Attila

Statement for 07/28... Low Volume days tough when you don't get the high or low trades early.. Got the ideal short just under 1892 but the post report wiggle immediately stopped me out..

Thalestarder... At 6 months (from my start... hopefully account still lives by then) in, I will decide whether to continue posting and will definitely stop at the 1 yr mark. It doesn't take a lot of time, plus there is some accountability that is useful to me. Hopefully there is something useful to others as well. Statement for 07/26... VERY dull trading as I've heard trading should be.

Guys... Thanks for the kind remarks.. much appreciated. Statement for 07/23.. A recovery of sorts to end the week. Good. Week summary... I read somewhere the key job of a trade/Money manager is to avoid loss. After that assuming reasonable respect for market direction and low turnover the equity graph will be kind to the trader over time. Take my equity chart and cut the dips in half and the result so far would be quite different. Granted I may never know what that may do to the climbs but the dips need to be better managed. Lesson for the week.. When down at an established day loss limit avoid thinking you can "correct" the day because the thinking that put you in the predicament rarely reverses that day, and least likely once the morning's better predictability is exchanged for afternoon chop. Every trader will have periods when they haven't a clue and are like a leaf blowing in the wind as I felt much of the week... Therefore it is borderline Asinine.... .... to trade without a safety net for the day. Like a walking a tight rope.. you can break all sorts of rules and live to try again as long as when you fall avoid falling all the way to the ground. Equity looking like a double-top!:helloooo:

An excellent TOS coder... He also runs a forum where manyTOS users hang out.. ThinkScripter – Custom ThinkScript Indicators for the thinkorswim Trading Platform

Statement for 07/22..........

Statement for 07/22... No Pain, No Gain.. I hope I am gaining mentally because pain I am feeling now and it will continue until I learn/find/steal emotional control. The anxiety build the 15 mins before and into the open causes man to toss the system, believing the open that 5% of traders that takes from the other 95% has crafted for us emotional mini minds. As I went to bed I thought at least something positive happened yesterday, I bought the Euro during the Bernanke dump at 1.2757... genius. Stop was below swing low at 1.2725.. great. Then I decide to move it to break even before I crash for the night.. genius. Well, that 5% came specifically for my position and last time I checked 1.2838 was the print. Looks like another sizeable gap up.... there is a serious battle going on that decides the rest of the summer in the markets and when Elephants fight the ground suffers... woof..

Statement for 07/21.. This is QUICKLY getting old. Yesterday I went to drink from Friday's well even though it was labeled "do not drink".. and I insisted on Staying there... Got system long on the nicest break at 1794 but exited and quickly got short.. Heading out to a meeting for the day I knew a break of 1811 would usher in 1821 at the minimum but what did I do? Short and put a stop in.. The thought of a buy stop at 1811 and change never crossed my short mind. Hello, my name is Attila... I am short. I was born this way and hope someday to be long...

My wife has walked in on me a couple of times and said.. "what in the world are you doing!!" She's caught me trend fighting a few times, which is basically what exiting early can mean.. not accepting the current direction.. Being able to see from outside myself something need to work on.. On the second note, I am an incurable perfectionist, unfortunately.. Thanks..

Ok let me know when you're coming over to enforce it.. I'll bar the door!.. You know the next 10 trades will be 10pt NQ profits that revert back to break-evens, right? This IS WHAT the nut on the left shoulder guarantees will happen if I even think about it and will remind me every time a decent profit is sacrificed.

Statement for 07/19........

Mighty.. Thanks for the reminder to forgo perfection. Will also not go for any swing trades until the meat of earning season is over next 2 weeks.. This week quite heavy.

Statement for 07/17........ A bit of a fail Friday as I had planned to short 1848 but when markets opened I hesitated, then took the 46's which resulted in a stop out .25 from the high at which point I was thinking, "I should re short right here in the 48's".. Well, ended up chasing into the 42's, which became a nervous trade... The 48's were presented twice and knuckle head didn't act. Lesson, I decide to take a trade someplace, put the order in to prevent the rat mind interfering when the time comes to stand and deliver. Next step is to swing trade a bit, especially Euro.. The 1.2582 entry could have been kept as a swing as well as the NQ entry yesterday as these were potentially the beginnings of significant new trends due to wedge breaks from key price areas. With NQ the bad news also spelled doom. Markets go up, I lose money. Markets go down, I make money. Most likely because falling markets drop too fast for me to meddle. Also I trade better after taking a serious account hit... Would be nice to simulate this mentally as I lose focus after a good run-up. Good to end week at account closing high after the debacle last week.

Statement for 07/15.........

Statament for 07/14...... In spite of myself day turned out ok.

Nearly unbearably irritated... Bought low Trendline yesterday (1822.5) and today (1841).. Yesterday I took 5 points and left.. Today I took 6 or so points and commenced to start shorting the 50 area.. CLEARLY the thing channels so when the bottom is bought, set stop and quit fiddling!! Have got to use stops on prior bars on this time frame only.. I frequently watch 3 minute and 1600 tick charts that have too much movement... Without resolving this there is no hope.. Sorry Mightymouse I didn't go for the walks..:angry:

ekshay and daVinciLite... are you trading? Seems like trading and posting is that stressful?

Statement for 07/12.......

Statement for 07/12......... bias is a hell of a drug.

Buy the dip!.........

I am not a fan of back-testing.. sorry. The only test I know of is actual practice. Admittedly my recent trading is very contrary to mechanical use of anything to arrive at any useful conclusion but it is what it is. Testing will not resolve what I went through this week nor the next. In a nutshell I respond to Chop way too much. I am also not thinking of some complex strategy but rather a minor tweak to my base system that does well but not ehough of the time. It was a bad week and one week not enough to draw any conclusions though my whinging suggested the ship was listing badly. Statement for 07/09--- Rough seas for the week. Next week a clean slate.

Besides nerves, I feel a key issue for me is to learn to trade in one direction only (at least for the first half of the day) and not be swayed by price fluctuations. I will develop a method to determine this and apply it next week.

LOL!... People would never leave their trading stations thinking this way. I think I will take up Mouse's suggestion.. In the past year I think I have had zero PC/Software/Internet feed issues so a risk I don't mind taking.. My stops are GTC so my house could burn down and the stops will remain live.. If I am present watching a slow, jerky trade (wait till you see today's statement:() I will very likely take it off, put it back, take it off.... etc. Day trading may not be for me who knows.. Strange the Euro trades I have made I have rarely looked at them and they worked out fine.. There is simply very little value watching every tick once a trade is in, target set, stop set... Unless you plan to meddle... can't imagine any other reason. The only other is you have not really accepted the stop. Trade below a classic... After suffering the whole day in the worst, slowest PA I have seen, the break comes and I dutifully take the trade, BUT.... Pathetic. A week to forget..

Statement for 07/08.... MK, I did not trade 2 last statement.. However, I did yesterday, as you can see the 2's on this one. The statements are horrid I agree, not even in order. You won't be seeing more 2's on NQ my statements either until the 7k mark as it was mental hell trying it. Had a 2 unit short at 1794 that I pulled 5 seconds before the plunge to 1786's. The bad emotions with 1 unit simply doubled with 2. Some will scoff the thought of someone having trouble with 2 units but there are valid reasons behind this, believe me.. I am trying to push a HUGE rock uphill like Sisyphus, at least I feel that way. Though my reason for upping the units still stands, the increased risk too dangerous, considering my occasional lack of control when chop activity begins. Though my daily $$ loss is now capped, it's not the real solution. You can almost look at a chart and predict how I will trade it. That's the problem. More than a single page statement and I am very likely losing that day. 1 unit got me from 1k to 3k even with all the points I leave behind and it will get me to 7k and surely my comfort level will be greater then. Taking 30% of volatility a day on average, long term is great to have and I will have to live with leaving money behind. There will ALWAYS be some agony in trading and leaving money behind while growing an account is better than the agony of a blowout. To push a huge rock uphill while you are weak, better to move it up a bit, wedge it, rest, move it again... etc. Trying to move it in big moves without rest and the rock wins. Thanks.

Statement for 07/08..... Sold my last at 1763.. just as the festivities were commencing.. Takes skill to be so timely..

Woohoo! Company!... Grab a board!.. Waves can be treacherous but the right ones are sweet... just be selective:)