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Mission Plan: In development Theater of Operation: Mike Six Echo Mike Three
Pre-Mission Prep
06:20 Going through checklist...Starting pre-mission prep...
SitRep
After-hours price action reached up to hit the long term target I had marked on my charts from yesterday (see 30min chart).
Trade #328
06:36 Short.
07:15 Stopped out. -16 ticks. Too aggressive. Trying to pick a top in the uptrend.
08:28 Wow. Right idea, wrong execution. Market has dropped like a stone after taking out my stop.
09:00 ...and hit my target.
This will be my only trade for today as I have other work I have to do.
AAR
Objective: Trade the M6E/6E the best I can for now and continue to work on developing my trading plan.
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Outcome: I had a decent idea, but didn't execute it well.
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Observations: I still have a lot to learn about price action. However, I like the way I'm looking at the market right now and I plan to continue to work in this direction.
"Is it hard? Not if you have the right attitude. It's having the right attitude that's hard." - Robert Pirsig
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Mission Plan: In development Theater of Operation: Mike Six Echo Mike Three
Pre-Mission Prep
05:53 Going through checklist...Starting pre-mission prep...
Trade #329
08:55 Short at the possible end of a possible Wave 4 (30min chart). Target is the FE of the last up-move (10min chart). 1 tick negative slippage on entry.
09:49 Stopped out. -12 ticks.
Trade #330
10:22 Short (again) at a possible end of Wave 4, but this time at a possible WPT of an a-b-c correction?? 2 ticks negative slippage on entry. Target is again the FE of the last up-move.
15:29 Exited at MKT as the market would be closing in 30min. -6 ticks.
AAR
Objective: Trade the M6E/6E the best I can for now and continue to work on developing my trading plan.
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Outcome: 2 trades. Entry on the second was better than the first.
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Observations: The market went nowhere after my second entry and I closed it a little before the close of the market for the week.
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I've had a lot of work come in and I'll be working much of this weekend, so my Weekend Review and Stats post will probably be later than usual.
"Is it hard? Not if you have the right attitude. It's having the right attitude that's hard." - Robert Pirsig
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"Is it hard? Not if you have the right attitude. It's having the right attitude that's hard." - Robert Pirsig
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Mission Plan: In development Theater of Operation: Mike Six Echo Mike Three
Pre-Mission Prep
05:53 Going through checklist...Starting pre-mission prep...
Trade #331
06:06 Long after pullback to 50% of prior up-swing. Target is FE of the up-swing.
07:12 Target reached. +27 ticks. +2.56 net R.
Trade #332
10:02 Short after pullback to 50% of prior down-swing. Target is FE of the down-swing.
10:20 Stopped out. -9 ticks.
AAR
Objective: Trade the M6E/6E the best I can for now. Continue to work on developing a trading plan that emphasizes higher R:R trades.
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Outcome: I have a lot of other work to do today, so I only took the two trades. First trade made it to target (barely), but second was stopped out. Stopped trade loss was 1/3 the size of the winning trade gain and that is the kind of ratio I'm looking to achieve on a consistent basis.
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Observations: It wasn't a great entry on the first trade but price had already pulled back before I got to my desk, and I couldn't know that price would pull back again.
"Is it hard? Not if you have the right attitude. It's having the right attitude that's hard." - Robert Pirsig
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I've been very busy with work and some other things, so no M6E trades today.
As I've been noting over the past couple of weeks, I've been working to develop an approach that makes sense to me. I've made a few decisions about how I plan to proceed now, so I'm going to be taking the next few days at least to work on that (as well as taking care of my income-producing work while I have it). Posting will be light for the time being, but not for too long.
"Is it hard? Not if you have the right attitude. It's having the right attitude that's hard." - Robert Pirsig
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I'm still in the process of getting the pieces of my trading plan together, but I wanted to make a brief post about something I'm putting special emphasis on this month.
Years ago, when I started posting as Attitude Trader, the underlying premise was that attitude is really the determining factor in one's success, or lack thereof, in trading. I still believe that - now more than ever. And I believe that this holds true for any endeavor, as well as life in general.
Everyone has their view about the way the world works and how to operate in it effectively, but the bottom line for me is that I've proven to myself that life works in a much different (better) way when I'm maintaining an appropriate (positive, grateful) attitude regarding things in general and specifically. Lately I've allowed myself to get a bit overwhelmed and stressed, and lose sight of that. And this just makes life more difficult.
So, very simply, this month I'm making it my highest priority to be diligent in maintaining an appropriate attitude about everything, no matter what is happening currently.
And attitude is simply the byproduct of the kinds of thoughts I'm thinking, regardless of why I'm thinking them or where they're coming from. So the "work" is to deliberately choose thoughts that generate that "positive attitude."
When I change the thoughts I'm thinking, I change my attitude - it's as simple as that. It works every time (although sometimes it takes a little longer than others). The tough part is in being consistent about choosing the thoughts that I should be thinking.
Thinking is a habitual thing and most of the time we're on autopilot when it comes to our thoughts. It usually takes some time and effort to change habits - especially habits of thinking. During the process of changing a habit we have to use what we call "discipline" until we've formed a new habit. Then it becomes mostly automatic, and that automatic aspect begins to work in our favor.
I've developed a couple of things that I'm doing consistently during the day, all day long, to help me in deliberately choosing those more appropriate thoughts. Maybe at the end of the month I'll talk more about this.
It has already had a significant effect on me though. In just the first few days of this month I'm already experiencing a much different perspective on things, having unexpected (good) things happening, and dealing with things in a much "smoother" and more effective way.
I know it's worth making the effort.
I'll be back to posting soon.
"Is it hard? Not if you have the right attitude. It's having the right attitude that's hard." - Robert Pirsig
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Mission Plan: In development Theater of Operation: Mike Six Echo Mike Three
Trade #333
19:57 (05/13) Short. I took this trade yesterday evening and held it overnight.
04:13 (05/14) Stopped out. -11 ticks.
I had my stop just above the high where I entered. That high was taken out by just 3 ticks before price moved down to eventually reach my target.
Trade #334
07:25 Short on a pullback in what I see as a downtrend.
12:07 Stops to B/E - average entry price of the three lots.
12:16 Target reached. +36 ticks.
Trade #335
08:52 Short.
I'm short another contract because I believe that price should still move down toward my objective, and this was a better entry than the last one. Short 2 contracts now. Both stops and targets are the same.
12:07 Stops to B/E - average entry price of the three lots.
12:16 Target reached. +41 ticks.
Trade #336
10:13 Short.
I'm short a third contract because price has pulled back to 50% of the previous downtrend. Stops and targets are the same for all three contracts.
12:07 Stops to B/E - average entry price of the three lots.
12:16 Target reached. +50 ticks.
AAR
Objective: Trade the M6E/6E the best I can for now and continue to work on developing my trading plan.
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Outcome: I had an overnight trade that was stopped out due to a poorly placed stop.
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Then this morning I was looking for another move down as price pulled back after the large overnight move down. I entered three times as price pulled back and then took profits at my target level.
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Observations: It is becoming apparent (through experiences here and the not-so-gentle observations of a friend) that my stop placement is a major hindrance for my profitability.
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So today I did something out of the ordinary for me: I placed my stop(s) at a level that seemed "more reasonable" rather than trying to keep it so tight. And by "more reasonable," I mean "at a level that really shouldn't be reached if price is behaving like I think it should." This is in opposition to my normal mentality of "my stop is at the last swing high/low" (or something along those lines) which puts it right in reach of the stop-running moves that happen often in the markets.
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It's still a work in progress, so I'll just have to see how it goes.
Note: First trade on the S5 Trade Analyzer was a carryover from yesterday's late afternoon testing. It's not included in my stats.
"Is it hard? Not if you have the right attitude. It's having the right attitude that's hard." - Robert Pirsig
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"Is it hard? Not if you have the right attitude. It's having the right attitude that's hard." - Robert Pirsig
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