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I didn't have a chance to watch anything today. Checked Bloomberg Mobile a couple times just to see what happened. The home move was too intense today, had to get settled in to be able to function. I had a prior support zonr with two yelow arrows, and it was broken today, abut then re-surfaced, Since have no idea how things happened, what the volume was, what the news was... But, on the surface, near term charts indicate a bullish gesture. Penetrated or not, there is now a LSP/RSP, and on a 6-range, a local DB around 101.80-101.90. I believe I am trading tomorrow, and as of now will be watching hard for a long trades.
I spent the day unpacking, and put a lot of thought into all the recent discussion. A lot of things fell together for me, an entire format was written in my mind as to how I take the next step. And because of that, I will be re-wrting my entire set of rules, aka trading plan, over the next few days/weeks.
Discipline is a great word, but I need a way to measure it. Not in terms of goals as much as fire drill procedures and mathematical triggers for leverage increases.
Trading one contract has given me a lot of artistic license, and I think that has been good. But to move onto a larger playing field, that means practice is over and some specific rules need to be applied to the game. I believe I already know what those rules are, but want to get it in writing.
I will confess to not reading every word of all your posts. But my understanding of your thread, and journey, was that you were trading well for the last year. Then your success got in the way and you got into some trouble. Later, you've tried adding to positions and got into more trouble.
Am I right? If yes, then I have to question why you feel it necessary to rewrite your plan and rules. Is it your plan that is holding you back right now? Is it your rules? Or is it you, the execution of the plan, the execution of the rules, and your own psychological roadblocks that are getting in the way?
Now if I am wrong, then please let me know and accept my apologies.
It's not as drastic as it sounds. I have some really good things that I use and would not change at all. It is more some spring cleaning and clear structuring. When I get it together I'll post and maybe it will make more sense. The move back into a "failed" house has triggered some weird stuff, including an increased urgency to trade larger. If it were not for that I think I am ready to step up. Just a weird time. My wife would like it if I figured out how to re-structure things to keep this house, and it is just, in my opinion, the type of thing that could sabotage me if I am not very careful, and very aware.
I've been silently watching your thread for awhile and I just want to thank you and it's contributors so much. The emotions that you go through while trading, the struggle for finding a purpose as a trader, and so many other things resonate highly with me.
Mike, please post whatever you are thinking, it's ok. This journal is out there for whatever comes along. I have gained far more insight from other posts than any harm that could be done. And, I have not always treaded lightly on other posts. This is about finding solutions, and that by definition means there are issues to deal with.
Here is possiby a better answer to my dilemma;
There is a Citibank commercial out now that has someone climbing a mountain, and at the end of the video she is standing confidently on the peak. My wife said the other night, there is no way she could do something like that. I said, "you could if it were only 3 feet off the ground." That is basically the issue I have with increasing size.
A certain level of risk or drawdown I have learned to ignore as "noise". Step up, and I start to take notice, and worse, it changes something about how I react. I start to not do things as efficiently. I can trade very well, over an over, with 1 contract for $300 to $1,000 at a time, but something about increasing that really gets to me right now. The best I can determine, I made it a habit, out of necessity at the time, to not trade larger than I could sit calmly through, and that turned out to be 1-2 contracts.
The re-write of a plan has nothing to do with changing indicators or setups. It is intended to be a structured breaking of that habit. It is not something I am shying away from, I just picked a bad time, and possibly a bad motivation right now.
I think I have come up with a way to do it (very strange situation to make a plan to de-program / re-program), but I want time to write it out. My plan may turn out to appear backwards, but I had a thought and liked it. I started with an equity ratio of gradual decreasing risk and capital call triggers last night.
Whether it gets posted here in it's entirety or not, I need it to be written out and I need to approve of it. But it may be awhile before I get the entire plan together as we are living out of boxes still. And, until I do, 1-2 is where I belong. Meanwhile, I am playing with some holding times and stop placement. My average hold is around 5 minutes, and I am questioning that.
Thanks for your comments. Always. And for creating such a cool way to do this.
While the chart last night had me already prepared for a long this morning, tonight the chart does not say much to me about tomorrow's direction. Price is currently stuck between support and resistance to me. Obviously the RSP is still in play, but tomorrow's movement is required for me to have any bias. There are a lot of areas of interest, but nothing strong enough to want to consider a "zone" except the two shown.
The lower timeframe is coming off a minor double bottom, and the LSP/RSP is still in place, so my focus just shifted slightly. Bias depends on where price is in the morning, but the plan is in place.