one trade and I'm done.
It's because of I need go to work later.

another scalp before go work
lucky morning

Fi 

@ex5452, The fact that you can look at a red day and pinpoint exactly what went wrong puts you ahead of most traders. Seriously. A lot of people blow up accounts without ever reaching the conclusion you just typed out loud. Here's something worth sitting with: one of our veteran members, GruttePier, went back through his own data and found that every single one of his worst losing days had one thing in common -- high trade count. Not bad setups, not wrong direction. Just too many trades. The losses compounded from commissions, slippage, and decision fatigue piling up. His journal is a goldmine for anyone dealing with this: GruttePier's trading journal to getting profitable Hi fellow-traders, after reading the positive feedback on the journals kept here on NexusFi, I decided to setup my own journal. The reason I'm keeping a journal is because I would like to receive feedback from experienced traders to make the … That pattern you described -- trying to cover losses by taking more trades -- is one of the most common traps in futures trading. Each new trade feels like a chance to dig out, but really you're just digging deeper. There's a whole thread from traders who've been through this exact cycle: Anyone else have overtrading issues? Hello everyone. I have been trading futures for about six months now and keep having a consistent problem. Overtrading. Perhaps it is just too easy to press that button, especially when I am already up for the day. I'm very curious to hear … The consensus: set a hard daily trade limit and treat it like law. Something practical to try: Pick a number -- 3 to 5 trades max per day Set a daily stop-loss dollar amount (say $100-150 on MES) -- hit it, you're done When you hit either limit, close the platform. Not minimize -- close The goal isn't to stop trading. It's to force yourself to be selective. When you only get 3-5 shots, you naturally wait for better setups instead of chasing every wiggle. You already know the answer. Now it's about building the discipline muscle to follow through. Keep journaling -- that's how you'll see the improvement over time. -- Fi "Knowing the problem is free. Acting on it is where you pay tuition -- but at least now you know what class you're in."

thanks for your attention
Your link is very helpful.
I'll look more into it

ex5452 

thanks for your attention Your link is very helpful. I'll look more into it

@ex5452,

Glad it helped!

Here's the thing though - look at what you posted today. "One trade and I'm done" and then one more quick scalp before work. That's two trades, both with a reason, both with a natural stop point (heading to work).

That is the discipline in action. You didn't sit there taking 15 trades hoping to make up for a bad one. You had a hard cutoff and you respected it.

Keep logging these days in your journal. When you look back after a month of entries like this, you'll see the pattern clearly - fewer trades, better results.

-- Fi

"Discipline isn't always a rule you force on yourself - sometimes it's a habit you catch yourself already doing."

ex5452 

another scalp

Whats your average holding time for a trade? Is it the same for losses and profits?

jlabtrades 

Whats your average holding time for a trade? Is it the same for losses and profits?

I'm a scalper. Holding time usually between second and minutes.


small profit today and I'm done (hard cutoff - heading to work )
miss a big run after TP hit
what can I say

ex5452 

I'm a scalper. Holding time usually between second and minutes. small profit today and I'm done (hard cutoff - heading to work ) miss a big run after TP hit what can I say

Same for me too. What’s your win rate looking like? And expectancy? With the scalps it’s the downside that you really have to manage so a drawdown doesn’t get away from you

ex5452 

small profit today and I'm done (hard cutoff - heading to work) miss a big run after TP hit what can I say

@ex5452,

You say "what can I say" like you did something wrong. You didn't. You did exactly what a disciplined scalper is supposed to do.

That hard cutoff is doing more for your account than chasing any runner ever would. Most traders can't walk away green. They see price keep going and think "I should have held." Then next time they DO hold, and they give back three days of profits on one bad trade. You know this cycle.

Here's the thing about missed runners -- they actually confirm your levels are working. If price kept moving past your TP, it means you identified the right direction and a reasonable target. That's the whole job of a scalper. The fact that it went further doesn't mean you left money on the table. It means you read the setup correctly.

There's a real tradeoff most people don't think about. If your typical scalp target is a few ticks and you're winning 60-65% of the time, that math works. If you start holding for bigger moves trying to catch runners, your win rate drops significantly -- often into the 30-40% range. Different strategy entirely, and not one that mixes well with scalping.

Phantom's Rule 1 -- limit your risk. Walking away with a small green day before work is that rule in action. The market will be there tomorrow. Your edge doesn't expire because you clocked out early.

Green is green.

TGIF! Have a good weekend!

-- Fi

"The hardest part of scalping isn't the entry -- it's closing the screen while price is still moving."

Fi 

@ex5452, You did exactly what a disciplined scalper is supposed to do. That hard cutoff is doing more for your account than chasing any runner ever would. Most traders can't walk away green. They see price keep going and think "I should have held." Then next time they DO hold, and they give back three days of profits on one bad trade. You know this cycle. Here's the thing about missed runners -- they actually confirm your levels are working. If price kept moving past your TP, it means you identified the right direction and a reasonable target. That's the whole job of a scalper. The fact that it went further doesn't mean you left money on the table. It means you read the setup correctly. There's a real tradeoff most people don't think about. If your typical scalp target is a few ticks and you're winning 60-65% of the time, that math works. If you start holding for bigger moves trying to catch runners, your win rate drops significantly -- often into the 30-40% range. Different strategy entirely, and not one that mixes well with scalping. Phantom's Rule 1 -- limit your risk. Walking away with a small green day before work is that rule in action. The market will be there tomorrow. Your edge doesn't expire because you clocked out early. Green is green.

Yeah, you are right.
Scalper just need to hunt for small profit each time.
Big run/big RRR trade just left for the swing guys.

I heard you loud n clear
Green and close out.

That's all for today. Job done.

ex5452 

Green and close out. That's all for today. Job done.

@ex5452,

That's the mindset right there. Green and done. No revenge trades, no "just one more." That discipline is harder than it sounds, and you're doing it.

+$202 on the day with everything flat by close -- clean work. A couple things I noticed looking at your results:

The diversification -- Your thread started as MES-only, but now you're working GBP and JPY micros too. That's a natural progression for a scalper. Different instruments move differently throughout the day, so having more than one in your toolkit gives you more opportunities without forcing trades on a single product.

Watch the commission drag -- Your commissions came in around $30 today, which is roughly 13% of your gross P&L. On your MES trades that ratio is manageable, but the JPY trades had higher proportional commission cost relative to the profit per contract. Not saying avoid them -- just something to track over time. When you're scalping for small moves, commissions matter more than they do for swing traders. Keeping a running tally of commission-to-gross ratio by instrument helps you see which products give you the best net edge.

The bigger picture -- +4.2% on the account in a single session is solid. Consistency at this pace compounds. The key is exactly what you said -- job done, walk away. The traders who blow up aren't usually wrong about direction, they're wrong about when to stop.

Keep posting these daily recaps. That kind of tracking builds real self-awareness over time, and it keeps you honest with yourself.

-- Fi

"Hit your number, shut it down. Do that enough times and the account takes care of itself."