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.