I would have liked this to be DAY 1 of my trading journey but it is more like Day 186. I haven't kept a journal nor have I had a trading plan other than the one in my head. and I believe I am paying the price by losing money.
So I am committing myself to updating this journal every trading day going forward.
I really do not know what I should be logging so if anyone reads this and can give me any advice it would be well received.
I have taken an in-house two month training course with a futures training company and I have spent 5 months trading on a sim, I've taken two top-step combines and failed both and in 4 weeks live trading I have blown 50% of my ($25,000) capital.
I have been focusing my trading Euro/dollar 6E although I have traded ES, ZN, bund, Eurostoxx, QM, Dax, 6B.
I feel I have to be really honest about the mistakes I have made and repeated in order to confront them head-on and hopefully eradicate them from my trading experience. So here goes.
I will begin with yesterday Friday 22nd May.
Although I trained on CQG I recently (6 weeks ago) swapped over to Ninjatrader and Jigsaw tools. My reason for doing this is because I felt scalping a few ticks here and there with tight stop losses would be less risky than position day trading and using stops 8,10, 15 ticks. I still believe this but I have jumped into my live trading with more enthusiasm than common sense and I'm paying the price.
So yesterday I lost $850..how the hell did that happen!!!
Well the morning started well enough 3 losing trading 2 to 3 ticks each 1 winner=2 ticks. Down about 125 dollars.
I wasn't too worried as I felt with the right opportunity it could still be a profitable day.
I sat on my hands for most of the morning waiting for the US CPI data. But I had made a fatal mistake.
I have 8 workspaces set up in Ninja trader for each of the products I'm interested in. and I had all of these open when the CPI data was released. Now this has happen once before so I should have prevented this from happening.
My computer isn't too powerful and with 7 charts, plus ladders and 3 time and sales open in each workspace when the data was released the sudden surge in volume overwhelmed the processing capacity of my computer and my screen just froze with my ladder on 6E just flashing mad. I had to switch to each of my workspaces and shut them down one by one. By the time Id closed them all besides 6E, 6E had falled 92 ticks!! and I had missed the move or so I thought so I began looking for levels (that I had previous marked on my charts) for a long entry. I made three attempts at three different levels and got taken out. In all the move down was over 160 ticks! and I was $850 down.
I know I made the classic mistake of trying to catch a falling knife and paid the price.
After missing the main move I should have just stayed out or even better gone short but it seemed to have moved so far by the time I was 'ready' to trade I expected a reversal.
So what have I learned.
1/ Until I get a more powerful computer ensure around main data releases only to have one workspace open.
2/ If I miss the main move, stay out.
There are other lessons to be learned from this experience (BTW it was the second time this happen) one is when something happens that causes me to panic as this incident did. IS to stay away from trading until I have regained my composure.
Anyway I am writing this journal in the only way I know how. Please if anyone has any idea's that I can use to improve my journalling I'd like to hear them.
So Im putting out there for you all to see. I want to be a profitable trader. I hope this journal will help in that regard.