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With my prior method of entering trades I had time in between trades. With the new method direction change comes quickly. Sometimes when I exit a trade price reverses direction and goes 20 to 30 ticks in the other direction. Obviously I want to be in on these moves. Right now after a trade I am processing what happened in the trade. I am going to have to retrain my mind to start thinking about the next setup.
the image below is an example of where I would have had to make a split second decision to go the other way. My original target area is marked. Depending on when I exited the trade I would have to make a quick decision on if I should go short or not.
Tried something new on this trade. Waited for price to make new lows and for the volume to dry up. Maximum risk on this trade was 6 ticks. Added additional contracts @13 ticks. Price went to the pivot line and stopped. Exited the trade there. 18 ticks on the first 4 contacts. 5 ticks on the last 4.
Again should have held as price just went 20 ticks above my exit point. err.
I took this trade as well, on the first pullback on 5m, TL break on my tick chart, my entry I believe was .59, took for 21 ticks, only to see it go another $1.50 or so. Had I put on another contract I would have held until ETH POC, VAH or low volume node, COULDA WOULDA SHOULDA.
Yeah, I spent about hour last night trying to figure out how I should have manged that trade. I replayed it in replay and I think I would have been out at the first pullback. Hard to say. My conclusion was I should just hold onto the position till the market till it proves me wrong. If I manage my stops correctly my losses will always be smaller than my gains. This is a bit of change for me because the last strategy I used had a 1:1 risk/reward. this strategy has the potential to be a 2:1 or better risk/reward if I let the trades play out.
Trade management is obviously key, where we are in the volume profile I am trying to determine where to hold. The more I let my trades 'play out' the better I am becoming. A lot of traders look at R/R and go to B/E very quickly. There are two trains of thought, some traders look at it as a 'free' trade, others do not. I do not. In my eyes going to B/E quickly on something like CL seems like suicide. There is too much chop for most timeframes, if a trader could show me a chart or strategy where there are not 8-10 tick bars/swings I'll change my mind. On top of which 9/10 times CL retraces 8-10 ticks after breaking a "support" level. And this is all assuming you get perfect entries on every trade. I prefer Mark Fisher's premise, get out when you are wrong. If you can't afford where you are wrong, wait until you can.
This was a solid trade. I set a sell stop below the trend line and let it hit. The only thing I did not do was set my target out further. I got busy doing other stuff and before I knew it the trade was over. +15 ticks.
One trade today in CL -3 ticks. I was not feeling well this morning and decided not to trade.
I took a screenshot right after my entry (see first screenshot). I actually got in late on the trade. I had a signal to exit but I wanted to let the trade play out. I am trying to understand my loss potential when I am wrong on a trade where I scale in.
Look at my account balance only on Friday after the market close and Sunday before the market open.
Refine my entry rules.
Overall things are getting better. I am in a better state of mind and I am not always worried about numbers. I have shifted away from over thinking and worrying about my long term goals and started focusing on the short term goals. Just trading. A friend of mine reminded me long term goals are made up of a bunch of short term goals. I am trying not to worry about the outcome of the trade. Instead I am focusing on the components which make up the trade. Turning off the PnL on my chart and not looking at my account balance goes along way relieving the pressure of living up to what I did yesterday. All this equals less stress and better trading.