Hi all, taking the leap.
I am starting this journal in hopes of moving to the next stage of my trading evolution. I am hoping that the transparency of my trade ideas and actions in this public forum will help me to stick more closely to my plan and not get into trades just for the sake of being in a trade. I am also hoping that some of you who have achieved a level of success might pop in and offer any helpful thoughts you might have. I am also open to anyone who has not achieved their goals in trading to pop in and ponder, add thoughts, charts, questions or well intended comments and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.
Having been around FIO since before it was FIO I have enjoyed several threads and journals that have, for a while at least, become a meeting place for like minded traders to “hang out” and talk trading. I have also seen how bickering and abusiveness has caused issues and sucked the life out of them and hope that anyone coming in here might just leave their egos at the door and join in any fun that is going on here. I don’t think my trading or level of expertise is going to be a huge draw for anyone but I do have hopes that I might join the ranks of journals and threads that are enjoyable to visit and create some lively discussion aimed at furthering our trading goals.
I want to say right now that AS OF MARCH 2018 ALL THE TRADES I AM TALKING ABOUT ARE SIM TRADES ONLY. I have had a live account for 2 different periods. The first was short and brutal and the second was a great improvement that showed me some weaknesses I need to address before putting more of my family’s money on the line. I have heard ALL the arguments around SIM trading and I agree, used improperly it is a video game at best, and a delusion of ones abilities at worst. I take my learning through Sim as seriously as I can (some days better than others). My belief at this point is quite simple… If I can’t find the discipline to take SIM seriously and treat each trade as I would when cash is on the line I am not ready to trade live. It is the discipline I am growing…as well as the ability to be emotionally detached from the outcome and focus on my trading process.
My average day looks something like this. I’m on the west coast so I’m up about 5am to assess overnight action and see if anything is developing. I plan what looks possible and place trades to work off levels of interest. I am also planning my business day and scheduling work. About 6:30-7:30 kiss wife and kids goodbye and go work like a mule for the day. Return to check in on my windfall:) or not, and assess the days action for 30-60 min. Hang with fam and do dinner and activities then return to office about 9-10pm to continue assessing possibilities. Weekends are a few hours of bigger picture planning and assessment as time and family allow.
I began my interest in trading about 4 years ago and have been studying and trading as time allows since. Quite simply, I love it… I love being immersed in the markets and looking for clues and (when I’m in a good place) waiting in the tall grass for an opportunity to strike. I have come to realize that I do not possess the perfect personality or mindset for trading. As Mark Douglas points out in Trading in the Zone I have several skills that work welling the world and business that are actually a detriment in the market arena where the only “rules” that contain us and keep us from harm are the ones we create and have the discipline (or not) to stick to.
My actual trading skills began with Market Profile. Studying Jim Dalton’s teachings and books (good stuff) and belonging to JPJ trading room for a year and a half. (also good for what I got out of it). Then began the staring at charts and noticing that I have an eye for the “geometry” of the markets movements. I “see” the levels and moves and I started writing lines on charts and pondering how price acted around previous areas of support and resistance. …