Over the weekend I made a change to my trading strategy by adding an indicator to help me see where there are orders waiting to be filled. I think this is a weak spot for me. Everything I learned about PAT always emphasized that you have to know where the other traders are, where their stops are, where they're short and so forth. I have looked at DOM and T&S and, for me, it's like looking at a pinball machine with numbers flying everywhere in nanoseconds. I don't get it! I think that traders with years of experience develop an almost intuitive feel for those things, but I don't have that experience yet and I need some sort of crutch. I probably should take a class in order flow one of these days, but in the meantime I'll continue to tweak my own system as best I can.

So, since I was making a change to strategy I felt it would be prudent to trade the micros this week and limit any damage I might do. I do also trade CL, however, and there's no micro for that so I decided to keep trading CL with the micro ES, YM and NQ.

I started in the Asian session last night and stumbled a bit, taking a bit hit on CL and small ones on the micros. Thank goodness for the micros!! I lost 3 of 4 trades but only the CL loss hurt dollar-wise.

This morning everything worked better and I had 4 wins and 1 loss, and even the loss was a BE scratch so the only loss was the commission. The trades went like this:
1. CL pullback, scratched when it failed to move, BE.
2. CL breakout pullback, +31 ticks
3. MNQ pullback, +54 ticks
4. MYM pullback, +39 ticks
5. CL breakout pullback, +7 ticks






Of course, using the micros, when the trade is good the ticks look wonderful but the actual dollars are tiny. Nevertheless, I would much rather use the micros than to use a Sim account. I just have no discipline with a Sim account. No matter how hard I focus, I still know it's not real money and my actions reflect that knowledge.

I feel good about the changes I made over the weekend but of course I am well aware of the fact that one day's trading does not validate a new strategy. Not even a week or two. However, you have to start somewhere and I am happy with the day's results.

Today's results including Asian session and net after commissions:
9 trades
5 winners: $428.50
4 losers: ($256.00)
Net P/L: $172.50

Happy trading everyone!

I absolutely agree with the micros. I traded them today due to volatility and felt it was a nice compromise between sim and full contract size. I still cared about the trade because I had money at stake but the $ amount was small enough that I was able to remain unbiased throughout the course of my trade.

Nice work my friend!

This is one of my short trading days when I have just about an hour to trade before going to work. Today worked out very nicely, in fact if it were this easy all the time I'd be rich!


I am still trading the micros in addition to Crude Oil as I try out a revised strategy. I traded a breakout in MNQ before the open and hit my first target for +10 ticks and the second target at +20 ticks for +30 total. That was nice, but when I was setting up my screens for the micro over the weekend I made a mistake in setting my automatic targets and so they were half of what they should have been! And MNQ kept on going and would have hit my correct targets if they had been there. As the kids say, "DUH"!



Also before the open, I took a pullback in MYM and hit my first target at +20 ticks, then it backed up a bit and hit my second stop for +13 ticks, for a total of +33 ticks.



Finally, I took a breakout failure in CL and hit my first target for +10 ticks. It stalled a little after that, plus I was running out of time, so I tightened my second stop more than I would normally and was hit for +13 ticks, for a total of +23 ticks.



Results for today, net after commissions:
3 trades
3 winners: $251.50
Net P/L: $251.50

No complaints here, I am a happy camper today! Hoping everyone else is having a Terrific Tuesday!

Sweet trading today! Are you finding the indicator helpful?

It’s only the second day using it so it’s too early to say for sure, but I think so. The indicator doesn’t show on the screen shots but it is called TradingWithUFOS. UFO being UnFilled Orders. The indicator purports to show unfilled orders waiting at various points. I combine that with the market structure I was already using and it does seem to help so far.

Well, the market continues to be kind to me and I needed that after being slapped around for the past couple of weeks. No telling what tomorrow will bring but I appreciate everything so far.

Last night I was jammed and had only enough time to find one trade in MNQ. The pullback got off to a quick start, hitting my first target in just a minute for +20 ticks. Then it wandered and stalled for 35 minutes until finally hitting my stop for +3 ticks. I could have moved my second stop sooner but I have been trying to avoid micro-managing my second contract quite as much as I'm prone to do. In this case I would have been better off to tighten the stop but I was happy with a total of 23 ticks.


This morning, CL set up nicely after the OR with both a pullback and breakout failure. It hit my first target for +10 ticks, then stalled and started back but I had already moved my second stop which it hit for +11 ticks. Total on the trade 21 ticks.


Once the disappointing oil inventory reports came out, CL tanked a bit and I stayed away to let it find some stability. I turned to the MNQ and found a nice pullback that hit my first target for +20 ticks and went on quickly to hit my second target for 81 ticks. I was pleased with a total of 101 ticks, but of course wish I was not in the micros!! But, that's not really true as I am glad to have to micros to try out new strategies on. Still, $50 vs $500.........

A few minutes later MNQ set up again for a pullback trade and hit my first target for 20 ticks and once again price just sailed along hitting my second target at 93 ticks for a total of 103 ticks on the trade. Gee, I think I'm loving Wednesday!


I should have just quit but it was only 0800 and I normally trade until about 0930. So I looked, couldn't find anything, but finally saw that MES was in a nice downward trend channel. Unfortunately, I was paying more attention to the channel line than the fact that the pullback had not even come close to the 20MA and therefore had not developed completely. Bang! I was stopped out on both contracts for -14 ticks. And then I called it a day.


Another nice day and, as I said at the top, I needed it and am very grateful for it.

Today's results including Asian session and net after commissions:
5 Trades
4 Winners: $316.50
1 loser: $19.50
Net P/L: $297.00

Happy trading everyone!

Nice trading NW, very nice.

K

Today was one of my short days when I have only about an hour to trade before I have to go to work.

I don't normally trade prior to the opening of RTH, what is essentially the end of the London session. However, this morning I saw I nice pullback in MES and took it. I hit my first target for +8 ticks and had my second target set just below the ONH up to that point. Price blasted right on through to set a new ONH but left me with another 18 ticks, so total for the trade was 26 ticks.



After the CL and later the equity opens, there was so much volatility that I couldn't find an entry. My general rule is that I don't trade if the ATR5 exceeds my R. I figure that if my order can't even survive the swing of a single bar then I'm just giving money away. This morning on most charts looked like what Al Brooks calls "barb wire" and I didn't feel up to grabbing any of that!

Finally, as my time was winding down, CL settled down a bit and offered me a pullback and I went short. I hit my first target for +10 ticks and had my second target set just above the ONL at 51.95. Where I SHOULD have had it set was just above the round number of 52.00 as the price hit 52.01 and bounced back hard. Fortunately I had moved my second stop by then and got +7 ticks off that for a total of 17 ticks.


Very happy with my short session today.

Today's results including London session and after commissions:
2 trades
2 winners: $194.50
Net P/L $194.50

This is the end of a good week for me and I am happy about that. Last night, however, I took one of those trades that reminds one of how far you've come, and yet how far you have to go yet to become consistent.

In the Asian session, I found a pullback setting up in MNQ and got ready to enter. Like many people, I use a higher time frame to confirm my entry on my trading time frame. My rules say that I don't trade until the candle closes on the higher time frame, thus confirming my setup. Last night it was like I had this Trade Devil sitting on my shoulder. She kept saying things like "Dang man, the candle is 'almost' closed, go ahead and strike! Shoot, you'll be in several ticks early and hitting targets that much earlier. C'mon man, DO IT!!" And so I did, before the HTF candle closed, and 5 minutes later the price reversed and both stops were hit for -40 ticks! Fortunately this was a micro, but still the giant slice of humble pie tasted just as bitter.


I've always thought I had pretty good discipline. I was raised in a military family, spend some time in the military myself, plus have had many jobs over the years that require discipline and perseverance and I've always done well. But what I have discovered about trading is that it will lay bare all of your weaknesses and vulnerabilities for all the world to see. And sometimes it just aint that pretty! No, I'm not beating myself up over it because I know lots of folks go through this. It's just that I find this to be one more fascinating parts of this trading game.

So, on to this morning. I tried to take a pre-RTH trade (London session) on MES about 15 minutes before the open. It wasn't a bad trade but I did not allow enough time for it to develop. I need to remember to never allow less than 30 minutes prior to the open because everything is so sluggish. It did move a bit in my favor, then stalled and finally at 30 seconds before the open I moved my stops to BE. I figured the volatility was going to get me one way or the other. When it opened I was stopped out for +2 ticks, not quite enough to cover my commissions.


At 0655 CL offered a nice pullback that I thought might run a bit. I did hit my first target for +10 ticks but then it started backing up and hit my second stop for +2 ticks, and a total of +12 for the trade. No screen shot on the CL, apparently I didn't save one!


The volatility seemed nasty this morning and I couldn't find anything within my risk appetite for awhile so I had breakfast instead.

At 0825 MYM had settled down a bit and offered me a complex pullback that I went short on. I hit my first target for +20 ticks and then held off tightening my second stop as the price floundered around. I usually micro-manage my second stop and by doing so sometimes miss larger moves. So every now and then I grit my teeth and hold the stop. And when I do, just like today, price often backs right up and gets me. If I had micro managed the stop as I usually do I would have gotten +18 on the second contract. By holding my stop at BE+1, I ended up with slippage and -1 on the contract for a total of 19 ticks. I still don't know what the correct answer is to that dilemma, I guess I'll just keep playing with it.


So, not a huge winner today but a good, positive result.

4 Trades
3 winners: $122.00
1 loser: ($22)
Net P/L: $100 after commissions

During the week I used all micros except for my Cl trading because I had changed my workspace and added an indicator over last weekend and I wanted to reduce risk while I tried them out. They worked well and now I'll have to decide over the weekend whether to go back to the minis or try one more week with the micros.

This is my 8th week since going back Live and it is the second where I have exceeded $1000 for the week. I feel great about that even though I know I've got plenty of work to do yet.

Weeks results:
23 Trades
17 Winners: $1313.00
6 Losers: ($297.50)
Net P/L: $1015.50 after commissions

Winning Percent: 74
WLSR: 1.21

I'm a happy camper heading into the weekend. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I consider myself to be a disciplined person as well and agree that nothing quite exposes your weaknesses in the way that trading does.

Congrats on those weekly stats! What does WLSR stand for? I have yet to hit a 70%+ win rate for any extended period of time, but I am on my way. Thanks for providing me with some inspiration to stick to the plan and realize some great results!