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The day ended good, but not for lack of me trying to screw it up!..
The first trade was a good one but in the middle of the rocket ship going to the moon. I got huge slippage on the entry, and huge slippage on the exit. I made an extra 4 ticks on the exit due to slippage. I like that kind of slippage.
It was down hill after that, at least for a while.
I know CL tend to range high and low for long periods of time. I guess I'm not really used to the severity of the swings.
After the run up, I kept anticipating a rebound on the retest legs. No dice. On the wrong side of the trades. I made a couple of small profits but the trade was short and I was long. Trade what you see, not what you think you should see.
I let a 10 tick winner I was not filled on at target slip into a 13 tick loser. That one hurt. Especially after it fired a short signal in between the 10 tick target and the stop. I should have exited the trade or reversed but I let it go all the way to the stop. At least I honored the stop but I knew once the short signal fired, I was toast.
My P&L went from positive to negative to positive again. I don't like days like that.
Finally after prices had retraced almost all the way back down, I decided to look at short and then the attempted transition back to a long set up. I took a long in that zone and made some money. Then the transition failed and I made some money in the new short set up. Those trades were legit and followed the rules. The ones in between may have followed the rules to some degree but they were counter trend and therefore I lost money. Yes I know a counter trend trade can make money, but I've never been good at it and I don't intend to do it now, at least on purpose.
After trade 11, I decided it was time to quit. The shorts played out some more before rebounding back up to the opening price of the day.
Even though I made money today, it was not easy. On a day like today, with so much momentum to work with, I give myself an F in every category.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
I appreciate the sentiment. I'm not beating myself up today. Just being honest about how I performed. My biggest adjustment intra day is switching my bias from long to short and back again.
I have this built in bias that says a leg up or down will be tested and the "trend" is not over until 101% retracement has been reached. So with that in mind, I tend to look for places where the trend will find support and continue. Normally this is sound thinking...I guess.....but with CL, those retests seem to be much more severe than I am used to on ES or 6E.
Its ok, I like the larger swings, it gives me plenty of opportunity to make my daily profit goal but I need to re-adjust quicker.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
I've read that thread from start to finish. And I agree with the premise and the validity of the set ups. Big problem though, I have not used a time based chart in forever. Especially a 15 minute chart. Range bars gives me exact prices for crossovers, exact placement of stops, etc.
I would have to learn to read a chart all over again and at this point, I don't want to do that. I actually have a 5 minute chart minimized that I look at once in a while but honestly, I don't use it for setups, only some trend info and to condense time down. Sometimes a range chart can get quite large and a time chart can get the whole day on one chart.
I do have a very simple strategy that works really well on a 5 minute chart but when I compared its signals to my current set up, they were almost identical, the only difference was it gave a slightly earlier warning a set up was coming. Not really enough to make me change though.
Sometimes I wish I could use a time based chart and I guess I could learn but what I'm using works for me and believe it or not, I have very little stress now. I am comfortable with the chart and the indicators I use. There is no complicated oscillators, dots or dashes that change color, no repaints, nothing real fancy, and my rules are so simple I can get them all on a chart with examples.
So the real test is inside my head. Can I execute? Can I adjust when needed? Can I honor my stops? Can I exit a trade when the premise is no longer valid even though my stop or target has not been hit? Can I maintain discipline throughout the day and not over trade?
These are my challenges. I think I can overcome them. Each day I learn a bit more about how I handle different situations. In the end, its about mastering the method you choose, mastering yourself, and quit indicator or method hopping.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
Platform: Sierra Charts, Investor RT, Ninja Trader
Broker: VanKar
Trading: NQ
Posts: 520 since Sep 2009
Thanks Given: 583
Thanks Received: 1,248
Az
Been there. I know what you mean about hoping around. I have done that. I know what you mean about an affinity for a particular chart and your method. And I fully understand the concern about a 15 min chart. I mean, how can anyone use such a large chart on an instrument that has such volatility. I have read about folks having a preference for 15 min charts (John Person, for instance). It was not until I saw Jeff's thread that I really gave it more than a passing glance. I sim traded it for several days and saw it worked. I have real money traded it and saw it work. My biggest concern with it is the large stop loss placement, but it has worked well overall.
If it does not fit you, that's ok. I just saw your comments for today, recognized they were very similar to days I have had, saw the number of trades you took, and thought the IB method might prove as profitable as yours with fewer trades.
Oh, btw, we continue with our heat wave and high humidity here in NC. Absolute temperature not as high as yours but misery probably as high
Papa15
Seems I have a problem shifting gears mid stream. I often have a directional bias going into the trading session and that can be difficult to overcome, at least for me.
I have my rules, they work, I have my targets, they are good and so are my stops.
Whats troubling me now is being on the wrong side of the intraday trend and not being able to shift.
Here is today's results after being on the wrong side most of the day.
Now that I know about this issue, I think I can work on it, but would love suggestions.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
I started something today: Trading two accounts. The first one is my daily income: On CL, thats 10 ticks. No more, no less. Five trades max to achieve that. I chose 10 ticks because you can be totally wrong about the larger trend and still get ten tick on the back and forth. Not that you'd want to get them that way, but you understand what I am saying.
The second account is to build my wealth and repay my debt. This account's target is 40+ticks net. In time, this will provide me with income and with wealth building.
Slow and steady. Thats my new motto.....
By the way, not sure if I mentioned it but got my LLC papers sent off to the state so I can open my new account in the business name instead of my own. Tax reasons. Should have that done in a couple of weeks and then live trading!
Here is my stats from today: One is the new account....and the other is the wealth account.....the one I've been updating here in this thread.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris