Ouch! My "excuses" for today

Doesn't it always turn out this way?  I write about how well it looks like things are going, and then the next day, one of my wheels falls off?  No, it wasn't a "crash and burn" dream come true or "I blew up my account" type of day, but it was a losing day that was much worse than it should have been.  And as is usually the case, it wasn't the system -- it was essentially all my fault.

But before we get to my excuses, here were the stats (on SIM) for the day:

Wednesday, October 26
Total gross profits:  -$237.50
Total trades:  14
Accuracy:  57%
Contracts per trade: 2

NOTES: After a disorienting morning, I had 2 trades prior to lunch.  It then looked like another steady trading day ahead.  However, in the afternoon and especially the final hour, I had 12 trades.  Some issues and delays with my order execution system threw me off, as well as sloppy errors on my part. The trading system itself worked fine, but the I had some "challenging" moments.  It could have been worse, since I was down as much as $500 (open P&L) at one point.

And Now, Here Are My Excuses!

• I was disoriented.  Since the chat room was offline in the morning due to technical issues from the web service provider, so I felt like I was flying blind (probably because I was!).  So I was out of sync during the morning, and had to try and get my rhythm back throughout late morning and early afternoon.
  
• I was frustrated.  There were a few trades I was sure would work, especially the short at the high at the opening -- and they worked.  But I was not sure whether they were part of the system or not.  This created a slight level of frustration.  Letting a profitable trade that was several points in the money get stopped out at breakeven didn't help, either.
  
• I was impatient.  The slow morning tested my patience in the afternoon.  As the markets approached the highs of the day in addition to some critical resistance levels, I was not patient to wait for the best setups.  I've only been following this system for a few weeks, don't try and "make it my own" just yet!  I need to do a better job of following Renato.
  
• I was sloppy.  These markets can be quite thin and shoved around quite easily, especially with the European rumors.  This requires total concentration and proper preparation to understand what your next move should be.  Some of my analysis was done incorrectly and resulted in trading off of improper data.  The ES can move very quickly, so if I'm too slow or sloppy, I'll get steamrolled.
  
• It's the brokers fault!  As surges in trading volume took place, my DOM/order execution system took up to 30 seconds or so to return fills or cancel/replace confirmations.  I really haven't really experienced this before and resulted in some trades getting botched up.  I admit, I'm used to instant fills, so when nothing happened, I kept pressing the send and cancel and reverse and whatever other buttons I could to "help it", instead of just pressing it once and waiting.  So all my orders and cancellations ended up getting stacked up in the queue, further confusing the system and myself. 
  

All of these are pretty weak excuses.  And here's something else I saw as I reviewed my trades -- I noticed an old nemesis that may have made a return...The Revenge Trade!  [SHREEEK!!!]  If you see the trade records below (start reading from the bottom), you'll see that a loss is usually followed by another loss within minutes.

Now I do admit that some of these losses (and winners) were due to the botched job I did with the frozen order execution system/DOM.  But still, you can't really hide some of the intent behind these actions. 

The Bottom Line

• I was lucky, this could have been a much worse day.  On the plus side, even with all the challenges, my emotional state (although slightly heightened) was actually well within my normal range.
• Focus on following and understanding Renato.  That's why I'm there.
  
• In doubt with my state of mind?  Then don't trade -- take a walk, or take the day off.
• The broker's order execution system is acting up?  Well then don't trade!  And setup a backup contingency account at another broker.
• Just got hit with a full stop out?  Get up and take a little break.  I know that there WILL be another HIGH PROBABILITY trade around the corner, IF I am patient.

I've very fortunate to be involved with an occupation where even after a difficult day, I just can't wait for the next day to begin.  It's time to continue to capitalize on the moment and keep pushing it to the next level.  Let's do it!