ChrisBowling 2 Posted March 10, 2022 (edited) Hey guys. I posted 1 post yesterday in the members only forum, but realized this was a better place to start my journal. Right now, I am working mainly on Opening Range Breakouts. A little bit about myself, I've been a professional poker player for the last 8 years. Right now, I mainly play 5 tables online for an income. In poker, I use software to build Game Theory Optimal (GTO) strategies where no matter what your opponent does, they are indifferent between their options and you realize a great portion of the pot size. Its very theory intensive and I love the mental challenges. In poker, you also have to work a lot on your mental game to focus on the learning and making the most profitable play in the long run with each hand, detaching yourself from the monetary win or loss. I see a lot of parallels between poker and Day Trading, and I am already having a ton of fun learning Day Trading! I am hungry to learn and don't be afraid to tell me I totally messed up a trade...I can take it and I want to learn! Look forward to getting into tons of theory discussions with you guys. Here is my trade journal I'll post daily! ------------------------------------------------------------ This was my 2nd day of trading. Overall, I think I did not have good reasonings for doing trades in my first day. I also am aware that I need to work on my exits from trades. I didn't do well on my exiting today. There was a lot of chinese stocks that were gapping down a lot pre-market, but didn't choose to trade them because they were too far away from the VWAP. I was watching AAPL though and because it was gapping down pre-market and close to the VWAP. These are criteria in my tradebook I am looking to meet pre-market. (trading near VWAP pre-market) On the open, AAPL gapped downward, then bounced back towards the VWAP, but didn't cross it. I entered short with a stop loss slightly above VWAP. This seemed like an A- setup to me (possibly worse). My question is in the 1 minute candle, if the wick was too extended? Do you think I should have passed on this trade because of the size of the wick? I honestly don't know what I was thinking when I partialed way too quick. I honestly think it was because I was doubting the setup. I wasn't 100% sure. After though, I kept riding the wave down and honestly didn't have a clear exit point mapped out. Developing my trade book, I want to get better on mapping out my exits. I did mark on my charts pre-market a level of $156.45 and $155.84 that appear to be approx areas of support over the last several days of trading. That should have been my target to get out 100% and partialing down. When on the chart below would you take your first partial? *Side note. I want to start a tradebook on reversals and tried taking a reversal trade that I think was bad in hindsight. I don't think I should be taking the reversal trade with both 9EMA and 20EMA averages between the VWAP. Its my 2nd day trading in the sim, so was tempted to try a reversal play. I will study reversals more and start a tradebook before taking any more trades. My question is when I am working on 1 and 5 min ORBs, sometimes I am done with that trade by 9:30. What are some of the best trades to start looking out for at 9:30-10:30? I want to focus on studying 2 different setups so I can trade something after the ORB setup in the morning or if I miss it. I def have the time and flexibility to put in a lot of study time. Edited March 10, 2022 by ChrisBowling Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
senftjc77 0 Posted March 10, 2022 Hi Chris, my only recommendation for you would be to watch Thor Youngs's Series on trading using Camarillo Pivots with VPA. It has changed the way I trade. Picking strategies is a very personal thing because only you can know what fits you as a trader. But I really think understanding how to conduct VPA while your trading drastically increases your potential no matter what strategy you choose. Welcome and good luck! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisBowling 2 Posted March 11, 2022 Thank you @senftjc77. I'll definitely check it out! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisBowling 2 Posted March 11, 2022 3rd Day | Friday chop | -$268.38 I am focusing on 1-min and 5-min ORBs. I am trading in the simulator. The whole market was gapping up on Friday with news of Putin saying their were positive signs in talks. Right before the open though, the market started selling off and showing weakness. I was having a difficult time trading. I couldn't find anything that matched my tradebook. This was the only trade I took which looking back was not good and didn't follow my rules in my tradebook. My thoughts were at the time, that on the 2nd minute candle, I was looking for direction. When it broke the VWAP, I jumped in right at the high. Since it broke the range of the first candle, I was thinking the stock was breaking out to the upside. Warning signs that I should not have taken this trade are the huge wick on the 1-min candle and the sudden weakness in the pre-market near the open. With this long wick, I think looking for something else would be best and waiting til after the 5 minute candle to see if there is any direction. I had a hard time today finding any other trades that fit my criteria because most everything on my watchlist (NVDA, AAL, AAPL, JD) were too extended from the VWAP. JD was close, but I passed on it because by the time I saw it, it was too far away from the VWAP to short. One of my favorite sayings is "There is no such thing as a mistake, just an opportunity to learn." As a new trader, I find it helpful making mistakes like these because it helps me cement in my mind of what not to do and the outcome of that situation. It helps develop those "If this -> then that, If this -> then that" statements to more fully understand the branches of the decision tree. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
