Rob C's Trading Journal - starting Feb 1 2019

[Rob C 826]

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

 

[Rob C 826]

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

 

[Rob C 826]

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

 

 

 

 

[Rob C 826]

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

[Rob C 826]

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

 

 

[Rob C 826]

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

 

[Rob C 826]

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/18/21 Thursday.

So on Tuesday I decided to push myself to take trades after I am already positive for the day. If my 1st trade is a winner, even if it is small, I usually call it a day, so not to ruin it. Not a good habit. So my first trade on Tuesday was a winner but I pushed myself to keep trading until I had my 2nd worse day since going live Futures. So I don't think I am ready for that. So today I opened with a winner then I switched to SIM and took 4 trades (2 winners and 2 losers).

Strong downward momentum in PM creating a bottom which was tested twice. Then after the open the price burst through the level and popped back setting up a failed breakout. I went long after two bars finished above the MB. I kept my target conservative. When it was reached I stopped my live trading for the day.

I hope everyone is having a good day trading.

Rob C

 

 

[Rob C 826]

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/19/21 Friday.

Unsure of market direction from PM, but momentum went downward right after the open. We got a really nice pull back. The setup to test the lows was so good I took an aggressive entry. The price instantly spiked down before I was ready, so my 1st target was not set. I quickly grabbed the order line (for contract) and dropped it on the current price and luckily got filled. I moved the stop, for the other contract to B/E and was stopped out quickly.

Soon after the price dropped and made a new low and popped back up creating a failed breakout setup. There was an aggressive entry I could have taken, but I was waiting for a more conservative entry which didn't occur. 

Then my DAS froze for about 30 seconds. Then my Ninjatrader froze. After a few minutes and still it didn't recover, it seemed like the universe was saying to call it a day. I was a little positive on both Futures and Equities already so I called it a week.

Have a good weekend!!

Rob C

 

[Rob C 826]

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/22/21 Monday.

Some upward momentum in the PM. There was actually a nice pull back and setup to test the high in PM. But volume was so slow I didn't think I could reach my target before the open so I let it go. The price bounced around the range after the open and finally broke through and reached a new high and another pull back. I went long to test the highs with 2 contracts. I sold one contract at my conservative target. The price then was retraced to stop me out at B/E.

I hope everyone will have a good Monday.

Rob C

 

[Rob C 826]

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/23/21 Tuesday.

Not many opportunities today. I had to wait until 2pm EDT until I got a setup. Luckily I did quit while I was ahead because soon after there were two other setups that I would have been stopped out.

Momentum direction changed 5 times today, each time with strength.  The one I traded was a strong downward momentum that broke the recent low, retested and made a new low. Then on the next pullback I shorted. I don't have much trust in break out trades, even really pretty one's like this, so I set my limit order for a conservative target. Luckily it was filled before immediately pulling back.

I hope everyone is have a solid day trading.

Rob C

[Rob C 826]

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/24/21 Wednesday.

I could only trade the first 30 minutes after the open, so I feel lucky that I got a trade in. 

There was some upward momentum overnight, though stale by the open. But enough to draw a level. The price quickly broke the level and dropped hard bouncing at the bottom of the range. After the second bounce and new high I went long (TRT). The price just missed my limit order by a tick which was the VWAP for SPY. So I lowered my order by 2 ticks and was filled soon after.

I hope everyone had a good day.

Rob C

 

[Rob C 826]

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/25/21 Thursday.

Four trades today and they were all failed breakout setups. I am pretty sure that is a record for me.

There was lots of downward momentum in the PM. So the range was already set before the open. The price stayed in the range for about 5 minutes before it broke to the upside and failed. When the price dropped back into the range I shorted and was stopped out. I almost never try a FOBO twice in succession, but I liked that the price tried to go higher 3 times and failed. So I shorted again. The price did drop some then bounced back to stop me out again. The price then popped out again and set up a FOBO for a 3rd time. But I didn't want to try it again so I let it go. Of course that was the winner.

A few minutes later the price dropped out of the range to the downside. I went long when the price popped back into the range. This one worked and reached my conservative target. 

Later in the day (see the second chart) the momentum was strong to the upside and created a new high, which was tested and the price broke through. Then the price dropped back for a failed break out trade. This one worked and hit my target.

See everyone tomorrow.

Rob C

 

 

 

[Rob C 826]

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/26/21 Friday.

There was upward momentum from the PM and a new high was tested several times before pulling back enough for me to go long. The stock popped up a bit and I pulled my stop up which caused me to be stopped out to the tick. That plus 2 S/O on equities I took a couple hours off from the screen.

When I arrived back there was good upward momentum again and a strong pullback from the high. I went long and did get a partial (1 contract) then stopped at B/E.

Have a good weekend.

Rob C

 

 

[Rob C 826]

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/29/21 Monday.

Not much direction at the open, but later in the morning we got strong momentum down. We got a nice pull back I tried to short but my order did not fill. Too bad it was a winner. Then the price broke through the bottom and pulled back so I went long with a failed break out. Luckily I set my limit order on a conservative target. It was filled quickly before the price pulled back.

I hope everyone is having a good Monday.

Rob C

 

[Rob C 826]

Futures (ES) live trading journal 3/30/21 Tuesday.

Sorry I didn't have time to post this yesterday and even too busy to trade today. 

There was some momentum to the downside but not a large amount. Then about an hour after the open there was a break lower and a pull back. I shorted on a break out trade and immediately got stopped out.

After that the strength to the upside did not stop and there was a setup for a breakout trade to the long. This one worked, though I placed my limit order very conservative so not much of a winning day.

See you tomorrow.

Rob C