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Day three of getting my focus and discipline back. Four trades allowed today. Four trades taken. 3 losers and 1 winner. Net +4 ticks. I don't care about the ticks though, what is important is this; I followed the plan in the face of massive movement today in CL. But I just watched it go by. I did not even mark the charts, just watched. And it felt good. Several months ago, I would have been pissed at the missed opportunity and trying to figure a way to trade it without disclosing that I did so here on the journal.
Don Miller says to only keep score on a weekly basis. He says this takes the pressure off to be a winner every day. He also says to keep score monthly and quarterly as well as annually. So beginning on Monday, I will post only the weekly scores in ticks and not dollars. I need to keep score in ticks and the dollars will take care of themselves.
Also beginning on Monday, I will begin keeping my promise of working to live instead of living to work. I will be done by 9AM, write my journal and review my stats, post it all and then I am done with trading. I've been getting better at this but it is really hard to walk away from it. I think I will just close Ninja. I'm not really fond of her anyway although b19 is doing much better than previous versions!
Anyway, done for the week, gonna read a book or something the rest of the day, just kick back and relax. Its been a great week.
Cheers....
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
I would like to say three things. IMO I believe this is the best frame of mind to look at your results. I have been told to take money & profits out of the equation when trading. Only focus on the the points gained or lost. Secondly, keep the same emotions & mindset when you take a losing trade as you would a winning trade. This has been the hardest one for me. Something I'm working on to improve.
Lastly, this thread has helped me view things in a different light. For instance, the number of trades taken per day. I for one have over traded many times. Trying to recover then dig a bigger hole than the one I was in. I have also made the same rule to make no more than 5 trades a day.
Over trading is something that was mentioned in the Market Wizards book....before everyone had access to a computer to do instant trades like we have. Now that sin is multiplied many times over. I think you can gauge your success by how FEW trades you take vs how many. Not true for the honest to goodness scalper but most of us would be better off trading 3-5 times a day, holding for as long as we can, and then quitting for the day.....and I mean turning off the trading platform completely.
I can look at my trade log and tell you the days I really bombed. The days when I traded more than 5 times. Of course there are some exceptions to that but it is so true, more trades generally mean less profit.
Thanks for being part of the conversation.....
Cheers
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
Traded 50/50 sim/cash today. Still fine tuning my entries a bit, I have the big picture now and have spent the last few days working on this aspect. I was not trusting my entries very much and so I knew I needed to work on this.
The work is paying off. I am very close to having my complete method worked out.
Today's trades are many and varied but I have just taken every entry signal I have gotten. The purpose being to really work on just where to get in.
So far, 62% win rate after 42 trades. I have one last trade on and when that is done, will be done for the day. I'll come back later and look at the chart with the benefit of hindsight but so far, I really like what I have found. I also tested a fade trade today that worked about 50% of the time but I did not really trust the signal so I entered late several times but had I taken the signal when they appeared, most would have worked.
Ok, I will post my messy chart later today but for now, I am done.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
I've been racking my brain to come up with something to encourage you. Big Mike's post to Gordo is well stated and possibly could apply to you also.
Az, I don't intend to be condescending, because I am far from perfect myself. I make mistakes at times too. But this is unreal. You are out of control. You've got to get a hold of yourself. Do you really want to be a successful trader or are you just having fun clicking in entries?
A few things to think about -
1) Don't you think 42 trades is a lot for that amount of time? Does your system truly give you that many signals? If it does you may want to consider slowing things down a bit so that less signals are generated.
2) Last week you overtraded and you disciplined yourself by controlling the number of trades in a day - 2, then 3, then 4 etc. The demonstration of self-control is commendable, but what do you have to show for it?
3) You mentioned today that you were "fading". I don't know too much about that, but isn't it really countertrend trading? So, I presume your main system generates with trend signals and you were also looking for countertrend signals. I think it's counterproductive to trade both ways. You will end up chasing your tail and not knowing if you're coming or going.
Here's what I think you should do -
1) Decide if trading is really what you want to do or not. If it is then figure out what it takes to get in control and stay there.
2) Presuming a positive response to 1 - do whatever it takes to put together a system that generates a small number of high quality entry signals per session. The exact number is unimportant - I am thinking 3-10. Something much less than 42. The emphasis has to be high quality and not the exact number.
3) Trade only one direction - either with trend or countertrend - not both.
4) Practice executing your system until you execute it flawlessly every day.
5) Keep good records and use them to help you make improvements.
Az, please receive this in the spirit it is intended - only for your good. If you think it's too much and I overstepped my bounds, please tell me and I will gladly delete it.