Rob C's Trading Journal - starting Feb 1 2019

[Rob C 826]

 

Live trading summary for week ending 6/21/19.

I took 10 trades this week with a good score card average of 87%. Win% was solid at 60%. I was green every day this week, which hasn’t happen in the last 4 months. My well being scores were also much improved this week. Though a third trade per day is now allowable, I never took a third trade on any day this week.

I discussed my issue with bad fills with Centerpoint this week. They said this was not unexpected since the BBT deal is limited to the CPGO route, which is designed for low cost and not speed. I asked them to take me off of the BBT deal so I can use a faster route, they recommended FAN. So the comm is now min 0.95 and Comm+ECN=0.00732 (for the FAN route) compared to the slower route BBT deal (.35 min, .005 for comm+ECN). Since I reduced my share size this month and have been mostly trading high price FB, it’s almost a 3X increase. But, I am hoping to bring my share size back to where it was by the end of July so the min cost won’t effect me much. So I am going to stick with Centerpoint for probably a couple of months to see how good they are before I decide if I need to switch to IB.

What was really good about this week was I didn’t have a trade that I was upset at myself for taking or managing it. Yes I still have a huge room for improvement, but looking back I was OK with every trade this week. So I am going to change my risk per trade from $25 to $30 for next week.

Here is my plan for this week:

Concentrate on process and score card, not on W% and P/L

Do not trade AAPL until better data is seen.

Make FB your primary focus. Stock still very much in play for 1min/2min ORBs.

AMD is still in play again for the 2min ORB. Do not take 1min ORBs on AMD wait for enough of the 2min candle to determine direction.

MU is now in play for 1/2/3min ORB. It is good enough that you can interchange it with AMD as the secondary focus based on premarket data or opening volume.

A third trade per day is allowable if you stopped out of another trade early that didn’t feel right any more.

Will currently stay with Centerpoint as my broker.

Changing my risk per trade from $25 to $30 for next week.

 

 Have a good weekend.

 

[Rob C 826]

Monday 6/24/2019

I had a well-being score of 7/10 this morning. My nerves were not as good as recently, so I decided to trade at $25 risk today not the planned $30. Also, I changed my DAS setup to help with partialling, so maybe it’s not wise to change two things on my DAS setup on the same day.

I took two live trades with FB.

FB premarket action and volume was good. It sold off immediately at the open and I was waiting for the rebound and bullish hammer. One did form about 2.5min after the open and I went long. The candle was still slightly red when I took the trade but still quite bullish looking. My target was the high of premarket at 193.39 with a stop out level at 192. It tried a couple of times to break the 192.50, but couldn’t and retraced to my stop out where I exited. Now why did I not use the 200MA-1min I am not sure. I probably thought the 192 level, which coincides to the 200-5min, was strong enough. Any way I was wrong and the price instantly reversed as I exited the trade.

What it looked like when I took the trade:

FB bounced at the 200MA-1min and I went long again at the VWAP. Same target but the 200MA-1min as my S/O. It took quite a bit of self-control to hold until the new 1min high before I take my first partial. I also reduced the size of my first partial. I took my next partial at the 50MA, then I lost my nerve and took two bad partials. At that point I told myself the next partial is at my target (high of premarket) or S/O level. It took 3 minutes but it reached that level. I decided just to partial not exit since it may run once it breaks that level. It didn’t and I exited when it made a 1min low.

 

My score card for today:

 

What I did good today:  Recovered quickly from the S/O and quickly took another trade without feeling the need for revenge.

How did I challenge myself today?  Used a smaller first partial. My first and last partial I waited patiently.

What I did bad today:  Partials 3 and 4 were still bad.

What can I do better tomorrow:  Over all partialling was better than usual. Still need more time to improve on it.

 

 

Edited June 24, 2019 by Rob C

[Rob C 826]

Some details of the Centerpoint’s BBT offer I learned trading with them the last two weeks.

First, I used CMEG for a little over 3 months. They were adequate but I prefer a US based broker, the commissions (CMEG) were quite high since I am still trading small shares, I was a little disappointed with the shorts availability and there were some technical difficulties (though no major ones).

I applied to Centerpoint with the BBT offer and had an account in 2 days. This was much improved over the 2 months it took to get an account with CMEG. I have been trading for Centerpoint now for an 11 days. Starting on the first day I had issues with my orders being filled. I do trade very close to the open (within 1 or 2 minutes) so bad fills are common. With CMEG I would get a bad fill 15% of the time. I define a bad fill as one that alters the trade. Thus my entry is so bad that I need to immediately exit the trade or one of my sell/covers is so bad that it changes my profit from good to mediocre. This 15% I thought was acceptable due to my style of trading. Then I started with Centerpoint and about 50% of my trades were plagued with bad fills. I even had a fill miss my market limit order and didn’t fill at all. That was the first time since I have been live a long order was not filled (and this was a trade with very liquid FB). When you place the trade the order sits in the order window and you wait and watch the hallow triangle on the screen until the order goes through.

I contacted Centerpoint (BTW the customer service at Centerpoint was good) and I was informed that the BBT deal limits your route to the CPGO route. This route is for lower price but not as fast. If I wanted a faster route (they recommended FAN) I would need to remove myself from the BBT deal. The price would increase from .35 min, .005 for comm+ECN to min 0.95 and Comm+ECN=0.00732 (for the FAN route). Since I am still trading low shares and lately have gravitated to the higher price stocks this is a 3X increase.

So I did ask them to remove me from the BBT deal and I would give it a try. It’s true the FAN route is really fast. Feels like I am back in the simulator. I have made 16 trades (tickets) using the FAN route so far. Looking at the logs and video all 16 had excellent fills.

I haven’t tried the new LAMP route for CMEG yet. I happen to move over to Centerpoint just before they activated it. But from the video that Carlos posted the speed has increased from the previous routing. From the look of it I don’t see any dramatic speed increase comparing the LAMP vs the FAN routes like I did with the NSDQ-CMEG route. There may be a difference but since I have not tried the LAMP route I can’t say for sure.

I was also expecting the shorts to be more available. I was surprised the first day when Centerpoint listed no shorts available for ROKU. I see traders with IB short ROKU so that was disappointing. There is a short locator with Centerpoint. But that takes a few more mouse clicks (and costs more) so it would not be useful to me since I tried at the open.

Summary: if you trade close to the open, where the fill speed is vital, I don’t recommend the Centerpoint deal with BBT since you are limited to the CPGO route. Outside that small time window (>10min from the open) the CPGO route should be fine.

Edited June 25, 2019 by Rob C

[Rob C 826]

Tuesday 6/25/2019

I had a well-being score of 6.5/10 this morning. My nerves were fine.

I took one live trade with MU. More issues with Centerpoint!!! See below for details.

I wanted to short FB at 9:31am and Centerpoint rejected my order saying unable to short this security. This is FB!!! I tried again at 9:32am and again there were no shares for short. If you haven’t seen FB’s open, trust me that would have been my trade of the month. After my trading day ended I called Centerpoint and they said they had a DAS and Vision (the clearing house) IT issue and the easy to short list was not uploaded to DAS. Thus, nothing was shortable on Centerpoint today (unless you use their locator app). They said they were alerted to it and fixed it well after the open. Honestly, when I look at the FB,MU,AMD,AAPL,… I don’t look to see if the “S” is there on my montage. Looks like with Centerpoint I will have to add that to my preflight checklist. Very disappointed with Centerpoint.

Luckily MU has a long setup so I was able to take a trade today. Back test data says that MU is good with the 3min ORB. I saw MU make a mini ABCD/pendant and really hold the 33.47 daily level. I went long at the break of that level. I did take 3 partials, all small ones (trying to work on my partialling). Then SPY started to drop and I was thinking about exiting or take another partial if it broke the 33.64 level which the price has been respecting. But my subconscious thought, “you have already taken 3 partials, let it ride to B/E in case it’s a pull back.” That’s fine but my subconscious forgot I took small partials today and I still have half my shares left. So I let it ride to B/E where I exited. Well that’s part of the learning curve I will have when trying to teach myself to partial better.

 

My score card for today:

 

What I did good today:  Recovered quickly from FB shorting issue and took another trade. Very happy how I don’t feel any FOMO missing the great short I would have had on FB.

How did I challenge myself today?  Traded with $30 risk/trade and took smaller partials.

What I did bad today:  Should have partialled or exited MU when it broke the support with SPY falling like a rock.

What can I do better tomorrow:  Checking short availability, on all stocks, will be on my preflight checklist.

 

 

[Mike B 624]

Wow, Centerpoint had an issue like that. I would expect that from an offshore broker, not one in the US.

[MKINGSBURY 2]

I didn't read through the entire journal but I have been a BBT member for about 2 months and have been checking out everyone's journals. Out of curiosity do you statically trade better when you have a better well being score? And I don't mean to be annoying or step on your toes but to minimize negative self talk, maybe change what I did bad today to what I would like to improve from today. Thanks and best of luck with your trades.

[Rob C 826]

7 hours ago, MKINGSBURY said:

I didn't read through the entire journal but I have been a BBT member for about 2 months and have been checking out everyone's journals. Out of curiosity do you statically trade better when you have a better well being score? And I don't mean to be annoying or step on your toes but to minimize negative self talk, maybe change what I did bad today to what I would like to improve from today. Thanks and best of luck with your trades.

Thanks for reading them.

As a lower limit it has worked really well for me. I have painful data that shows that a wellbeing score of 4.5/10 is the lowest I can have and still trade full share size live. 4/10 I switch to half shares. 3.5/10 or lower I use SIM only.

It will probably take another year to determine a general correlation. Since my wellbeing score goes up with warmer weather and  since I am new to trading my trading has improved at the same time.

Yes, I have been told that I am too negative on myself. But I do like the phrase I use in my journal. It helps me vent and reset.

[IamKarthi 342]

16 hours ago, Rob C said:

Tuesday 6/25/2019

I had a well-being score of 6.5/10 this morning. My nerves were fine.

I took one live trade with MU. More issues with Centerpoint!!! See below for details.

I wanted to short FB at 9:31am and Centerpoint rejected my order saying unable to short this security. This is FB!!! I tried again at 9:32am and again there were no shares for short. If you haven’t seen FB’s open, trust me that would have been my trade of the month. After my trading day ended I called Centerpoint and they said they had a DAS and Vision (the clearing house) IT issue and the easy to short list was not uploaded to DAS. Thus, nothing was shortable on Centerpoint today (unless you use their locator app). They said they were alerted to it and fixed it well after the open. Honestly, when I look at the FB,MU,AMD,AAPL,… I don’t look to see if the “S” is there on my montage. Looks like with Centerpoint I will have to add that to my preflight checklist. Very disappointed with Centerpoint.

Luckily MU has a long setup so I was able to take a trade today. Back test data says that MU is good with the 3min ORB. I saw MU make a mini ABCD/pendant and really hold the 33.47 daily level. I went long at the break of that level. I did take 3 partials, all small ones (trying to work on my partialling). Then SPY started to drop and I was thinking about exiting or take another partial if it broke the 33.64 level which the price has been respecting. But my subconscious thought, “you have already taken 3 partials, let it ride to B/E in case it’s a pull back.” That’s fine but my subconscious forgot I took small partials today and I still have half my shares left. So I let it ride to B/E where I exited. Well that’s part of the learning curve I will have when trying to teach myself to partial better.

 

My score card for today:

 

What I did good today:  Recovered quickly from FB shorting issue and took another trade. Very happy how I don’t feel any FOMO missing the great short I would have had on FB.

How did I challenge myself today?  Traded with $30 risk/trade and took smaller partials.

What I did bad today:  Should have partialled or exited MU when it broke the support with SPY falling like a rock.

What can I do better tomorrow:  Checking short availability, on all stocks, will be on my preflight checklist.

 

 

I really like your $MU trade, Your entry was amazing, at the break of previous 2 candles top (like a Bullflag). I was watching it too, but it moved so fast, before I hit my hotkey. I didn't want to chase it.  This is A+ setup for me, can get easily 3R. Would have made my day. 

[Rob C 826]

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.

 

 

[Rob C 826]

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.

 

 

[Rob C 826]

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.

 

 

[Rob C 826]

 

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.

 

 

 

Edited June 30, 2019 by Rob C

[Rob C 826]

 

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

 

[IamKarthi 342]

On 6/29/2019 at 6:47 PM, Rob C said:

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.

 

 

I learnt the hard way that the Stop order/Range order don't work in premarket and postmarket. Nevertheless, I saw the $MU ABCD pattern too, and felt it was pretty good setup. It's just I have a rule not to trade in the premarket, otherwise I would have taken it too. Sequence of red means a sequence of Green coming, per Probabilities. Stay Green. 

[Rob C 826]

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.

 

 

Edited July 2, 2019 by Rob C