Cory2679

Here's my entry for the quarterly contest... Dow: 11,671.88 S&P: 1,274.48 Nasdaq: 2,716.83 Today's closing prices...I thought I'd give last contest's strategy another shot...maybe I'll have better luck this time...

Current look at the UJ...

I'm done for the day...I'll be around for Tokyo, but I'll be starting a little late... I took this one last trade (EU short) that I took BE on...I won't be re-entering...I'm calling it a day...

Got PT1 on the first half, got stopped for a small profit on the second. I'm frustrated that I missed this UJ long I've attached...I actually had an order in but canceled it solely because I was already in a trade (the EU short). I need to come up with a rule for what to do in situations when I have more than one opportunity...this time I just thought, I don't know what to do! I guess I'll just pass on it!

Currently short the EU... (EJ long re-entry order from above post canceled.)

Just took a small hit on a EJ long attempt...I have my order in for a possible re-entry...

One quick addition to my set-in-stone schedule: On days that I have to leave my computer early, I will not open any new trades the hour before I know I have to leave. For example, if I have to leave my house at 2:30, I won't enter any new trades after 1:30. That'll give me an hour to manage any open positions I may have. After that, like normal, I either need to be out or simply have my orders in and walk away. I know none of you probably care about that...it's really just for me. All right...that should be my last post here (my log) for a while...

I probably should have passed on this trade considering the lack of impulsiveness...I was probably reaching a bit... I have to leave now and I just pulled it for a small loss. I may make a rule for myself when I have to leave early that I can't open any new trades the hour before I know I have to leave...so that I have that hour to manage any open trades I may have. We'll see. No Tokyo for me tonight...I'll be back for NY tomorrow...

Potential EJ long...

Taken out at break-even...

Currently short the EJ with my stop at break-even (with not much wiggle-room)...

Re-entered on the new low...trailed my stop tight...managed to more than make up for the previous trade's loss (albeit not by much). Although it would appear by this Ninja chart that PT2 filled, it did not with FXCM...both halves were actually taken out at PT1. (Once price hit PT2 on the Ninja chart, I moved my stop with FXCM to PT1.)

Ended up taking a short, instead...moved my stop tight...got taken out for a small loss...

Time to get rolling again...it'll probably take me a little while to get back into the swing of things... Anyways...to begin...potential long on the UJ...

I'm in...but my entry will be in Tuesday. I'm shocked at the lack of participation thus far! A risk-free trade on a trading website! Maybe everyone here is just so rich that it's not worth the few seconds of their time to enter a guess... I would have thought there would be more participation that this even if there wasn't a prize...just for the fun of the competition...

First Post of 2011 Well, I had decided to take some time off from TL, but I've changed my mind...the reason being that I've realized that consistently posting to the Reading Charts in Real Time thread does a great deal to help me stay focused and accountable. Therefore, I will resume my regular posting to the thread beginning next week. My New, Set-In-Stone Schedule For the new year, I've decided it may be beneficial to have a set-in-stone work/trading schedule. So, here it is: My trading hours for entering new trades will be the New York AM hours and the first half of the PM hours...as well as an hour before the NY open (London's open during that time). So, that's 7AM - 2:30PM Eastern Time. Plus, the Tokyo AM hours...currently that is 7PM-10PM Eastern Time (9AM-12PM Tokyo Time)...I'm not sure if that will change with DST or something like that, but for now it's 7-10. I will allow myself 1 hour to stick around after my "close" to manage any open positions I may have. After that, I either need to be out or simply have my orders in and walk away. This way, the latest I will be on my computer at night is 11PM (and 3:30PM in the afternoon)...I think it will be beneficial for me to have a strict rule like this. I won't trade on holidays. I won't trade during infrequent special situations when I deem it reasonable not to (ie a beach vacation, etc.) I have a part-time job where I work about 20 hours per week. My availability there is 3PM - Close M-F, and All Day Sa-Su. So, sometimes my job will interfere with my trading. Tracking Performance I will be starting next week with a fresh start of "0R." My "plan" hasn't changed...my immediate goal is to rack up +10R on an FXCM Demo account. I've decided that it just needs to be +10R over whatever period of time...so if I lost 400R then made 10R, that would count. The logic being that if I was a loser, and was gradually getting better and better, and eventually transformed into a break-even and then profitable trader, it would be silly then to tell myself I have to make up for all of the demo losses I made as a loser before I move on. HOWEVER, while this is indeed my "plan," I will be making an effort to simply keep it in the back of my mind, rather than at the forefront. I need to have less of a micro-focus on trade performance, and more of a focus on just doing my best, learning, and getting better...this will lead to less frustration and emotion. Final Thought I'm going to be making a strong effort to keep my emotion out of my posts in the RCRT thread...I get so emotional and over-dramatic...I just end up embarrassing myself. Plus, usually I'm just over-reacting and whatever it is isn't nearly as bad as I make it out to be, and I feel completely different after I've calmed down. I'm going to just post my trades, and that's it. Here's to a great 2011!

Hi Thales, Jack Schwager actually already has a "Market Wizards III"...Stock Market Wizards Cory

On the home page, one used to be able to hold the pointer over the title of a thread and it would reveal the first line or two of the most recent post of that thread...that is no longer the case with the new format. That is something I miss. Also, I just don't think all the wrinkles have been ironed out with the new format...there are some bugs here and there...links that don't work, the "attach file" window for a post is little funny...I have to select the file, then scroll way right to find the "upload" button...stuff like that. Also, the "lastest posts" part of the home page is a little messed up...it is not accurately providing the most recent posts at TL like it used to. Like Thales has already pointed out, some threads aren't showing up, and right now I see some of the same exact threads (the link is the same) in both columns!

I'm planning for this to be my last post to TL for quite a while...I've just been polluting this thread with my garbage. Maybe the delusion is kicking back in, but I've calmed down some and I'm feeling a little better. This has been my worst week in a long time...I'm currently down 2.19R for the week. That's really not even that awful, I guess...that's basically just one good winning day's worth of R. Heck, I'm still positive just between this week and last week. I'm going to stop the bleeding and take the rest of the week off from trading, and just work on trading. I have some ideas of what I'm doing a little different and the reasons why (I won't bore you with the details). I'd been doing relatively well lately...I hardly think a 2R drawdown is a good reason to throw in the towel.

UPDATE: Full loss. I was giving it a little "breathing room" because of GDP...I would have moved my stop up to the dashed red line, otherwise. I felt good about going long at this level...I've attached a 4H chart to provide more context. Needless to say, I am devastated with my performance this week. I was obviously on some sort of dumb luck winning streak that has now been struck. I'm no better off than I was a year ago...still a loser. The sooner I give this stuff up the better off I'll be. I'm obviously not cut out for it. I think I'm going to quit posting here. What's the point? I feel like a freaking idiot. And people could comment...you should do this or you should do that...but chances are, I've heard it before. I know all that. I just can't put it into practice in a way that yields profit. I don't know what to do...it is my dream to become a self-managed trader...but it's not looking good...if I were an objective observer, I'd be betting heavily against my success...so why do I continue? I don't know...delusion, I guess.

Currently long the UJ...I'm going to go eat breakfast while it does its thing...

Well, I would say "just hang in there, you'll get it"...however, I can't really say that seeing as that has not been my experience thus far. haha (I currently have a pretty negative attitude...I'll get over it in a few hours, though...once the delusion kicks in again...haha)

Currently short the GU...stop @ BE (+1 tick)... UPDATE: Taken out @ BE (+0.9 ticks). lblanks: I didn't see your post (EDIT: the part of your post to me) until after I posted my short GU post...that's funny...I will admit...your post did draw my attention to the GU, where I then saw what I considered as a potential for a short. I honestly didn't simply "do the opposite" of what you said. haha. That was funny timing, though.

FINAL UPDATE: Stopped out, as expected. I shouldn't have been in that trade...I'm currently down 1.22R for the week! I'm stepping away now to cool down. It's probably only delusion that keeps me working at this stuff... I had high hopes for this week because I was back at it on my normal schedule...last week I was sleep deprived and traded from a hotel room and I managed to squeeze out 3.34R! I guess I was just on a lucky streak over the past several weeks. :crap: I think deep down I knew that...that's why I'm demo-trading...because I know sooner or later I'm sure to net a loss.

Potential EU long...back and forth back and forth haha... UPDATE: Filled and my stop is moved up a little bit. I'll be shocked of I don't get stopped out of this one. I'm doing horrible this week. I'm so upset. I'd gotten to the point where I thought I was more or less consistently profitable week to week!...I should have known it was too good to be true. :crap: