Tuesday, November 1Total gross profits: $925.00
Total trades: 10
Accuracy: 87.5% (excludes 2 scratch)
Contracts per trade: 2
NOTES: Yet another gap down day, although the price action today was not quite as narrow as yesterday. It was still a challenging range-bound day, but the size of the range gave enough room for scalp trades to effectively work. In addition to some selective aggressive scalp setups, I also remained focused on Renato's calls (and as expected, it paid off).
What's the best type of market for me?
Based on my performance today, it seems as if I do better in range-bound markets, although I will need to check my journal. So a thought that comes to mind is, "Am I a better range-bound trader or a trend day trader?" Since there are generally more range-bound days vs. trend days, one would think that this may be good trait to have. Although conventional wisdom says that trend days have the potential of generating considerable profits.
For now, I'm not sure either way, because based on some of the analysis I've seen using DS for aggressive scalps, there are still great opportunities to generate respectable profits even in challenging range-bound days such as today. Therefore, in addition to doing research on my limited historical data, time will eventually tell whether market conditions do make much of a difference in my performance.
Breaking the cycle
After a solid day (or week, or month, or...), it's common for many to let down their guard because they think they're Superman. I've been guilty of that! So my goal tomorrow is to break that cycle. I will work to maintain the mindset I had today, which is to remain focused and constantly on guard for the next trade. And regardless of my ending P&L, I will consider myself successful if I minimize careless errors and take all trades that meet my criteria -- quality of execution will be key.
But first, I need a good nights sleep.
6 comments:
Awesome day Grove! Your accuracy rate on a day with more than 5 trades is amazing! Did you scale out today or have a set target for both cars?
Grove, what broker do u use to trade sim? You've made serious progress!
Great Day Grove,
When I looked back at some of your previous posts and saw that you were up nicely (big) for 2 weeks and had those 3 days inbetween that you admit to just being terrible, you had a ok but not great week last week and admitted to not being at your best, but it looks like you really focused yesterday and traded well. Great obversation of how YOU trade range days and trend days. I saw an interview not long ago on TV with the actor Jeff Bridges, he is the son of long time actor Lloyd Bridges (Sea Hunt TV series years ago) anyway,,,,,Jeff Bridges has a CD out and sings and plays guitar in his latest film and the interviewer asked him "When did you feel you were ready to sing live or do the CD and sing in public" (thats not a direct quote but close),,,,His response was "Hey man I didnt worry about being perfect I just wanted to play good",,,,He said just be good,,,I am always trying to be perfect and it isnt working,,,I think yesterday, whatever mistakes or missed trades you made,,,,You traded good.
I signed up with Renato yesterday and have signed with Tradestation (waiting for approval) and am going over all the material. Great stuff and clear idea what to do. This message is long enough , but wanted to say thanks and will hope to see you in the room soon,
Tom
Hi Matt:
Thanks! This happened to be a day when the markets seem to line up with my thinking. Or maybe it just mostly my mind that was clear? (More likely!)
I used the all in/all out (no scaling), so exited all positions at max +2.00. I exited some on a scratch, but generally, those would have also made +2.00 if I had the guts to stick it out.
Sweet Charts!:
Currently using TradeStation on SIM. But one disadvantage is that the MIT orders are hard to implement. Others in the chatroom use openecry.com. Some of the entries and exits points are so precise, having a MIT order generally insures an entry vs. limit orders. Because as Murphy's Law would have it, you'll usually get filled on the losing trades, but miss getting the fill on the winning ones. MIT orders help to mitigate that. Thanks for the comment!
Hi Tom:
Great comment about just trying to be good, not perfect. This is something I'll need to really ponder, especially regarding when to start trading live. I know my fills will not be as good, so I'm tracking those and helping to reset my expectations.
Great to hear you're on board, really appreciate the comment looking forward to catching up more!
Hey Grove,,,
I forgot to ask something,,I noticed that you mentioned to Matt the other day to look at DS 4,5,7 and study those first. Would you say that those are the ones used or come into play primarily on a daily basis?. I like all the setups but a couple at a time seems like a good way to grasp them in time. Thanks in advance
Tom
Hi Tom:
Yes, those DS4, 5, 7 seem to come up the most often during the day, and if you really wanted to narrow it down to just one, DS4 is likely the most common and important.
I created a very simple cheatsheet that shows what each one of the DS #'s mean, but after hearing them over and over and over again, it becomes pretty straightforward. However, I'm still learning the nuances.
Will look forward to seeing you soon in the room!
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