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Made another $800 before Powell's speech today. ES ran up a little at 8am and barely touched the high of Monday before coming down. I hopped in below the pivot of the 9am candle and got my 4 points. Luckily I was not greedy and didn't go for more because it retraced right after I got cashed out.
Things I did wrong:
1. Even though I won I am not comfortable with with it retracing right after I got cashed out when it was a 17 point candle on the 20 minute (where I enter my trades). That means I need to have a better entry. Most of the descent happened before opening but I don't like taking trades before opening because I have fear of it going against me.
2. Did not trade during Powell's speech even though it fell about 30 points in 3 minutes. Once I am funded I wouldn't be able to trade then anyway.
Things I did right:
1. Got my 4 points and stopped trading. Again I am trading for the combine so consistency is key.
2. Stopped trading and just watched for the rest of the day.
Got another $800 on ES today. After the death drop we had on Friday I was pretty nervous of how the market would react today. Would it try to recover those losses or would it keep falling? I also started experimenting entering on different timeframes. I now have up 5, 10, 20 and 30 minute charts. I am looking at them all for triggers but I now enter on the 10 minute chart. Again for the combine I only need 4 points a day so I don't need to get the whole range of the move.
Once I saw that the price action was struggling to go back down I entered going long on the 10 minute candle and got my 4 points.
Again I usually get in my trades within the first 5 minutes so I don't care too much about what the day will provide. I am more so looking for momentum in either direction and looking to see if the price is chasing support/resistance.
Things I did right:
1. Got in at a better entry point than normal and was able to get my 4 points.
Things I did wrong:
1. Added MACD to my charts. They were different on each timeframe so it didn't help at all and did nothing but confuse me.
I am now experimenting with different momentum signals but I haven't found anything that works for me yet.
I live to trade another day! Screenshot 2022-08-29 155308
Got another $800 on ES today. So far I've taken only 1 trade a day for the past 4 days and my win rate is 100%. The market has been tanking but I have won going both long and short. I don't need all the points....just enough to get me to pass the combine.
I chose 4 points based on how much money I needed to pass the combine. $9000/15 days is $600 a day. If I spread it out over 20 days it's $450 a day and gives me room to breathe.
Things I did right:
1. I took notice of the overnight trend and saw that it was continuing.
2. Got a good entry and didn't take much heat.
Got another $800 today on ES but almost didn't because of a stupid mistake. The first trade was on SIM because I was practicing last night! However it was still going in my direction so I made one trade...4 points...in and out. I added a few things to my chart because I felt like even though I was entering and exiting like I wanted it was more so based on feel and I wanted something more concrete. I also don't want a bunch of sh*t on my chart confusing me so I only added the volume profile and the 20 EMA. That has given me levels to look at to confirm that my trade is going the right way.
Things I did right:
1. Anticipated the momentum correctly at the open and entered the trade going the right way. Saw that it tested a key resistance level 1.5 hours before and couldn't get past it so I entered short.
Things I did wrong:
1. I didn't change back to my OneUp account after practicing last night so first trade was entered in SIM!!! I won but that was a horrible mistake!
2. Hopped right back in without really making sure the trade was still valid (it was) and I was lucky but I have to make sure I have the right account selected in the mornings.
If I keep this up in 2 weeks I will be funded!
I live to trade another day! Screenshot 2022-08-31 095712
So I loss today. Even as I am typing this I am trying to climb back out of my hole. I took about 9 trades so far which is a lot for me. The price action is absolutely erratic and ES hasn't really picked a direction so the wicks on all the timeframes are very long.
Things I did right:
1. The first time I entered on my signal but I was incorrect.
2. Didn't double up when I loss and entered again but I did put on more 2 more contracts than the ATM so that I would be in profit. (I think I may change to just trying to break even when I lose the first time.)
3. All subsequent entries I either went for less contracts or less points (even though I still loss those trades...it was still less risk)
Things I did wrong:
1. I entered again before waiting for a previous candle to close.
2. Traded again after only being $800 down. I saw that price action was all over the place and should have waited.
3. My spouse and I trade together and she was already cashed out. I was down $1600 and said I was done for the day. We then saw the same setup and I was going to go long but she said I should sell. She has been trading longer than me so I listened. BIG MISTAKE!!! If I would have listened to myself I would have won that trade. Instead I loss another $400.
4. Took way too many trades trying to get my money back.
Now the dilemma is do I keep trading to get out of the hole (which would increase my total trades) or do I let it go. If I let it go I now have to add one more contract to my ATM strategy to keep up my numbers but that also adds more risk. Or do I now take more trades a day to cover for the loss.
Again these are decisions I have to make because of the combine. Once you pass they divide your total trades by half and you HAVE to take that many trades per week. If I continue to what I've been doing I am still over my daily profit target but at a thinner margin. I think I am going to continue what I have been doing until the end of next week and decide from there.
The good thing is that with my profit targets I kind of have losses built in. Now hopefully I win again tomorrow and not repeat the failure of last week.
I live to trade another day! Screenshot 2022-09-01 101041
I won $1000 on ES today. I used two separate ATM strategies to reduce my risk. My first one was for my usual 4 points and then my second one was for 2 points. ES ran up an hour before opening for about 36 points. I was waiting to see it was going to test yesterday's high but it got to today's value area high and came back down at the opening.
Things I did right:
1. I recognized that the last bull bar was a complete doji which meant it was running out of steam. The next bull bar didn't close at it's high or even close, it was at the VAH high and starting turning around so I went short.
2. Reduced my risk by entering twice rather than adding on more contracts (that's me sticking to my trading plan)
3. Shook off yesterday's loss and went in today with fresh eyes.
4. Not going to trade anymore today to make up yesterday's deficit and instead I am going to spread it over multiple days. By winning so much in the beginning I was able to account for losses so again my trading plan worked. Consistency over everything.
Things I did wrong:
1. Nothing
I live to trade another day! Screenshot 2022-09-02 100858
Made $1000 on ES today. Today was also the first day of school for my little one and I got home right at market open so I need to figure out my timing on that. Because I was late I didn't panic and still set up my lines as normal. Normally I take my first trade within the first 5 minutes but this time I didn't place my trade until about 8 minutes after opening.
Things I did right:
1. Even though I was late I didn't panic and I was still able to take 2 profitable trades.
Things I did wrong:
1. Got home right at market open. That is unacceptable and I cannot make that a habit. I need to be on the computer at least 20 minutes before open.
Made $900 ES today. I figured out that I really do learn the most when I lose. I am so proud of myself today for showing restraint in my trades. I took my first trade and even though I was in the right direction it retraced to my stop and stopped me out. Using the MFI indicator I saw that it was still going up so I got back in long. I did not double up on my contracts or add additional just in case the trade went against me again. I won that trade so now I was back to my starting point. The part where I am most proud is that I did not hop right back in. I took my second trade at 9:35 and I didn't take the third until 9:50. Only a few days ago I took 10 trades in that same timeframe so I am already learning and tweaking my strategies.
The market was still going up but the MFI was over 90, the bodies of the candles were getting smaller, larger dojis, it was struggling to stay pushing past the overnight high and it seemed like it was at the top of the range. I could have entered a 3rd time going long but I wasn't comfortable knowing that I had all that going against me. I saw the MFI take a sharp drop from 94 to 88 (it usually moves 1 tick at a time) so I figured there must have been some selling pressure. So even though it was still going up I entered short which means my stop was 4 points above the highest candle. That proved to be the correct choice and I won that trade.
So that's 3 trades total instead of my usual rapid firing to get my money back. Now I am done for the day (again...doing a combine so no need to overtrade....I just need enough to pass).
Things I did right:
1. I did not panic when I lost the first trade. Losing is part of the game and I understand that now.
2. I did not reverse or change the direction of my trade. I was in the right direction but my stop was too close (I don't move stops....I would rather take a second trade)
3. I used all of the information I have learned so far to make educated trading decisions.
4. I was PATIENT, PATIENT, PATIENT. 3 trades and I was done. I am walking away and done for the day.
Things I did wrong:
1. Nothing
I am halfway through the combine! OneUp's account analytics page is under maintenance so I will post a screenshot once it's updated.
I am down $2000 today (after only being down $587) because I didn't listen to myself! I literally said out loud "I don't like this price action" but I took a trade anyway. It danced between Tuesday's high and Monday's high for a solid 15 minutes and didn't pick a direction which is also unlike ES. Al Brooks said "Opening with a bull bear below the EMA means it may go sideways before a trend occurs." and that is EXACTLY what happened. No clear trend, and side by side bars. My gut told me don't trade and what did I do....trade any way..SMH. I also missed my early entry to go long because I was nervous. But I had set a limit order farther away than I should have and when it didn't get picked up but was still going the right direction I should have entered a market order.
I wasn't able to get my money back and I took more trades than I should have because I didn't listen to my own self. I should have just stayed flat until a clear trend emerged even if that meant not taking a trade until 30 minutes after open.
Things I did right:
1. Nothing
Things I did wrong:
1. Ignored my gut. My gut literally told me don't trade and to wait. The reason I traded anyway is because I have a day job and once I start working I can no longer watch the market.
2. Didn't enter a market order once my limit order didn't get picked up but it was still going in the right direction.
3. Didn't stop trading (after I told myself I would) when I was only down $587.
So I have to fix my brain to not want to force a trade because I lost multiple times in a row. The overtrading has got to stop!
I am so thankful for this journal and the ability to look back at every trading day and asses my thoughts and trades. I started the journal on August 20th and even within those few weeks I have changed some things for the positive but my negative trading traits remain the same. Every single time I have a huge loss the reasons have been the same.
1. Noticed the indecision in price action at the open but still entered a trade anyway.
2. Doubled up on my ATM strategy/added more contracts/scaled in.
3. Traded again after only being $800 down. I saw that price action was all over the place and should have waited.
4. Took way too many trades trying to get my money back.
5. Ignored my gut. My gut literally told me don't trade and to wait.
6. Didn't stop trading (after I told myself I would) when I was only down $587.
7. ... took more trades than I should have because I didn't listen to my own self.
Price indecision and choppiness is not my friend. Even the value area high and value area low in the volume profile was in an extremely tight trading range so I should have waited for the breakout trend. I saw there was less volume toward the top/bottom of the trends and could have entered there. I have to start applying everything that I have learned in real time. So I need to start recognizing and reacting to the beginning/end of trends, not trade when there's indecision and limit the number of trades I take.