Trader P/L 2009

[bathrobe 10]

Great post, I am going to add the euro (6E) to what I am currently watching, es and ZB. In hope of finding more opportunities when I find them.

[XDTrader 10]

Be cautious with these instruments until you watch them for a while. They move fast and furious at times with exceptionally large wide range bars.

[daedalus 10]

Not much opportunity today or huge big trades but I took what was available and i'm content with the outcome. I've really been focused on eliminating (or reducing) the drawdowns as much as possible and waiting for very specific entry criteria. Its not so much about how much you make each day as much as it is how much you give back in my book.

 

Make enough on average each day and just add size and live your life. I'd be more than content with a 10 lot on this profit today and yesterday. A lot of newbies (myself included) think the key to making money is making at least 10 pts a day or something, when in reality its much better to make 2 pts and add 5 lots. Max # of points each day is a fallacy in my mind that traps traders into overtrading and focusing on always trying to get more.

 

[XDTrader 10]

Been a good week thus far.

 

I mean,not Brownsfan good, but......

 

 

[bathrobe 10]

Had a buy at 798 and did not get filled, I will not chase the market so I missed the move. Took a counter trend buy near the end of day while in trade realised it was the end of month and quarter and quickly got out for +.5

[HAL9000 10]

I have implemented a new indicator during last weekend,

well and now I try to combine it.

 

So far, I seem to fool myself with it, maybe I take it off again,

maybe I figure it out. At least this should be the last indicator

I have implemented for now.

 

Now I have to deal with (better: "use"; just to avoid misunderstandings) them.

 

I hope I will be able to post my results soon, but I think, I have to rework my trading plan first (during the next days).

Edited March 31, 2009 by HAL9000

[86834 10]

Today was a slow a day, but it's a fine example to carry on from my post the other week on knowing when not to trade.

 

 

The first chart here is a 5min chart of ES a couple of hours into the session. One aspect that a lot of new traders seem to do (not saying any in particular, just making a general comment) is they get the whole 'seeing the trees before the forest' syndrome, and get caught up too much in the general price action. The 5min chart here shows exactly the type of trading that you want to stay out of regardless of your style. In situations like this, price can act like a leaf in the wind, and in many cases you'll just get caught out by whip saw. Now even tho it was a slow days, and much of the lower time frames looked like this, there were still some great opportunities today.

 

Within the first hour we had a nice channel develop on the 15mins (my fav type of trade). Within such areas, as i've said before in my posts you are like to find low momentum and choppy action, such as the 5min chart that i posted above. Now when this channel breaks, then it's a different story, momentum now comes into play and the market has a stronger sense of direction (see second chart) Here you can see the break out (red circle) and retest (blue circle) Now what ever you style is, picking the right areas in the market to play in saves you a lot of pain and heart ache. Relax and go with the flow, you've got pretty much 8hrs to trade, don't trade on the markets terms, trade on your own terms, and one term that should apply to all traders is staying out of the crap.

 

Today there were some beautiful trades, especially when we broke 800 area and the sell off afterwards, but i'm saving them for my blog. No point in having two exactly the same posts!

 

Boost!

[brownsfan019 17]

3-31-09

 

 

 

6B not too friendly today. I will be back my friend.

 

 

 

PS

If you have not voted for this thread (see top of any page) and you post or visit here, please vote. Some new moron that wouldn't have the guts to post here has brought the ranking down again. Apparently watching real traders post real results is depressing to some!

[86834 10]

ok guys, if you fancy it, it check my blog out as i posted two live trades for today... Hope everyone else is have a good day too

[daedalus 10]

wash day. made one mistake in the es this morning and bailed on what I thought was a invalid trade I had taken (it turned out it was valid) but not after I had bailed on the position for a -2 tick read... would've paid me a measly +2 ticks but still... tiny mistake is a 50.00 swing in profitability!

 

[HAL9000 10]

4-1-09

 

Today I traded only the setups I like, in other words I followed my not written plan. Somehow I think more in pictures so far. Anyway I have to work on a written plan, I know.

 

While I wait, I use another simulated simulation account for my more stupid experiments (for the Mr. Hyde in me). At least today it helped me.

Hopefully it stays like today, during the last days and weeks, I just traded losers.

 

Anyway here is my result for today:

 

[bathrobe 10]

NT froze in the middle of a trade and stopped showing the order flow on the dom. I managed to get out with a tick.

[brownsfan019 17]

4-1-09

 

Wish I had something to report today but not much happening on my end. Preoccupied with a few other things I guess. Back at 'em on Thurs.

[Frank 10]

Got a question for you guys --- have you guys noticed any changes in your trading/accountability since you started participating here?

 

I thought I would start out here on April 1st and try this for a while. Obviously, this is for ourselves and not for anyone else. I am willing to try being public about this for a while as maybe something good will happen from it -- I honestly don't know. I do know I have learned a ton by sharing information with others so willing to give this a try. I primarily trade S&P Futures (ES).

 

 

btw, I struggle with size management a lot... maybe that is something I will be able to work on if I show my trades publicly.

[daedalus 10]

^^^ Nicely done Frank. Personally I think it just keeps me accountable and focuses me a bit more than just "writing it off" as a winning or losing day.

 

Same reason i've been blogging daily since I started. The blog helps me look back at where i've been. Can't know where youre going until you know where you've been!

[swansjr 10]

This week was only a partial week for trading.

 

Monday no setups.

 

Tuesday and Wednesday no trading because the Wife and I were celebrating 2nd wedding anniversary.

 

Here are the trades for today. Not too bad. I followed my plan 100% in my opinion. The only goof was I accidentally shorted when I wanted to go long. I managed to reverse right away and only lost out on commissions. Dumb mistake.

 

After my first loss I was done as the EC became very choppy.

 

[brownsfan019 17]

Got a question for you guys --- have you guys noticed any changes in your trading/accountability since you started participating here?

 

I thought I would start out here on April 1st and try this for a while. Obviously, this is for ourselves and not for anyone else. I am willing to try being public about this for a while as maybe something good will happen from it -- I honestly don't know. I do know I have learned a ton by sharing information with others so willing to give this a try. I primarily trade S&P Futures (ES).

 

btw, I struggle with size management a lot... maybe that is something I will be able to work on if I show my trades publicly.

 

Frank - it's helped me to focus on the job and getting it done so that I can show my comrades here the result of good work.

 

That in turn helps me to just do the job the right way as I had hit a bit of mental block recently.

 

I hope you continue to give it a try and see what it does for you. You'll never know unless you try.

 

PS

Nice day there!

[86834 10]

Right guys, made a a new blog post today on ways to use your order book to read order flow to help comfirm your trades around whatever levels you want to trade, whatever your style is. Let me know what you guys think, because if you like it then i'll try to make some more posts on it. http://868347.blogspot.com/

 

Boost!

[daedalus 10]

got f**ked by my internet connection today. The one setup that would've been profitable my internet dropped out literally 30 seconds from a signal being taken... It went for a textbook 3 NQ points. I guess shit happens... i just couldn't believe that it happened at EXACTLY that time.

 

Oh well. Two other trades taken, textbook pars... Nothing else set up.

 

 

Still content with the day.... haven't "lost" money any day this week. Not huge days by any means (in fact i'm kind of embarrassed by how small $$$ wise they have been) but i'll take this kind of stuff any day over violent drawdowns.

[bathrobe 10]

A footnote to my P/L thread posts........Many of my orders over the last two weeks have not been filled, I scale in and for the most part have only been filled on the first part of my order.

[brownsfan019 17]

4-2-09

 

 

 

A day where if all trades taken, a nicer P/L would result. Frustrating when the plan is not followed completely.

[Frank 10]

wasn't so sure whether that 30.50 march high in ES was going to cause a reversal -- tried shorts early in small size cause didn't really feel confident in it. Should have gone long once NQ took off to upside but decided I wasn't in sync and took a break. Went long later for a scalp. Never really thought everything lined up today to do more -- just trying to keep it green on days like today and move on to better situation I am reading more clearly. Ended up +$790, on to tomorrow....

 

Edited April 2, 2009 by Frank

[HAL9000 10]

Frank - It helps me to focus on my problems, that I still have.

But it also documents my way, and maybe it helps others, if

they read this thread at some point in the future.

 

Now to trading: Today I started late, missed good signals, and chased the first trades. Mr. Hyde has taken control.

 

Interestingly the bad trades have been once more these impulse trades.

A second problem was this one contract approach, so I let some nice scalps go. One trade was 20 ticks+ up and ended scratch. Wasn't really necessary (-> Money Management issue).

 

But finally I saved my ... for today:

 

[swansjr 10]

Today was one of those easy days. I get up and make it to my desk at 5:19 this morning. I see the market is creating the correct opportunity and I make three trades. By 5:24 I'm done for the day.

 

[brownsfan019 17]

4-3-09

 

 

 

Not bad for 1 trade on the 6E.

 

However, it should be stated that my exit was premature and not following protocol. And it's costing me some serious money as a result.

 

Currencies offer some serious risk/reward depending on how you trade and while the ES is like watching paint dry, currencies and bonds were moving. Amazing how the picture can look depending on what you are looking at.