Day 4. -2.1 Rhythm is a dancer and the market is a trickster.

First few limits got violated so canceled those. Next one got hit and price hesitated so I counted to ten, (one of my rules is to exit within 10 seconds if price doesn't go where I want it) then went opposite to cancel the long. Unfortunately there was a bit of lag because next thing I knew I was in a short position. No bueno. Which meant my stop got hit but didn't register on the screen before I put in the short to cancel. The short immediately went into a small amount of profit but I closed it out. Even though it was slightly profitable I'm not counting it in the profit/loss for the day since it was unintended.

Though I had a loss for the day I did have several triumphs.

1) I had a small amount of hesitation in canceling the first couple of orders, but it was much easier than last week. This tells me that I'm beginning to get used to sticking to my rules.

2) I closed out my trade at exactly 10 seconds just like my rules stated. In the past I would have let it go longer or moved my stop lower, or something else as equally retarded. Which would have ended in a bigger loss. In a previous post I mused about the need for momentum and if it's not there, I'm just "hoping". And thus the need for my 10 second rule. It made sense to me at the time, and still does, and this has helped to reinforce it.

3) After the loss I didn't feel the overwhelming need to make the money back. I wanted to, for sure, but it wasn't the huge urge that I've experienced in the past.

On to manana.

Week 1 Review

Over at Trader32's blog http://www.trader32.com/ he does a weekly review which I think is a really good idea so here goes.


Week 1
Trades: 6
Total pips: +8.9

What did I do well?
I did everything well, hah. For the first time since I've been trading I can actually say that I stuck to my rules 100%. I did exactly what I set out to do.

What mistakes did I make?
I was mistake free. It's refreshing to be able to say that.

What did I learn?
As I mentioned in the previous entry, I noticed that I got too excited when I finally took a trade. On the upside I still followed my rules and canceled the first pending order. On the downside, the over anxiousness could cause hesitation in the future which could lead to unnecessary losses.

I learned that it's much easier on myself, emotionally, to wait for the correct setup than to chase the trades.

I learned, and am still learning, that discipline is THE key.

I learned that momentum is critical. When it's not there, get the fuck out.

I learned, and am still learning, to be at peace when waiting for a setup.

What will I do to improve my trading?
I will work on remaining aware of my emotional state before, during, and after trades. I will take deep steady breaths to calm myself. I will touch something and notice the texture to bring me into the now. I will start to reread one of my favorite books, The Secret of Letting Go. I will go to sleep 15 minutes earlier each night until I'm sleeping 1 hour earlier so I can wake up at 4:50am. I will continue to document here and at BMT. I will continue to be a good boy!

Day 4. +3.1 pips. The 11th hour.

This morning I got up at 4:50am. I had planned to get up at 5:30, however I awoke at 4am and couldn't go back to sleep fully, thinking about what I wrote yesterday. So I got up and did my routine and began my descent into madness. hah. Not really, but I sat there watching and couldn't take even one damn trade. It would always come so close and then suddenly price would do something that would violate a rule and I'd have to stay out. And then, near the very end of my session price took off and my setup was taking shape and my rules were being met. Joy to world and Jeremiah was a bullfrog, so I put in a limit sell. Finally, oh yes, I could finally get a trade in! And suddenly, like a vision of sodomy with no Vaseline, price bounced back and violated a rule. Ohhhhhhh, you fickle fickle ball teaser. For a moment I thought about leaving the limit trade on but then looked over at my bad boy jar, and stared a second at the good boy jar. I want to be a good boy. So with a sigh, I canceled my pending order.

But wait, what is that? Price is coming back, and my rules are wrex in effect, son. Shake baby, shake baby, 1-2-3. So I put in a limit sell again...and booyakasha, price surged though and stalled, so I exited right then with +3.1 pips. Ohyay.

One thing I noticed though, my adrenaline surged along with price. I got all worked up. More than I should have, I think. I'll have to work on that. But for now, a positive end to a long morning and ten more dollars in the good boy jar.

Seacrest out.

Day 3. No Trades

Unlike yesterday, I was in front of my computer today. Even a little bit earlier than usual. When I first turned on the screen my setup had just taken place and all my rules were met. However, I didn't trade because I always do a few stretches and pushups and drink some water before actually taking trades. Helps me be patient, get the blood flowing, and feeling ready, relaxed, and focused. So even though I saw my setup I held off to do my routine first. Which I think is a good thing. The rest of the session my criteria was never met again so I didn't take a trade.

Feels kinda frustrating to sit here for 2.5 hours and not do anything. But that is part of the process of building my discipline and I get to put $10 in the good boy jar.

Things to think about:
Wake up earlier? Lots of moves between 5am-6am so perhaps get up at 4:45. Oh man. It's hard enough getting up at 5:45am. I'll have to think about this. Maybe start going to sleep earlier each day by 15 minutes until I get to 1 hour earlier so I can wake up earlier.

Second, I keep seeing these consolidation breakouts with the trend:

 
Will keep watching them and maybe add them to my setup at the end of my 60days.

No trades today

Was unable to get in front of the screen today so no trades. Looking back through the charts it looks like there would have been maybe 1 trade I could have taken and would have given me a couple pips. But doesn't really matter cause I didn't trade it. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Day 2. +1.3. 1 trade. Lone Wolf and Pip.

Lots of moves within the range but none of them matched my rules exactly so I couldn't take them. And I kneeew the breakout would be nice, however, initial breakouts aren't part of my rules so I couldn't take it. Was just fun to watch price do what I expected. I figured there would be a stall of price after the breakout and predicted that at that time all my rules would get triggered so I'd be able to enter. And it did. I got 1.3 pips. So like yesterday, not a huge gain but I stuck to my rules 100% and came out positive. Ohyay!

Within that well defined range there were a lot of opportunities to trade off the local breakouts of consolidation. For these 60 days I'm not changing my rules so I can't trade those setups, though I will keep an eye on them for ways to exploit in the future.

Day 1. +4.5. Today I didn't even have to use my A.K. I got to say it was a good day.

$10 in the good boy jar! Funny...at first I was like, "Man, sticking to these rules is easy. What was the problem before?" And then remembered why it was hard. Suddenly the price started jumping around in the direction I wanted and I thought, "Oh man, that looks good. I should get on that train...arrrgh I can't. The ADX isn't about 25. Damn, I just missed out on 10pips right there, I should have been in. Wait, here's a good one oh yeah...oh arrrrgh can't the direction isn't entirely clear...I just missed another 5 pips! Ohhh here here this one oh wait...it's not retracing correct :( :( :(" and that's when I finally noticed how I was feeling and why I got into trouble in the past. However, I held steady and didn't enter a trade until all rules were met. And I was rewarded with 4 profitable trades in a row. Ohyay! Not huge winners at all, but seeing as how I stuck to my rules 100% for the first time I feel great. +4.5 pips.

I may have been been able to take more pips but after my 4th trade spread went from .9 to 1.2 and became a little more erratic. So decided to stay out until it went back down to at least 1 and settled down a bit. Which it did after a while but then my rules were never met 100% again so I stayed out. But I'm very happy with my results as is Billy Idol.

or 3 tricks

I was thinking some more about the best way to reward myself. And while I would love a Glock, I want to make it as easy as possible to form the habit of sticking to my rules. So, instead of getting the gun, I'll get 3 other things I've been wanting that cost around $200 each. That way I can reward myself once every 20 days. Mall employee's can rest easy. For now.


First thing is the Ikea Galant desk. My desk is too high and the Galant is height adjustable. Perfect.

Second thing is a new computer chair. I've had mine for 6 years and it's time for a new one that's more plush and comfortable. I've tried Aeron's and other ergonomic chair but do not like them. No sir. The one I want:

Last item on the list is the Kindle with cover. I tried one out at Best Buy a while back and was blown away at how great the screen looks. Felt as if I was reading a book. Which is the point, after all.

Tomorrow, here we come.

I'll show you some trick or two

Since my post yesterday I've been thinking about ways to further encourage myself to trade by my rules until it becomes a habit.

Well, I've decided on how I'm going to do this. Should I complete it, which I will, I will reward myself. Should I fail, which I won't, I will punish myself.

I want to trade my rules for 60 days. I figure by that time there's a strong chance the habit will have been formed. So I've taken out $600 from the bank, in $10 bills. I have them here on my desk next to me along with two empty containers. Each day that I trade by my rules, exactly, I will put one $10 bill into the reward jar. At the end of 60 days that will be $600, which I will then use to buy this:

A Glock 19. I will then take that gun and go on a rampage at the nearest mall. hah. Just kiiiidding. I really do want a Glock 19 though. I've shot several types of handguns and rifles at ranges and in the woods but I've never owned my own. For the last year I've been wanting to get one but have been putting it off. Well, now's a good time to get it. But I figured it would be even better to make it a reward, a little present to moi, after succeeding in my endeavor. Extra motivation and something to look forward to.

What about any days where I don't trade by my rules? Well, I will put a $10 bill in the bad boy jar and at the end of each day:

Yeah, gonna fold it up into a little plane and just throw that bitch off my balcony, out the car window, wherever. So someone will find it and be happy but I will be one miserable motherfucker. I really think it will be easy to follow my rules knowing that I'll literally be throwing my money away if I break them. And let's just say I mess up once or twice. After seeing my money go bye bye in physical form, I think I will be very eager and motivated to follow my rules from then on. I'm already kind of nervous, hahahah, but fuck it. Lets do this. Monday it begins.

I follow my rules, I'm a god. I break my rules I break myself like I break my friend. YOU, are NEXT!

Muse in my yogurt

Today was a little rough though not so rough. I started off with a couple losers then a full loser that hit my stop. I don't look at my profit while trading so at the end of the session I thought I was down much more than I was. Figured I was down 10 pips. Well color me a retard because when I finally looked at my profit for the day I was actually +.8 pips. Oooohyay. Not even a full pip but shit, much better than negative 10.

Sticking to my rules still needs work but heading in the right direction. I took a couple trades I shouldn't have. However, I held back on taking some other trades I reeeeally wanted to but didn't because they didn't fit my criteria.

I've also been thinking about the length of time I hold on to my trades. When trades go in my favor a pip or two then stall or reverse I usually pack the profit and jump out. So usually lasts just a few seconds. When I enter a trade and it stalls I tend to wait to see what it will do, which may last up to a couple minutes. For instance if I'm long and it begins going down I start saying out loud, "C'mooon. Goooo up, bitch. Gooooo uuuuuuuuuuuup!!! C'mooon. No, motherfucker, not down...upppp uppp upppp!" then I start making motions with my hands as if to push the prices higher. I feel like the Wizard in Conan trying to push the glass portal thing open. Except I'm not Chinese. Or a wizard. I'll have to ponder on this some more but it sure seems like when I wait for a stalled trade to move in my favor it ends up moving against me. Hmmm, maybe that makes sense. After all, I'm trading momentum moves and if it stalls that would indicate momentum is lacking. And if momentum is lacking then who knows where price is gonna go. So at that point I'm just hoping it will go up, rather than having a valid reason to believe it will.

So should I cut stalled or reversed trades immediately? If so, that will mean losses more often. How do I avoid all those small losses? I could enter at better times. Better entries means less likely to stall or reverse. Which means more likely to make dollah dollah bills ya'll. So in order to avoid all those tiny cuts, I would have to have great entries. To have great entries...I would have to be disciplined to take only the best setups. Which means I need to stick to my rules 100%. Which means fuck me, I'm right where I began, haha. However, it makes more sense now.

So, it's time to eat my yogurt and ponder. Good day. I said, good day!

Been a while since I first got down but I still keep makin those funky sounds...

Man, been a while since I've updated. I've been busy trying all kinds of things and trading hours. You know, being inconsistent. But each time I come back to thinking that morning scalping is what I have to do, even though I'd prefer to sleep in.

Anyway, I felt that I was trying to trade too many setups and that I should stick to just one for now. Which I did today. I almost jumped in a couple times that looked nice even though my criteria wasn't met. The first few times would have lost me some pips and the other would have gained me quite a bit. But I'm happy that I stuck to my criteria in the face of those potential losses and gains. Gotta build discipline, soldier! Yes, sensei, sifu, emperor Palpatine!

Made slight gains today, about +3.5 pips. Ohyay!