Starting a journal after taking a couple years off of trading. I quit two years ago after qualifying for a TST account and then losing it after about a month of trading. This journal is going to be focused primarily on becoming the best trader I can be using my own trading style. I feel like I have good trading mechanics but in the past have gotten lost in the noise of what other people are doing instead of working on the best way to exploit what I'm good at and the set-ups/ plays I have generated after studying markets for years.
First, I want to establish my playbook. (I'm ripping this from SMB)
1. My best primo strat is when sellers or buyers get trapped long or short after and extended up or down move, or on a news event that drives the market through support. A good example of this is was 10/4 in the ES when the non-ism number blew the market out under the pLOD and into a prior high volume area. Can be played aggressively by buying early on decreasing momentum and then adding as the market goes up and out. THE BEST OF THE BEST OF THESE WILL SHOW AN IMMEDIATE MOVE OUT OF THE LOW COMBINED WITH ALL DAY MOMENTUM.
2. ONH or ONL retest. Most markets tend to test there ONH or ONL a high percentage of the time. Try to anticipate with price action and relative vol which side the market is likely to test in the first hour of trading. Take general market action into account and also the fact that markets tend to retest the high or low of the prior days session a significant portion of time.
3. Chop Day VWAP play. Look for days with very low relative volume and wait for market to trade into a low volume area and fade it back towards the vwap. Works best in the ES
4. Time of day trades. Look for GC to establish its lows/ highs around 8:30 to 9:30am and for ES to make a low or hgih around the close of the European session at 10am. These plays are very context dependent.
5. Finally, 2nd best setup--look for move in direction of impulse move with a retest of impulse high or low. Buy on pullback look for increasing volume and move above or below a significant level. For example multiple failures at a VPOC and increased momentum towards the other side of the value area.
Will do my best to give live reports on my trading. Would welcome criticism as well. Plan on starting a TST combine next week trading primarily ES and GC. Have been profitable in SIM for a couple months.