Jump to content

Welcome to the new Traders Laboratory! Please bear with us as we finish the migration over the next few days. If you find any issues, want to leave feedback, get in touch with us, or offer suggestions please post to the Support forum here.

  • Welcome Guests

    Welcome. You are currently viewing the forum as a guest which does not give you access to all the great features at Traders Laboratory such as interacting with members, access to all forums, downloading attachments, and eligibility to win free giveaways. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free. Create a FREE Traders Laboratory account here.

TraderFoo

What Would Have Been a Good Way to Trade Today (monday 7/27)

Recommended Posts

I got chopped out of almost every trade today. Stopped out by 1 tick, made my stops bigger, got stopped out by 1 tick again .. and so on :crap:

 

So hindsight being 100%, I still don't know what the best approach would have been.

 

Maybe there's not a great answer to this post .. and in that case it will just serve as me venting :frustrated:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I got chopped out of almost every trade today. Stopped out by 1 tick, made my stops bigger, got stopped out by 1 tick again .. and so on :crap:

 

So hindsight being 100%, I still don't know what the best approach would have been.

 

Maybe there's not a great answer to this post .. and in that case it will just serve as me venting :frustrated:

 

The best way would have been to have followed your trading plan. Does your trading plan say to make your stops wider? How about stop trading after x number of losses/ticks?

 

If you had a trading plan, you wouldn't have to wonder what you should have done differently today as you already would know that just following your plan is all you need to do and that losing days are just part of the business.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

great point, thanks :) .. i have a trading plan template here on my computer... but never did anything with it.

 

playing it by ear as i learn has only got me under/over/and back to break-even on my account, so a trading plan sounds like the perfect next step.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I got chopped out of almost every trade today. Stopped out by 1 tick, made my stops bigger, got stopped out by 1 tick again .. and so on :crap:

So hindsight being 100%, I still don't know what the best approach would have been.

Maybe there's not a great answer to this post .. and in that case it will just serve as me venting :frustrated:

 

 

 

what are you trading?

what resolution is your analysis?

 

if you post your chart (or desktop), people can offer more applicable suggestions.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
great point, thanks :) .. i have a trading plan template here on my computer... but never did anything with it.

 

playing it by ear as i learn has only got me under/over/and back to break-even on my account, so a trading plan sounds like the perfect next step.

 

If you don't have a plan and just play it by ear, you are in essence making random trades. With random trades, you should also expect random results.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I mostly trade ES, 1-2 contracts on usually 500 tick or 2 minute charts during the first 2 and last 1 hour of the regular hours. I usually run a 2-3 point stop and trade gaps and pullbacks to pivots.

 

i think sevensa pretty much hit it on the head though. regardless of the feedback i got, it would not have been as bad if i was following a plan instead of chasing, moving stops, and not just shutting down the computer after consecutive bad trades. (if that were part of my plan)

 

usually i have a lot more discipline, but i think doing so well last week that i let it get to my head. last week i had my best day, today i had my worst day. it's a great lesson.

 

i need to find some good parameters/limits for a trading plan on a smaller account. ($5k) and more importantly, then, i need to follow it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A few thoughts..

 

Two cars is too much for a $5k account, especially while you're learning. A learning trader doesn't want high leverage, as you want to make your mistakes as cheaply as possible. I recommend that new traders start by trading ETFs (even on a swing basis), so they can formulate a strategy and get to real money as soon as possible. That way, you can make a whole lot more mistakes, and learn a lot more, for less money.

 

Also, a lack of a plan is the greatest downfall of a trader. Until you have a set plan that can be followed, trades are based on your whims. You end up chasing, averaging down, etc. Find a methodology that suites you, discover an edge (and verify that the edge actually exists), and practice it.

 

When you're trading based on probabilities of success (any bona fide edge), you're playing a game that I've told several newer traders. Pretend I have a 6 sided fair dice. If 1, 2, 3, or 4 rolls, you pay me $10. Otherwise, if a 5 or 6 rolls, I pay you $40. You're allowed to play as much as you want. Do you play the game? I would in a heart beat: the expected value per roll is +$6.67. However, on any one roll, I'll likely lose. Further, the outcome of any one roll doesn't matter at all.

 

Trading is the same. With an edge, you're playing a probabilities game. The outcome of any one trade doesn't matter. You'll have streaks where you lose several in a row, and you did nothing wrong. A losing trade shouldn't bother you at all, just as a losing throw of the dice wouldn't bother you. But you'll never know until you form a solid plan.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I got chopped out of almost every trade today. Stopped out by 1 tick, made my stops bigger, got stopped out by 1 tick again .. and so on :crap: So hindsight being 100%, I still don't know what the best approach would have been. Maybe there's not a great answer to this post .. and in that case it will just serve as me venting :frustrated:

 

We use biases from higher time frames to keep us out of trouble and in opportunity regardless of the speed of the market.

 

In a previous post on bias based trading I have described how to formulate such indicators of bias.

 

Here is a shot of the last 5 hours of trading in today's (7/27/2009) ES. Times are PST.

 

biastoday.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
We use biases from higher time frames to keep us out of trouble and in opportunity regardless of the speed of the market.

 

In a previous post on bias based trading I have described how to formulate such indicators of bias.

 

Here is a shot of the last 5 hours of trading in today's (7/27/2009) ES. Times are PST.

 

biastoday.jpg

 

Urma,

I have been looking for a nice chart like the one you showed today to Trader Foo.

I have Trade Station but I have never seen that chart. Did you set it up or is there a canned chart area that I am missing?

If you made it would you be willing to share?

Thank you,

estate1997

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Urma,

I have been looking for a nice chart like the one you showed today to Trader Foo.I have Trade Station but I have never seen that chart. Did you set it up or is there a canned chart area that I am missing?If you made it would you be willing to share?Thank you, estate1997

 

Here is a link to a thread on this board that I posted as a primer on how to formulate such an index of weighted biases.

 

http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/f34/primer-formulation-index-weighted-biases-6400.html

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • I'm pretty sure that a Russian resident would say that recessions are real today. Their prime interest rate is 21%, their corporate military contractors are threatening to file bankruptcy, and sticks of butter are kept under lock and key in their grocery stores because shoplifters are stealing it in bulk so they can resell it on the black market. A downturn is cyclical until it turns into a collapse. I really don't think anyone will be buying-into this mess.😬
    • Well said. This principle is highly analogous to trading. Any human can easily click buy or sell when they "feel" that price is about to go up or down. The problem with feeling, commonly referred to as "instinctive" trading, is that it cannot be quantified. And because it cannot be quantified, it cannot be empirically tested. Instinctive trading has the lowest barrier to entry and therefore returns the lowest reward. As this is true for most things in life, this comes as no surprise. Unfortunately, the lowest barrier to entry is attractive to new traders for obvious reasons. This actually applied to me decades ago.🤭   It's only human nature to seek the highest amount of reward in exchange for the lowest amount of work. In fact, I often say that there is massive gray area between efficiency and laziness. Fortunately, losing for a living inspired me to investigate the work of Wall Street quants who refer to us as "fishfood" or "cannonfodder." Although I knew that we as retail traders cannot exploit execution rebates or queues like quants do, I learned that we can engage in automated scalp, swing, and trend trading. The thermonuclear caveat here, is that I had no idea how to write code (or program) trading algorithms. So I gravitated toward interface-based algorithm builders that required no coding knowledge (see human nature, aforementioned). In retrospect, I should never have traded code written by builder software because it's buggy and inefficient. However, my paid subscription to the builder software allowed me to view the underlying source code of the generated trading algo--which was written in MQL language. Due to a lack of customization in the builder software, I inevitably found myself editing the code. This led me to coding research which, in turn, led me to abandoning the builder software and coding custom algo's from scratch. Fast forward to the present, I can now code several trading strategies per day across 2 different platforms. Considering how inefficient manual backtesting is, coding is a huge advantage. When a new trading concept hits me, I can write the algo, backtest it, and optimize it within an hour or so--across multiple exchanges and symbols, and cycle through hundreds of different settings for each input. And then I get pages upon pages of performance metrics with the best settings pre-highlighted. Having said all of this, I am by no means an advanced programmer. IMHO, advanced programmers write API gateways, construct their own custom trading platforms, use high end computers with field programmable gateway array chips, and set up shop in close proximity to the exchanges. In any event, a considerable amount of work is required just to get toward the top of the "fishfood"/"cannonfodder" pool. Another advantage of coding is that it forces me to write trade entry and exit conditions (triggers) in black & white, thereby causing me to think microscopically about my precise trade trigger conditions. For example, I have to decide whether the algo should track the slope, angle, and level of each bar price and indicator to be used. Typing a hard number like 50 degrees of angle into code is a lot different than merely looking at a chart myself and saying, that's close enough.  Code doesn't acknowledge "maybe" nor "feelings." Either the math (code) works (is profitable) or doesn't work (is a loser). It doesn't get angry, sad, nor overly optimistic. And it can trade virtually 24 hours per day, 5 days per week. If you learn to code, you'll eventually reach a point where coding an algo that trades as you intended provides its own sense of accomplishment. Soon after, making money in the market merely becomes a side effect of your new job--coding. This is how I compete, at least for now, in this wide world of trading. I highly recommend it.  
    • VRA Vera Bradley stock watch, pull back to 5.08 support area at https://stockconsultant.com/?VRA
    • MU Micron stock watch, pull back to 102.83 gap support area with high trade quality at https://stockconsultant.com/?MU
    • ACLX Arcellx stock watch, trending at 84.6 support area with bullish indicators at https://stockconsultant.com/?ACLX
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.