Rob C 826 Posted May 9, 2019 I did the 1 trade/day, unless it's a winner, for over a month (in March). It really helped me. It was impossible for me to let go the loss. I am a bit better now if I have a loss , but traded it well. But, like last Friday, had a loss and knew I traded poorly. I couldn't control my emotions so i was done for the day. I think it was Sunday afternoon before I regained control 😕 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IamKarthi 342 Posted May 9, 2019 Appears you are going small size, that's very nice plan to control the stoploss, I am doing that too. How do you track the P&L tab especially the setup, entry and exit? some software or manual? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark D. 435 Posted May 10, 2019 3 hours ago, IamKarthi said: Appears you are going small size, that's very nice plan to control the stoploss, I am doing that too. How do you track the P&L tab especially the setup, entry and exit? some software or manual? Manual, i use an excel sheet that i made that i fill out for every trade. i also use Edgewonk that i fill out out manually as well. i like filling it out because it's a lot of work to log more than 3 trades so its a way to prevent me from taking too many trades in a day. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark D. 435 Posted May 10, 2019 Friday May 10th, 2019 Sleep: 8 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. took and ORBD in JD. got in late but it's better than being early and getting stopped out. I risked the 200 MA on the 1min to 2R. Sold the first half too early and almost all the rest at my profit target. saved 12% of my shares for the $28.27 level that missed by two cents. then i stubbornly held my last shares to break even. i need to stop doing that, it's just not worth it. GOOD: good setup, good R/R, selling for the most part was good. RFI: held my last piece through two new 5min highs instead of just getting out. MOOD: good CONSISTENT: yes. Done for the day. that's a good day for me and i don't want to mess it up with trying to catch more moves on Friday when it can be really choppy What I did good today: took only one trade on a setup. What i did bad today: held my shares through new 5min highs being hopeful instead of logical What can i do better tomorrow: get out of all your shares at 2R or better. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark D. 435 Posted May 11, 2019 Week 19 Recap Not a bad week but not that great either. Not thrilled about being back in sim but my trading still isn’t good enough to get back in to real thing just yet. We’ll see how next week goes. I can’t believe I took 19 trades this week. That’s a good bit more than I usually do, I’ve been around 12 trades the last 3 or 4 weeks. Stats are better in every respect this week. · Weekly stats o 2.1 R/R (Goal: above 2.0) [Previous Week: 2.0] o 63/76 83% (Goal: above 80%) [Previous Week: 33%] o -$52.51 (Goal: $250) [Previous Week: -$97.43] o 14/19 74% trades with the trend (Goal: 100%) [Previous Week: 44%] o 6/19 32% Non-optimal Entries (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 78%] o 2/19 11% Letting Losers Run (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 11%] o 6/19 32% No Setup (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 56%] · Highlights o Almost all stats were an improvement from last week. o Great trade in JD on Friday, SQ on Tuesday, MU on Monday. o Better entries this week. o Good one and done days Friday and Tuesday. · Ongoing things to work on o Hotkey error on AMD Monday. o Still holding losers too long, that number needs to be zero. o Too much scaling out on winners. o Need to work on getting all out of trades way before breakeven. Getting in to trades too early is the main reason im consistently losing money. I’m pretty much right on all my trades I just jump on too early with too big of a size for proper stop loss and then get knocked out of the trade before it goes in my direction. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark D. 435 Posted May 13, 2019 Monday May 13th, 2019 Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. first trade of the day was a 2-minute ORBU in MU. it broke the HOTD but wasn't really pushing higher so i got out for a small loss. Should have taken a smaller size and gave it more room but i'm glad i limited my loss. GOOD: setup was good, limiting loss is better RFI: too big a share size for the range of MU at the open MOOD: good. CONSISTENT: yes. Next trade was a 5min ORBD in TEVA. i got in on a pullback on the 5min chart, risking above VWAP. it hit my stop and came back down so i waited a little but it pushed higher and i got stopped out for slightly more than i wanted to lose. GOOD: waited for a pullback and had a good resistance for my stop RFI: should get out at my stop once it hits it and gives me an out. MOOD: fine. CONSISTENT: yes. i was still short biased in TEVA so when i noticed it wasn't breaking the $13.00 level and made a shooting star on the 2min chart, i got in short. put in a range order for $13.01 to $12.65 and let it go. ended up hitting my profit target and went even lower. GOOD: perfect entry and good R/R. RFI: could have held a small amount for it to go lower. MOOD: good CONSISNENT: yes. Next trade i saw MU make an engulfing crack on the 5min chart. i meant to get in for 50 shares and give it some room but i hit the wrong hotkey and took a full size and ended up having to take a loss at a closer stop loss. GOOD: recognized a good setup. RFI: hotkey error. MOOD: ok CONSISTENT: no, can't make hotkey errors. I still liked the trade in MU so i got back in with a better entry and this one hit my profit target. i scaled out too much. one thing i did that i liked on this trade was that i set my range order on the last 20 shares to be at worse 2R from my entry and then at best right above the $37.04 level. i did this because i was tired of getting stopped out at my breakeven on my last piece. glad i used this strategy, i got 2R on the last part instead of break even. GOOD: got right back in a good trade. RFI: scaled too much MOOD: good CONSISTENT: yes. last trade of the day was a quick scalp in INTC. i saw it was making a sort of ABCD pattern and making new 5min highs so i got in at the new 5min high, a little above what i wante, i was hesitating trying to see how many shares to get. took 50 a little bit higher than i wanted and got all out at the daily level. GOOD: saw a trade setup and took it. RFI: hesitating on share size MOOD: good. CONSISTENT: yes, exactly to plan. What i did good today: didn't let my two stop outs effect the rest of my trading. What i did bad today: TEVA ORBD was too early of an entry. What can i do better tomorrow: always wait for a good entry, getting in early is too expensive. Other comments for tomorrow: i watched this youtube video last night about how to help with impulse entries and what this gentleman was saying really resonated with me. i'm too hard on myself when i get stopped out because i take it personally. so today i took the mindset of not worrying about getting stopped out and just moving on to the next trade and it really helped me keep calm and focused on getting the trades that made money. here's the link for anyone watching. i love how this guy is just in the woods giving trading advice: 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob C 826 Posted May 13, 2019 Thanks for the video. Is his e-book worth a read? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark D. 435 Posted May 14, 2019 18 hours ago, Rob C said: Thanks for the video. Is his e-book worth a read? you're welcome! i dunno, haven't read it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark D. 435 Posted May 14, 2019 Tuesday June 14th, 2019 Sleep: 7.5 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. first trade of the day was a 5min ORBU in TME. i didn't want to chase it so i put in a limit buy at 14.79 which ended up getting filled. once i was in the trade i did not like the price action at all, too jumpy and when it went over $14.90 it sold off faster than i could even see it move so i got out with a small loss. I could have got out with a small win but i was afraid it was going to really sell off. GOOD: used a limit order not to chase my entry. RFI: could have got out at b/e or a small win. MOOD: happy i didn't chase. CONSISTENT: yes, good reading of the price action, this was a full stop had i stayed in the trade. Next trade was a long in AMD. i chased the entry and when it didn't break the HOTD, it bounced back to the 200 MA and i got out for a full loss. glad i got out because it sank. GOOD: got out at stop loss RFI: bad trade, chased before it broke the HOTD. MOOD: ok CONSISTENT: yes, traded the plan. once it sold off past the LOTD i waited for a pullback and got in short. i was confident in this trade but i was stubborn about getting out and got auto-stopped out. disappointed in my stubbornness to abandon the trade. also, i got in too early. GOOD: good setup. RFI: too stubborn to cut my losses MOOD: disappointed CONSISTENT: no, did not follow the plan. That's three losers in a row and max loss for me so that's my journal for the day. i ended up trying that same short again in AMD, got stopped out. then i went long too soon and got stopped out and then long one last time that was a winner. still lost on the day. What i did good today: good entry on TME. good idea on AMD it was just too strong. good job limiting losses in the first two trade. What i did bad today: not taking strong enough setups. being stubborn on getting out of my AMD trade. What can i do better tomorrow: take better setups. Other comments for tomorrow: i've decided to re-instate my daily max loss on my SIM account. i removed it so i could practice trades and not worry about P&L but what i need right now is to practice as realistic as possible and part of that is having a daily max loss. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark D. 435 Posted May 15, 2019 Wednesday April 15th, 2019 Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. didn't see any ORBs i liked. i almost took UNIT 2min ORB but the orders were too slow. i saw UBER was making a bull flag, waited for a new 2min high. got in long on the break risking 25 cents. it couldn't make a new 5min high and when i was it was close to breaking to a new 5min low i was watching the time and sales to get out at my stop loss and it broke so fast i couldn't react. got stopped out for a almost 3R loss. thanks UBER, done for the day. GOOD: nice setup, didn't try to guess the low RFI: should have got out when it didn't confirm the pattern on the 5min. MOOD: disappointed and fearful. doubt i'll be trading UBER any time soon. CONSISTENT: this is a tough call. i had all intentions of getting out at my stop so i'm going to say yes. after that i messed around and went long hoping for a rebound and got stopped out again. Not happy that i let myself do that. What i did good today: took a good setup with a good entry What i did bad today: held on to a trade that wasn't working on the 5min chart. What can i do better tomorrow: get out of trades that aren't working on the 5min chart. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike B 624 Posted May 15, 2019 5 hours ago, Mark D. said: it couldn't make a new 5min high and when i was it was close to breaking to a new 5min low i was watching the time and sales to get out at my stop loss and it broke so fast i couldn't react Hey Mark, I use to watch the Lvl 2 for my stop loss and about a 1 1/2 months ago, I heard Andrew say that he watches the last price marker on the chart more than anything. So, I started forcing myself to watch that instead of the lvl 2 and it became easier for me to exit at my stop. Also a by product that I was not expecting was I started noticing I had a better understanding of the price action by watching the price marker instead of the lvl 2 prices and time and sales. Mike 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark D. 435 Posted May 16, 2019 17 hours ago, Mike B said: Hey Mark, I use to watch the Lvl 2 for my stop loss and about a 1 1/2 months ago, I heard Andrew say that he watches the last price marker on the chart more than anything. So, I started forcing myself to watch that instead of the lvl 2 and it became easier for me to exit at my stop. Also a by product that I was not expecting was I started noticing I had a better understanding of the price action by watching the price marker instead of the lvl 2 prices and time and sales. Mike hi Mike, thanks, i typically do watch the price marker but i've been trying to not completely neglect T&S and the level 2 but now i'm focusing too much on them Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark D. 435 Posted May 16, 2019 Thursday May 16th, 2019 Sleep: 7 hours. mood: good ready to trade. first two trades were ORBDs in MU. wanted to use the previous previous day low as resistance and then i thought i should use it as my entry. but i FOMO'd and chased and when it came back up to my wanted entry i was already stopped out of my first trade. then i took it again on a new 2min low which worked but couldn't get low enough so i got out on a new 2min high. glad i did because it would have squeezed me for a worse loss. I should have put in a limit sell right under my wanted price and either got it or not. i'm tired of chasing trades and losing money also i need to stop getting right back in these ORBS after they don't work. no sense in losing twice on the same trade. GOOD: ORBD setup with resistance level RFI: chased the entry. tried the same trade again at a worse price MOOD: ok CONSISTENT: yes on the first. no on the revenge trade. Last trade of the day was an ABCD in CSCO. got in on the new 5min high after a spinning top. sold half at 2R and the rest i saved for the $55.82 level that i got nervous about and sold on declining volume and flat price action. now after it has moved substantially higher i regret my decision lol. all in in though i am very happy with this trade. textbook ABCD. GOOD: good setup, R/R RFI: moved my profit up and didn't leave a tiny bit to run MOOD: happy. CONSISTENT: yes. What i did good today: took only trades with setups. What i did bad today: chased the ORBD in MU twice What can i do better tomorrow: limit orders on ORBs to prevent chasing and don't revenge trade if it doesn't work out. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike B 624 Posted May 16, 2019 2 hours ago, Mark D. said: Last trade of the day was an ABCD in CSCO. got in on the new 5min high after a spinning top. sold half at 2R and the rest i saved for the $55.82 level that i got nervous about and sold on declining volume and flat price action. now after it has moved substantially higher i regret my decision lol. all in in though i am very happy with this trade. textbook ABCD. Great entry on that trade. By that time in the day I was emotionally drained dealing with FOMO and missing entries that I just moved to sim. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob C 826 Posted May 16, 2019 (edited) Mark, great trades on UBER and CSCO the last two days. I even took a picture of UBER for my playbook. A perfect ABCD on the 2min and a perfect bullflag on the 5min. Great entry too. Funny how some the best trades don't actually make us money. I just had my best trade (based on my score card system) this week. How much did I make? Minus one R on a stop out. 😏 Edited May 16, 2019 by Rob C Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
