Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/17/21 Wednesday. Thank goodness for the FOMC. I was almost at max loss for Futures and equities today and now I am in the green. Since I hit max loss at the open (Equities) yesterday, I will be in SIM at the open for the rest of the week on ORBs. Of course I had a really big day with 1min ORBs today...in SIM. We had light momentum down from the open and no setups. Then we had some light momentum up creating an area that we hope would be retested. This was not enough momentum for me to usually trade, but FOMO was high today so I took two longs and got stopped out for both. Then the FOMC statement hit and we got real volume. I waited 5 minutes for things to settle down then a really good entry presented itself to test the highs. I went long and took two partials. I hope everyone is having a solid day trading. Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/16/21 Tuesday. I have a bad habit, if the first trade is profitable I switch to SIM for the rest of the day. But I am really missing out when the market runs well. So today I decided to take all good setups. Wow what a bad day to try that. The 3 trades I took afterwards were all losers and even the 3 trades I missed while being away from my computer were also losers. There was really weak upward momentum in the PM and open, just enough to draw an area. The test trade did setup to test the high, but momentum was too light. Then I noticed SPY ETF was setting up to a real pretty 15 min ORBU. So I went long and the price did reach my target. Later in the day we got real momentum (to the downside). The price dropped and tested that level 4 more times and I went long on a new high (TRT) and got instantly run over. The price made a new low twice and bounced back and I went long again on a failed break out setup. The price gave it two tries to go higher than I got stopped out. A new low was made and a healthy pull back. I shorted. The price dropped a little then bounced back to stop me out. See you tomorrow. Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/15/21 Monday. Momentum down from PM giving a pull back right at the open. I shorted aiming to reach the low of the day but was stopped out. About a half an hour later the price made a new low and bounced back giving a failed break out setup (FOBO). I went long and the price just missed my target by two ticks and fell back to B/E. Lots of upward momentum for the midday and afternoon finally pulling back near the close. I went long for 2 contracts and sold 1 contract at a conservative target. I usually try to hold the second contract for double the range or B/E. But we were so close to the EOD I thought it not possible to reach that lofty target so I pulled my stop up below the area. A few seconds later the price spiked down and I was stopped out. then the price shot upward and did reach double the range. But I am still happy that I got another trade in before the close. I also had a really good day with equities so very happy with my day. I hope everyone had a good day, Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/12/21 Friday. Difficult day for me. No direction of momentum at the open. Then we had a drop and a strong pull back. No entry to trade the pullback. But soon after a Test-Restest (TRT) trade setup (essentially a double bottom). I went long. After 3 failed attempts to move higher I pulled my stop in and was stopped out to the tick then the price made a nice run without me. At the top of the run a TRT setup in the opposite direction. I shorted and was stopped out quickly. The momentum change direction and had a strong pullback and a really good entry for a trade to test the top again. I went long and was stopped out in seconds. the price dropped deeper and gave an entry to try and test the top again. I went long and sold 1 contract at a conservative target. Then stopped out at B/E. The price later popped out and made a new high and quickly dropped back creating a failed break out setup. I shorted and covered 1 contract when the price stalled and then stopped out at B/E. Have a good weekend! Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/11/21 Thursday. Disappointed with my trading today. After the open there was no momentum then there was too much momentum and thus giving no entry. Finally after a couple of hours we got our first deep pullback. Right before the entry I was having issues with my platform and rebooted it. Just after restart the entry was there and I went long. After exiting with almost 4 points profit I thought I was done for the day and that is when I noticed I was in SIM. That messed me up mentally and I didn't trade that well afterwards. Soon after the price dropped back into the range for a failed breakout (FOBO). I shorted and the price tried to drop 3 times. As a rule I bring my stop to B/E (after 3 tries) and was stopped out. Soon after the price did drop. After a price drop and a really fast squeeze we had another FOBO setup in the other direction. I didn't take it because it was in the center of the range with poor R/R. But looking back there were a ton of traders short that would be stopped out if the squeeze continues so it was a good FOBO. But I was not in the right mindset to see it. Then I thought best to walk away from the screen for a few minutes. Of course I missed out on another winning FOBO trade. Then I incorrectly moved my top level (in blue) up to the new high. That is OK, but after another failed FOBO I traded, the price proved the level was still down where it was originally. But I left it as it was and traded a Test-Retest trade that actually didn't exist if I kept the levels correct. I hope everyone had a good Thursday. Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/10/21 Wednesday. B/E day, but I was lucky to be B/E since I made trade management mistakes on my first two trades. We had upward momentum from the open and a pullback but not that strong. So I went long with only 1 contract on my first TT trade. The price rose to less than a point from the area (in blue) thus I pulled my stop up to 2 ticks under the recent low. Then the price tested the area 2 more times. I have a rule that after 3 tests I move my stop to B/E. But it never crossed my mind and I left my stop where it was. I was stopped out for a 2 point loss. What was worse is 30 seconds later there was a nice test-restest (double top) setup. But 30 seconds is not enough to mentally recover from the stop so I didn't enter what was going to be the trade of the day. But if I brought my stop to B/E I would have had 3 minutes to mentally recover and probably would have entered the trade and finished my day early with a nice profit. The price slowly grinded upward over the next hour then a pop and a pullback. The price gave no entry and price moved 2 ticks passed the half way point to the area. When that happens the entry is missed and setup is gone. But I guess I was hungry for a trade and went long anyway on the pullback and was quickly stopped out. Then another Test-Retest (TRT) setup occurred where I shorted and exited at a conservative target. I hope everyone had a good day trading. Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/09/21 Tuesday. A pretty good day for me in both Futures and Equities. Definitely strong upward momentum in PM. After the open the price tested the high twice and made a new low. This is what the Day Trading Academy refers to as a Test-Retest Trade setup. It is essentially a double top. I shorted on the last pull back for maximum R/R. I was stopped out immediately. The price tested the highs again and I tried shorting again. This time the price fell to a conservative target where I covered. There was more upward momentum and a strong pullback. I went long with 2 contracts. My first target was reached quickly which one contract was sold. But as soon as my limit order was filled, my limit order for the second target and my stop order disappeared. This was a first for with Ninjatrader and I was not sure what was happening so I just closed the position. I hope everyone is having a good day. Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/08/21 Monday. SP500 momentum was downward for most of the night with a strong turn upturn the last few hours before the open. So I assumed momentum was upward at the open. We then had a pull back after the open and a nice entry as the price started to move up. Then the price dropped and stopped me out to the tick. I had 2 contracts on the long so that hurt. Then the price immediately skyrocketed upward without me. After peaking the price pulled back again setting up for another trade back to the high. I didn't think I would get filled, but the price spiked down touched my limit order and actually filled. The price moved higher and stalled and I exited. Which looked like a good decision. I was still irritated by that low tick on the first trade and missing out which was likely the trade of the month. So since my psych was off and I already reached my goal with my equities trades I called it a day at B/E. I hope everyone has a good Monday. Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/04/21 Thursday. There was upward momentum in the late PM and a strong pull back. The price started moving back to the high without me and right at the halfway point pulled back so I could get an entry (long). It only took a minute to reach my target but my order was touched but not filled. Then another minute for the price to bounce back and fill my order. The price kept running, but I only took one contract so nothing to partial. After that I took two SIM trades that were winners but not worth showing here. I hope everyone had a solid day trading. Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/03/21 Wednesday. Flat day for me. The best two trades of the day did not give an entry. I had two losses and when I had a minor winner bringing me back to even I called it quits for the day. We had strong downward momentum in the PM and a hard pullback creating a nice target to aim for. But after the pullback no entry was given and price dropped to target without me. A few minutes later we had a new low and the price came back up to test the backside of the level, than made another new low. This is the ideal break out (BO) set up. I waited for the pullback to the mid band (white line) and shorted. The price dropped enough to pull my stop in a little and was stopped out. A few minutes later we had another new low and a really strong pull back setting up for another "Test-Trade" setup (name was coined from the Day Trading Academy). But again no entry was given and the price dropped nicely without me. After the new low and pullback I took another Test trade which stopped me out quickly. Then a heavier pull back and tried shorting again back to the new low. The price reached my target and touched my limit order but it was not filled. After a pull back I was getting a bit untrusting and covered one contract. Then the price shot back up fast and I covered my other contract before the price hit my B/E. Have a good day! Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/02/21 Tuesday. Ok trading today though a bit of lapse of discipline on one trade, but I am trying to follow a new rule on break out trades (BO). The momentum was up in PM and a level formed. Right at the open a break out trade formed. The new rule is don't take a BO trade unless it has a perfect setup and even then take one contract. A perfect setup is a new high/low with a pullback to test the level and then a new high/low again and then another pull back for the trade entry. A few minutes later there was more of a pull back with a chance the price will go back up and test the high (TT). A very good reward to risk, but I was immediately stopped out. Then another BO trade and I was good not to take it because it wasn't perfect. Then a failed breakout but it had no entry. Then again another breakout trade setup that was not perfect. Actually it was the worse looking of the 3, but hungry for a trade I took the trade and shorted. Being nervous about taking this trade I pulled my stop in as soon as there was the equivalent of a 1R move. Then the price bounced up to take me out by a tick and then go for a big run without me. The price dropped and made a new momentum down level then a large pull back setting up to test the low again. But no entry was given. But the SPY ETF had a better pullback and I was actually able to take this short on the SPY for a profit. A few minutes later the price broke the bottom level and bounced back giving a failed breakout setup. Not an easy entry but I was able to take a long for a few points bringing me back to the green. I hope everyone had a solid day today. Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/01/21 Monday. Thank goodness for a one and done on the opening day of March. especially after that rough last week of February. Strong early PM upward momentum then sideways heading into the open. The momentum turned upward again just before and after the open. Then a really strong pullback. I got a good entry but I extended my stop more than usual to be one tick below the recent low. Which is lucky because I missed being stopped out by 1 tick. Then the price rose to reach my first target. The price went higher dropped to test the backside of the target and then made a lower high. After 3 lower bars were printed I got out. I hope everyone had a good Monday trading. Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 2/26/21 Friday. I was completely surprised to see a positive P/L at days end. I thought today was brutal. We had positive momentum from the PM, but no entry on a winning test trade. Then the price dropped and a break out trade setup (BO). I shorted and was stopped out. Not long after I went long with a failed break out trade. The price quickly dropped to stop me out before flying higher to my target. Momentum turned south and we had a strong pull back and again no entry to test the lows, which would have been a winning trade. A breakout trade (BO) setup and I shorted and luckily chose a tight target, because the price bounced back quickly. Then price changed directions again and we had upward momentum. We had a pull back and I went long to test the high. Again I chose a close target. Then price slowly came back down through the previous level and I tried shorting with a failed breakout setup. The price dropped and nearly filled my order before bouncing back and stopping me out at B/E. More upward momentum and a pull back and again I went long to test the recent high. The price got within a point of my target and fell back to stop me out at B/E. Another price move upward and a strong pullback. Actually this was the best setup of the day so I went long to test the high and was stopped out quickly. That was my 3rd full stop out so I call it a month. Wow February was a lot tougher trading than January. I hope everyone has a good weekend. Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 2/25/21 Thursday. Thank goodness it was a relatively quick trading day. Momentum was down from premarket and a nice pull back. Sadly no entry given. The price made a triple bottom and a failed breakout. I was a bit gun shy taking a FOBO so close to the open so I let that trade go by, which was a nice winner. The price rose higher and a break out trade setup. But according to my rules the entry occurred 2 ticks beyond where I allow myself to enter. But yesterday I let two BO trades go by with the same 2 ticks to far rule and both were big winners. That plus the FOMO on the FOBO, I went long and was quickly stopped out. It is actually good the market didn't reward me for bad behavior. The price dropped and bounced setting up another failed breakout from the opposite direction. I shorted and finally got a decent trade. I exited early but it was really critical to lock in a 2 to 1 winner and be positive for the day. I hope everyone had a good day. Rob C

Definitely the worse day trading live Futures I have had. And it's not due to the largest single day loss (more than double the next closes single day loss), it was due to the 6 orders I didn't get filled. Each of the six were winners. Instead I got 3 stop outs and two break evens today. We had good downward momentum in the PM and a huge pull back. Then the price dropped again and didn't give me an entry but I placed an order anyway it case it jumps back to give me a fill. The price did recoil back but no fill. Then the price dropped big without me. Then the ES set up for a "Test-Retest" setup (essentially a double bottom). I got an entry and set my exit order. When I saw the price ran up and touch my order I thought I was done for the day. Instead no fill and the price dropped back where I got out at B/E. Momentum turned strongly upward. I tried to go long when the price broke a previous level, but no fill, then went and reached my target. Then the price made a new high and a strong pull back. I went long but after 3 tries to go higher I pull my stop to B/E and got stopped out. Then the price made a new high and a break out type setup occurred, but no fill so it ran without me. Another no fill trade occurred off the chart, so that is all I will mention about it. Then again a new high and pull back so I went long and got the full stop out. The price dipped lower and sprang back but I didn't get a fill and it ran without me. Then another new high and a pull back. Went long and immediately got stopped out. Then more of a pull back and went long again, the price dropped to stop me out to the tick then ran without me. I hope everyone had a decent day today. Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 2/23/21 Tuesday. You would think with all this great price movement today, I would have had a big day. But I ended the day red and was down a huge -15.5 points soon after the open. That's a record for sure. There was huge downward momentum from overnight and even greater right after the open. We had a strong pull back to create the best "Test-trade" (a trade to retest the low) I have ever seen. The issue is the bandwidth (the distance between the red outer bands) was 15 points. This is the largest I have seen. This means the stop out will be very expensive. But it look so I could I shorted with two contracts to create my most expensive stop out to date. Then there was another setup to test the area and usually the second try is a higher percentage trade. The bandwidth was still quite large but smaller than before. I shorted and was stopped out again to put myself -15.5 points in the hole. The price moved higher and I now called it momentum up and there was another test trade in that direction. I was patient with the entry and did get a winner. The problem is when the losses are with a very large band width and the winner is with a normal size band width a 2 to 1 winner does not bring you back to B/E. After selling my first contract at a conservative target I usually place my stop at B/E and wait for my aggressive target. The price actually did reach that target and would have still brought my day well into the positive. But I was so worried of my 2nd contract going back to B/E and still be in record loss territory, I sold the 2nd contract on the first sign of weakness. Later the price made a new high pulled back and broke the high creating a break out setup (BO). It wasn't an ideal BO setup, so for the first time today I only took 1 contract. Which is good because I was stopped out again. Leaving me red for the day in Futures but not too bad. Anyway I had a really good day in Equities so still a good day. But, will make a rule not to trade with more than 1 contract when the bandwidth is over 12 points. I hope everyone had a solid day trading. Rob C

William H's video, on risk controls, is really good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7w6flUiH9I

Futures (ES) live trading journal 2/22/21 Monday. Felt like a workout today. I watch the ES from PM until the close. Very strong downward momentum from the Asia open then a slow grind back up through the rest of PM and 30min after the open. So unsure what direction the momentum could be called. Then a sharp drop. Not enough to be called momentum down but enough to draw a level to work with. The level was touched, to the tick, 11 times so I though it significant so I traded the break of the level. First a failed break, then and actual break. I was stopped out on both. Then I waited for momentum to get going and a really nice run, pull back and entry occurred. I went long and immediately got stopped out again. Momentum then started heading south quite strongly. Then a pull back but gave no entry to go short. Then just before close we had a level break and pullback giving a break out setup and I shorted. But exited just before the close for a small win (finally). I hope everyone traded well today. Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 2/19/21 Friday. Lots of momentum up in PM. Then we had a pull a few minutes before the open. It was a nice setup and entry for a long trade for the price to go back up and test the highs. Since I was still in PM I went long with only 1 contract. I was stopped out very quickly. The price continued to drop giving a very large reward to risk if the price goes to retest the highs again. I had to wait awhile before the price finally gave me a good entry where I went long with 2 contracts. I liked this so much I went long on the SPY ETF as well. The price bounced around for 5 minutes then sharply moved higher and my first target order was filled. The price continued higher and was within a point of my second target then fell sharply down. Once the price started to stall I exited the trade. I really like to finish Fridays positive so I called it a week. Everyone have a good weekend! Thanks for reading, Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 2/18/21 Thursday. Lots of setups this morning but difficult to get order filled. Strong momentum down in the PM. A very strong pull back at the open. A great setup but then the price dropped right through the midband without giving an entry so I just had to watch it go without me. About an hour after the open same story. Good momentum down and a strong pull back. Then again the price didn't give a clean entry so my order was not filled and had to just watch it run without me. Finally the price broke through the level pulled back to test the level and then made a new low. A really nice break out setup (BO). I shorted and did get my order filled. The price dropped to my target. I was having a lot of hot key mistakes on the equity trading side today so I was not trusting my trading today so I called it a day. I hope everyone had a good day trading. Rob C

Hi Baily, Thanks for your post. Nope I still have a day job. When I started learning/practicing day trading, almost 3 years ago, I did create a business plan. The time line I gave myself was 5 years to learn the trade and work my way up to an income that I can sustain my present cost of living. I didn't see any profit for the first year and a half. I am definitely not made for day trading. My heart would pound against my ribs on every trade for the first year. So I had to make a lot of modifications to my personality. I think this was probably the reason why I stuck with it. I saw improvements in my discipline and patience in all parts of my life. Trading was essentially the vehicle for self improvement. Also I was well disciplined with my risk. So I wasn't losing much money during the 1.5 years. Once profitable I ran into my next challenge which was sustainability. My systems in my tradebook seem to be profitable 4 to 6 months at a time. So I would prove them in SIM then spend a month with small risk. Then I would slowly increase my risk. Just about the time I would start making decent money my system would start to fail and I would go back in SIM to figure out what changes I need to make. I don't know if I have faulty systems or I am poor with continuously tweaking my tradebook, so they will fail sooner or later. I just hit a big snag like that recently. End of November I suddenly lost profitability so I went back to SIM. It took 6 weeks before I saw profitability return and now I am slowly increasing my risk. I know it sounds like an insult when it takes longer than others to reach CPT level. But it really isn't. All of us perform self programming to fit our life endeavors. If these self modifications happen not to be ideal for the traits we need for trading, it takes longer to become a CPT. I personally have a really bad FOBW. Likely from being an engineer. I don't design processes to fail 40% of the time. So its a big task to change my mindset. My biggest tip? Is turning off the chat when you are trading and only turn it back on when you are done for the day and just watching to learn. Just hearing the chat sways me a lot. When I turned off the chat, just before the open is when I made my first step into profitability. Good luck with your trading. Rob

Futures (ES) live trading journal 2/17/21 Wednesday. A one and done day, thank goodness. There was good downward momentum from the PM and a strong pullback (bounced at SPY ETF YY LOTD) after the open. I tried to enter a "Test-Trade" but price did not give an entry. The price broke right through the level and reversed and I took a long entry on a failed break (FOBO) out setup. I took 2 contracts and covered one when the price stalled at the pullback's high. Then covered the other contract after the price was getting a little erratic. Test Trade and FOBO are setups I learned from the Day trading Academy. I hope everyone has a solid day of trading. Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 2/16/21 Tuesday. I did hit max loss today (defined by three stop outs) but I did trade OK today. So its just one of those days. There was good downward momentum in PM and we had a strong pull back giving an entry to catch the continued downward move. But I was stopped out by a tick. It happens. The price made a new low and rose to test the backside of the level then made a new low. It was a good break out (BO) set up, though the drop and rise in price was a little too sharp thus probably the reason I was immediately stopped out. The price dropped sharply again and a strong pull back. This was the best setup (TT) of the day so I shorted with two contracts. The price tried to drop 3 times. On the last try I covered on one contract. I have a rule after taking a partial or if there are 3 tries for the price to move and fails to move, I set my stop to B/E. Which I did and was stopped out by 2 ticks before the price dropped to my target. Then I was away from my screen and missed two setups. But I was at my screen when a "2nd times a charm" (2TC) setup occurred. This is when you have good momentum and a pull back which fails to go back to the low/high. Then pulls back more for another entry with larger reward to risk. So I shorted and was immediately stopped out. So I ended my day early, but that is OK I needed more time to replace a bathroom faucet which ended up trickier than expected. I hope everyone had a good day trading. Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 2/12/21 Friday. First clean trading day in a week. Due to a scheduling change I usually miss some of the morning trading. It can be a bit frustrating when I arrive back at my computer to see the trades I missed. And today it might have been the best setup this month I missed. So the FOMO was high when I started to trade, but good news is I kept it under control. There were two setups not long after I started trading that were questionable and I stayed discipline and did not trade them. An hour after the market open the ES sprang higher and then bounced around a level for an hour. When it finally broke though the level and was rejected it made a real pretty failed breakout setup. I shorted and was stopped out, but it was a really good trade. About an hour later another failed breakout occurred and I went short again. This one did work out. But when the price was one tick from my cover order it missed the fill 3 times. So I pulled the order up and covered. Since the bandwidth on the first trade was larger the stop was was larger. By the time of the second trade the bandwidth decreased so my target decreased. That, plus moving my target short my winner was only 25% larger than my loser. But I am really happy going into the 3 day weekend with a positive day. Everyone enjoy your 3 day weekend and Happy Lunar New Year. Rob C

Futures (ES) live trading journal 2/11/21 Thursday. Still trading a bit sloppy, but it feels nice to have a positive day. Momentum was weak and went a bit sideways. We had a LOTD break out set up. A new low was made and then a pull back where we tested the back side of the level. Then a new low was made and I set my order just below the level. The order was filled and price dropped. The mistake I made is when I pulled my stop down to my B/E instead of just above the nearest low. The price came back up and stop me out by a tick before going on an amazing run down. The good news is I took the same trade on the SPY ETF and caught the run down. When the price finally bottomed it had a nice pull back and an entry. But the reward to risk was a bit low so I should have taken just one contract but FOMO was bad from missing the last trade and I shorted with 2 contracts and was stopped out. There was a larger pull back with better reward to risk. I shorted on the entry passed the mid-band (white line) with two contracts. The price actually reached my final target. I hope everyone had a good day trading. Rob C