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Another day without mistakes... wow two days in a row, kinda record for me
I made just one trade, a mof/slingshot hybrid on the BUND. Perfect entry timing, first target 6 ticks, second target 25 ticks. I could have let the second contract run more, trailing it with the VMA (note how the vma is often a perfect trailing stop during trends).
Then I stopped trading because I was tired. Today there were several other opportunities to trade, like the clear downmove into the close that is happening right now on the ES, but when I'm tired It's better to stand aside... there will be better trades down the road!
See how this downmove is contained between the falling VMA and the lower Keltner band. Many touches of the VMA where good slingshots to short the market.
I tried, but never succeded. What seems easy for the eyes to catch could be very difficult to program. However it is possible that it was just my fault.
Another mess.
Today I made several random trades and lost about $400.
Again, I was feeling the pressure of time. During the last days I had no time to trade. Today I had some little time but then I had to work, so I was not feeling calm enough and I wanted to maximize the little time I had to trade.
I'm starting to think that day trading is incompatible with my job, I don't have enough time to do both.
I think I will return to trade forex on the daily timeframe, at least I was profitable and I can setup the trades in the evening.
Maybe I should limit day trading only to times with high volatility, such as after important news releases?
I think you should do what works. If Forex is working, do that until you don't need the day job anymore, trade futures in sim during the best hours you can give it and dont worry about it anymore until you have the futures thing down.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
a recurring theme, so how to make time? unless you get layoff or on long term 'vacation' the only realistic way is time shift, do what you have to do away from the trading hour.
ps. I tried forex and found out I need sleep just like everybody else.
@jagui, you should take very specific steps to correct your missteps. If you believe lack of time is an issue, then you need to first identify "do I have time to trade?" before you trade. You need to then measure yourself (grade yourself) on how well you executed on that. Then if you are still having a problem, you must take decisive but simple steps to change the behavior.
This goes for anything in trading. Most traders fail because of their own direct actions which they tend to downplay. I am talking about stuff like what you posted, but there are many others. All these things add up, and it is why I say that execution is where your focus must be.
Perhaps changing your schedule to forex may work. I don't know. But, I do caution against change as a temporary solution to the underlying issue. What I mean is people run away from their issue instead of correcting it. So, make sure that the change is going to truly be part of the solution, and not just what seems easiest at the time.
"Do I have time to daytrade?" The answers is a simple "no". I believed I could mix it with my job, but I don't believe it anymore. I'm not multitasking, I need to focus on one activity. The truth is that my job requires time, and even if I am able to extract a couple of hours to day trade, I'm still thinking about the work I have to do and the aswers I have to give to my clients.
It is all related to time. If I have two hours to trade, I start clean, but I know that if I take a position I will have to follow it until completition, which can be even until the end of the trading session, so I will have to work while watching my position. This pushes me to "finish the trading job" before I start to work, and this doesn't work.
Anyway, I couldn't know it if I didn't try with real money. I tried and found it out.
That's why I'm thinking about news trading: positions are open for a short time, so I won't have to manage them later while working. I can schedule news trading in advance, only for the biggest news releases. Maybe this would give me a more relaxed mind because it will not interfere with my work. I have to try to see.
Regarding forex, I dont's see it like a temporary solutions. I did it for years until july, because it was the only market I could afford. Required time was only about 1 hour around 22 local time, so it was perfectly compatible with my job, and it worked, too. I did see it as a temporary solution until I could afford futures again. Maybe I have to see it not like a temporary solution, but just like a thing that worked and do it. It is compatible with everything else, so why not?