6J, 6B, 6E, TF Trades 12/14 (Mon) - BAD Tobacco

Total : - USD 156

6B 5min

Missed the above 6B trade, and totally lost my cool after that.

I blame nicotine.

It was shortly after I came out of my 6J trade when I spotted the 6B trade.

Put in a buy order and waited.

Then I got listless coz I haven't had my morning nic fix.

Pulled the order and went out for a quick smoke break.

Came back in to see price soaring towards my entry price.

Went in at market right at where I had initially placed my stop order, not realizing that I had unarmed the DOM before I stepped away from my workstation (Keish loves to do her catwalk on my keyboard), and so the order didn't go through.

Decided not to chase. I refused to go in at a lousy price.

My 4-point target was hit - took just three 5-min candles.

When D got home, I told him I am quitting smoking for good, coz cigarettes are really bad for trading.

I've stayed away from cigarettes for a good 6 years before picking it up again in early May 2008 - exactly when I started blogging and trading (one of the darkest periods in my life, NOT coz of trading of course) - so I'm sure I can do this without the help of drugs that make me puke.

I'm going to miss nic breaks with D. We don't talk to each other a lot inside our cave coz we are always too engrossed by work, and smoke breaks are the only time that we have our casual chats. They are always fun. We would hold hands and enjoy the cool evening breeze. Sometimes we stare at the moon and marvel at clouds, stars and lightning bolts. Most times we check out strange looking insects and gigantic moths, and joke about "smoked grasshoppers" for Alberto.

Targeting for next week to quit. I still want to trade this week (I'm prepared to get really edgy during the cold turkey period so I'll halt all trading for 2 weeks - probably the best time to take a break anyway).

Just one of those losing days that makes no sense.

6J Trade 12/14 (Mon)

6J 5min

I'm having a difficult time figuring out where everything's heading. It wasn't the way I felt when I was doing my analysis over the weekend. Somehow everything changed this morning. Typical Dec.

6J was about the only thing that was moving. Oil is dead. For now.

6E, 6B & CL Trades 12/9 (Wed) - Screwed by FX, Saved by Oil

Total : - USD 88

6E 200- Ticks

6B 200-Ticks
CL 200-Ticks

I remember, rather vaguely, telling D rather recently, that I wasn't ever going to trade FX futures (in particular, 6E & 6J) on WEDNESDAY again.

I forgot today's Wednesday.

AUDUSD LONG position
Looking better. Holding. Definitely holding for +150 pips.

Trades 12/8 (Tues) - Nothing Much Happening

12/7 (Mon) - 12/8 (Tues)

ETF

Long DIG late last night (my last night, 12/7 at 11:30pm; 10:30am ET) and EARLY this morning (my morning, 12/8 at 2am; 1pm ET) but price started stalling after breaking downtrendlines. Both trades were scratched. I needed sleep.

FX Futures
6B
Still bearish on USD. Can't help it. Long 6B during lunch (my lunch time, 12/8 at 12:30pm; 12/7 11:30pm ET) but scratched trade. Waiting for further development. Market's slow and quiet. If nothing good shows up, will spend the day reading Ryan Jones, and nurturing my AUDUSD position.

6B 200-Tick

Index Futures
TF
Nothing on TF. Pivot's below where price is trading now. If it gets a bounce from there, I might get in on a good setup.

TF 15min

FX
AUDUSD (Long)
Never mind.

6E Trades 12/7 (Mon)

Total: + 2.1 Points

6E 200-Ticks

Blue Arrow - Long
Red Arrow - Stopped Out / Covered Long
Pink Arrow - Short
Green Arrow - Covered Short

All longs except the last are losers; all shorts, winners

Odd. I am actually bearish on the USD (Which is why I'm still holding my AUDUSD FX trade. Not selling unless it breaks below support on daily chart.). Last trade was a long on a "3rd touch" setup. Given that it's a countertrend trade, I didn't want to stretch it, and took profit once price started stalling. Wasn't sure price was really going for channel ceiling.

D's working from home. I promised a massage after I'm done.

Trading CL instead of TF unless TF stops showing ugly charts.

Jules Is A Mule (Part 3??!)

6E 15min

Yesterday was an interesting day - not just because I gave away 1k in a single trade again - so thought I'll talk about it.

I Shorted the 6E rather early in the morning (my morning and around 8pm NY time) coz, well, I was convinced 6E was going back down to test the spike low (see chart above). As with other days that I refused to think straight, I held on to the trade until I realized I couldn't be sure if price was going to stop going against me before the day ended. And as with all those other days that I was convinced that price would go to a certain place, price eventually did start going in my direction, or totally hit my target, either a few hours after my exit or 24 hours later.

All these days had been Wednesdays.

After I cut my loss, I had gone into my personal library to dig out some material I came across before, and to take a closer look at something that I never really took into account when I trade the futures: market participants (who they are - farmers/merchants/banks, speculators, hedge fund managers etc, and WHEN they operate).

My hypothesis about why the chart did what it did and why I kept hanging on to my biased view was confirmed when I traded the TF later in the evening (US morning of course) - when a wolfe pattern failed during lunch hour (learning very quickly from my 6E experience just hours before, I told D to refrain from buying a breakout - which is needed for price to get to wolfe target).

In any case, a hard stop would have saved me from myself. I had a lot of conviction, which was why I didn't want a stop to get in the way (what an irony). Extremely stupid, looking back. But then of course everything always appears obvious with the benefit of hindsight. It takes a hell lot of discipline and UNCOMMON SENSE to immediately recognize and stop a stupid act that's about to happen. I have neither discipline nor uncommon sense.

But I have an endless supply of energy. Maybe that's exactly what makes things worse. Instead of taking a hiatus after that 1k loss (6J took it!) from 2 weeks ago, I went right back to work after a 2-day break....

And after yesterday's 1k blunder, I went right back in to intervene in D's trading.

I had started off by telling D I would stop trading altogether for a while, and share with him about Wolfe Waves instead. After US market opened, D traded the account, taking his usual 1 to 3 ticks (since I said I wouldn't trade) before I spotted the wolfe pattern.

When I told him to go long at 595, he hesitated but went with it anyway. BUT he got out after 3 ticks instead of holding and moving his stops til we see the 3rd target (see chart below). When TF hit 600 in a parabolic move up, he blamed himself for not having persuaded me to take the trade myself.

As if things hadn't been bad enough up to that point, D had to sell at a place that I would buy, after TF pulled back from 600.

I hit the bid column on booktrader, covering his short.

D yelled "WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!!!" (I know, someone who has lost 1k just moments ago really shouldn't be meddling in the trade of another who has a record of zero to one losing day out of 20 on average) .

I was stunned, but only for seconds. Then I hit bid once more to get in on a long trade, at 3 ticks higher than where I had covered D's short (where I covered his short was exactly where I had wanted to go long - in other words, I had wanted to flip his trade - but D shocked me, and I was late hitting bid a second time as a result).

After I covered my long at +9 ticks, D thanked me for stopping his short at minimal damage, and for the rest of the day, we were in consultative mode (until I went in for my shower when D quietly took some "lunch time" trades).

It was fun - trading with D. And we might just do it again. I'm tempted to let D execute all the trades I identify. D doesn't lift stops - which means I can say goodbye to 2.5% drawdowns in a single trade forever.

On TWS - Red arrow shows where D entered on wolfe pattern, Blue arrow shows D's short that that I covered, Green arrow shows where I went long after covering D's short

TF 1min (my apologies for the blur - program was going to shut down, and I hadn't saved the chart, so needed to do a capture immediately - click to get a better view)

6J Trades 11/4 (Wed)

6J 15min

SIGH.

First trade was stopped out at 11088. Not indicated here coz I had used a bracket order. I'm still clueless as to how a 11057 stop could be triggered at 11088, but that's the least of my problem for now. Actually, it won't ever be a problem again coz I'm never going to use a bracket order on IB ever. It's too smart for me.

PnL is too disturbing (for me, when I revisit my own posts) to be published. 1 tick = USD 12.50

Let no one lecture me on my trade.

I am woman and can always blame it on hormones.

6B Trades 11/3 (Tues)

6B 133-Ticks

It all started with me not giving a perfectly valid trade room to move.. Scratched before stop was hit (price didn't get anywhere near stop before it hit my profit target). Took a small loss of around 90 bucks. Went in again, and scratched before my profit target was hit - way before actually. I guess I just hate to have to give up a day's winnings (yesterday's). My profit target would have been hit had I stayed put, and I would have had a lovely day.

Anyway, I got a little upset with myself, and went in a 3rd time, and this time, I allowed the trade too much room to move. Total loss for 3 trades was 279.

Scalped back 179 bucks after waiting for hours for 6B to form a higher low.

I'm extremely unhappy. Daily target is working against me. And having to look for a nice trade with decent R:R daily is a pain.

Total Net: - USD 108.10

FXPT,
I pay 1 buck (a lot cheaper than what your bank's charging :-)) for commission for 100 shares of FAZ. It's not a leverage product, but the movement is 3 times that of finance index.

Trades (6B, UWM, QID, FAZ) 11/2 (Mon) - Wrap Up

US session's just a mess. I AM THE MESS. Was all over the place. Kept buying bear markets and sold my UWM before market opened (which wasn't a bad idea coz it didn't really go up with the market when the session started).

Total Net: + USD 273.30

Not showing the TWS platform coz all the records were cleared at 12am my time - I was too busy watching my chart to notice it was near midnight. And no charts for the ETFs coz like I said, I was just all over the place. No loss though. I was adamant about not taking a loss on a textbook u-turn day.

I'm happy. Today's the first day I start using the profit-target template that D created for me. Woohoo!

MM, DT:
will respond to your comments a few hours later. I desperately need sleep again....

6B Trades 11/2 (Mon) & Daylight Saving

6B 133-Ticks (Trade #1)

6B 133-Ticks (Trade #2)
For D's sake, I wish yen and DX will continue to stay in the red, and get redder as the day goes. D's still holding FAS, which has become a rather toxic asset in his portfolio....

My UWM buy stop order was triggered on Friday. Ha.

US market opens at 10:30pm my time today (instead of 9:30pm during US' daylight saving time), which means that D will have a lot more time to prepare for the trading session after he knocks off from work, and I will start having to turn in at 5AM!!!

D's going to have to learn to make his own coffee in the morning.

And I'll have to give up trading the Sydney session.

Either that, or I give up trading the 2nd part of the US session....

Definitely the 2nd part of the US session.

6B and 6E are too tame during the Asian session to give up.

Trades (6B & UWM) 10/30 (Fri)

6B 4hr

I sat and watched the above from 9am to 6pm (my time), leaving my desk only to feed my cats and take 2 nic breaks. Reason: I have no idea how IB's bracket order works. D laughed, and promised to show me exactly how to do it over the weekend.

I wasn't at all thrilled that I was on the wrong side of the market, but it was interesting to watch that intense match between GBP and USD (the rest were falling hopelessly behind, except the yen of course). So yes, I had enjoyed that 9 hours in front of my screen.

Bad bet number 2:

UWM 10min

Total: - USD 212.19

Haven't really much to talk about. Yes, the entries were bad, but I make bad entries more often than I take lunch, and most of them didn't turn out too bad after all...so I'm not going to kill myself this time.

I actually had a really good day. Met up with my cell (NOT prison cell) group mates (the last time I saw them was almost 2 years ago!) for dinner, and they still feel like family, and they still make me laugh.

I've been spending a lot of time putting together a trading plan. It's going to be a 30-page thesis. I think. And I have a separate annex for my 13 setups complete with descriptions and grading frameworks and am in the process of going over ALL the trades I've ever taken so that I can put them in their respective categories and GRADE them. Yes, something like reverse engineering (I never really knew why I took the trades I took until I realized I recognized patterns without being aware of it).

By the time I'm done, I should be able to convince at least myself that SETUPS work for me.

I owe J an apology. I've been a very bad chat buddy. SORRY, J!!!

Trades 10/29 (Thurs) - Wrap Up

UWM (Ultra Russell 2000)

Just too darn agonizing. I'm tired of having to hold another trade for hours. And I'm needing sleep BADLY.

Total: +USD 110

Update: 6B & FX (CHF/JPY) Trades 10/29 (Thurs)

Update on CHF/JPY trade:

There, my technical exit - a gigantic candle:

Total : +82 pips

From earlier today:

CHF/JPY 15min

Holding trade for now. Using technical exit - whatever that means (will be moving stop up to trail...Oanda has no trailing feature, which is great for me, coz I've never really learned how to set trailing stops. Finally a platform that doesn't make me feel stupid).

6B 15min

I quit 6B's 89-tick chart for now. It's so noisy I can't read my candles properly. 15min is good. Hourly is even better. But I haven't the patience....


D's going to love this: all blues on index futures and all red on DX and treasuries and bonds! He's holding bull ETFs....

Am watching CHF and JPY and really wanting to see the latter turn red again (6J has completed a "V" shape bull reversal on the 4-hourly).

Mark: Always had EEM on my watchlist, and added EDZ and EDC. Thanks! :-)

Trades 10/28 (Wed) - Wrap Up

DIG 10min

Decided to take my DIG loss. Not ready to turn daytrades into investments. D, on the other hand, is starting to accumulate toxic assets again...

Was hedging my DIG position with a long in SKF (Ultra Short Financials) before I finally let DIG go. Held on to SKF until it made another new high. Was tempted to hold it to its previous peak of around 26.6, but was really not feeling so good about the chops from 10:30am ET onwards. I've had a long day, and really wanted to wrap up.

SKF 133-Ticks

Nov has been a relatively stress-free month (The period spanning last Dec and this Sept was simply hellish). Moving forward, I'll be focusing more on spots forex and ETFs, and less on futures.

PnL (Net): + USD 53.81

Trades (6E, 6B, DIG) 10/27 (Tues) & 6B Trade 10/28 (Wed)

Oct 27 (Tues):

DIG position opened during US trading session. Stop loss in place - not hit. Profit target not hit either by end of day. Will see what happens today. Might scratch if I have to. Might hold. Likely to hold as risk involved is totally tolerable. I really don't want to turn this into an investment, so am really hoping that I won't lift my stop just coz I think DIG has a great portfolio (not that I like oil companies). I'm essentially a chart reader - if my chart says no go, I'll get out.

DIG 10min

Realized Profit for yesterday: USD 169.85

Oct 28 (Today):

I don't love the 6B in particular, but it's just so resilient compared to the others. I like anything that makes an effort to go up.

6B 89-Ticks

Just a personal observation:

For futures, it doesn't pay to buy after price breaks out from the neck of a "w" formation on most days (except on extremely slow and "tame" days) as a pull back usually tend to want to test the base of the "W" (though I'm ok if the neck to base doesn't cost me more than 2 6B points or 1 6E point). Best to enter on the right side of the pattern on a bullish reversal (bull engulfing, bull Harami - for Haramis, best if the 2nd candle is a hammer or an inside bar).

For ETFs, and stocks trading on high volume, it's better to enter after price has pierced neckline of "w". I personally don't like trading flags (ie. buying a "dip") these days.

Trades (6E & 6B) 10/27 (Tues) & Interactive Brokers

6E 5min

6B 89-Ticks

It's been a long time - that whenever I make ONE point on 6E, I'll see "11" as the first 2 figures on my NET PnL.

My other broker had spoiled me with "12". When things seem too good to be true, they usually are.

I'm very contented with IB now. I've never been calmer in my trades. Even when I was getting in and out of trade chasing that run up on 6B yesterday, there was not a single incident of "fills" issue on IB's BookTrader. I covered my longs either at exactly where market was, or at a price higher than market (ie. my offer was matched with a bid).

D has not received a certain piece of document from IB - it was supposed to have arrived days ago.

Unlike before, we hadn't made a fuss.

No one's perfect. And no company is perfect.

IB is far from perfect of course - terrible charts, substandard service, its TWS MUST die on the dot at 9:30pm ET EVERYDAY and 12am ET (that's my daytime and trading time) - despite all these, it gives me a chance to make it at trading by fairly matching and sending my orders. If ever I make a loss on a trade, it's always due to the fact that I had made a bad judgement call at my end in the first place, NOT coz I had entered at a super lousy price, or couldn't get filled when I'm on the right side of the market (on the wrong side, I DO get filled. Which is why the issue of my internet connection is irrelevant).

The consequence of not getting filled consistently when you are aligned with the market is that you end up taking inferior setups after that, if you were not already sitting on a paper loss after CHASING price up/down after missing your golden WINDOW (and really, how many of such windows do we have in a day - particularly for those who have only a limited time to trade per day?). The opportunity cost is merely the tip of the ice-berg.