Cancelled

It came within a tick, so I cancelled it. 816.25 has been a key area today.

Looking to buy ES at 816.25

I'm looking to buy ES at 816.25

Tuesday

I took two ES day-trades and both got stopped out.

-$450 less commissions.

Yesterday and today, I'm not syncing with markets.

Monday

I took a short trade and got stopped out.

-$225 less commissions

A lot of things went through while I was holding my position. Second-guessing, attempting to take 1-2 tick profit, moving stops etc, but at the end, I did exactly what I planned. It sucks to lose $225, but I'm proud of myself to trade my plan, which is a must to be successful in trading. I was taken out at the exact tick, so it hurts more, but I know this is not the last stoploss I'll take.

ES day trades

After I missed two long trades, but caught small two shorts.

+$100

Short 3 ES at 686.25

I scalped ES this morning.

+$350

Day trades

I took a few trades on ES.

1/5/08
#1: -$225
#2: +$100

1/6/08
#1: -$300

Day trading back-log

Last week, I had a business trip to California for a week. One nice thing about that was I was able to day-trade open and close totalling 4 horus / day. I took 8 trades and the results are as follows (all before commissions):

Mon, 12/9:
#1: -$300
#2: $50

Tue, 12/10:
#3: $50
#4: $187.5
#5: $187.5

Wed, 12/11:
#6: $175

Thu, 12/12:
#7: $175

Fri, 12/13:
#8: $187.5

------------
Total: +$682.5 (less 21 round contracts of commissions)

All were traded on 2 or 3 lots at a time with ES only. I don't know if this is sign of something. I still need to gather more live trading data for sure at least for one solid month.

9/26 -$400

Dagger. Friday afternoon. One hour till market close. I thought the setup was great but it just didn't work out. Because of the volatility I used 2 pt stop (normally 1.5 pt ES stop) and I took a full stop out on 4 lots. I looked the trade over and over again and I don't think there's anything wrong. Throughout my 4 months of simulation I have 83% of chance to hit target 1, but I still have 17% of chance I get full-stopped out and this was one of them I guess.

I'll take the same trade anytime any day. Besides, I need to be more aggressive on setups just like I did on sim.

9/24 +$600

After missing lots of good trades (came close or ticked at me), I finally was able to make two trades. The first trade was +475 (before commissions) and the second trade was +125. The second trade was very unfortunate because it ticked at target 3, but turned around and stopped me out (only 15 contracts were traded on ES). Furthermore, it went then thru target 3. The difference was +125 v.s. +325. Oh well, that's the trading. I have two more days of 'bootcamp' trading with my friend, Jack, in OH.

4 ES long at 1272

Results:

+10 ticks or
+$125 (less commissions)

Long 4 ES at 1273

Result:
+20 ticks or +$250 (less commissions)

This is something I've been working on a sim for quite some time.

Buy 4 ES at 1262.25

Results:
-1.5 pt or -$300 (minus commissions)

I did like the setup, but oh well. I'll take this kind of trade every day tho.

6/17/08, Sold 4 ES at 1363.25

Results:
$150 minus commissions.

I forgot to record this yesterday, so I'm doing it now. If you can recall, I've been simulating a new strategy for about 2.5 months and I finally took my first live trade. Day-trading always makes me much much more nervous. However if I can achieve consistency in day trading, it's just matter of time till i double, tripple the size of contract.

Short 2 YM ay 12286

Results:
-9 or -$90 (before commissions)

I'm just not good at it today. I hope keeping my losses small eventually pays off. Not a good way to head into the weekend.

Short 2 S at 1362.75

Results:
+3 and +1.25 or +$212.50 (before commissions)

If Corn broke down together, beans could have fallen apart, but corns are just not paricipating. The last stopout could have been avoided. :(

The first target is usually an insurance for me and the real money maker is the 2nd target, which is a runner, but I haven't had a runner for a long time. I need a big runner one or twice a month until then my job is to protect my capital.

Short 2 S at 1364.50

Results:
-4.50 or -$450

I was trying out-smart the market and the result is usually... a loss.

Short 2 Wheat at 986.50

Results:
+3.50 and -1.25 or $112.50 (before commissions)

I put a sell stop order at 988.50 and I got filled at 986.50!!! On the 2nd position, I thought I moved my stop to b/e +1 (I didn't know I got filled at 986.50), but it was -1.25 and it all happened so quickly.

Short 1 W at 1010.5

Results:
+0.75 or $37.50 (before commissions)

Update:
Wheat is just not working well with me. I know I am very aggressive on my trail stop (I like to move stops to b/e asap), but I got stopped out on a spike hike at break even. Now it's trading at 990. 20pts on grains is $1000! I called Wheat's top yesterday, but still not able to trade properly... :(

Wheat is a contract where you get stopped out 5 times,but when it works out 1 time, you make a killer. I need to stop trading today before doing anything stupid.

Short 2 S at 1321

Results:
+5.25 and +2.50 or +387.5 (before commissions)

I thought we were gonna blow 1313 level, but my 2nd position got stopped out on a bounce. I don't like this kind of quick bounce.