Wednesday, March 7, 2012

A day that tested patience

Total gross profits:  $12.50  +0.25 ES points
Total trades:  3
Accuracy:  66.7%
Execution score: 66.7%
Opportunity cost: $112.50  +2.00 ES points

I had the first real lapse of execution today in about a week, and I didn't even know it was an error until I reviewed my notes and trades tonight.  

If I would have followed even half of my usual criteria to enter a trade, thereby resulting in at a more favorable price, I would have been able to capture a +2 move instead of having a full stop loss.  

Part of the reason I took the trade was due to the narrow and choppy market conditions today, which forced me to be extra patient.  That requires considerable mental effort for me, and as a result, made me search too hard for setups, rather than letting the setups come to me.  In many ways, I pulled the trigger after seeing my own shadow.


And what I wrote yesterday about coasting vs. not coasting at the end of the day came into effect today.  Had I not been in a losing position, I probably would not have taken my final trade, which was entered with < 15 minutes from the cash close.  But the criteria and confluence I saw looked good enough to short at RTH R3, got a fill 1 tick from the high of the day, and it fortunately banked my +2 profit target within minutes of the cash close.


Today was a lesson in patience -- to keep myself from simply tripping over myself out of boredom and mental exhaustion from waiting.  There will be many more trading days like this in my future, and next time, I will be better prepared.

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