Mark D. Day Trading Journal - Live 2019

[JD 49]

On 7/18/2019 at 11:47 AM, Mark D. said:

Other comments for tomorrow: I've noticed that i have a cycle in my trading psychology which goes: 1.) bad trades -> 2.) red P&L -> 3.) focus on getting good entries and stopping out appropriately -> 4.) good trades -> 5.)green P&L -> 6.) focus on being green for the week instead of good trades -> 7.) chasing entries/ stubborn losses -> 1.) bad trades... repeat cycle. i'm currently at step 6 going on 7. 

has anyone else noticed this? any advice for keeping in the 3 through 5 steps? i know on paper what i need to do is don't worry about P&L and just worry about my trades but i still fall in to this cycle. any advice would be appreciated. i think Robert H made a video about this in one of his rants. I need to go review those again. 

 

Hey Mark,

I can relate but don't really have an answer for it. I did basically ask this question for the podcast with Dr. Steenbarger next Friday. One interesting thing that I saw during the interview that William did with Jerremy on Youtube was to have a pain or consequence for breaking your rules. Jerremy would take away something that he enjoyed as a consequence to breaking his rules. They mentioned to start small and progress to greater consequences for rule breaking so I was thinking that it's worth a try. For example, Jerremy used to take away milkshakes for 2 weeks when he broke a rule since he loved milkshakes.

I actually tried something similar which was to cut myself off from live trading for the rest of the day when I broke my rules and it was working out well because the next day I knew I wouldn't be able to take any more trades if I broke my rules. The frustration from having to watch a good setup go by when your montage is locked because you already broke your rules that day is quite painful.  

William mentioned something in that Youtube video which was to work on discipline outside of trading to influence trading by starting out small. Setting a task that you have to complete everyday and build it up as you accomplish completing that task. Here's a link to the video if you haven't already watch it.

 

[Mark D. 435]

Week 29 Recap

Not a great week for me. Win percentage was pretty awful at 20%. Too early on my entries was the biggest reason for my low win % this week.

·         Weekly stats

o   2.3 planned R/R (Goal: above 3.0) [Previous Week: 3.0]

o   14/20 70% (Goal: above 80%) [Previous Week: 83%]

o   -$17.09 (Goal: $150) [Previous Week: $21.00]

o   1/5 20% trades with the trend (Goal: 100%) [Previous Week: 100%]

o   1/5 20% Non-optimal Entries (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 17%]

o   1/5 20% Letting Losers Run (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 17%]

o   1/5 20% No Setup (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 17%]

o   1/5 20% true win percentage (Goal 45%) [Previous Week: 50%]

 

·         Highlights

o   Good trade in MU on Friday

o   Only lost 1.7R for the week even with my bad win percentage

 

·         Ongoing things to work on

o   Removed the per trade auto stop so that I’m solely responsible for my stop outs.

o   Kept the daily max loss.

o   Slipping back in to getting in to trades too early. I’m going to work on being more careful next week.

o   I’m against the trend way too often this week.

[Mark D. 435]

19 hours ago, JD said:

I can relate but don't really have an answer for it. I did basically ask this question for the podcast with Dr. Steenbarger next Friday. One interesting thing that I saw during the interview that William did with Jerremy on Youtube was to have a pain or consequence for breaking your rules. Jerremy would take away something that he enjoyed as a consequence to breaking his rules. They mentioned to start small and progress to greater consequences for rule breaking so I was thinking that it's worth a try. For example, Jerremy used to take away milkshakes for 2 weeks when he broke a rule since he loved milkshakes.

I actually tried something similar which was to cut myself off from live trading for the rest of the day when I broke my rules and it was working out well because the next day I knew I wouldn't be able to take any more trades if I broke my rules. The frustration from having to watch a good setup go by when your montage is locked because you already broke your rules that day is quite painful.  

William mentioned something in that Youtube video which was to work on discipline outside of trading to influence trading by starting out small. Setting a task that you have to complete everyday and build it up as you accomplish completing that task. Here's a link to the video if you haven't already watch it.

hi JD, 

thank you for the advice! i did watch that video a couple days back and i have giving some thought to consequences in the past but i never thought of one that was painful enough to work. like in the past i would go back to sim if i broke a rule but it wasn't enough pain  to stop me from breaking my rules. I've been brainstorming about this with my wife and I've decided that i'll give up video games for two weeks if i let a trade go past my stop. I play games  everyday so this one would be sufficiently painful and allows me to trade live even if i break rules. i also removed the single trade auto stop from my das platform because it's not consistent enough and when the stock approached my stop in the past i would just let the auto stop get it instead of me and that's not really taking responsibility for getting out of the trade. we will see how it goes! 

[JD 49]

That sounds like a great plan, looking forward to the results!

[Mark D. 435]

Monday July 22nd, 2019

Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. 

first trade was an ORBU in MU. got in right at the break of the body of the first 5min candle. set my stop loss for the VWAP. got stopped out. i need to stop getting in to these trades that late. need to get in on pullbacks on the 2min. it wouldn't have worked either way but i've been getting in when it's too extended and just getting burned. 

GOOD: got out at stop

RFI: should have just past on this trade

MOOD: frustrated. 

CONSISTENT: yes

 

 

last trade of the day was a wedge/ hoping for a break of the LOTD in $MU that didn't work. it did break the LOTD but had no follow through and got stopped out. 

GOOD: got out at stop

RFI: i need to wait for confirmation of the move

MOOD: frustrated. so tired of being wrong so often, it is extremely frustrating

CONSISTENT: yes

 

What i did good today: stuck to my stops

What i did bad today: not taking good setups at supports. being wrong way too often. 

What can i do better tomorrow: no idea, i need to regroup and look back on my past trades and see what i can do to improve my accuracy. I don't know what to do, i've been wrong 6 out of my last 7 trades and it's really frustrating to keep getting stopped out. 

Edited July 22, 2019 by Mark D.

[IamKarthi 342]

On 7/18/2019 at 5:47 PM, Mark D. said:

 

Other comments for tomorrow: I've noticed that i have a cycle in my trading psychology which goes: 1.) bad trades -> 2.) red P&L -> 3.) focus on getting good entries and stopping out appropriately -> 4.) good trades -> 5.)green P&L -> 6.) focus on being green for the week instead of good trades -> 7.) chasing entries/ stubborn losses -> 1.) bad trades... repeat cycle. i'm currently at step 6 going on 7. 

has anyone else noticed this? any advice for keeping in the 3 through 5 steps? i know on paper what i need to do is don't worry about P&L and just worry about my trades but i still fall in to this cycle. any advice would be appreciated. i think Robert H made a video about this in one of his rants. I need to go review those again. 

 

I don't  specifically have this problem, (but lot of other issues 🙂 ) or the solution to this problem. But, do you have weekly targets, as you are trying to stay green for the week? If so, is it possible for you to have a monthly target, instead of weekly. That way, you don't have to stress out everyweek, but only once in a month. Since it will happen less often on a monthly basis, it may go away after a while. my 2 cents.

I have heard people saying hide your P&L. Personally, I don't know how much that helps. I look at my P&L all the time. In fact, when I am in a bad trade and if I don't respect my stoploss, Looking at the P&L makes me stop out immediately as it is going from negative to Big negative. Also, Once I know I have achieved my P&L then I cut my share size. It's much more peaceful. I guess it's down to personality. You may try this option of hiding P&L too if it works out for you. Stay Green!

 

[Mark D. 435]

2 hours ago, IamKarthi said:

I don't  specifically have this problem, (but lot of other issues 🙂 ) or the solution to this problem. But, do you have weekly targets, as you are trying to stay green for the week? If so, is it possible for you to have a monthly target, instead of weekly. That way, you don't have to stress out everyweek, but only once in a month. Since it will happen less often on a monthly basis, it may go away after a while. my 2 cents.

I have heard people saying hide your P&L. Personally, I don't know how much that helps. I look at my P&L all the time. In fact, when I am in a bad trade and if I don't respect my stoploss, Looking at the P&L makes me stop out immediately as it is going from negative to Big negative. Also, Once I know I have achieved my P&L then I cut my share size. It's much more peaceful. I guess it's down to personality. You may try this option of hiding P&L too if it works out for you. Stay Green!

 

Hi Vikram, 

Thank you for the advice. I think i'll try not worrying about P&L for the week starting August 1st. and see how it plays out. I don't look at my P&L during the trading day but i'm so used to thinking in "R"s and using a fixed dollar amount for risk, i know all the time pretty much spot on what my P&L is. 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2019 by Mark D.

[Mark D. 435]

Wednesday July 24th, 2019

Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. I have time to focus on the market at the open. 

Only trade today was an ABCD in SNAP. i missed the ORBs out of fear. i've been getting stopped out often on ORBs the last couple of weeks so i wasn't ready to jump in on this ORBU but it would have been a good one. instead i waited for the pullback and traded this as an ABCD with an entry on a new 2min high after a doji. my stop loss was a new 2min/5min/5min low. I had to leave my desk to travel for the day so i set my 3R range order. got within 2 cents of my profit target at around noon

GOOD: good entry

RFI: could have waited and got more shares. profit target was a bit far

MOOD: good, I didn't have a choice but to hold on but i'm glad my order got filled. i was going to pull over and get out of the trade at 3:50 if neither my PT or stop loss was hit. 

CONSISTENT: yes, exactly as planned. 

[IamKarthi 342]

22 hours ago, Mark D. said:

Hi Vikram, 

Thank you for the advice. I think i'll try not worrying about P&L for the week starting August 1st. and see how it plays out. I don't look at my P&L during the trading day but i'm so used to thinking in "R"s and using a fixed dollar amount for risk, i know all the time pretty much spot on what my P&L is. 

 

 

Please only take it as a suggestion my friend!. Very nice trade on $SNAP today. 

[Mark D. 435]

Week 30 Recap

Another week busy with work, only able to trade two days. Took 3 trades, 2 losers and a winner, ending the week slightly green. Hoping this week will be significantly less hectic so that I can trade every day. I’d like to get back up in the 7 – 10 trades a week range. After looking at my trades for the month I can see that when I start doing well, I start to chase entries which leads to stopping out more. I realized this and starting looking for better opportunities on pullbacks and not chasing ORBs. Excited for next week, a lot of earnings coming up!!

·         Weekly stats

o   2.4 planned R/R (Goal: above 3.0) [Previous Week: 2.3]

o   12/12 100% (Goal: above 80%) [Previous Week: 70%]

o   $5.56 (Goal: $150) [Previous Week: -$17.09]

o   1/3 33% trades with the trend (Goal: 100%) [Previous Week: 20%]

o   0/3 33% Non-optimal Entries (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 20%]

o   0/33 0% Letting Losers Run (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 20%]

o   1/3 33% No Setup (Goal: 0%) [Previous Week: 20%]

o   1/33 33% true win percentage (Goal 45%) [Previous Week: 20%]

 

·         Highlights

o   All trades exited according to plan. Jeremy’s advice to having a consequence for violating rules has worked so far.

o   Hit right on my expected win percentage and was green for the week, always a positive. Good trade management this week.

 

·         Ongoing things to work on

o   Need to focus more on better entries to improve win percentage. I’d like get it to 45% with 3R profits.

o   Avoiding self-sabotage when I’m having green weeks. Still working on a solution to this.

o   Take more good setup trades.

o   Working on only taking my good setups. Thank you @Rob C for the Van Tharp criteria.

 

[Mark D. 435]

Monday July 29th, 2019 

Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. 

almost took $MYL for an ORB but i was too nervous to pull the trigger. would have been a good trade. then it made an engulfing crack so i was looking for a short entry. I got in a small size on a little bit of a pullback risking the daily level of $21.24. then i doubled my position at the new 5min low, moving my stop to the new 5 and 15min high at $21.19. it came right up to my stop but never broke to a new 15min high. it was consolidating forever near my entry and i got up to use the bathroom and i was it wasn't moving and the volume was dying so i just got out at breakeven. not even 2 minutes later it dumped to my profit target. i haven't made that mistake in a long while and it's a reminder as to why i don't overthink my trades and just let the market do what it's going to do and not overthink it. oh well, try again tomorrow! 

GOOD: waited for a signal for my entries

RFI: got out too early

CONSISTENT: no, didn't follow plan. 

MOOD: ok, i'd like to get to my PT on this trade but at least i didn't lose money

 

What i did good today: took a good trade, played the entry well. 

What i did bad today: let my snap judgement trick me out of what turned out to be a great trade. 

What can i do better tomorrow: don't mess with your trades, especially when they're 5min/15min trending in your favor. 

 

[Mark D. 435]

Tuesday July 30th, 2019

Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. 

first trade was an ORBU in$MU. felt good about the trade. my stop loss was far away so i was a little concerned about making it to the HOPM but with a lot of MA support under i felt confident. it sold off the first couple of minutes then bought up to break the HOTD where i got in long risking right below the LOPM. it went in my favor so i set my range order and left to do other things and by the time i got back it had dumped. thought about getting out but spent the entire time second guessing myself until my range order hit. lost a little extra on slippage. 

GOOD: setup was good, entry was pretty good as well.

RFI: could have got out much earlier

MOOD: ok not happy about it

RFI: get out when the trade clearly isn't working

 

i took $MU again. i was long biased because of the daily chart but i was seeing it below the MAs on all charts but the daily so i went against my bias and short on a pullback. it went in my favor but bought back up. again, i held on when i shouldn't have and got stopped out. 

GOOD: trade made sense, better entry than the first

RFI: should have got out when it broke the LOTD and then made a new 5min high

MOOD: frustrated on two stop outs

CONSISTENT: followed the plan but i could have cut these short. 

 

What i did good today: didn't have any losses greater than planned. 

What i did bad today: Hesitation on trades that were clearly not working

What can i do better tomorrow: Practice getting out of trades that aren't working. 

 

[Mark D. 435]

Wednesday July 31st, 2019

Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: good ready to trade. Doubting my ability to trade earlier but i've decided to be more determined in my trades today. 

First trade was a wedge in ENPH. took it long on the break higher. hit the wrong hotkey and got filled way too much so i took off half at breakeven. sold another half on the break of the whole dollar and the rest at break even. shocked and dissapointed i lost money on this trade. i knew i didn't make a whole lot but i thought with everything at b/e or above it would be a green trade. i was wrong. 

GOOD: timing on entry, reducing risk on hot key error

RFI: hot key error

MOOD: fine, played the price action right

CONSISTENT: yes

 

Next trade was a moving average trend short in AMD. took that price action as a pullback and got in anticipating new lows. i got some of the move i wanted but i got out too soon. i also got in too soon. had my entry and exit been about 4 minutes later it would have the best trade of the day

GOOD: right call on the price action. 

RFI: too early on both the entry and exit. should have held a little bit in case it broke lower like it did

MOOD: good. 

CONSISTENT: yes i'm happy with my decision even though it moved without me.

 

next trade was in AMRN. my worst trade of the day. i should have used that crazy candle as an indicator to stay way but it was making new 5min and 15min highs on volume. it just didn't work out. i did a good job seeing it wasn't going to work and then bailing. 

GOOD: got out limiting loss

RFI: dumb trade to be in

MOOD: good

CONSISTENT: yes

 

then i took pretty much the same trade i took in AMRN in AAPL. also didn't work. had i waited or flipped my position, this would have been an amazing short. 

GOOD: got out before stop

RFI: too early on the entry.

MOOD: good

CONSISTENT: yes. 

 

last trade of the day was another short in $AMD. took this as a failed bull flag. i kind of wanted to take this to the long side but there was just too much resistance above. so once it made a doji and a new 5min low i got in on the short side. got out once it kept buying up over the whole dollar. glad i got out. 

GOOD: entry and exit timing

RFI: flipped my position

MOOD: good

CONSISTENT: yes.

 

What i did good today: got out of my comfort zone and took some quick trades near the open

What i did bad today: took those two dumb ABCD trades in AAPL and AMRN that don't make any sense

What can i do better tomorrow: take more trades than earlier in the week but less than today. too much journal-ling with six trades. 

Other comments for tomorrow: I know i need to take more quick trades right at the open but i over did it today. i'm limiting myself to three total trades a day. happy with how i read the price action except for getting out of the first AMD short. 

[Mark D. 435]

Thursday August 1st, 2019

Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: good ready to trade. 

tried to take a 2 min ORBU in $GM. i wanted to get in before the break of the HOTD trying to get to the HOPM. Because I've been waiting too long on other trades and getting bad fills so i got in just before the break. i did not position correctly because of greed i took a full position with my stop loss at the break of the last 5 min candle of the premarket. But realizing that's too much actual money to risk, i got out at around my typical $10 loss. then i did the exact same trade again out of revenge and held this one to the actual loss. i'm really embarrassed with my trading today. i'm positive that's the fastest i've ever hit max loss. 

GOOD: good getting out of the first trade. 

RFI: position size appropriately, don't try the same trade again that still isn't working

MOOD: embarrassment, ashamed 

CONSISTENT: no bad trades

 

 

What i did good today: remembering why i don't try to trade momentum right at the open. I'm not emotionally ready for when i get stopped out for a loss that fast. 

What i did bad today: took the same trade twice which is against my rules. 

What can i do better tomorrow: i thought i could handle practicing trading the first 15 minutes on a 2min chart live and it was ok yesterday but today i see why i need to practice these in sim for a while before i start taking them live. I still realize that i'm going to eventually need to take more than 1 trade a day to do this full time but the losses this week are a direct result of me trying to push myself to make more money when i'm just barely squeaking by/ pretty much break even on my well thought out trades. 

Other comments for tomorrow: Last week i instituted my cardinal rule of never going past a stop loss and I've been skirting that rule by taking full size on my trades but having stop loss points that far exceed my actual dollar loss tolerance. so starting tomorrow i'll add the rule that my position size must always match my stop loss point on the chart. had i done that today i would have lost significantly less money. another comment is that i feel like i'm self sabotaging by changing my slowly winning strategy with trying to take more momentum trades that i'm not good at. only taking one live trade tomorrow and then regrouping next week and going back to focusing on my thought out trades that are showing more potential

[Mark D. 435]

Friday August 2nd, 2019 

Sleep: 7 hours. Mood: good, ready to trade. 

tried to take a 2min ORBD in MU failed immediately. should have been a sim trade but i took it live because i didn't want to risk missing a live trade. i positioned above the 9 and 20 MAs for my stop loss. should not have taken this trade live. 

GOOD: positioned for stop, stopped out

RFI: not my style of trading

MOOD: frustrated i let myself take that trade

CONSISTENT: yes

 

 

Took what i thought was an ABCD in SQ that was a snap judgement call that also didn't work. frustrated i'm taking really bad trades this week.

GOOD: position size and stopped out. 

RFI: not an ABCD pattern, extended on the 15min, didn't break lower. terrible price target. 

CONSISTENT: yes.

MOOD: frustrated, done live trading for the day. 

 

What i did good today: positioned and stopped out as planned

What i did bad today: Took setups i don't take or no setups at all. awful emotional control today. 

What can i do better tomorrow: maybe trade sim for awhile to get back in the grove. really off my game this week. shouldn't have tried to change my style of trading. also having a really hard time managing emotions this week.