Friday, May 29, 2009
05/28 Trading Session
Was not fully focused on trading /ES Today, it has been harder with me having to interrupt the session to put Victor in bed. Good thing I'm doing it with paper money.
After the 8AM PST, I started hitting Highs and Lows in the 1-min. chart in conjuction with a High/Low reading on the $TICK. While this is far from a clearly defined strategy, I believe something can be worked out of it, so I'll keep on playing with the idea.
After the 8AM PST, I started hitting Highs and Lows in the 1-min. chart in conjuction with a High/Low reading on the $TICK. While this is far from a clearly defined strategy, I believe something can be worked out of it, so I'll keep on playing with the idea.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
5/27 Morning Session
Today I took a few losing trades because the market was range-bound and I was trying to play break-outs. There were a few positions in the middle of the range, but they're usually higher risk (in my mind) and I decided not to take it because of previous losses.
Lesson here is to take every trade as a new one. Not let previous results impact analysis.
Lesson here is to take every trade as a new one. Not let previous results impact analysis.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
05/26 Morning Session
Had a great session Today, after about 20 days without even looking at Futures, I was able to get back on the horse without any major hicups. Crucial step was to go over my preparation checklist, to make sure I didn't forget anything prior to start trading.
At the end of the day I was interrupted by Marina because Victor wasn't able to nap. He has grown used to sleeping with Marina while I was out and now we have to "train" him again into sleeping on his own. It affected the end of my trading session, as I wasn't able to pay any attention to the market. When you're not fully focused, the best thing to do is to avoid entering on any trade all together. So I was out of the last short set up displayed bellow.
Preparation is essential, the checklist helps me to prepare for my trading day.
Did not enter this short set-up, there was no retracement before setting new lows. Eventually it made its way close to the target, but took a while.
Started paying attention to the long side, did not enter right away. Waitted for a retracement and then got in.
First sign of possible retracement, this set up never triggered. 
Here is a long set-up that I avoided, /ES had simply gone too far higher without retracing, so I wasn't sure about jumping on board. Specially because it was around the 900 level.
At the end of the day I was interrupted by Marina because Victor wasn't able to nap. He has grown used to sleeping with Marina while I was out and now we have to "train" him again into sleeping on his own. It affected the end of my trading session, as I wasn't able to pay any attention to the market. When you're not fully focused, the best thing to do is to avoid entering on any trade all together. So I was out of the last short set up displayed bellow.
Preparation is essential, the checklist helps me to prepare for my trading day.
Did not enter this short set-up, there was no retracement before setting new lows. Eventually it made its way close to the target, but took a while.
Started paying attention to the long side, did not enter right away. Waitted for a retracement and then got in.
By waitting for the propper entry, I got in and out fairly quickly.
/ES simply shot up, without any retracement, I didn't want to get caught up, so didn't enter long after Consumer Confidence came in better than expected.
First sign of possible retracement, this set up never triggered. 
Here is a long set-up that I avoided, /ES had simply gone too far higher without retracing, so I wasn't sure about jumping on board. Specially because it was around the 900 level.
After several 5-min candles of uncertainty around the 900 level, a short set-up showed up, I wasn't ready to take it, so didn't enter.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
05/07
Today was a great trading session! I started a bit behind what I'm used to, since I was trading in Brazil and now in California, the time zone is not so favorable here in the West Coast. One way or another, I managed to go through my checklist, review the market conditions, run some visualization excercises, stretches and then start trading.
TOS was having some problems with their active trader platform, the volume info wasn't showing up and there was a lag between the charts and quotes.. It was sort of driving without a speedometer, on instinct. Since I'm planning on buying a dune buggy, I might as well get used to the idea.. eheheh
Of course, it also helps when the market follows through with its set-up. :)
TOS was having some problems with their active trader platform, the volume info wasn't showing up and there was a lag between the charts and quotes.. It was sort of driving without a speedometer, on instinct. Since I'm planning on buying a dune buggy, I might as well get used to the idea.. eheheh
Of course, it also helps when the market follows through with its set-up. :)
Friday, May 1, 2009
05/01
My morning session started very well. I was focused and very alert. Took a loss by not paying attention to the news calendar for the day. After that, I had a few trades that I scratched because they did not reach the target right away.
Once I realized I needed to work on this "scratching" urge, I decided to be smarter about it and set up a way to manage my stop loss without getting out of the opportunity all together. So I've decided to work on moving my stop to the previous's candle low every time a candle closes. Added this on my list to work on in the afternoon session.
For the afternoon session, I was feeling pretty upset with my income trades. Realizing it was time to get my head on the game, I did a quick visualization excercise and then a few stretches. This helped me a lot! I got on the session with renewed attention and focus.
Today I created my checklist to work on pre-session and post-session. This will help me track progress and ensure I'm checking the ocean before jumping in.
Once I realized I needed to work on this "scratching" urge, I decided to be smarter about it and set up a way to manage my stop loss without getting out of the opportunity all together. So I've decided to work on moving my stop to the previous's candle low every time a candle closes. Added this on my list to work on in the afternoon session.
For the afternoon session, I was feeling pretty upset with my income trades. Realizing it was time to get my head on the game, I did a quick visualization excercise and then a few stretches. This helped me a lot! I got on the session with renewed attention and focus.
Today I created my checklist to work on pre-session and post-session. This will help me track progress and ensure I'm checking the ocean before jumping in.
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