade management that caused the -1.5R today. Then I made way to many SIM trades. Most of them undisciplined. Score cards (live trades). NFLX NFLX 83% 90% What I did good today: Setups were fine. What I am grateful from today? Stopping out early on the second NFLX trade. What do I need to improve on: Trade management. Plan for tomorrow: No trading in the first minute (except AAPL/BABA and only if they are in play). I need to practice trading in other time frames.

Wednesday 10/16/2019 I had a well-being score of 5/10 this morning. Sloppy trading today. I am grateful I finished at break even. Took 2 live trades this morning was with ROKU and BAC. I really liked both the daily chart on both stocks (ROKU and BAC). Since they trade completely different, it was uncomfortable having them as my center focus, but I did. I also had AAPL on a side chart to look for 10/15min ORBs and YNDX since it had a small pendant forming on the daily. ROKU immediately went green to red, but I was not ready to trade it. ROKU is so choppy I needed to wait for a really strong sense of direction. The plan for BAC was to go long if it broke the HOPM with volume. So I was watching both, then I felt ROKU moved enough to short it. But, it was 75 cents away from the stop (PDC) and ROKU loves to swing way pass tech levels and then bounce. So I gave it a $1 stop all the way 25 cents passed PDC. But, since the target was the 200MA-5min I still had a R/R>3. The price started to move in my favor, but this is where I ran into poor trading. I am not sure why but I took a look at BAC. But, ROKU is the type of stock you need full attention so I shouldn’t even have looked. But, I did and saw I missed my entry and the stock was heading up. I still can’t believe I chased it and got into another trade. Two trades at once is fine for stocks I really know well, but this was not smart. So I went long with BAC as well and got filled 2R above my originally planned entry point. Not sure why I did that. There was no R/R. Now I am in two trades at once so I didn’t feel comfortable setting up my 1.5R limit order with ROKU. So this proves how helpful it is to have that limit order up on my chart. Because without it I went back to my regular MO. I started hitting the sell button like a woodpecker on steroids. Too bad because ROKU did reach my target and I only made 1R. So I am really embarrassed about the BAC trade. It was definitely FOMO. I was just upset I missed my entry so I went long anyway. My stop was the HOPM, which should have been my entry. The price went against me immediately and slowly moved down to my stop over the next few minutes. Of course 2 cents after my stop it reversed and went back up passed the HOTD. I also took one SIM trade. A 10min ORB on AAPL. I made +1R. Score cards (live trades). ROKU BAC 88% 60% What I did good today: I did catch ROKU with a solid setup. What I am grateful from today? For being at B/E after a bad day trading. What do I need to improve on: Really need to limit the two simultaneous trades, unless I really know the stocks well.

It was great you were able to take profit with just one sell. I don't have the discipline to do that yet. I was curious where your potential stop was on this trade?

Tuesday 10/15/2019 I had a well-being score of 6.5/10 this morning. A bit of an emotional rollercoaster today. But I feel better now. I learned a lot today. Plus, I just donated my car to charity this morning and I am getting some good vibes from that. Took 2 live trades this morning was with NVDA and JPM. I really liked both the daily and PM on both stocks. Really liked the gap between tech levels that both were sitting on. NVDA immediately had volume and found support on the 189.60 level and made a small hammer. I went long with the 192.77 daily level as my target and the 189.60 level as my stop. The R/R is too big ~7. I usually don’t do that well with that large of a R/R. But there was the HOPM 1.5R away for a good first partial. The price popped up but missed my 1.5R limit order by a few cents. Then the price retraced. By my current rule if the price moved 1R and retraces I get out at B/E. So I placed my stop order at B/E. The price came down to stop me out by 2 cents. Then the price immediately reversed and went on a 10R run in the next 7 minutes without me. My attention briefly moved to JPM where it was setting up for a 2min ORB. Then I moved back when I thought I hadn’t canceled the 1.5R limit order on NVDA. But I didn’t see anything in my order window so my attention swung back to JPM for a few seconds. But then I thought, “No I really have no memory of cancelling the order.” I looked back and the price reversed so quickly it took out my limit order and now I am shorting NVDA which is flying higher. I covered quickly for a -1.5R loss. You will also see a third trade on the chart, but it was a SIM trade (+2R). So when my attention finally went back onto JPM I missed the 2min ORB entry. But T/S were flying and I thought entering at the break of the LOTD is not bad either. The R/R is now less than 2, but the volume at that moment was great so I went short. My target was the 118 tech level with VWAP as my stop. I set my 1.5R limit order which was just above the 118 level, which was perfect. The price bounced hard at the 200MA, where I should have probably taken a partial, but I was not ready and it bounced fast. Since the move was greater than 1R I set my B/E stop. I was then stopped out by few cents. Then the price reversed and made it to my target. So two good trades both ruined by my B/E stop rule. According to the data I have collected for the last few months, stocks usually do reverse on me if they retrace after a 1R move. So I will keep that. But I need to give it more room than B/E. I tend to enter as the price breaks an important level. It is my style of trading. Which means there is a good chance the price will find support/resistance on the level I chose to enter the trade. So it is not a coincidence I keep getting stopped out within a few cents. My B/E stop hot key uses the AvgCost +/-2 cents. I added the two cents to help with the fill slide. But that makes the situation worse. So I rewrote the script and added the opposite. So a B/E sell will be 2 cents below AvgCost and 2 cents above for a B/E cover. If I had this today, both trades would have been winners. So you are probably wondering why I don’t use a range order for the 1.5R limit order with the B/E. I don’t want to activate the B/E stop until I see 1R or a bounce form a tech level. Essentially I need it discretionary. I also need the 1.5R limit order activated quickly or I will immediately start taking partials. I usually can’t help myself and take one as early as 0.5R. Once I see the 1.5R limit order I can sit on my hands better. Though not a permanent solution I am learning to be patient. Score cards (live trades). NVDA JPM 93% 85% What I did good today: I did spot and enter two good setups. What I am grateful from today? Emotionally recovered from missing a 10R run, by S/O too early. What do I need to improve on: Rewrite B/E scripts. Careful to cancel out of unused limit orders.

First let me applaud you on the discipline I see in your trading everyday. This is the toughest part of trading and when you have it the rest comes a lot easier. My first question, are you making trading decisions on the 1min and 2min chart only? They are a little close in time frame. The 1min/5min or 2min/5min or all 3 is better. So the first MU trade looks OK on the 1min. The MAs are moving up. Looks like an ABCD is being created so its OK the volume dried up a bit which it does commonly on the "C" part of the setup. I also like that it retested VWAP and still bounced higher. The only issue from the 1min chart is the 45.10 level is a REALLY powerful on being the PDC. But you have labeled it the same as the 45.05 level so it doesn't seem so strong. Sometimes I do enter a trade before the break of PDC so I can catch the move after, but only on volume. But here you were hovering under the PDC with low volume. Then on the 2min chart things didn't look as good. The 200MA, which is heading downward is a strong resistance level. Unless your stop was tight and the 200MA is your target. Then on the 5min chart there wasn't a new high after the VWAP break, not giving you an entry point. So I see why you took the trade, especially when looking at the 1min chart. I do recommend you have the PDC (previous day close) labeled a little different, unless you can still track it. I can't so I have it labeled differently. And I made the mistake of still using the 1min chart, as my primary well after the open. It took almost a year before it became comfortable using the 5min as my primary and the 1min/2min for confirmation and entries. Especially after 9:45am. So hopefully you won't make the same mistake as me and get comfortable using the multiple time frames early in your career.

Monday 10/14/2019 I had a well-being score of 6.5/10 this morning. I moved my fixed R to $10/trade while I figure out the sweet spot. High enough to feel the uncomfortableness of live trading, but low enough I will trade smartly. Took 2 live trades this morning was with YNDX and FAST. Backtesting showed AAPL and BABA are no longer in play at the open. Sadly there was enough data by last Wednesday to show this. I will backtest charts daily from now on and use the last 5 days (moving average) to determine the plan going forward. This would have save me two days of double stop outs. But, AAPL has made really nice 15min ORBs all last week and BABA still in play at the 5min mark. So Both stocks are off limits at the open. I can look at BABA at the 4min mark and AAPL just before the 15min mark. YNDX and FAST were on my opening watch list, with MU and BABA on my 5 min watch list. AAPL was on my 15min watchlist. My attention was entirely on YNDX at the open. I like it was the only stock I saw gapping up and it was gapping up more, with volume, right before the open. I already planned if it broke the 31.05 level with volume to go long. Which it did 2 seconds after the open. I usually wait a few seconds for the price fluctuations to settle down, but the L2 looked positive so I went long immediately. The priced spiked during my fill and I immediately lost 20 cents on the fill. For a $30 stock, it is pretty much game over. But since I was so close to the open I did go half share size. So my risk was still just above 1R and my R/R still OK. Too bad the price retraced back and I could have gotten a better entry a few seconds later. Live and learn. So I was long YNDX a few seconds after the open with HOPM as my target and the daily level of 31.05 as my stop. Due to my bad fill it didn’t feel promising to take my first partial at 1.5R and instead I took 25% at 1R. The price than retraced and I was all out at B/E. FAST actually setup while I was trading YNDX. Though I will take two trades at once with stocks I know well, I wouldn’t dare with these. After my YNDX trade was over, I did miss a move with FAST, but there was still a lot I liked about it for a 2min ORB. The candles were creating a mini ABCD and even though the stop would have to be far away, the 200MA-1min was right above my 1.5R and the PDC at 3R. So I was long with PDC as my target and VWAP-1min as my stop. The price advanced quickly and I took a 25% partial at 35.85 which was a really strong level, since there was a daily level, HOTD and the 50MA-5min. Then the price moved higher and bounced really hard off the 35.93 daily level. So hard I took another 25% partial because I just lost faith in the trade. Then all out at B/E. Then I did well in SIM. I took a 5min ORB on BABA which made it to 1.5R partial than out at B/E. I also took a SIM trade with AAPL for a 15min ORB which really ran. Score cards (live trades). YNDX FAST 86% 95% What I did good today: I like how I managed the FAST trade. What I am grateful from today? +0.6R is not that much of a day, but it was a lot of fun trading new stocks. What do I need to improve on: I will move my backtesting from weekly to daily. I just have to be careful not to make decisions on one point of data. Need 5 min. So I have to use the backtest data as a moving average.

I am almost at my 1 year trading live anniversary. Time to evaluate if it is worth continuing this journey. I was in SIM for 6 months, so I have been trying to learn day trading for 18 months. I always planned to access my progress and evaluate if I should continue at my 1 year live anniversary. It has been quite costly in time, so it is a serious consideration. Though I feel like progress has been made in my trading I don’t see any change in profitability, so it is not an easy decision. But with some reflection, this week, I realized it is better to look at this more holistically. The change in my personality (for the better) has been dramatic. I would even say transforming. Especially, the last few months. I see improvements constantly and I would not want that to stop. Waking up at 5am and forcing yourself to face your fears, endure stress and muster the strength to make changes in yourself to improve creates dramatic results. Let us say I went a different path and started working on starting a business. I would have worked on prototypes, a business model/plan, and presentations for funding. For the most part not stressful and no internal improvements would have been made. If I feel off that day, the worse thing is I program the 3D printer wrong and the part is thrown in the trash. If I feel off while trading I could go tilt and lose a large part of my family savings, permanently altering our lives. A much greater incentive for personal growth in the latter. I like this growth in myself and I don’t want to stop. That alone it is worth continuing. Now if someone walked up to me and asked if they were training correctly, and they showed me my training plan for the last 18 months, I would say no. So way am I training this way? If you get a couch potato and you want to start training him for some track/field event, would you spend 10 minutes a day practicing in each decathlon event? No. But that is what I did. I set up my platform, and started trading different setups every day. Hoping I would get good at one of them. I would have recommended to the couch potato to first put the mileage in running. Then hit the weights. Improve your flexibility and get on a sensible diet while reading up on the events. So why didn’t I do that? And worse why am I not doing that now? Yes, I am trying to improve on some of that, but looking objectively I am still training wrong. So first I listed what I should have done the past 18 months, find the deficiencies and then I will create an appropriate training plan. So here is my should have done list: 1 Education Read enough to know you have a serious interest. Read enough to learn what next to read. Read enough to know what platform broker/SIM to use. 2 Get fit Physically (exercise and diet) 3 Get Fit Mentally (Decrease the incoming stress, able to handle stress and methods/activities to alleviate the stress). 4 Business plan Do you have at least two years to learn? How many hours/week can you devote? How much disposable cash reserves do you have to cover expenses and losses? 5 Set up Trading equipment. You can be frugal, but don't be cheap. 6 Training Plan 6 months SIM. Training during market hours and training after market hours. Mental and physical fitness should be part of the training plan. Also reading, webinars, etc. 7 Trading Plan What time of day do you want to trade SIM, for how long? Chat on/off? Risk? Max loss? Max trades? These should all be decided in SIM 8 Learn the platform in SIM Make a trade, partial and stop. Don't leave this phase until hotkey mistakes are <10% of the trades 9 Exploration phase You need 3 trades in your playbook, though only one needs to be solidly profitable. 10 Dip your toes into live trading Once hotkey mistakes are reduced and you have at least on setup in you playbook, you should go live at least once a week with very small share size 11 Discover trades that fit your personality Nothing works? Or some setups do work but you are completely stressed when you take them? 12 Reread trading books, especially psychology The books will mean more after being in SIM awhile 13 Revised trading plan At least the last month of your trading plan should mimic your live trading plan 14 Choose 3 setups Not just the one's that have worked the best, but the one's you feel the most comfortable taking. 15 Refine trades You should be now taking trades like they are live. Once you do this you will see adjustments are needed. 16 Revised trading plan This is the live trading plan, risk, max loss and max trades need to be written in stone 17 Revise Business plan If not yet, trade losses need to be in your business plan 18 Go live 50% I assume, in the beginning, you will hit max trades quickly then switch to SIM. Also make sure you take some SIM trades on setups you are still working on. 19 Work on nerves Reread psychology books, they will make the most sense once you are live. 20 Test risk management Even if you lose every trade, your losses should be manageable. If not work on risk management. Do not go past this step until complete. 21 Go 100% live Once risk management is solid, go fully live. 22 Increase fixed R Find the risk you are comfortable and slowly increase. Stay within comfort zone. With that in view I didn’t even get through step 3. In the Van K Tharp course I am taking, they give you a test to check if you are ready to handle trading. There are essentially 3 parts. How much stress is in your life now (can you handle any more like day trading)? How well do you handle stress? Do you have methods to efficiently alleviate the stress? I failed this so badly I was below the bottom of the scale. So I should have known and fixed this 18 months ago. Now I have made progress and I do noticed my nerves are better when I trade. I have set goals to improve it and I have listed those in another part of the forum where I journal the Van K Tharp course I am taking. But this must be my top priority. I am so glad I created a business plan or I would have quit when I started losing lots of money when I went live. Because I assumed I would have losses and had it in my business plan. Though I spent 6 months in SIM, I never really made it through step 8 (know the platform) or step 9 (exploration phase). I use to make 2 or 3 hot key mistakes a day. It completely disrupted my trading and was a big impact in learning how to trade. I should have spent all my time fixing the issue before moving on. This issue is fixed now and my hotkey mistakes are low, but that was a waste and caused undue stress. As for step 9, I left demo without any working setups. I tried and nothing worked. Then I chose the 5min ORB and heavily practiced it on DAS SIM and tradingsim.com with little improvement. I finally left demo just to try another platform to see if it would help my hotkey mistakes. It did. I wish I did step 10. I do recommend it for new traders. Step 19 took a while to fix (nerves). Rereading Trading in the Zone and Daily Trading Coach after you go live has much more of an impact. I tried reading lots of other books to help, I found most not useful. I did finally find a couple that helped. Essentially, I was raised that being negative was good. We would be punished as children for acting to positive, like we are jinxing the future. If we enter a task to positive and we fail my parents would love to tell us we ruined are chances because of the positive thinking. “Laugh before breakfast, cry before dinner,” was my parent’s favorite phrase. So this was a lot of programing to change. But, I have known lucky people. They enter the situation positively and assume things will go their way even though the odds are against them. And I watch how things go their way. So this mind set can really help in trading. You don’t second guess yourself and the ability to find setups is improved. There was actually an experiment that showed this. To keep an open mind to different possibilities. If you think that something positive may happen, when an opportunity, though it may be outside the box, crosses your path, you would see it and act. I would be close minded and not see it. There is actually some data for this. I once read about an experiment where volunteers were gathered. One set of people considered themselves usually the lucky type and the second group considered themselves unlucky. Everyone was given a newspaper and asked to count the number of pictures in the newspaper. The unlucky group usually took 2 or 3 minutes to count all the pictures. The lucky group usually took around 10 seconds. Because the lucky group all noticed a big sign on page two stating, “there are 46 pictures in the newspaper.” The unlucky group were focused on just looking for pictures and never noticed the sign. You can imagine how that applies to day trading. So you need to make yourself luckier by using the power of attraction. Step 20 (Risk Management). Ok, I think I got this one. I have not lost any money in the last 8 months trading live. My trading is not very good so it must be risk management keeping me afloat. Step 21 (increase your fixed R). Definitely doing this one wrong. Essentially, I increase my fixed risk/trade, during profitable time, to the maximum I can handle without it affecting my trading. That’s not really the correct way to improve one’s trading. My fixed R is currently $30. If I go any higher the impact of a full stop out is too much to handle. Thus, I am at my maximum I can emotionally stand. But, it is still too high and affecting my trading causing bad habits. You shouldn’t choose the most you can handle you need to find a sweet spot in the training phase. If too little it feels like you are in SIM and you will trade too reckless. If too high you will trade to careful. So I need to lower my R. It will take a few tries to find the sweet spot. So I am trying to determine my new trading plan. I will need at least a week to plan and experiment. I will have it fully implemented by my 1 year live anniversary. I have decided to give it one more year. If I still haven’t seen steady progress I am pretty confident I never will and should move on. The one thing that is certain, as in all changes for the better, things will get worse before they get better. Once I step outside my comfort zone and change things up, I will take losses again. I need to prepare myself for it. I have gotten quite use to not losing money. Sorry this post was a bit long winded. Thanks for reading. Have a good weekend.

Friday 10/11/2019 I had a well-being score of 6.5/10 this morning. I was not able to trade yesterday due to power outages. Took 2 live trades this morning was with AAPL and BABA. I still like the daily charts and PM on both AAPL and BABA. I was long bias on both before the open. I essentially took the same trades I did Wednesday when I got stopped out on both. And today I also got stopped out on both. Volume was instant for AAPL and a large hammer was created and I went long when the price broke the 200MA-1min. The only target above that price was the 233.49 daily level. But that is an R/R~1.7. My stop was the PM level of 232.65. I set a limit order at 1.5R, which was just below the target. Two minutes later the price missed my order by a nickel and retraced back to B/E, where I had a stop order to exit the trade for no loss. A few minutes later AAPL started its run up. BABA had a really strong volume quickly and I really like the bullishness on the 5min chart with PM. I saw a L2 signal and a break of the 171 level that was resistance in the PM. I also liked there was a daily level 1R away that seems to pull the price up near the open. I had no good level for a target so I used 172, with my stop at 170.50. Wow, the price instantly reversed and I was stopped out in seconds. The one bad thing about the trade is I used the wrong share size. I saw the stop was 50 cents away but I used shares for a 35 cent stop. For some reason my stops coincidentally have been 35 cents for BABA for almost two weeks. So I think it was a reflex. But that stop now cost me an extra -0.5R. BABA did go for a run up later. Which is good because I have a swing trade on BABA. 5min chart when I took the trade: The total trade: Then I took a few SIM trades for +2R profit. Score cards (live trades). AAPL BABA 93% 90% What I did good today: I like that I followed my new B/E stop out when price reaches 1R on AAPL. That is not easy for me. It’s difficult to S/O at B/E unless I take a profit. What I am grateful from today? That the power outage didn’t last longer. What do I need to improve on: I think I may move my backtesting from weekly to daily. I think AAPL and BABA stopped being in play at the open by midweek, but I kept trading them at the open. I just have to be careful not to make decisions on one point of data. Need 5 min. So I have to use the backtest data as a moving average.

A solid day trading!! Great discipline to stop while you are green!!