Rob C

Thursday 7/18/2019 I had a well-being score of 6.5/10 this morning. My nerves were actually OK. I wish I knew why some days my nerves are better than others so I could control them more. I took one live and one SIM trade today. Though I will only journal the live trade here. I was focusing on MU and AAPL again. I was hoping to trade FB at least once this week, but AAPL had OK premarket volume and some news. AAPL opened and the price dropped and bounced off the 200MA-1min and formed a hammer with really good volume. There was a triple level of a 203.97 daily, the $204 and the 50MA. When it broke these levels I went long. My target was 205 and stop out at the 200MA-1min. R/R~3 which is really high at the open. I took an early partial at the 200MA-5min since I was worried about a bounce. Then I got a really bad fill. My fills with Centerpoint have been getting worse and slow lately. So, I essentially took a partial at B/E. That messed up my emotions. So I did what I usually do when I am not controlling my emotions, I take a ton of partials. The only thing that saved me was I took small partials. So I did have 20% of my shares left when I hit my target. It doesn’t sound like much, but if I partialed with regular size I would have had 6% left. What AAPL looked like when I took the trade: The complete trade: I also took a SIM trade with MU. I actually had a winning 5min ORB. I can’t remember the last winning one. Score card for my live trade. AAPL 88% What I did good today: I was much more prepared today for the opening bell. How did I challenge myself today? Tried to trade on SIM as if it was real. What I did bad today: Let my emotions effect my trade management What can I do better tomorrow: I should have tried some calming exercises during the AAPL trade instead of just baring the emotional swings.

Wednesday 7/16/2019 I had a well-being score of 4/10 this morning so I only traded SIM. Today was one of those days showing why I don't like trading SIM. I took a trade on a bad setup and immediately got stopped out. Then I started taking lots of trades and breaking lots of rules. Yes its all on SIM, but these are bad practices that will weaken my resolve the next time I trade live (hopefully tomorrow). What makes things worse is my last trade was a big winner, thus helping to solidify the bad habits. I will not journal any of my trades here, though I will review all the video tonight to see if there was anything to be learned. I hope the rest of you had a better day.

Thanks. I surprisingly shrugged it it off easily. I am not trying to make money now. So since I thought it was real, I got in the same practice time. Of course I am saying this being flat for the day. If I was up 4R and realized I was in SIM......

Review and short summary of the Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal. I read this book from a recommendation from Tommy and would definitely recommend it. The book explains the current discoveries how/where in the brain willpower is created and how to improve it. I actually listened to the book so my quotes may not be exact. 1) Willpower is from the Prefrontal Cortex, the part of the brain that “helps you do the hard thing.” The Prefrontal Cortex has three parts and thus so does willpower. The three compartments of the Prefrontal Cortex can be split into what controls “The Will”, “The Want”, and “The Won’t”. 2) The Prefrontal Cortex can be strengthened and weakened. It’s a cliché but it is a mental muscle. It needs to be given a workout and tested every day. But not to extreme, or like a muscle it can be over worked. Since we have only one willpower reservoir to be used for all endeavors, the week you to try quit eating cheesecake, your willpower to stop overtrading will be reduced. Work the muscle, but do not overwork it. I like the example the book gave, ”don’t try and resist cheesecake forever, just try and resist it for 10 minutes.” 3) Diet, exercise and meditation can strengthen the Prefrontal Cortex (let’s call it the PC). This sounds obvious, but the book mentions a couple of interesting things. We all have felt our willpower drop when our blood sugar is low. But recent research has shown it is the decreasing of the blood sugar, not the low blood sugar that causes the PC to start shutting down. Once the brain detects that sugar levels are dropping it starts to shut down lower priority functions like the PC. Evolution probably found it useful to have your willpower drop when you are hungry, so you can take more risks to find food. 4) The books discussion on meditation was worth the read. Though I have read a few books on meditation (none very good) I have never come across the technique discussed in this book. That is to slow your breathing down to 4 to 6 breathes a minute. It will increase your heart variability and be a short term reduction of stress. It works. It’s a great technique in the middle of a trade. Just a personal note: I can recommend a book that motivates you to meditate. 10% Happier is a worth a read for entertainment value alone and got me motivated to start meditating. 5) The book also discusses we give ourselves licenses to be bad. Example: I went running in the morning so I am going to take the elevator for the rest of the day and splurge on dessert. Sorry, that was supposed to be a short summary. But I do recommend the book and found it applies to trading, especially overtrading…

Tuesday 7/16/2019 I had a well-being score of 6/10 this morning. My nerves were bad as soon as I woke up. I am not sure why. I took three SIM trades today. But I did not set up my platform correctly this morning and I was pulled away from my screen for the last 15 minutes of premarket. I made it back with 30 seconds until the open. I was frazzled and my nerves were bad even before I missed the last part of the premarket. I was not able to run through my checklist and I didn’t know I was in SIM until I finished trading and looked at my P/L. Since I really thought I was live and had all the stresses of live, I am adding the two trades to my data set and journaling them here. I did take a “real” SIM trade on a 15min ORB, which of course I was stopped out. I was focusing on MU and AAPL, but FB would have been fine as well. I had the scenario if AAPL was weak and broke down through the 200-5min I would go short. The problem was it did just that almost immediately after the open. Since I was still frazzled I was not quick on the draw and let it go. Sadly, it reached my target. The price bounced back and bounced off of VWAP giving me another chance. But I was caught in the headlights. It broke through the 200MA, and I didn’t take the trade. Then it passed the body of the first candle, and I didn’t take the trade. Finally I took the trade right at the level that was supposed to be my first partial target. Yikes! What a bad entry. My R/R was about equal to one. Thus, I was stopped out quickly. This is what the chart looked like when I entered the trade. After the AAPL trade I was just in time for a 2min ORB on MU. I entered at the break of the 2min candle body with a very tight stop at the 43.71 level. Maybe too tight, but I seem to get caught on these early reversals on MU. My target was the 43.34 level. The price went to the penny of my stop out but I held on. I did take 4 partials but I made an effort to take small bites. Actually, the next partial was going to be my first large partial. But it didn’t happen. I exited on weakness when it was close to my B/E. Due, to my small partialing I only made 1R on the trade. So I am flat for the day. The small partialling didn’t work out well for me today. But, I am still experimenting with the partialing. Score card for my trades that I thought were live. What I did good today: Took a classic 2 minute ORB. Nothing fancy. How did I challenge myself today? Kept cool after realizing I wasn’t trading live. What I did bad today: Missed my checklist and traded when frazzled (arriving at the platform 30sec before the open). What can I do better tomorrow: Don’t trade if not mentally ready. Take a minute to regroup. I should take a large partial when it reaches my target.

Monday 7/15/2019 I had a well-being score of 6/10 this morning (had a headache). My nerves were a little negative. Probably due to trading full shares today (first time in two weeks). I took one live trade today with MU. I also took two SIM trades, a 5min ORB and a 15min ORB. Both SIM trades were stopped out. I am only journaling the live trade. According to back test data I was expecting MU, FB and AAPL to be in play. FB looked better in the premarket so I made MU and FB my two focuses at the open. I was short bias on FB but had no bias on MU. As usual I was creating my mental opening scenarios. But I was uncomfortable trading FB to the upside at the open. MU dropped and bounced off the 44.63 daily level and I went long a little before the break of the 44.79 level. I didn’t wait for the break since I saw a big ask. . I didn’t have a set R/R because I had no levels after the 44.88 daily level and MU doesn’t usually respect dollar levels much anymore. My S/O was the 200MA-1min. I took my first partial at the 44.88 daily level, then I had no more levels so I partialled with the only aim that my 4th partial would be at 2R. Which it was. I finally exited when the price dropped below VWAP. I also saw the largest ask I can remember during this trade. Score card for my live trade. MU 92% What I did good today: Took a good setup, even though it was very close to the open. How did I challenge myself today? Swapped out AAPL for FB to focus on at the open. That took some resolve. What I did bad today: I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t stopped out on any trade besides the 1min/2min ORB. SIM or Live. I definitely have only one play in my playbook. What can I do better tomorrow: Keep working on the other setups.

Live trading summary for week ending 7/12/19. Traded half share size all week as I slowly get myself back up to speed after a painful 3 days of terrible trading at the end of June. So first week of July I traded SIM only, then this week at half shares. Next week I will trade at $25 risk per trade. My score card for the week was OK at 86% and win% was also OK at 56%. I was green for the week, which always helps my mood going into the weekend. I analyzed my last 50 live trades to determine a new method of taking partial profits. I was surprised by the data. I was assuming the data would show that I should use range limit orders or I should decrease the size of my first partial. But, it actually said the opposite. I only have a 22% success rate of reaching my target. It seems that my targets look reachable, so it is probably my setups/time frame I trade in. But, this means taking partial profit is vital. 29% of all my 1min/2min ORBs reach my first partial price and retrace to get stopped out. Thus, the first partial profit is vital and I should not change it. But, there always seems to be at least one (if not two) extra partials on the way to the target. Those are the ones I need to work on. I will start to make an effort to reach my target with in 4 partials (it usually takes 5). I may try and use a limit order on the 4th partial. I traded almost entirely MU and AAPL this week. There was only one other stock (BABA) where I unsuccessfully tried a 10min ORB. There were a couple of SIM trades trying other time frame ORBs. All were unsuccessful. Back test data shows nothing looks very in play at the open for next week. Though MU, AAPL still look OK. JD was not in play last week so it’s removed from the watch list. FB was definitely in play last week, though the previous two weeks it was not. So I will plan the two primary focuses each day based on premarket data. Here is my plan for this week: Concentrate on process and score card, not on W% and P/L AAPL is in play at the open again. So is FB. Decide by premarket which should be higher focused. JD had a poor week. Assume it is no longer in play at the open. AMD is no longer in play for the 2min ORB. Do not focus on it at the open. MU is in play at the open, make it your primary focus for the week. Go back to full share size next week, $25 risk per trade.

Friday 7/12/2019 I had a well-being score of 6.5/10 this morning. My nerves were fine. Trading live but with half shares. I took two live trades today with MU and AAPL. MU and AAPL were my primary focuses at the open all week. Both stocks had an adequate premarket. As usual I was creating my mental opening scenarios. But I was long biased on both stocks, maybe too biased. So I only created long scenarios for the open. For my scenario for MU I was hoping price would drop and bounce off the 200MA-5min and then I would go long when it broke the 50MA-1min and VWAP, which is what I did. My target was the level 44 with my stop at 43.70. What MU looked like when I entered the trade. The price was bouncing around a bit. I did take a quick partial more for risk reduction than profit taking. I really didn’t like MU created two reverse hammers on the 1min chart so I stopped out a few cents early. I was focused on MU so I was surprised, when the trade finished, that AAPL had a really good setup. But since it was a surprise it took me one or two seconds to setup up the R/R, target, stop, etc. So I did chase it a little. But, it still had a R/R>2 at my entry. I really liked the hammer on the 2nd 1min candle and I like that both candles were struggling to cleanly break the 202.87 daily and the 203 level. Then went long on a clean break. The volume concerned me a little. Usually the min volume I like to see on AAPL to be in play is 400k in the first minute. My target was the 203.75 level and my stop was the 202.87 level. Then the waiting game started. The price just missed my stop out by a penny 4 minutes later. Finally 12 minutes after my entry the price broke out. I took lots of partials, as usual, with my final exit at 204. Score card for my live trade. What I did good today: Got out of a losing trade early. How did I challenge myself today? Patiently waited 12 minutes for the break to occur. What I did bad today: The usual: way too many partials. What can I do better tomorrow: Working on new partialing criteria will implement on Monday.

Great setup. I didn't even notice the wedge until you drew it. And really good restraint not to revenge trade. I probably would have lost it.

Thursday 7/11/2019 I had a well-being score of 7/10 this morning. My nerves were fine. Trading live but with half shares. I took one live trade today with AAPL. MU and AAPL were my primary focuses at the open again. Both stocks had an adequate premarket. As usual I was creating my mental opening scenarios. I had no bias this morning and thus had both long and short scenerios created for both stocks. AAPL was showing strength and I was waiting for the break of the 50MA-1min to go long. It tested that level a few times before finally breaking through and thus entered long. The target was the 204.33 daily level and my stop out was tight at the 203.6 (VWAP, 200MA and bottom of the candle). I tried taking my first partial at the 204 level and got a bad fill. From then on my partialing was as usual too abundant. The price struggled to break the 204.33 daily level for a couple of minutes than started to drop. I moved my stop to the 204 level and exited when it was breached. AAPL didn’t make too much of a move today. I also took one SIM trade on a 15min ORB and was quickly stopped out as usual. Score card for my live trade. What I did good today: Created a working entry scenario. How did I challenge myself today? Focused on one trade. I would glance at the others (and SPY) only to give insight to my current trade. What I did bad today: The usual: way too many partials. What can I do better tomorrow: Working on new partialing criteria will implement on Monday.

Wednesday 7/10/2019 I had a well-being score of 6.5/10 this morning. My nerves were not good, though I don’t know why. Meditated longer than usual to calm the nerves, which worked. But, it was temporary, my heart was pounding at the open. Trading live but with half shares. I took 2 live trades today with MU and AAPL. MU and AAPL were my primary focuses at the open again. Both stocks had a really strong premarket. When I was creating my mental opening scenarios, I planned NOT to take either short at the open and only long if the first minute candle was a hammer. It ended up both stocks created an 1min hammer. I took MU as my first trade because it setup first. It bounced off a strong support at $42, made a nice hammer and already a volume of 1M shares in the first 30 seconds. I went long with the 42.61 daily level as my target and VWAP as my S/O. It touched my stop out level 3 times so my nerves were getting bad. I am not sure if I was being careless or not focusing enough (I couldn’t keep my eyes off AAPL which had a really nice setup too) but I made the mistake of not noticing the Y-axis scale. When the price reached my first partial ( a notable premarket level) I didn’t notice I was already 20 cents in the green. That should have been a large partial. Instead all I thought was that I partial too much and make it small. The price then quickly retraced and I was stopped out. Since VWAP was so close to my B/E I let it go past my B/E a few cents. I did give my profits all back though. Too bad I made that Y-scale mistake again. This could have been a solid winner instead of a small loser. AAPL setup had come and gone. Both the 1min ORB and even the 2min ORB the entrance had past. But I guess the FOMO was to strong and I entered the trade immediately after I exited MU. The R/R was about one now. My S/O was the 202.31 premarket level. My target realistically was the 202.87 level. But, what caused the rational to take the trade is there is no level for about $1.50 above that level. So if it breaks it could run. But, this was a mistake and I shouldn’t have taken the trade. There were many other stocks setting up. I just had FOMO from watching it during the whole MU trade and was dying to enter. The price did reach my target, but not much profit can be made by that. It did form an ABCD so I was hoping it would pop higher. It popped a little but not much. Plus, it hurt watching MU really run while I was in the stagnate AAPL trade. If I caught AAPL at one of its actual entry points it would have been a nice trade, but I was chasing. Yes I made a profit from it but this was a mistake. Score card What I did good today: Created a correct entry scenario for both stocks. How did I challenge myself today? Fought through my nerves. What I did bad today: Couldn’t keep my eye on my trade. I kept looking at other charts. I chased AAPL. What can I do better tomorrow: Focus on one trade at a time.

It was good to see you back in the chatroom this morning Mike (nice trade BTW - I saw the screen cap).

Tuesday 7/09/2019 I had a well-being score of 7/10 this morning. My nerves were OK. Trading live but with half shares. I took 1 live trade today with MU. I did take 2 SIM trades after MU to practice 5min/10min ORBs but was stopped out on both. I will only journal the live trade here. MU and AAPL were my primary focuses at the open again. Both had lots of levels above the open price and mostly clear space below. I watched both intensely and already had a trade scenario for long/short for both stocks in my head. For MU long, I would enter (long) the trade if it broke the triple level of VWAP, the daily level of 40.28 and the engulfing of the last 5min candle in premarket. The price broke that level 23 seconds after the opening. My target was the 40.61 level with my S/O at below the 50MA-5min (40.20) which was respected in premarket. This is what it looked like when I entered the trade: There was slippage on the fill, but that is common so close to the open. Though my partialing was poor as usual, it was better than yesterday. My first two partials were actually as planned. I took 25% at PDC and high of premarket. My third partial was supposedly going to be at 40.61 but nerves caused me to partial at HOTD. Then a correct partial at the 40.61 level and again a bad partial soon after and missed the rest of the run. Score card What I did good today: Followed my entry plan. How did I challenge myself today? Took only SIM trades when trading out of my element. What I did bad today: The usual, I was hitting the sell button like it was the shooting button on a video game. What can I do better tomorrow: Will run the numbers this week. If I see the data in front of me how bad my partialing is I may be more patient about it.

Monday 7/08/2019 I had a well-being score of 6/10 this morning. My nerves were good. Trading live but on half shares. I took 3 live trades today. One with MU, then BABA and one with MU again that was supposed to be on SIM but was accidentally live. MU and AAPL were my primary focuses at the open. Both gapped down and had heavy levels above their current price, so I really did not want to trade either long. MU set up as a 2min ORB as it created a hammer and broke the 39.07 daily level, the HOTD and the high of premarket all around the same time. I would normally enter the trade there but there were so many strong levels above it I waited. It finally broke the 200MA-1min and 200MA-5min and I went long. Looking back it was probably extended. I should have taken the trade earlier or waited for it to break the 39.34 daily level, but I was too long biased at the time. Also R/R was only 1.5 but with a chance to go red to green I entered the trade with PDC as my target and the 39.17 level as my stop out. MU struggled to break the 39.34 level and 200MA for 4 minutes. But AMD was reversing and was moving higher so I was hoping MU would follow. But, then the price started to retrace I was stopped out at my planned level. I was looking for a 10 min ORB setup and found BABA. At first it didn’t look good since it was near a daily level at 168.91. But, I had a minute to investigate before the 10 min candle finished. I couldn’t find where the 168.91 level was from but the daily level at 168 was created recently and was strong. So I shorted with the 168 level as my target and the 169.76 level as my S/O. The price did drop to the 168.91 level where I took a first partial, but apparently that level was strong and it bounced. I exited the trade slightly beyond my B/E when it was clearly reversing. MU reversed and was setting up the same as my first trade. I was going to wait for the price to break the 200MA again so I had time to switch to SIM. After switching the order entry template I forgot to click my watch list to activate the change. So when I went long at the break of the 200MA I was still in live mode. I noticed this right away but the trade was moving in my favor. Since I should not be taking this trade live I partialed heavier. Instead of ¼, ¼, ¼, etc, I partial ¼, 1/3, ½ and thus ran out of shares fast and missed most of the move. This bothered me and even though I partialed heavy on purpose due to the hot key mistake. I really don’t like my MU winner was a tiny bit smaller than my MU loser. Score card: What I did good today: Nerves were fine even though it’s the first live trading in 9 days. How did I challenge myself today? I took a 10 minute ORB. What I did bad today: Should have followed my instincts with the first MU trade and entered early. Hot key mistake. What can I do better tomorrow: I shouldn’t be so biased where to enter a trade. Things continuously change and so should the trade setup.

Live trading summary for week ending 7/05/19. Traded SIM all week due to three days in a row of all losses. The trading improved as the week went on. I was sloppy all week, but that is common for me on SIM. I don’t want to make sloppiness a habit so I am switching back to live on Monday but will trade half shares. I traded NFLX mostly this week since back test data showed it became in play at the open. But as luck had it, it was not in play this week. But I learned a lot trading something that the spread would vary continuously. I was always nervous about trading BABA and TSLA due to their unpredictable spread, but I think I am OK now. BABA and TSLA spreads are not as bad as NFLX. Back test data shows nothing looks very in play at the open for next week. Though MU, AAPL and JD look OK. I am comfortable with MU. I had to make quite an effort to stop trading AAPL when it was no longer in play, so I will have conflicting emotions I will need to deal with. And I have very little experience trading JD. Here is my plan for this week: Concentrate on process and score card, not on W% and P/L AAPL is in play at the open again. JD is now in play. Decide by premarket which should be higher focused. FB had a marginal week again. Assume it is no longer in play at the open. AMD was no longer in play for the 2min ORB. Do not focus on it at the open. MU is in play at the open, make it your primary focus for the week. Trade half share size until trading improves.

Friday 7/05/2019 I had a well-being score of 6/10 this morning. My nerves were not good. Still on SIM only. About 5 minutes before the open my daughter seemed to be yelling in distress. It sounded serious enough that I left my platform to have a look. Yep it was bug. She has quite a strong phobia about them. I told her my hopes of having an insect biologist in the family is fading fast, which she responded by jumping into my arms in fear. It was interesting that I did pause before killing the bug. I am finding it harder and harder to kill insects since I have been reading more books on Buddhism. Then my daughter asked to be put down. So I said to her, ”OK, you are short and poor.” She definitely did not find it as funny as me and yelled, “no, I mean on the ground!” As usual time flies fast when spending time with her, so when I headed back to my platform the market already open. I panicked to see NFLX setup just as I expected and was moving by my planned entry point. So I immediately took the trade. I shouldn’t have. I was not mentally ready, I didn’t even have a chance to turn on my screen recorder yet. So I managed the trade poorly. I should have just taken a breather and let the trade go by. I took 3 SIM trades today. One with NFLX, one with MU, and one with FB. NFLX had a really strong premarket low level that it tested over and over for 45 minutes. So my scenario was, if NFLX dropped at the open and bounced off the 377.82 daily level I would go long when it broke the 378.25 strong premarket level. Though there are some levels above it, if it broke the 379.50 level it may run since the levels above it are sparse. As I discussed above I was late to my platform and took the trade a little late and was not mentally prepared. I did take two partials at the two levels (daily level and 200MA), though both were close to my entry. Then the lack of mental preparedness kicked in and decided to add to my position when it retraced to VWAP. But, I didn’t check the ask so I added based on price. There was no retrace it was just a fluctuation inside the spread. So I added at the same price as my partial. NFLX never broke the 200MA and retraced. When the BID touched my B/E I exited. Too bad about trying to add. I made a small winner into a loser. I saw MU setting up really well, but at the time I wanted to enter I was still in my NFLX trade. I have an one trade at a time rule and also a rule of not closing a trade to start another one. So I missed the entrance when MU was forming a bullish 2min hammer and crossed VWAP, the 50MA and a daily level all at approximately the same time. After I was out of NFLX I did see MU pull back to the 31.18 level and I went long. My target was the high of premarket but honestly my S/O was ill-defined. But I was planning on stopping out a few cents below the bottom of the wick of the current candle. Though my partials were at levels (HOTD and high of premarket), they were still taken more from nerves. Then I stopped out just before I hit B/E. If I waited for B/E I would have reached my target. Nerves and sloppiness. My last trade of the day was with FB. Honestly, I wanted to stop after my second trade. I was positive for the day and still had not recovered from being late to the open. But, the setup on FB looked too good to ignore. My win% on 5min ORBs have been bad. The main reason is I take the trade when one of the time frames look good and the other one adequate. But, I don’t wait for a trade that both 1min and 5min time frames look good. But that is what I had on FB this morning. If I look at either time frame it looks like a good trade. The 1min showed weakness, then a pull back, then indecision and the downward movement again. The 5min chart has shown weakness for the last hour and the 5min candle was bearish and not extended. So I shorted on the break of the 5min candle body. My target was the 195 level with stop out at the high of the previous candle. My nerves really showed by taking a ton of partials. I exited when it looked like it may reverse. What I did good today: Best trading day in the last 7. Also, an extremely good day for a Friday. How did I challenge myself today? Was late to the open, which caused a lot of nervousness, but still traded adequately enough to be green. What I did bad today: Traded sloppy. What can I do better tomorrow: Unsure yet if I will be on SIM on Monday. I traded sloppy this week, but that was the original reason why I went live several months ago. I always traded sloppy on SIM. So do I stay on SIM until the sloppiness goes away or go back to live before the sloppy bad habits are formed. I will have to review my trades and decide this weekend.

Wednesday 7/03/2019 I had a well-being score of 5.5/10 this morning. My nerves were good. Still on SIM only. I took 3 SIM trades today. One with AMD and two with NFLX. Still a bit sloppy and FOMO issues even on SIM. NFLX gave no signs in the premarket what it would do. Plenty of volume in the first 20 seconds after open then was dry. NFLX gave a very bullish 2 minute candle but I didn’t feel comfortable taking the trade then. The price went up almost a dollar without any green showing up in the price and sales. I am so not use to that. The price retraced back to VWAP then moved back up and finally green hit the tape. I went long on the break of the 377.04 daily level. My target was 379.25 with VWAP as my stop. After trading NFLX for a few days that may be unreasonable and shouldn’t expect to go past my first partial target of 377.87. Still need to learn. Price made it to my first partial near the 377.87 but I forgot that I have to sell at the bid not the price. I forgot and sold a partial when the price reached my 1st target. The bid was far below it and I essentially sold my shares at B/E. I waited until the bid hit my target and I partialed. Then when I took a second partial I forgot that NFLX should be more of a scalp and I partialed light. The price reversed and I got out at B/E. So with the two trade management mistakes it was only a small win. What it looked like when I took the trade: The total trade: The next trade was with AMD. AMD was an unusual setup that I have never taken before. It was essentially a V-reversal 5min after the open. But I do see AMD bounce back to VWAP often when it’s extended. AMD fell 35 cents in 3 minutes then paused. What caught my attention was a 72k bid on L2 3 cents below the price. It quickly disappeared and in return several asks totaling around 30k about 5 cents above the price. I had also noticed that SPY was climbing. I went long on the 1min high with the PDC as my target and the LOTD as my stop out. I took my first partial at the 9MA and my second at VWAP. I lost faith in the trade about 2 minutes later and exited. The charts when I entered the trade: The total trade: My last trade was with NFLX again and sadly was a FOMO trade. The really nice setup occurred on NFLX while I was trading AMD and thus missed it. It bounced off of the VWAP 3 times. I usually take the third bounce to enter the trade. Instead I took the trade at the break of the 377.87 daily level. The true R/R is only 1.3, but I chose an incorrect S/O of the bottom of the candle so I could have an R/R~2. But that was not the correct stop. If I used VWAP as the S/O I would have had a winner. The trade entrance should have been 3 minutes earlier or should not have entered. Though I did get a small partial, the trade was a loser as my S/O was too tight. What it looked like when I entered the trade: What I did good today: Finally green. First time in a week. How did I challenge myself today? Watched time/sales more. Something I wanted to practice while in SIM. What I did bad today: Traded sloppy. What can I do better tomorrow: Need to keep discipline on the SIM. If I keep trading like this I will be on SIM all next week as well.

Tuesday 7/02/2019 I had a well-being score of 5.5/10 this morning. My nerves were good. Still on SIM only. I took 3 SIM trades today. One with MU, one with AMD and one with NFLX. Still trading a bit sloppy. MU looked weak, but I needed a really good entry. I got a pull back but was concerned it was such a big pull back it was more like a reversal. Price did bounce and headed lower a few pennies. I went short when the price was between the VWAP-1min and VWAP-5min. I love taking trades in between the two VWAPs. I just don't see reversals occur between the two VWAP time frames. Whatever direction it is going in it continues until it reached the other VWAP. Target was the 39.4 level with a tight stop at the 39.75 level. R/R~3. I tried to take a partial at the LOTD but made a hot key mistake and added a little. I always make a lot more hotkey mistakes in SIM. I then made a real cover, but didn’t notice the price was already was 20 cents into profit and thus at 2R. So I should have made a larger partial or completely exited. Instead I took a normal first partial. Then price reversed and I was stopped out near break even for a small win. Sloppy. I let a 2R get away from me because I didn’t stay in touch of the total price move. This is what MU looked like when I took the trade. My next trade was with AMD. This trade didn’t work out, but I really like the setup, though waiting for the 5min candle confirmation would have been smarter. AMD also looked weak this morning and had a really nice pullback and bounced strongly off of VWAP. I shorted once I saw the 4th 1min candle was going to be red. Target was the 3.70 level and VWAP as my S/O. I did make it to my first partial (the low of premarket) but it reversed and I was stopped out at B/E. There was a bit of a slide on the exit so I was flat for this trade. This is what AMD looked like when I took the trade. My last trade was with NFLX. I was waiting to see if the price would break this really strong support level at 373.25. It didn’t and started heading up. There were way too many levels above it to try to go long. Instead I took a small risk that this was a pull back since it did bounce from the 20-50MA 4 times. On the fourth bounce I shorted. The spread was tight at that moment so I kept the S/O tight at the 50MA with the target of the 200MA-5min. R/R~3. After 10 seconds price reversed and headed back up and I was S/O. NFLX started its run down about two minutes later but I was at my trade maximum already. The loss was small so I am flat for the day. What I did good today: Waited for pullbacks. How did I challenge myself today? Exited at B/E. What I did bad today: Traded sloppy. What can I do better tomorrow: Need to keep discipline on the SIM. Hopefully successful by the end of the week.

Monday 7/01/2019 I had a well-being score of 5.5/10 this morning. My nerves were not good even though I knew I am trading on SIM today. Actually, I will probably be on SIM for the rest of the week after three days in a row (last week) with only losers. I took 3 SIM trades today. All losers. Two with Netflix and one with MU. Wow, I trade sloppy when I am on the SIM. I guess I will know when my discipline is back when I can be disciplined on the SIM. Since I was on SIM I wanted to use the time to try something new. Netflix has been in play at the open, but it trades very different from other stocks I have traded. So it was good to try it on SIM at first. It was an eye opener. It gapped up like everything else and had good volume the first minute. Then created a nice hammer in the first minute. Both in premarket and after the open there was a strong resistance at the 373.62 daily level. When it broke that level I went long. There was a very strong daily level just below 380 that was my target. I say strong because the daily chart shows it as resistance many times. With my S/O all the way down to the 200MA-5min. The R/R~3 was good, but there was another daily and the high of premarket at resistant levels to be hit before it would reach my target. So even though I was on SIM I still went a little light on the shares. The price reversed and hit my S/O. Or did it? I wrote in my plan for the week to make sure I give NFLX 30-50 cents on all levels. I even reread that plan as part of my preflight checklist. And then what did I do when it dropped a few pennies below my S/O level? I stopped out. It immediately reversed and went back to my entry point. If I gave it 30 cents room I would have not stopped out. NFLX price broke the 373.62 level again and I went long with same target and S/O. It reached my first partial but I got a bad fill. Though I am glancing at the spread often, I am not staring at it. The spread was fine each time I looked, but it wasn’t when I sold a partial and got a bad fill. Soon I was looking at the L1 bid more than anything else. Most of the price movement was these bounces from bid to ask and not giving me much info. But the bid movement gave me some info. When the bid reached my planned first partial I sold some more and got the expected price. Then the price reversed and I went through a battle of the minds, reptilian versus primate. Sadly the reptilians one this round. I knew intellectually to watch the bid. When the bid (not the price) reaches the B/E I knew to exit. But I couldn’t help myself and I waited until the price reached it and exited and thus got a bad fill and it made this trade a loss as well. What it looked like when I took the first trade: I planned to take up to 3 trades today on SIM. My last trade was with MU. MU broke through VWAP and leveled off and made a nice hammer. There was a resistance level at 41.40, which I planned to go long if it broke it. But instead I made two mistakes. First I didn’t check SPY before I went long in case it was dropping fast and it was at the time. Secondly, I went long off of the bounce from 41.25 instead. Sometimes it’s OK to do that but not for this setup. So I entered the trade in the middle of two levels and was stopped out quickly below the 50MA. What I did good today: Actually it was fun trading something very different like NFLX. How did I challenge myself today? Traded only SIM, that’s not easy for me. What I did bad today: Traded sloppy. What can I do better tomorrow: Need to keep discipline on the SIM.

Live trading summary of the month of June. So on Tuesday afternoon (6/25/19) I was thinking I wish the month ended today because I was up +7R with a score card of 87%, but it didn’t. I had three really bad days thus ending the month at +0.6R and score card of 84.5%. Though I shouldn’t be concentrating on my P/L, the previous four months (Feb-May) my end of month P/Ls have been in the range of +1.6R to -2.7R. Essentially, I have been flat for four months. But, just last Tuesday it was looking like a break out month for me being up +7R. But again I ended flat for the month. The two positive things I can say about the month of June is first I do feel like I have improved in my trading this month. Second, even though I have a win% this month of 42% I am green for the month (though barely). This does show that my winners are larger than my losers. I traded with Centerpoint for most of the month with mix results. The BBT deal limited me to too slow of a route so I had to drop that deal. Then there was one market open that you couldn’t short any stock. I will trade with them again in July and see how it goes. In June I reread (actually listened to) Daily Trading Coach. That was the third time I had listened to it. It seems to be a book you need to reread every few months. I am still reading The Playbook on Kindle and reading Market Mind Games on hard back. It takes a lot longer for me to read in that media. Stats for February/March/April/May/June: February March April May June Total # of trades 21 34 36 36 38 Hulk Days 0 0 0 0 0 Max Loss Days 0 0 0 0 0 Broke max trade rule 1 1 0 0 0 Hoy Key Mistakes 1 1 0 0 1 Score card 81% 81% 84.5% Goals for June: 1) Don’t go hulk. 2) Learn to control your emotions after a loss. 3) The trade score card average for the month should exceed the previous month. 4) Reduce risk per trade from $30 back to $25 until trade score card improves. 5) Keep improving health. 6) Follow the new 11 rules I specified in my June 28 weekly

Live trading summary for week ending 6/28/19. Rough week. I took 10 trades this week with a poor score card average of 81%. Win% was the worse in over 5 months at 20%. Friday, after 7 losing trades in a row that week, almost turned into a hulk day. I was able to walk away just under my daily max loss. Monday was an OK day. Tuesday I was rejected trying to short FB at the open (what a short it would have been!) due to Centerpoint’s IT issues. Then all losing trades Wednesday through Friday. So now I know where my emotional capital limits are, so I need to set new rules to prevent me reaching it again. 1) Lower risk from $30 back to $25 2) Do not increase risk size on the last week of the month. 3) Do not hold to original S/O after first partial. Something I implemented last week (don’t move your S/O after only one partial) since back testing said I would profit from it. Failed me 3 times this week. So S/O will be moved from the original level after first partial. 4) Trade half share size the day after a double stop out day 5) Two double stop out days in a row go to SIM. So I will be on SIM on Monday. 6) 2 trade a day max again. The third trade per day under certain conditions was working for me. But I can’t trust myself now. Plus it feels like a punishment if I take this away. 7) No premarket trades. This was working for me, but again I don’t trust myself now. 8] After done trading live for the day, look for a SIM trade until 7am. 9) Absolutely no trades before preflight checklist signed off. I was sloppy about that this week. 10) Increase meditation 11) Watch the will-power reservoir. I have been trying to improve my discipline (will-power) in my nontrading life. But doing too much can drain the will power reservoir we all have. So mild will power exercises during the week and the heavy lifting one’s I will practice on Friday and Saturday only. Here is my plan for this week: Concentrate on process and score card, not on W% and P/L Follow the 11 new rules listed above Do not trade AAPL until better data is seen. Though last week was OK, AAPL maybe coming back into play at the open. FB had a marginal week. It should be secondary or even your third focus for this week. AMD was no longer in play for the 2min ORB. Do not focus on it at the open. MU is in play at the open, make it your primary focus for the week. NFLX is now in play at the open, especially for the 1min ORB. Careful the way it slides through VWAP. Give it 30-50 cents of room around VWAP before considering that it "broke" through VWAP. Try trading NFLX in SIM or low shares (with wide stop out) at first.

Friday 6/28/2019 I had a well-being score of 6.5/10 this morning. My nerves were actually OK. I apologies I did not make a screen cap of my trades so you will not see the charts today. Sorry I really did not want to look at them again. So today’s journal entry is more of lamenting and reflection, not analysis. Today was my worse day in 5 months to end my worse week in 5 months and destroyed what would have been my best month since I went live. I usually have bad days on my last day of the month, but I lost control today. I was having a pretty bad week already. Tuesday Centerpoint had an IT issue and would not allow any shorts (my short entry was rejected twice on FB) and thus missed, what would have been likely my trade of the month. Though I kept the FOMO in check, it did weigh on me. Wednesday was my first triple stop out day in 5 months. Thursday was a double stop out day. I did not get a chance to exercise or meditate on Thursday. I was worried last night how my nerves would be on Friday, but when I woke up they were fine. I just thought I am trading half share size today (Friday trading rule) so the worse I can do is –R. So I guess I really didn’t know my emotional capital was completely spent. So what I felt as no nervousness was more likely numbness. I opened up my platform as usual in the morning, though a few minutes late, and I almost instantly took a trade very early in the premarket. I have never done that before and I have no idea how to trade that early. The reaction to take a trade was instant, I was not prepared for that. Yes, looking at MU without checking the time looked like an OK setup. But that could be a horrible setup for that time in the morning. Yes it did have an ABCD pattern and I went long. At first with small share size. But was caught in the headlights and missed my entry. But I took the trade anyway after it ran 20 cents. 20 cents!! That should be my target not my entry. Obviously it retraced and found a new bottom. I added to my long and did actually take a first partial. I took too small of a share size once I remembered I am in premarket and took another partial. The price started to reverse. Recently I have not been stopping out at B/E if I only take one partial. A new rule this week, which I have used now 3 times to disastrous effects. But B/E was a good spot to move my S/O to since it was the new support level. Once broken I should get out. Instead I was holding to my original stop out. A few cents above my original stop out I got so disgusted with myself I exited. The price immediately reversed back and headed higher. So if I exited at B/E it would have been a positive trade or held to my original S/O. Instead I caught the low. This triggered even more emotional issues and after the price moved a bit up I went long again (chasing it again). At that point I didn’t want to look at it again. Without thinking clearly I set a range order with a tight stop and walked away to finish with my usual morning routine. Yes I had a stop LIMIT order at low volume premarket where I should have used a stop market order. I came back a few minutes later assuming I had been stopped out and saw the price well below my stop limit and still active. Now I really started to lose it and added to my position at the new support level. I did choose a S/O level and I did make a very rough calculation of risk, then rounded up the share size, ignored the premarket price slide and ignored my first entry. Thus my risk was way too high. The price dropped and I did get out at my planned S/O minus the slide I must have had. I immediately closed my platform without recording screen captures of my trades and walked away and went to work early. It was almost 4 hours later I decided to look at my P/L. I glanced at it and closed my platform quickly as I wasn’t sure if I could trust myself. It was bad, but luckily it was just slightly below my daily max loss limit. I think that would have crushed me after 5 months of never breaking my max loss to finally break it. I was also still slightly green for the month. I took a big hit to my monthly score card average, I was actually proud of my score card this month until the last day. My score card for the day: What I did good today: Live to trade another day. How did I challenge myself today? Turned off my platform and walked away. What I did bad today: Lost control. What can I do better tomorrow: Well I found where my current limits are for emotional capital. I will create a plan and post in my weekly how not to reach those limits again.

Yes. It took me two months, with numerous phone calls and emails, to get my CMEG account activated. I find phone calls a little bit more effective but still poor. But after using them for over 3 months (before I switched to Centerpoint) I found the [email protected] email MUCH more responsive than the new account email. You may want to try them. Hopefully they won't kick you back to the stagnate new account department.

Thursday 6/27/2019 I had a well-being score of 7/10 this morning. My nerves were OK. I took two live trades, one with FB and one with AMD. A double stop out day is not what I needed after my triple stop out day yesterday. But, that’s what I got. FB gapped up 1% and had OK premarket volume and an OK premarket action. I really liked this setup. A miniABC pattern from premarket with a nice 1min hammer (with strong volume) at the open. I waited for the price to break the high pf premarket (which coincides with the break of the 1min candle) and I went long. My target was the 190.75 level with my S/O at the low of the previous candle (also 50MA). I took a little bit light on the shares since that 190.02 daily level was still looming above my entry. I thought it was a clean break of the premarket high when I entered, but I guess it wasn’t (or the daily level at 190.02 was more powerful than I thought) as the price immediately reversed and I was stopped out less than 1 minute later. My second trade was with AMD. AMD open with two bearish 1min candles. I waited for the bounce from VWAP and went short. My target was the 200MA-5min and VWAP was my S/O. The 200MA-1min was in the way. But, it previously broke through it. The real question was if it will break of the LOTD. But, the R/R ~4 was too good to pass up. So I did take the trade, but at half share size. It never broke the low of the day and I was S/O just above VWAP as planned. My score card for today: What I did good today: I kept my risk management under control. I was stopped out twice but my P/L is only -1.3R. How did I challenge myself today? Traded with $30 risk/trade. What I did bad today: I didn’t check the strength of the levels during my premarket prep. I have been good about that lately. It would have told me to be suspect of the FB trade/entry. What can I do better tomorrow: Must complete my full premarket checklist. I was running a little late so I cut corners. If I can’t complete it I shouldn’t be trading.

Wednesday 6/26/2019 I had a well-being score of 7.5/10 this morning. My nerves were good. I took three live trades, two with FB and one with MU. I knew I was going to make a hot key mistake this week. And since I convinced myself of it so of course it happen. Three times, in the past few days, I mentioned on the BBT website or in private email that I like my DAS layout since I only made 2 hot key mistakes in 5 months. Luckily I recovered from today’s hot key error in about one second and it didn’t cost me anything. When I wanted to exit the trade I clicked the Sell ¼ button instead of the sell all. By luck the price popped up then I clicked the sell all button so no harm done. FB and MU were my two main focuses this morning. FB had a bullish 2min candle forming and I liked how it couldn’t break VWAP the three times it tried and I went long. Since it was an OK setup and not great I went with small share size when it cleanly broke the 200MA-1min. The 200MA-5min was my target and VWAP my S/O. The price did make it to my first partial, then struggled for 2 minutes and I got stopped out for a loss. My next trade was with MU which was forming an ABCD inside the 5min ORB. I waited for a bounce off the 36.67 daily level and went long full share size. Target was the 37.29 daily level with stop out at 36.59 daily level. I was able to make a first partial but 6 minutes later I was stopped out for a loss. Due to my new rules I am allowed to take a third trade in certain situations. Though today was only the second time I have used that rule. My final trade was with FB. The price was holding the 200MA-1min for several minutes and I went long (small shares) when it bounced again. Target was 200MA-5min though I was hoping for HOTD with VWAP with my stop at VWAP. Though it had held the 200MA for several minutes, the moment I took the trade the price instantly reversed and immediately broke down through the 200MA and quickly broke through VWAP where I was stopped out. My score card for today: What I did good today: I kept my risk management under control. I was stopped out 3 times but my P/L is only -1.5R. How did I challenge myself today? Traded with $30 risk/trade and took smaller partials. What I did bad today: Both FB setups were B- setups. They weren’t bad, but that doesn’t mean I need to take them. What can I do better tomorrow: This is my first triple stop out in 5 months. I feel OK now, but I am thinking I should go half shares tomorrow or until I get my confidence back.