Thursday Log - Late to the Game

I felt out of touch with the market all day. My day started late as I arrived to the platform only 15 mins before the bell. My "normal" day starts at least 1 hour prior to the bell unless I plan to trade premarket then its a 0730 start. Other than having my ss and day planner complete, I did not feel prepared.

I located the important S & R levels, made a few scalp trades while catching up with the EWS comments, making notes and looking over the ss for trade ideas. But that was about it. Result: +3.0

Still learning EWS and understanding more each day. 'E' is a very good teacher, has very much to say during the trading day and members are either asking questions or helping other members out. It's really a great trading experience. During the day today, the EWS comments have averaged over 200 per day! If a trader can't learn when there is such a high frequency of tudoring communication, then you're not in the game. Get in the game...and don't be late!

Trade Well !

Wednesday Log - Day of Learning

A lot going on today thus a late and short post. E-Nation conducted a webinar to review the EWS ss. It was an opportunity for everyone to learn how to fill out their daily ss and where the numbers come from. Future instructional webinars are very likely and specific subjects are being considered.

Trading was hot and cold today. Still working on being nimble and react to changes in market when my mind is going a different direction. I feel I am getting a bit better with identifying the lower risk areas to enter. Patience is key as we wait for the set-up to come to us, not the other way around.

A few trades long and short during the day. Mostly live account today. Playing around with the scalp concept. I need to ID the price frames better and play them out using the intervals that are available. Lots to learn but really enjoying this journey. Result: -4.5

Trade Well !

Tuesday Log - Juggling Act

Today was an opportunity to visit the free open chat for SP500Guru. The first Tuesday of every month, 'G' opens up the chat room so the ES traders can follow along. It's an opportunity to see another style at work.

It was difficult to watch and participate the EWS chat, Guru chat, the market and keeping up with the ss. In addition, I have a group IM window for a small group of traders that I have known for several months. So too much going on and my trading today reflects the distractions.

The day started off good enough with a scalp short after the 1000 eco report was announced. From there it was two trades during the lunch time and I was on the wrong side. Tried another one, too early. Eventually the trade idea worked but not before hitting my limit. I feel I did not feel the market. Maybe due to all the added "stuff" going on around me. Result: -8.5

During the afternoon session I tried a couple trades but ended as a scratch. Overall today I felt I did not have a good feel for the market. I was juggling too many things and did not plan my trades like I should have. Easy to see clearer in hindsight but during the juggling act, I did not take the time to recognize it until it was too late. Bad circus act today. We'll get 'em tomorrow.

Trade Well !

Monday Log - Surf's Up

Today I did a little bit of trading with the live account but most of it on sim. Both were successful although I felt I should have done better. On the sim I went long in the 997’s just after 1030 looking for a breakout to the R3 level but it stalled out. In hind sight it was a high risk trade buying at the top in resistance area. I did have confidence in the upward momentum even if price were to pullback so I averaged in once a TC set-up came into play. I added long at 94’s and 92’s in sim, 93’s in live account. Using the previous price action and EWS, set target on live account @ 94’s on ½ and 97’s on remainder. Once 94’s hit, I set stop to BE which was hit before price went higher. Sim I let ride to the 96’s with all off. Not very good sim trade management as I should have let at least 1 or 2 C’s run. Result: Live +2.0; Sim +10.5

I was distracted in late afternoon when price was making new highs. With EWS, we were looking at resistance in the 998 area. On the sim, I tried a short at 998.25 with stop above previous high and above the “Demon”. I was stopped out. Tried another short at 99’s around 1400 with stop above 1000 high. Got stopped out by 2 ticks prior to price heading south to my target of 97’s. Right idea, could have had better timing. Result: -4.5

I was thinking that price would penetrate the previous high of 1000 by 1-2 points and had thought of getting short in 1000.75 but instead went in at 99’s. Risk reward would have been 1 for 1 with higher stop so not a real good trade although good stop adherence.

So the day was up as it stayed in a nice range with an up bias. Good scalps to be had and good directional trades if you caught the right wave. The surf is up. Will the tide continue to provide more rides on higher waves or will we retest the weekly low. Stay tuned.

Trade Well !

Emini Wizard System (EWS) – Are You Ready?

For those who might be peering into my trading journal, I offer you some insights into EWS – Emini Wizard System. I am a charter member of ‘E-Nation’ since membership opened on July 4th of this year. Whether by coincidence or design, it was truly a day of independence. Not only was it a day to recognize freedom for a country but also another step towards sovereignty and success as a trader.

In my journey to learn and survive in this trading biz, I feel I have picked the right paths of education in order to advance my understanding. Discovering the Eminiwizard is one of those paths I took along with a leap of faith based on my intuition that “this felt right”.

In advance of membership opening up, I had been following ‘E’ on Twitter and had exchanged a couple emails with him from which, I established a trust in his character and his mission. The EWS and ‘E’ have far exceeded my expectations and it’s only the beginning as I found what I was looking for, that next part of the trading journey that will take me to the next level.

I have put in hundreds even thousands of hours of screen time watching the ES, looking at price action and patterns, tracking pivots, globex HH / LL, daily ranges, etc. but something was missing. It was structure. How do I correlate all this information into a trading methodology? I needed help and I found it with ‘E’. It is truly a blessing and a gift to have crossed paths with this humble man of the market.

‘E’ is an educator by profession. He teaches us HOW to trade, not WHAT to trade. “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, but teach him to fish and he’ll eat for a life time”. ‘E’s teaching us how to fish. Sharing the knowledge he has acquired from over 16 years of trading experience, he explains in detail (as the market is setting up and as it moves) the breakdown of the day to day ebb and flow of the market and the psychology behind it. This is a daily experience members observe and participate in while in “the class room”.

The price is unbelievably affordable and for what we get it is worth many thousands of dollars more than what he currently charges. The synergy within the member’s site is growing stronger each day as more members contribute to helping each other navigate the site or share newly gained EWS knowledge. Learning, sharing of information, making the site more user friendly is encouraged by ‘E’ as he promotes questions to be asked and asks for and enjoys the collaboration of members to make the experience within E-Nation more dynamic. Every member who is participating will tell you the same thing, ‘E’ and EWS is absolutely incredible.

EWS is not for everyone. If you are looking for the Holy Grail, good luck and keep looking. If you are a trader without a deep passion to succeed in this biz, don’t waste your time (or ours) nor your money. But, if you are willing to put in the time, want to join a team of like minded traders who expect to achieve a high level of trading success then you may want to consider joining EWS.

The system is working for me as well as others within the community and I wanted to share some of my insights and observations through my blog. It won’t work for everyone, just like any one market indicator that’s used by one trader will not be preferred by another. If you are ready to turn over the next rock, journey down the unknown path and are looking to take your trading to the next level of understanding, then I encourage you to consider joining E-Nation. What do you have to lose other than more capital while you try to learn in a way that has yet to provide you with desired results? So, are you ready!?

Trade Well !

Friday Log – Trade Deadline

GDP eco report, Chicago PMI pre and post market open as well as last day of month trading deadline were on the radar today. Was ready to trade price action in live account. Saw a long opportunity once price headed south to 80’s. Although I entered in 81’s and could have waited for lower risk at 78-78’s, I was in as I looked at the weekly middle and hourly chart MA’s as support. Took a bit more heat than I wanted but I had my stop just under the weekly middle. Price bottomed at 78’s and so my thinking was EWS logic. I let the trade work, scaled out at 83’s and last of position out at 88’s. Result: +8.75

After 1030, price started to develop a range. I took one live and 1 sim trade, both getting filled in 87’s. First target was 86 as I was thinking 2.50 from the 88.5 high. The live account I did not leave a runner and was flat at 86. On the sim I scaled out half at 85’s and had a runner left to pick up the whole 5 point move. Paper vs. live, paper wins.
Result: Live +2.0; Paper +5.5

I’m starting to dip my tow into the live trades with EWS while also working the simulated trading. The scalp trade today shows me the difference in reward when I let the trade work to its potential. My intention is to let the sim trading help to adjust my thinking, trust and confidence in my live trading as I apply EWS logic as well as TC set-ups.

Today is full of deadlines. I wanted to have my trading done in the AM, did not want to get caught in the potential volatility of the afternoon (other than maybe a sim trade) since this was the last day of the week and month so anything could happen. There is also the MLB trade deadline, all of which were on the 1600-1615 cut-off timeframe. I was well ahead of making my trades while there was something there in the low risk category. Like a major league team, look for the good trades early, be aware of the deadlines and beat the crowd.

Trade Well !

Thursday Log – It’s All about Looking Good

During my pre-market planning, I was expecting the Thursday Jobless report to offer a trade opportunity. The set-up was there as price was below the globex high around a pivot level. I set the “Hot-Box” trade short in 85’s and long 76’s. High risk but high reward. I wasn’t risking more than 2 pts on the potential move.

I filled in live account with 85’s short and was waiting for price to revisit 82’s. Reset stop once price went into 83’s to break even and was stopped out. There was a second surge up to 86’s on lower volume so I went back in short @ 86. Took the entire position off @ 82’s, just above recent support and EWS method. Result: +7.75

Back to the sim during regular trading hours, I missed the move up and waited for pullback. Got in long at 89.75 with TC set-up but only gave it a 1 point stop. Stopped out and did not take the upside move from 87’s which was angel support territory. Result:-2.0

Failed to pull the trigger in 91’s during the afternoon range chop. Very tough to fade a strong trend. Waited for the second time up and entered 91.75 with 1 point risk, 2+ reward. First target was 89’s and extreme target was 85’s. Thinking was 94’s wanted 84’s and I wanted out before the profit taking. Worked well and actually turned into the CE trade on the final C. Result: +8.0

These are the final days of the month so the “Big Boyz” will be looking to improve the look of their portfolios by driving the market higher. It’s all about looking good. For this trader, it’s all about trading well!

Trade Well !