Cory2679's Log

[Cory2679 11]

Today's Trades

 

It's a little early, but I think I'm calling it quits for today (I'll be back for Tokyo).

 

I haven't had a single trade. Because I was so intent on not overtrading, I believe I overcorrected and am now undertrading.

 

I watched numerous opportunities pan out in real time, right in front of my face, and I didn't act. I actually even had a couple orders in that I cancelled, only to watch price skyrocket/plummet toward profit afterward.

 

I'm honestly pretty angry with myself right now. I just can't seem to get it right. I'm trying to shake it off and just keep moving forward...I'll come back fresh for Tokyo...

[Cory2679 11]

My 2 break-even trades thus far this evening...

 

 

 

I got to BE on the second trade, simply because it had been over an hour, and the most profit that it ever gave me was 5.3 ticks, with an initial risk of almost 30! So, I basically just pulled it...

[Cory2679 11]

My 2 break-even trades thus far this evening...

 

Well, that ended up being all I had. Even though I'm at break-even for the evening, I'm very pleased with my trading. For me, there just wasn't any opportunity to make significant money.

 

Hopefully I can keep it up tomorrow morning!

 

Goodnight!

[Cory2679 11]

Just took a 0.42R loss on this...

 

[Cory2679 11]

Pulled this for a 7.1 tick loss.......

 

[Cory2679 11]

I don't know what to do. It appears I have some serious problems.

[Cory2679 11]

Pulled this for a 7.1 tick loss.......

 

 

Looks like I should have held on to it a bit longer!!

 

[Cory2679 11]

Looks like I should have held on to it a bit longer!!

 

Yes, indeed...full profit was achievable...

 

[thalestrader 14]

I don't know what to do. It appears I have some serious problems.

 

Well, let us take a look (allow me to speak boldly, as you need to hear this well):

 

Q : Pulling the ripcord - due to no steam behind the move.

 

Sounds like a subjective feeling - or are you using some indicator as well?

How iron clad are your trading rules?

 

It is somewhat subjective...no indicators...my rules aren't extremely iron clad.

 

Hmmm ... you have the most serious of all problems. You are trading without a plan. As you do not have a plan, at least not with respect to the "pulling of the rip cord," I suggest that you stop yanking on it. I do not know what fool gave you the idea of the "rip cord," but surely I would have thought he'd have made mention that hand in hand with the rip cord should be a plan to re-enter in the original direction of the trade, right? The very next trade you take, after entry, and after making sure you have a stop loss and a reasonable profit target order in the market, take 60 minute walk, and when you come back, be happy with the trade results, whether a profit or a loss. Without a plan to govern when you pull the rip cord and how you re-enter, what you think is a rip cord is really a trigger pin, and you're throwing the pin but holding the grenade.

 

I only ask - because as a somewhat rookie still (1 year) of trading - I still don't trust my subjective gut. Wondering when some of the veterans will start trusting their instinct more than their screen. (getting out because "it didn't feel right").

 

For what it's worth, I've been trading now for a good long while, and I am planning on adding crude to my day trading in March. I have been demo trading for nearly a month. I just printed out what should be my final draft of my initial trading plan for Crude Oil. It has thirteen rules taking up 19 lines covering everything from trading hours, when to quit, when and how to enter long, when and how to enter short, etc. Seven of the eight cover trade management from initial stop loss to max PT. My rules will get me out without me having to decide whether or not a particular trade "feels right."

 

On a somewhat tangential note, "Gut feel," is of two types. The first type, which you refer to above, is valuable. It is simply intuitive or sub-conscious pattern recognition that comes from years of reading charts or reading the tape.

 

The second type of "Gut feel," which is based on one's opinions about what price should be doing, rather than what it is doing. For example, the market is heading higher, but your "gut feel" tells you that because you believe unemployment is rising, the market must come down.

 

The first type of Gut Feel is a good thing. The second is ruinous. The first takes years to develop, and again, it is really just the benefit of using one's experience to recognize patterns of price action that have some type of "predictive" value, i.e. an edge in determining immediate probabilities. The second you already have - it is ego and the vanity of one's opinions. Learn to distinguish one from the other. Develop the first, avoid the second.

 

And as you develop the first, you will find that you are able to compose rules that will elevate it from "Gut feeling" to tradable fact. You may then amend your written trading plan to include your "Gut Feeling." Assuming, of course, you have a written plan at all, right Cory?

 

 

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

[Cory2679 11]

Well, let us take a look (allow me to speak boldly, as you need to hear this well):

 

Thanks, Thales...I believe that was just what I needed.

 

I'll make a post a little later this afternoon with my response, plan of action, etc.

[Cory2679 11]

Today's Trades

 

I've pretty much posted all of these, except the last one...the last one wasn't even legitimate. It was a mistake I made due to my state of mind/emotions.

 

I'm currently down almost 2R for the week....with 2 days left...so anything better than a break-even end-of-the-week result would be an enormous improvement/victory in my book. We'll see...depends some on the days I'm dealt, not just how I trade.

 

Hopefully I'll start to see some improvement...I'm taking what Thales said very seriously, and like I said, I will make a follow-up post later this afternoon.

[Cory2679 11]

Wouldn't you know I had a buy order at the blue line that I cancelled?! :doh::o

 

I only cancelled it because I decided I was quitting because I was just going to relax for a while and come back and tackle my problems...but I couldn't help but peek at my computer.

 

On the bright side, things like this, and the short I pulled prematurely earlier, reassure me that the potential is there...it's just a matter of turning potential into performance.

 

EDIT: I attached the wrong "removed orders." It's correct now.

Edited February 17, 2010 by Cory2679

[Cory2679 11]

Wouldn't you know I had a buy order at the blue line that I cancelled?! :doh::o

 

I only cancelled it because I decided I was quitting because I was just going to relax for a while and come back and tackle my problems...but I couldn't help but peek at my computer.

 

On the bright side, things like this, and the short I pulled prematurely earlier, reassure me that the potential is there...it's just a matter of turning potential into performance.

 

EDIT: I attached the wrong "removed orders." It's correct now.

 

Oh what could have been! :rofl:

 

 

That's it, though...today's done and I'm moving on...

[Cory2679 11]

All right...here it is...

 

(I've taken this evening off from trading to do this...I actually went out this afternoon to help clear my mind).

 

To be frank...I have notes, and I do follow a basic trading plan/method...but I do NOT have a written plan at all...

 

This inevitably results in a lack of consistency in how I trade.

 

And it results in my trading being heavily dependent on my emotional state...much more so than it has to be. I believe that is why my trading has taken a turn for the worse since I began this log and carefully tracking my performance...my emotional state was altered, and thus was the way I trade.

 

So, obviously, the prudent course of action was to create a written plan...

 

So, here it is...an initial written trading plan...first draft ...

 

------------------------------

 

Times (EST): 8AM - 11PM, with a break from 2:30PM - 7PM.

 

Pairs: EUR/JPY, EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY.

 

Timeframe: 15 minute (primary), but also referencing other timeframes.

 

Risk: 2%

 

----------

 

When/how to enter long/short:

 

I'm trading long off of "low-high-higher low" sequences, and short off of "high-low-lower high" sequences.

 

I also take support/resistance into strong consideration.

 

I will also potentially take a trade off of a break of a "chop zone"/consolidation.

 

Other considerations:

 

I do pay attention to trendlines, channels, triangles, EW, ending diagonals, "three pushes," etc. However, I don't initiate a trade based just on these...I just use them as a tool to help understand what's happening.

 

Degree of swing:

 

I will focus primarily on the "intermediate" degree of swing. I am also game for a trade on a "major" degree of swing, if the opportunity presents itself.

 

I want to be very careful with the "minor" degree of swing...I get burned here a lot. The only way I will take a trade will be if there is a good, strong reason to. For example, if price is in a strong "intermediate" or even "major" uptrend, and has pulled back to a perceivably higher low, and a long sequence is presented on the "minor" degree of swing, I'm game for that...or if price is at obvious support or resistance. Otherwise, I want to avoid taking trades on the "minor" degree of swing. Just personal preference.

 

Trade management:

 

My default is to use the fibonacci extension tool. The 127% level is the level at which I'll move my stop to break-even, the 161.8% level is PT1, the 227% level is the level at which I'll move my stop to PT1, and the 261.8% level is PT2.

 

HOWEVER, depending on the setup, this may not be the very best scenario. The chart comes first...levels of support/resistance, etc.

 

I will trail my stops along the highs/lows of the same degree of swing that I took the trade on.

 

Also, if price comes very close to a PT, I will get very aggressive with my stop for that portion of the position...for example, I won't let a price get within 2 ticks of PT1, and move all the way back to my entry without taking some profit.

 

"Ripcord" situations:

 

First, I'm going to make a point of being less trigger happy with this.

 

I will pull it if I get filled and price almost immediately impulsively races against me.

 

...or, if I get filled, price barely gets anywhere, and there is basically a long/short sequence on a smaller degree of swing against me...I'll temporarily move my stop to where I'd be getting long/short if I was trading the smaller degree of swing.

 

EDIT: OR, if I get filled, and price basically doesn't go anywhere for a very long time, I'll temporarily move my stop-loss very tight.

 

BUT, MOST IMPORTANTLY, I'll have a re-entry plan... if price breaks the high/low, I will re-enter, with the same number of lots, with my stop-loss at whatever the high/low was that was created when price moved against me. After that, I will not pull the ripcord again on that trade.

 

"Gut feel":

 

There is nothing in my plan allowing for "gut feel," good or bad. I don't trust that I truly have "good" gut feel at this point.

 

So...whaddya think?

Edited February 18, 2010 by Cory2679

[Cory2679 11]

In addition...

 

One thing I haven't done but I'd like to do, has to do with adding to successful positions. Obviously not every trade will qualify, and I'm not sure that I'll be doing it right away, but it's something I'd like to eventually do...

 

I'd like to be doing something like this...

 

Basically what we'll do is this: Suppose we enter long 20K (2 mini lots or 20 micro lots or .20 standard lot) on a breakout, and the move quickly moves 20 ticks or more in our favor, and then consolidates in a small range, perhaps 2-5 ticks at the extreme of the breakout. We will put our stop loss at say +10 ticks, and we will place a buy stop to add another 20k if a new BO high is made. We then continue to add after small consolidations. With the first add, we will have our stop so that the trade does no worse than whatever the initial risk was on the first lot, but more likely we will be in a BE situation. On subsequent adds, we will be adding in such a way as to insure an overall profitable result even if we take a loss on the last entered position.

[sevensa 10]

This is a solid and important start and well done, but I don't think a trading plan is something you can put together in an afternoon. To give you an idea, my trading plan is about 50 pages long and took a few weeks to create. It cover things like:

Account numbers (primary/backup), broker telephone numbers (primary/backup), ISP support phone numbers (primary/backup), chart interval, procedure to upgrade my chart and execution software, trading hours, morning routine before I start trading (i.e. looking for economic reports released for the day, when will I stop trading for the day, how will I reward myself after an exceptionally good week/month, chart layouts and screenprints of them, what statistics I will collect on a daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly/yearly basis, what I will capture in my trading log, detailed rules and screen prints of all my setups and where, why and how I will exit.

 

My idea of trading plan is it to be more of a manual that I can give to someone else and he would be able to use it to set-up his charts and start trading the way I am.

 

Some of the things I think are still a bit vague in your plan:

 

Timeframe: 15 minute (primary), but also referencing other timeframes.

Which other time frames and what are you looking for in them?

 

I'm trading long off of "low-high-higher low" sequences, and short off of "high-low-lower high" sequences.

 

How do you define a valid low-high-high low pattern?

 

I also take support/resistance into strong consideration

.

 

How do you define support/resistance?

 

I will also potentially take a trade off of a break of a "chop zone"/consolidation.

 

How do you define a chop zone/consolidation?

 

I do pay attention to trendlines, channels, triangles, EW, ending diagonals, "three pushes," etc.

What is a valid trendline, channel, triangle, etc? How do you define them? What do they tell you? If you see a triangle, for example, what does it tell you?

 

I will focus primarily on the "intermediate" degree of swing. I am also game for a trade on a "major" degree of swing, if the opportunity presents itself.

What is your definitition of an intermediate and major swing?

 

OR, if I get filled, and price basically doesn't go anywhere for a very long time, I'll temporarily move my stop-loss very tight.

What is very long time?

 

There is nothing in my plan allowing for "gut feel," good or bad. I don't trust that I truly have "good" gut feel at this point.

Maybe not explicity, but your plan still allows for a lot of unecessary, imho, subjectivity that will force you to use gut feel.

 

You learn alot by really trying to answer these type of questions above and force you to really think about how you are trading.

 

Just my two cents... In the end this is your plan and something you should be comfortable with; not someone else.

[Cory2679 11]

Some of the things I think are still a bit vague in your plan:

 

Thanks for the post...I appreciate it.

 

The only thing I thought I'd say in response is that what you say is vague in my plan, which as written I agree that it is, is not vague to me. I immediately know all of the answers to your questions.

 

...I don't think a trading plan is something you can put together in an afternoon. To give you an idea, my trading plan is about 50 pages long and took a few weeks to create.

 

My idea of trading plan is it to be more of a manual that I can give to someone else and he would be able to use it to set-up his charts and start trading the way I am.

 

I guess rather than a comprehensive trading plan, what I really did was just provide myself with some general guidelines.

 

Perhaps a comprehensive trading plan is something I should eventually consider tackling/gradually putting together...

 

-Cory

[sevensa 10]

The only thing I thought I'd say in response is that what you say is vague in my plan, which as written I agree that it is, is not vague to me. I immediately know all of the answers to your questions.

 

The only danger I see with this is that you might think you know the answers, but while in the heat of the battle it is easy to convince yourself that a certain situation fits your definition because you want to take a trade because you feel the market should do something and fudge your rules a bit, which is easy to do since there really aren't any clear rules. And once you start doing that, you are quickly right back where you started, trading on gut feel.

 

Perhaps a comprehensive trading plan is something I should eventually consider tackling/gradually putting together...

 

Ask yourself this question: Would you open a new business based on general guidelines and create a business plan on the fly while running it?

[Cory2679 11]

Trade management:

 

My default is to use the fibonacci extension tool. The 127% level is the level at which I'll move my stop to break-even, the 161.8% level is PT1, the 227% level is the level at which I'll move my stop to PT1, and the 261.8% level is PT2.

 

HOWEVER, depending on the setup, this may not be the very best scenario. The chart comes first...levels of support/resistance, etc.

 

I will trail my stops along the highs/lows of the same degree of swing that I took the trade on.

 

Also, if price comes very close to a PT, I will get very aggressive with my stop for that portion of the position...for example, I won't let a price get within 2 ticks of PT1, and move all the way back to my entry without taking some profit.

 

I have something to add to the "Trade Management" section...

 

Basically, if I get a sequence against me while I'm in a trade, it may cause me to move my stop to BE/PT1 "ahead of schedule." If it's a bona fide setup, I may even reverse.

 

For example, say I get long, price rallies, pulls back to my entry, then rallies again but appears to be having trouble/falling short of breaking the high...at that point I'll move my stop to BE.

[Cory2679 11]

One more addition...

 

I've basically been through my notes and picked out some select notes/quotes to list at the top of the page that I find particularly important...

 

• Support, resistance, trend, consolidation.

• Buy support and breaks of resistance, sell resistance and breaks of support.

• Just as important as how price acts at support/resistance is the manner in which it got there.

• Study HOW price is moving. – “Is price moving in clear and distinct swings or is it simply meandering, drifting seemingly without purpose? Is price marching with purpose, spending little time at any particular price before mounting its assaults on subsequent levels, or is it coiling around itself, overlapping again and again, making no headway one way or the other?”

• “When you get a large move in either direction with obvious momentum behind it, do not fade that move. Wait for a choppy pullback and then a push to a new high that stalls and presents a clear 123 going the other way.”

• “I always prefer to short into the abyss and buy into open sky, rather than acting in the middle of a current or recent.”

• “…attempt to take the other side. If looking for a short attempt to build the case for a long. Because your mind is designed with a bias to confirm your current idea this is a useful step.”

• Use your eyes, not your brain.

[BlowFish 10]

 

Ask yourself this question: Would you open a new business based on general guidelines and create a business plan on the fly while running it?

 

Funilly enough many do! The failure rate of traders and small businesses is remarkably similar too. As are the reasons, under capitalisation mainly, poor planning is significant too.

 

Cory you might want to ask yourself why you want to trade based on guidelines rather than a proper plan? It is a common malaise, probably something we have all made excuses for in the past. I have a couple of theories why which where true for me at least.

 

When you think about it there are a remarkable number of things you have complete control of. There is no excuse not to plan for those comprehensively. In fact about the only thing you don't is where price might go! If you look at a few examples in this thread you can quickly see that price will either do this, that, or the other. (You could substitute hit your target, hit your stop, or drift sideways if you like ). They are still eventualities that you can plan for in quite a simple fashion.

[thalestrader 14]

The only danger I see with this is that you might think you know the answers, but while in the heat of the battle it is easy to convince yourself that a certain situation fits your definition because you want to take a trade because you feel the market should do something and fudge your rules a bit, which is easy to do since there really aren't any clear rules. And once you start doing that, you are quickly right back where you started, trading on gut feel.

 

Take heed, young Cory. Wise words, indeed.

 

 

Ask yourself this question: Would you open a new business based on general guidelines and create a business plan on the fly while running it?

 

Funnily enough (love that word, Blowfish), I've done so twice myself (three times if you consider trading a business). I do not have a business plan nearly so comprehensive as that which both Sevensa and Blowfish advocate. For what its worth, Linda Raschke is a strong proponent of having, maintaining, reviewing, and revising a comprehensive business plan. I'm just not that guy. But, that is not to say that you aren't that guy, and there is no reason to avoid putting such a plan to paper, especially as you are young, inexperienced, and far too emotional to hope for success while winging it.

 

I have a trade plan for each market I trade. I consider each to be extremely comprehensive. Anyone could read, for example, my day trade plan for trading stocks (it is a very simple plan that can be quickly and easily pieced together in a few of my earliest posts here at TL), and, if that person wanted, he or she could sit down the next day, and start trading stocks exactly as I do. I know this to be true, because two folks with whom I have been in contact from TL do so, and both are now, after coming to terms with their own emotions, doing quite well,if they are to be believed. And as each is but a lurker, I have no reason to doubt them.

 

As to your plan, I think it is a good start. But, the fact that Sevensa was able to come up with a list of questions, each valid, indicates that your plan is not where it needs to be, yet. But it is a good start, and it is far more than most who try this ever come up with to guide their development.

 

And, if I were you, I would heed Sevensa's above noted danger, and Blowfish's admonition. I know you said that you know what you mean, even if it isn't clear. Well, then, make it clear. You may find you do not know all that you think you know. And that will be a good thing. I did not make any real progress in any area of life, and certainly not in trading, until I was willing and able to admit how very little of what I thought I knew could correctly be considered "knowledge." And this is an ongoing process. I cannot begin to tell you how much more clear my own activity has become to me as a result of participating here at TL. Putting yourself and your actions in writing with the goal to be understood by another human being has a wonderful side effect - you come to understand yourself in the process.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

[DugDug 10]

This is a really good thread for advice (this is why TL is so good - for all the great free advice available) on not just what to put in a trading plan but exactly what questions to constantly ask yourself. Even when you have a comprehensive trading plan, it needs to be updated when situations change or occur that you had not recognised. It needs to cover everything, from what to do if your computer goes down, to what happens when a trade reverses, how to define patterns, why you should not do certain things. Its a living document. (you would be amazed how many start up hedge funds dont have very comprehensive procedures documents such as this - an they also have a high failure rate due to operational issues)

 

There is a massive massive difference between knowledge and understanding - knowledge is saying "yeah yeah I know that", my guidelines are vague, broad and I can fudge it, if you understand it then you should have no problems being able to write it down and explain it to others in a very simple fashion, as you understand what to do in various scenarios. As mentioned above - somebody else should be able to replicate what you do easily.

This is much harder than many people think (in many endeavours not just for trading)

 

I personally am like Thales - but I am now trying to really put my understanding on paper for a few new ideas - its tough. I did it early on when I started trading. I had over 300 pages of notes on ideas, trades, thoughts. Looking back on some of them I thought "how could I not have known that?" - it always seems easy in hindsight.

I threw them all away when I moved once as I thought I would never need them again - what a mistake.

Edited February 20, 2010 by DugDug

[MidKnight 12]

I'm just going to chirp in here quickly

 

As a evolving trader there have been several times when I have written documents like sevensa describes, I tend to refer to this a business plan. To me, a trading plan is a subset of that. I'll just comment briefly here about the trading plan side. I come from a strong programming background so it was natural for me to want detailed and explicit rules. I would pursue this approach for nearly 4 years. Testing, defining, testing, re-defining etc. It didn't really get me anywhere and it wasn't until late in my fourth year of full-time trading that I tried something totally different. I let my self go from the many rules and explicit definitions I had created. I tore down the wall! Almost instantly my results became positive. Now my trading plan consists of 3 types of trades and is only 2 pages typed (including the larger font subheadings). Mostly the plan is a set of guidelines to follow, or questions to think about with regards to trade management. Each of these questions has a mini-decision tree of actions to take as a guideline.

 

Keep in mind though that up till the 4 year point I had observed many different types of markets (from bunds, to spoos, to currencies, to hang seng) and spent absolutely every day studying studying and observing movement. That probably did help.

 

I guess I wanted to post here because just like virtually everything in trading - there are many different ways to plan that work for different people, but you'll need to experiment and find what works for you. All the experimentation in trading takes time....

 

With kind regards,

MK

[Cory2679 11]

...I come from a strong programming background so it was natural for me to want detailed and explicit rules. I would pursue this approach for nearly 4 years. Testing, defining, testing, re-defining etc. It didn't really get me anywhere and it wasn't until late in my fourth year of full-time trading that I tried something totally different. I let my self go from the many rules and explicit definitions I had created. I tore down the wall! Almost instantly my results became positive. Now my trading plan consists of 3 types of trades and is only 2 pages typed (including the larger font subheadings). Mostly the plan is a set of guidelines to follow, or questions to think about with regards to trade management. Each of these questions has a mini-decision tree of actions to take as a guideline.

 

Thanks for the post, MK. I was planning to make a similar post about my own experience, but you've probably said it better than I could! So, I'll just say...

 

Before I showed up here at TL, I was pursuing methods of trading that allowed for no ambiguity...something that could be programmed into a computer, basically. I was afraid of ambiguity.

 

Don't get me wrong, I understand that there are plenty of successful traders that trade this way, at least one that I personally know of. It's just that I now know that it just wasn't for me.

 

Once I finally broke away, and studied Thales's thread, and began trading the way I do now, I had a very similar experience..."I let my self go from the many rules and explicit definitions I had created. I tore down the wall! Almost instantly my results became positive."

 

Luckily for me, though, I've only been trading full-time since I graduated college in May!

 

As a little example of what I'm talking about...as far as defining a "high-low-lower high" sequence...

 

Well, honestly, it's so simple...if price climbs to certain high, retraces, makes another attempt at that high, fails to break it, and breaks the low created between the two highs, that's a sequence. Period. That's as explicitly as I want to define it. I want to use my eyes and watch what price does....I have no want/need to define it in an exact, programmable way...

 

Cory you might want to ask yourself why you want to trade based on guidelines rather than a proper plan?

 

...and THAT is why I chose "guidelines" rather than what some would refer to as a "proper" plan.

 

Despite the results that I've posted in this log over the past couple weeks, when I began trading the approach I do now, I was doing quite well (for several weeks). But as soon as I started this log, I started to do poorly.

 

So my intention with this trading plan/guidelines was not to start from scratch/a complete overhaul/an all new trading plan/etc. It was ONLY to simply provide some guidelines/boundaries to get me back to the way I WAS trading.

 

To me, for me, what I did was proper. And subsequently, when I traded on Friday, I had the single best day I've had by far over the past two weeks. Obviously, it was a good day anyway, but the way I traded was much more like the way I was trading before I began this log....and I attribute that success to my "plan." So, it has helped me...I can't argue with the results, both in my bottom line, as well as the "zone" I'm in while I'm trading, if that makes sense.

 

If I thought I should do more, I would. I'm absolutely 100% willing to do WHATEVER it takes! But, I do want to use my time as efficiently as I can. Honestly, because I was doing very well with my trading and simply want to get back to that, I don't think spending weeks on a huge comprehensive trading plan will do much in the way of helping my trading...that's not to say my current plan won't continue to evolve, of course.

 

Some may not believe that I was ever doing well, and that's fine, I understand why you might think that, but to me it's irrelevant. I'm trying to do what's best for me based on what I know about myself and my trading.

 

...You can post every trade, a weekly update, or log out and never return to TL or any forum. You do not need a forum to trade. My best progress was during an 18 month period where I didn't once visit any internet trading forum. If TL is a distraction, cut it down to the point where it is again a benefit and not a harm to your trading.

 

On this note, I do have one more addition to my plan...

 

I'm going to go MIA from TL (and any other forum) for a while.

 

I GREATLY appreciate all the help I've received...TL has truly transformed my trading and I've gotten so much great advice...but to a certain extent, I believe TL is becoming a distraction. So, beginning tonight at 12:00AM EST, I'm not going to so much as look at TL...and I'm going to cancel my subscriptions so I don't get any e-mails.

 

I will be back, but I honestly think this would be good for me right now.

 

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed to my log thus far!

 

-Cory