This is my journal for Big Mike's trading competition.

I first registered a journal in 2012. Most of that material has been discarded except the material on risk and money management. The big change is in relation to trading strategy and trading management.

My trading theory is this, there are two elements to trading (I'll keep it simple):

1. Strategic - structural
2. Tactical - mostly the elements such as: gaps, NR7 etc

These two elements will be made clearer when I post my charts. The charts will make it obvious and any observer will see clear delineation between the two. It is my contention that most traders have problems separating the two and that is where big problems and big problems arise.

I will use a trial version of Ninjatrader for the competition and hence it will be dummy trading. It must be said I use another trading package with an Australian broker - that is real time with real money material and I use the same methods that I show on the competition.

You will see that the material is very simple. I use extremely small stops and re-enter if necessary. I never let losers run. Primarily, I will use the one minute chart and the higher time frame of 5 minutes to get a broader perspective.

I must say that Ninjatrader has been a real relevation - it is a trader's platform. I am working on getting a grip with the material that is available (huge amount of material), and the more I look at it the more I am impressed. In some ways it has been fun playing around with it. A few day's ago I was learning the task of trade management. I must have entered and closed hundreds of entries and closes and the platform did not blink. That was awesome and gave me lot of confidence in the platform. After the competition I will move over to Ninjatrader.

Considering I am using a dummy account I will not abuse position size and mostly trade one contract and keep it as close to real time trading as is possible. I will not chase monetary gain but % gain. I do understand the difference about trading real time money. There is a major difference here: over-trading. However, for the purpose of the competition I will trade for longer periods each day with one, singular, purpose: to demonstrate the difference between strategic and tactical trading.

And, if people get some time, you are welcome to step in and have a look