Thursday Log - Think 180

Today was another day of sim trades while working with the new system. I'm not sure why but I am taking this sim trading pretty seriously. Each trade today was entered with a plan and determination as if it were a live account. Many times early in my trading pursuits, paper trades were not planned well and I tended be sloppy and emotionally unattached to the entries. The experience has been a 180 from how I previously used the sim. Maybe my new respect for the sim is a result of gaining maturity with trading, realizing how the tool can help hone my skills and test new ideas. We'll see how I handle the live account once I re-visit with EWS under my belt.

An important mindset to have while in the heat of the battle once the bell rings is to be nimble and flexible. Be able to change one's mind / opinion of which way the market is headed when on the wrong side. Today was an example of having a 180 awareness and executing the turn in thinking.

I had the previous day high, R1 and overnight high on my radar as possible resistance and went short in 55's. Stop was two ticks above the prior days high and that saved my bacon. The rocket ride took off without me and I changed my opinion of the market once the highs, R1 and YTD high was broken. I waited for a pullback and was in at 57's, just on top of the break out. Scaled out on the way up to extreme target of just below R2 (62 area). The 180 Result: +1.0

From there it was a waiting game. Even though it was looking like a trending day, it was hard to find a low risk entry. A bit irritating not being able to participate into the 970's from somewhere in the 960's but thus the life of a trader. As one astute trader reminder me, "it's sometimes better not to trade than to lose capital". So true. So I waited like a cat in high grass.

It wasn't until about 1520 that I saw a low risk opportunity to enter a 180 counter trend. I saw a double top, SS divergence and lower volume. Entered in the 75's with a stop 1 tick above the high of 76.5. I was anticipating the longs to start releasing and planned to scale out half in the 73's and the balance in the 70's. Although I usually wait to enter this set-up with 30-45 minutes remaining in the session, I got in early and watched (and participated) in the rotation until it final broke the way I thought it would and managed the trade as planned and was flat by 1558. Result: +8.25

Watching the 5 min chart, I saw a doji bounce off a support area and again did a 180 one minute later after going flat. I went long in the 71's and was looking for 2 quick points. With a nice profit already in the bag, I risked 1 to make 2 with a small position. No reason to give much back this late in the day. I had to be quick with my sights set on the 73's where there was resistance. My target hit 5 min. later and I was done. Result: +2.0 (dinner $$)

Having faith in my abilities, having confidence that the next trade will work and having structure applied to my trades via EWS helped me do the 180...a few times today.

Trade Well !