Friday Log - Have a Good Weekend

Nothing much to report today. Just working on some trading planning tools and will continue to hone over the weekend. Missed the first hour move and not sticking around for the last hour. Have an enjoyable weekend all.

Trade Well !

Thursday Log - Observation Mode

Not much to report today. Just making observations and working on some planning tools. Not much participation in posting comments or IM within my netowrk. Planning same tomorrow as I work on getting a plan together for operational testing next week. Sim only!

Something out of E-Nation today was E asking members to post their "numbers". Numbers being A & D levels, MP, etc. Great idea as this will help us develop as traders. Although I was not prepared to participate today, I hope to again share my thoughts as I did over the past several weeks within the EWS member site as well as offer up my numbers for review.

Trade Well !

Wednesday Log – Not For Amusement Purposes

Today I tried to get my mind set more focused on planning but my head is not in the game. I have not felt this way as a trader for long as I can remember. Nothing seems to be clicking with me. The plan, do, re-do is in my cross-hairs and am trying to piece together my “new” approach but I know it will take some time to get my thoughts together.

Tried a couple of paper trades this AM but stopped out. The market is getting the best of my psyche and I’m not enjoying it at all. Confidence is low and feeling like any trade I touch is crap...and the results show it. Result: - 5.0

I know one of the big things I must improve on is planning. EWS shows the way but I’m still trying to understand and implement. Today being Fed day, I’m probably done trading for the day. Need to take care of some spreadsheet and planning tools. Expect the same results unless I change something and that is the process I’m in right now.

Another thing of frustration is the ups and downs of performance. One day I feel like I “click” and feel I’ve gained some ground in understanding what it takes to be a good trader. The next thing I know, the market slaps me in the head and tells me “no, not yet”.
The emotional rollercoaster the market puts us through is like an amusement ride that has lots of turns, twists, climbs and free-falls. If we don’t know what to expect, the ride will be one of fear and anxiety.

One day it will all “click” and I will conquer this ride by knowing what the market ride might likely do and use it to my advantage. Until then, it’s not amusing to be in line for the ride but find that I’m carrying the wrong ticket. It’s time to revisit the ticket booth for a different validation stamp.

Trade Well !

Tuesday Log - Plan, Do, Re-Do

Something is not working. I am frustrated beyond words as I find myself questioning my ability to trade effectively and believe I'm not planning, reading or reacting to the market properly. Today started out with what I thought was a low risk trade as I entered long in the 1001's. My "plan" was to set my stop below my entry by about 1.5 pts but did not adhere to the plan. I talked myself into moving my stop down, thinking overnight low, yesterday low, pivot low as support. Then to make matters worse I averaged in before the heat got to be too much and I cut the line. Result: -12.5

Tried another long at 95's. Trend was heading down but my opinion was continuing up. Bad news. Another losing trade and that was it for my day. Stick a fork in me, I was done! Result: -8.5

Going into the day, I thought I had a plan, and I did, sort of. I did not adhere to the plan cycle. Every plan has a life cycle. Plans change. Plans don't always go as desired or as anticipated. Plans have three stages in order to make the plan work itself out into a favorable outcome.

First, we make the initial PLAN. We think out the known details, try to anticipate what problems might be encountered, adjust for variables and take the plan into action.
Second, we DO our plan. We've planned the work (trade) and now we work (do/trade) the plan. We evaluate whether or not the plan is achieving the results we desire and consider changes that will improve results and/or outcome.
Third, we RE-DO the plan. After evaluating the plan, we make necessary changes that will enhance our chances to achieve the goal.

Plan, Do, Re-Do. This is the mind set a trader must have. Plan for every possible scenario, do the plan and if it's not working, we re-do it and start with a new and improved plan. This is not what I've been doing of late. Like a deer in the headlights, I'm freezing, not working my plan and not re-grouping. I was so mad at myself today that I shut down the platform and walked away for the rest of the day by 1100.

So I need to re-group. Re-evaluate my planning structure, my mind set and my flexibility to change in the heat of the battle. I need to do better incorporating EWS into my plan and working with it. Maybe it's part of the learning process but I feel I should be beyond that point. Something is sabatoging my efforts and I need to figure out what it is. Plan, Do, Re-Do is another part of my trading day to help me refocus my efforts and concentration.

Trade Well !

Monday Log - Sync It

After a long weekend away from the computer, email and trading related reading, I casually observed the market today without having my usual interaction with IM, posts or even business TV (usually I have Bloomberg on in the back ground). I needed to try and get back in sync with my priorities. EWS has been a God send for me as has my initial trading network I IM with during the trading day. Last week I found myself rambling way too much and not paying attention to what I need to do and that is learn the EWS and trade. For these reason I am reallocating my attention to learning first.

Today was irritating. I took two trades. First was on a TC CO set-up. Although it was at an upper edge, I went long @ 06.75 knowing that 1007.75 was the overnight high. I had a 1 point stop. The break out did not happen. I adjusted my opinion and went short from 05.75 with a 06.75 stop that in the end was too tight. Was stopped out to the tick before price headed to my 1st target of 1003.25. Very frustrating trade. Result: -4.0

I find myself getting stopped out too many times by the slightest of margins. My ideas are “good” but timing or placement of stops is out of sync. I’m working on a spreadsheet to help me track these issues, Lots to learn and more the reason to limit my outside “distractions” and get in sync with my mission to trade successfully.

My performance last week as a whole was not very good and not in keeping with what I am capable of. Learning a new system and effectively applying it takes time and concentration. My attention and awareness of clues that may offer some insights into probable price action need to be refocused. So time to find a better balance of contribution, sharing and interaction. Time to get back in sync before my performance continues to sink.

Trade Well !

Friday Log - Time Off

I ended up taking most of Friday and all of the weekend off. I did not look at anything related to trading as it was time to spend some time with my better half. For that matter, I didn't even look at email or the computer over the weekend, thus the non-posting on Friday. Will post later after market.

Trade Well !