TF Trades 12/15 - Starhub SUCKS!!

Day started REALLY BAD. Was logged out of IB 3 times. A total of more than 120 attempts were made to get back in. Missed all my scalping opportunities, and was forced to put tighter stops in case I was disconnected and couldn't adjust my stops.

First 2 trades were stopped out at a total loss of $780. Went back in twice after that and recovered $300.

Got home 2 hours past midnight to resume trading (and had no more problem with internet connection once I switched back to land connection). Win some, lose some, and was up $380 (see above) by the time the cash market closed.

Minus the $480 loss from the first session, that's a net loss of $100 for the day.

I'm starting to dislike that little gadget that's supposed to save me from the very situation that it got me into today.

STARHUB, you've officially lost my trust. This is the umpteenth time that I can't rely on your crappy mobile connect to keep me online for half an hour straight. Am definitely loooking for better contingencies.

As a side note, you guys really have to stop doing maintenance on weekdays when people are trading!! How many times must your customers beg you to switch back to your weekend maintenance schedule before you'll give a damn?!!

You're no good for bringing around, and you're no good at home!

When I dislike you enough, I'm going to unsubscribe from all your services - cable TV, mobile phones, broadband, EVERYTHING!

TF 12/15 - CAN'T TRADE!!

Nothing's moving.

Charts are frozen.

Attempting to get back on IB....

This really sucks.

Am trading away from home and using a mobile network.

Getting on other sites has not been a problem.

Those using Ninja Trader are getting odd looking charts.

Server problem at US??

TF Trades 12/12

+ 3.1 points

DOW was at negative 200 over, and the other major indices were hovering slightly above fib 61.8 retracement level just prior to open. This is what DOW, and the other indices are doing at 10am EST:


On its 5min chart, TF broke out of consolidation at around 9:50am EST and rallied (for 3 candles) up to around 454, which is the peak from 3:50pm EST yesterday. Clearly a resistance now. About time for a correction anyway. That was almost a vertical run up.

TF 5min


1 min chart is showing a HS. So I'm really doubting that this is just going to be a pullback. Looks like 5min is going to form an inverted 'V' bringing TF all the way back to base (consolidation at 9:30 - 9:50 am EST) by the time the HS formation is completed on the 1min chart.

TF 1min


Even if I don't have a class tomorrow morning (which I do), I'm not staying to play. The second part of the market has gotten too challenging for me lately.

Update (10:40 am EST)



1min is forming what looks like a bull wedge to me, and on 5 min, TF seems to be making an attempt to test its previous peak after having retraced by about 50%.

If TF fails to break above pink and red trendlines, it could turn back down to base. If I were going to go short, I'll wait for a reversal pattern to appear on 1min (shooting stars, bearish engulfing, HS), and a double top or another bearish engulfing pattern to appear on 5min. Confirmation for entry would be a close below the valley (at around 444) between the 2 peaks on 5min.

I'm still not playing. But D is. This is the worst time to trade the TF (for me) coz it's too painfully slow, and can get really psycho.

As I'm typing, 1min is already showing a completed DOUBLE BOTTOM. Bullish! on 5min, this simply means that there's a chance for a 2 second measured move up.

I See Hope

Dow, S&P500, Nasdaq 100, Russell 2000 Daily

I TRIED, but I simply can't stay bearish.

I could be totally wrong, and my eyes could be playing tricks on me - all I could see from my charts is an UPWARD breakout from their respective diamond bottoms. Prices are at 2008 low, so the odds are really good that from where they are now, the indices could make their way back up to the beginning (represented by blue dotted lines on my charts) of that nearly-vertical plunge.

Bearish candle from yesterday faded Monday's gap in all the above charts, and with the exception of maybe RUT, all indices seem likely to continue to fall to where fib retracement level of 61.8% meets upsloping trendline on charts (represented by red horizontal line).

For Dow, that's only about 50 points below where it closed yesterday.

But the indices should bounce off support at fib 61.8 once they get there - at least that's what my charts are telling me. Volumes are not impressive, but that's not uncommon in the beginning of a rally. A breakout - if it happens - should be accompanied by increasing volume though, if we are to see prices reaching their potential...

While I'm sure that most of us actually DO want the market to at least stop its nosedive, I also know for a fact that many are probably finding it hard to believe that a market in this state is going to be able to stage any sort of decent rallies. US' mountainous debt and the global economic slump are 2 big nagging issues, and it doesn't seem like anyone is capable of saving the day for now.

But who knows, maybe our heroes are going to be the average Joes and the small businesses; maybe even companies that used to be fat but have learnt to operate lean and resourceful?

If there's anything that history has taught us, it is that we are an unpredictable species fully capable of making quantum leaps.

Classic example: while it was predicted that trains would get faster and train travel increasingly more comfortable (and accessible to the point that it stops right at your doorstep), the industry defied prediction, and started failing in the 50s - 70s.

Air travel took its place.

TF Trades 12/11

+ 2.7 points

DOW: Just turned into positive territory from double-digit negative.

Am now looking at an almost horizontal MA30 on TF 5min chart...

TF has become really slow in the morning these days....After having sat here staring at the screen for 15 hours, I'm just too worn out to wait for the after 2pm EST action.

FX Trades 12/11 - EUR/USD

EUR/USD 5min

That area in green - kept me glued to my chair for hours.

What started out looking like a bull wedge turned out to be a broadening formation. I went long on the breakout above what was then a wedge, and price turned back down almost as quickly as it had broken upwards. I took my meager profit, and waited to see what was going to happen next.

Well, ok, that was not true. I didn't quite wait to see what happened. I EXPECTED the pair to plunge on a failed pattern, so I went short.

Bad idea. And my stop was placed too far - 24 pips away (my previous profit was just 19 pips). Got stopped out when price went right back up into the wedge and then pierced through the downsloping trendline of the wedge.

It wasn't going up at first, then it didn't want to go down.

Nice.

Turned out that I was looking at a broadening top in the making. When price touched the floor of the formation for the 5th time, crossed all the way over to the ceiling, pulled back, then pierced through the ceiling, I went long.

Not a great idea.
Reasons:
- The bullish candle that pierced through my BB centre line just barely closed above the centreline and had a an upper shadow that's a tad longer than its lower shadow

- Following that was a spinning top, and this should have told me something about the momentum up

- The length of the 3rd candle ie. the one that pierced through the broadening formation was a tad too long

I went in anyhow, and had to get out when I realized that price wasn't going to go up further without a pull back.

I didn't wait to be stopped out. Took my 7 pips and bolted.

Went in long for the last time when the pair bounced off support provided by the upper trendline of the broadening top. Got out after making 32 pips when my 5MA (in red) started peeling itself away from the upper BB, and after I noticed that the move up from the floor of the broadening formation was about the same as the move that led to the broadening top. Think EUR/USD is just going to cruise along the ceiling of the broadening formation, or pull back 60% before advancing upwards. I have a bullish bias on this pair.

What I learnt a little more about trading properly today is that if I ever want to graduate from the beginners' phase, I would have to first overcome the fear of being stopped out, and to adjust my stops to protect profits. An advice that sounds so sensible yet so difficult to follow. I've been afraid of getting stopped out - which is precisely the reason I don't like moving my stops to protect profit - for too long . I don't know what I was thinking, I would rather lose my profit than be stopped out???

Definitely still a hurdle I'm working on overcoming almost on a daily basis.

Second thing I learnt is that I can't trade 2 different directions. When I have a view of where the pair is heading, I get jittery when I trade against that view.

Am sticking to one direction.

Hopefully, I'll remember all that I've said...

I desperately need someone to kick my A**!

Result for the day:
+19 pips on 10k units
-24 pips on 10k units
+7 pips on 20k units
+32 pips on 20k units

Comment From Sergipavl on "Comment Moderation"

2 Comments from Sergipavl:

1) I am watching u

2) Comment moderation adds up to scarse traffic like losses do. I suggest u hide the option allowing others to comment, at all.

You must be having a bad day, Sergipavl, so I'll forgive you for making me feel like a nitwit. "comment moderation adds up to scarSe traffic like losses do" makes absolutely no sense to me.

Consider your suggestion unheeded. I welcome most comments about me. What I don't like is to give those that launch personal attacks at me the satisfaction of having their views aired. I reject also comments from folks that put others (ie. the others who comment) down either unknowingly or deliberately. Comment moderation is to keep hostile and haughty people at bay. My blog is a friendly place.

Since you got me started, and I'm in a good mood today, I'll share how I feel about blogging so far.

3 words describe it all: I LOVE IT.

What I cherish most: advice and friendship from experienced traders who have been big-hearted enough to show me the way. They have helped me in ways that no books or trainers could ever have, and because of them, I don't feel so alone in what seemed at first to be an impossible quest. I've been given tips and information, entire methodologies, moral support, guidance, and most importantly, questions challenging me to find out who I really am (which is probably the first thing anyone considering trading for a living should ask himself/herself).

Lord Tedders, Harry, Moyo, Sage, The Lonely Trader, HPT, Cory, Solfest, FX, Don, Propriety Trader , Common Sense, and Rxforex13 are among those that I want to say a big "Thank you" to. I hold them in high regards, not just for their knowledge of the market and in what they are doing, but also for their willingness to take the time to help others who are just beginning to take the journey they've begun long ago, probably without the kind of help I'm seeing today via blogs and forums and such.

They have been more than inspirational.

I can see that when it comes to trading, especially in FX, you've come a long way. While you can certainly be a kick ass coach and mentor, you've chosen to antagonize the very community I'm assuming you can't live without.

I don't know what your motivations are, and I don't care. I just think it's a pity that you are probably too opinionated to see what you're missing out on the blogosphere.

TF Trades 12/10 - Happy!!

Update on TF trades



Total +3.4 points

Got in again when I realized that I had missed my buy signals (should have bought at hammer - see chart below).

Am giving myself time to get used to my own system.

That surely came out strange....

TF 5min


Exited before signal was triggered coz TF had broken out of 479.7 resistance (solid black line on chart) without much volume.

Wrapping up. D's preparing for a big presentation and I'm going to be a good little slave girl. Massage time!

TF and FX Trades 12/10

TF



Stopped out on the 1st entry (short) -0.9 point
2nd entry (long) + 1.8 point
Net (for now) +0.9 point

Got out after noticing that BB isn't opening. Clearly TF has met resistance above at around 475.8.

Think TF is going to trade in tight range for a while.

TF 5min


D was surprised I SOLD even though DOW was at 103. I was trading according to MY SYSTEM (yes, I finally have one!!). I wasn't sore about being wrong, coz my loss was a mere 8 ticks. It was a small price to pay to confirm that I'm indeed wrong.


FX - EUR/USD (Long)


This is NOT a revenge trade. It's not like I HAVE TO get something out of EUR/USD.

Ok, it's a revenge trade. I have to get something from the pair.

I should have gotten in at confirmation ( 1.2955) of ascending bottom, but I was out picking D up from work. Came back to see both the ascending bottom and a bull flag, and went in for a quick scalp. Got out after 20 pips coz the pair has clearly made 2 measured moves up (see pink lines showing the almost equal moves) and hit resistance from previous peak. Plus, it's TF time.

EUR/USD 5min


HAPPY!

I'm rid of the EUR/USD curse!

EUR/USD - MISSED OPPORTUNITY!

(Click to enlarge)

$#&*%(*@&#(*~!!!!!!!!

The setup I was waiting for for hours, and I missed it! Why? Coz I lost my head over a discovery while I was backstudying a way to TRADE PROPERLY.

DAMN!! (Sorry, Harry, CAN'T HELP IT!!!!)

If anyone's reading this, if you see a broadening channel near price top (see far right of my chart - that's a broadening channel) on whatever timeframe except the 1min (works beautifully on weekly and daily charts), look for price to touch the lower trendline at least twice, then on the 3rd time it touches, BUY. Price usually breaks out on the upside of this formation. Place your stop slightly below the trendline (a partial rise - which is a 30% to 60 % pull back from the move down to the lower trendline - almost always causes a plunge after price breaks DOWN instead of UP so a stop is a must).

EUR/USD was hovering in the middle of the channel after having touched the lower trendline twice, and I was waiting for it to go back down a 3rd time to buy if it were to bounce off from there.

I blame fate.

I have no luck with LONGING the EUR/USD.

I probably have no luck longing for anything.

Which is why I always DEMAND and COERCE.

Hur Hur Hur....

TF Trades 12/9 - Done

+2.1 points

Done with TF for today. It's starting to feel like a total stranger.

You used to be zesty, TF. Now you're just slow and getting on my nerves. Whatever happened to you?? Keep doing what you're doing now and I'm ditching you for CRUDE OIL!!

TF Trade 12/9 - Sitting & Waiting

I'm tired, distracted, restless, aimless, and sitting on a loss of :


Oh wait, I'm making 17 bucks as I'm typing. PLEASE LET THIS NOT BE ONE OF THOSE SCALLOPS that's going to send TF UP again. It's gotta be my favorite mountains! I mean, DOW is still in negative region for crying out loud!

I'm so restless I'm reading The Lonely Trader's very old postings and thoroughly enjoying his musings...

EUR/USD & GBP/JPY Trades

EUR/USD
Stopped out at 1.2800 (long at 1.2920).

AT LONG LAST!!!

My feelings: TOTAL RELIEF.

Pure joy, actually, to be out of a 10-day trade that went nowhere.

GBP/JPY
While EUR/USD was plunging, I went short on GBP/JPY for a scalp (an hour before EUR/USD trade was stopped out):


Yes, was totally hedging.

54 pips.

Makes me feel a little less sore about losing 120 pips...

GBP/JPY has since pulled back, and is still pulling back...

TF Trade 12/8 Update

Canceled yesterday's order. Wasn't filled. I'm really contemplating staying up til 3am daily to get in manually. You just can't let a TF trade go on auto-pilot, especially with the biggest moves happening after 3 these days.

No more swings. Not for today. Limited upside. Scalping instead.

TF Trade 12/8 - Swing (Pending)

TF 5min


What I'm seeing is a triple top/ HS in the making, and a possible throwback to around 468.7.

Will cancel the following as and when TF breaks above 480 for real:

TF Trade 12/8

1.1 point for now.

TF is stalling beneath 480 resistance. Waiting for it to retrace to fib 61.8 (around 462) before going long again for possibly a swing to around 490. An entry now is just too far away from where I would place a stop loss (slightly below 462 - the fib 61.8 retracement level).

TF 5min

EUR/USD Trade - Holding

Holding long position for now.

Reasons:

- Pair broke out of Diamond Bottom formation
- BB widening and price is traveling along upper band
- MACD: positive histograms and 2 lines in positive region
- Stoch: in overbought region, which is where I usually go long or stay in a long position (provided that both MACD and BB are showing that bullish trend is still intact and there's no nearby resistance)

My only concern is that PSAR is getting too near to the BB centreline (MA 20) for my comfort. Resistance below my entry point (1.292 - red dotted line) is a little worrying, but I'm guessing that if price were to pause, it will likely pause around where I had placed my entry.

Will see how it goes. I'm still of the view that a correction at this point is timely.

EUR/USD Trade

While I'm more inclined to be more bullish than bearish on the market (applies to the coming week only), I can't seem to say the same for my EUR/USD trade.

EUR/USD Daily


EUR/USD Weekly


First glance at daily chart tells me the pair is on an uptrend and the pattern emerging is a double or triple bottom. A closer look shows a symmetrical triangle in the making. That most recent high looks very much like a partial rise to me. And that's very bad news, coz what usually happens after a partial rise is going to be a breakout on the DOWNSIDE of the triangle.

Whether what follows is a plunge is not my immediate concern. I AM LONG the pair at 1.292 (red dotted line) and my stop is at 1.2325. The pair could very well break down, move slightly below its low (at 1.2325) and take out my stop, only to climb back up again to trade in a sideway manner for God knows how long.

The weekly chart clearly shows that the pair has overshot its potential in Sept 07 and looks like it now wants to keep trading below 1.37. What's forming (the triangle) is simply a pause and another leg down looks PROBABLE. Classic bear wedge. Although I'm really HOPING that since EUR/USD has already completed 2 measured moves down that it will at least do some DECENT CORRECTION, like to at least 1.37 (which is barely 38.2% of its move down from the top of 1.60)??

I doubt I want to wait to be stopped out. If the pair continues to move down on Monday, despite what the market does (or if it goes down together with the market), I'm out. I've been sitting on the trade since Nov 24, and patience isn't exactly one of my virtues.

Charts - DOW, SPX, XLF, GS, TF

SPX Daily

Pipe Bottom on Nov 20 and 21 failed to send index back up to the point from where it dropped (about 1008, indicated by pink dotted line), and has formed what looks like the mirror image of a "J" flipped up (chartists call this the "Inverted Scallop") instead.

The low of Friday's session is about 50% of the upward move from the pipe bottom to the previous high of around 896. Assuming that SPX were to continue to climb from this point on, an Inverted Scallop COULD send it all the way to around 1060.

Given that the sentiments aren't generally bullish, and taking into account overhead resistance (from downsloping trendline), it pays to play conservative. A reasonable target would be around 970.

A successful Inverted Scallop pattern could retrace to fib 61.8%, so, if I were trading based on this pattern, I would place a stop slightly below fib 61.8%.

DOW Daily

DOW's daily chart is looking just as cheery.

First, we have a Pipe Bottom too; second, that mess we're seeing forming now looks like some sort of a Diamond Bottom; third, the 2 bottoms when squeezed look like an Adam & Adam Bottom to me...

In a nutshell, the DOW looks like it wants to go up.

Like the SPX, its pipe bottom has somewhat failed and what has formed is an Inverted Scallop. So, at least in the very short-term, it's likely that DOW could climb up to 10,252, or conservatively, 9500. Overhead resistance after 9500 is around 9650.

DOW Weekly

Not certain if I should make a big hoo-ha over the Oct marabuzo candle and bullish engulfing pattern that's formed given that both are not first level reversal patterns.

However if we're not looking for a reversal (just being realistic), these patterns SHOULD give us a decent pullback to around 10,300.

But then again, it's irrational to ask the market for what's reasonable. As long as we're not in a confirmed uptrend (even if it's just a short-term one), it's best to take for granted that the market will continue to go down. Some wise trader once said that you can only be wrong ONCE when you go with the trend, and that's when the trend REVERSES. So, I would either go with the trend, or be very conservative with positions and targets when going against it.

XLF Daily

If XLF can clear its overhead resistance at 12.87, the formation COULD very likely send it up to 16.65.

My calculation is actually 17, but with that kind of resistance on top, I'm going to say it's not even going to make it to 15 on its first attempt up.

That said, I would keep an eye on DOW and SPX. If I were to go long, my stop's going to be far below at a point that's slightly below fib retracement 61.8% of the move up from 8.67.

GS Daily

GS looks like it could go up to around 96 - 97, but the more probable scenario is that it would be stopped by the downsloping trendline. A conservative target would be around 86.

Again, if I were to go long on GS, I would place my stop below fib retracement level of 61.8%.

TF Hourly

Tripple Bottom and Ascending Triangle. Looks like TF COULD break above blue resistance, especially if Monday sees a follow through on Friday's mid-day rally.

TF Daily

For a confirmed reversal, TF will have to break above 560. If the outlook for next week's good, TF should get there by next week. That's a big IF of course. As the market goes about searching for a bottom, I'm not going to swing anything for now. Scalping or daytrading is still my preferred play.

Not Trading

There's no fucking point.

TF Trades 12/4 & TF 12/5

First entry costs me 4.1 points - serves me right for getting in without confirmation. TF had NOT broken out on the downside of the uptrend line in red (refer to TF 5min chart below - candle in blue rectangle was where I entered).

Excitement over seeing what seemed to be my favorite head and shoulder / double, triple top / failed bull flag pattern in the making got the better of me (yes, I was very confident that my solid blue resistance line at 460 was going to stop TF, which was why the line was drawn THICK in the first place), and I completely ignored my rule #1 about entering a daytrade: always wait for confirmation.

Trade was stopped out as TF went up to test resistance at 460 (blue horizontal line) again.

TF 5-min

I had set a stop at 460.5 (1 tick above the high made a few candles before), just in case TF tests the high at 460.4 again, and was taken out as TF made another high at 460.9!

$%&#$*#$)!!!!!!!!!

I should have set a stop at 462.5!! But had I waited for a CONFIRMATION, I wouldn't have had to make such a high risk entry in the first place.

Second entry gave me my profit target of 9.5 points. This time, entry was made only after TF had breached the red trendline and gone below the first low made after breaking out.

Entered short at 455.5; stop was set at 460.

If TF was going up to test it (460) again, I would have had just called it a crazy day, cursed the market, and gone to bed.

I turned in anyway, after setting my profit target (at 446, which was slightly above a minor resistance - I was being conservative, and gave up the idea of setting it at 430, which was the previous low on my my hourly chart).

No more staring at the screen.

It just doesn't pay to get fixated.

Stop loss had to be wide though whenever I let my trade go autopilot (ie without my constant adjusting of stops).

This is something I noticed about trading the futures: the more you don't want to lose money, the more you will. If you're bent on setting a tight stop, you'll just get stopped out time after time until you begin to wonder if you should even set a hard stop.

But of course one SHOULD ALWAYS set a stop.

It's just that with futures, you can't be stingy. If you're constantly setting a 1,2 or even 3 point stop, and expect to get a 10-point gain, the market will punish you accordingly.

Back to TF.

So, 460 proved to be a strong resistance after all. TF traded below that for the rest of the session, and is now hovering above the base of my red channel, below the green channel (which is probably going to be resistance for TF today).

TF Hourly


I'm more convinced today than yesterday that the movement within the green channel is indeed a partial rise, and TF is likely to punch through the floor of the red channel and head towards the blue downtrend line.

We'll see.

TF 12/4 - Bull Trap?

This is really starting to look like a bull trap to me...

Bulls are going to be slaughtered and TF's nose-diving to...at least 415??

The bear in me is apparently still alive and kicking.

Well, IF (notice it's a BIG "IF") TF indeed were to plunge, it's going to bounce back up, and then the bears will be trapped.

Such is the kind of market we've gotten quite used to these days anyways....

But then again, maybe it's just me and my imaginations....I have to stop predicting the market...especially one that's gone psycho....

TF 12/4

I'm seeing 2 scenarios at play here:

1) Within the green broadening channel, it looks possible that TF could break out of the channel on the upside

2) Within the bigger broadening red channel in which the green channel is forming, the pattern seen likely to emerge is that of a partial rise, which often is a warning of a break out of the bigger channel on the downside, followed by a significant plunge

The way I see it is that the odds are stacked against scenario (1).

Main Reason:
The solid blue horizontal line (460) I've drawn is the ceiling of an area of strong resistance - given that prices have congested there in at least 3 trading sessions before, the stalling or even reversing of price at the ceiling is an outcome that is not so unimaginable to me.

It's easier for me to imagine TF punching through the floor of the red channel - but NOT before having moved up to test the blue resistance first - to head for the channel beneath the blue downtrend line.

That said, it's not likely that I'll take a short position before TF falls through support (red horizontal line) at around 412. This is what I need to see TF doing to confirm it's reversed from its previous uptrend (supported by the pastel blue trendline I've drawn).

So, here's my plan:

1) If TF were to break above 460, I'll look to BUY. To avoid being caught in a fake breakout, I'll be looking for volume PLUS a pull back to, or near, 460, which is followed by a further breaking of 2 to 3 points all within a single 5-min candle. First profit target would be around 480, the next area of resistance.

2) if TF were to fall through 412, I'll look to SELL. Again, won't do anything unless I have enough conviction that the breakout is for real. First profit target would be around 380 (the next level of support after 400...although 400 does seem like a stronger support to me...)

While waiting, I'm definitely going to go for scalps if the tape is friendly.

TF Trade 12/3

Canceled my initial stop order when market showed no sign of wanting to go up.

No staring at charts after that, stealing only glances from time to time to see how the market's doing in general.

Once TF started to reverse up and climb towards 444, I continued to work on what I was doing. I was adamant about trading the pattern that I had planned to trade and nothing else.

TF finally closed way above 444, which was significant, as that was a strong resistance. After that, it sped all the way up to 448, then 449. Just the momentum I was waiting for, and I entered at market.

8 minutes into the trade and TF's upward move started to show signs of exhaustion. I covered.

Moments later, TF has retraced more than 3 points from my exit price.

My profit target was initially set at 460, but I decided not to push my luck, as the market wasn't looking exactly bullish by today's standards (something like +50 points for DOW).

Another day that went well coz I wasn't staring at my charts, the tape, and the market. There was only one goal on my mind, and it's to trade the plan I've prepared for earlier today. And I knew that by staring at my charts, the temptation to alter my plan and get into a trade on impulse is not going to be just a possibility. It will be a certainty.

Que Sera Sera & TF Trade

Placed a stop limit order to buy TF at 448.

If it can't break above resistance at around 444, that's just too bad.

I'm not going to drive myself crazy drawing all kinds of lines and channels anymore. And I most definitely am not going to go for ticks and a few points anymore.

So if it is not strong enough to pierce the ceiling, I'm letting it go. It's not like I absolutely HAVE TO play.

My experience with TF and FX and every instrument I've traded is that the best trades are the ones I paid the least attention to: once I've made up my mind about which way they were going, I placed my bet, my stops and my profit target, and then basically just put them behind me and went about doing something else.

On those occasions that I got stopped out, I barely felt a thing, coz I was fully prepared to part with what I considered merely a cost in doing business in the first place.

If only I will apply that to my life....

Instead, I have let the way I live my life influence the way I trade. I am obsessed with details, and frequently sit for 3 to 6 hours - without so much as getting up to take a sip of water - just analyzing dozens of forex pairs, and up to 7 timeframes for all the major indices and futures that I don't trade. I looked for and experimented with methods that will allow me to get as much as I can from a move and never get shortchanged by a retracement. Even when I have a view of the market in the short, mid and long term, I find myself desperately needing to establish trends in the lowest timeframe. There's hardly a moment during market open that I don't ask myself "so are we up, down or going nowhere now??".

Enough.

Today, I gave myself a break. With all the applications running on my computer, and all the books I wanted to finish sitting right in front of me, I closed my eyes for a good whole hour, in a room that hummed with the queerest sound.

After coming out of my trance, I realized that I've not been ME for a long time.

When was the last time that I was COOL?

How did I end up becoming a nervous wreck?

When did I start giving a damn about details?

When was the last time that I was cold, unaffected and just blatantly obnoxious?

When did I stop being steady and unflustered?

When the light of my life was put out abruptly, I guess.

And I became who I am today - constantly afraid of losing something: love, career, freedom, respect, pride, my sister, my cats, my life, MY MIND.

If I don't get fear out of the way, and if I don't find a way to curb my insane need to have COMPLETE control over everything that's in my life, I'm never going to make it in trading.

I have to stop wanting the very thing that no amount of money can buy. It's as if I've been on a 15-year quest to torture myself so I can numb the pain of having directly and indirectly cost the lives of those supposedly dearest to me.

I am going to have to stop being uncool in my interaction with that special someone. He shall be treated like everyone else in my life - people I am fully prepared to bid farewell to anytime and know that I will not feel an ounce of sadness after they're gone. I cherish my friends for as long as they want to be my friends. But I'll never shed a tear or pester them should they decide they're too good for me. They know that about me and hence never feel pressured to call on me on a regular basis. So why shouldn't he be given the same assurance and peace of mind?

When I can treat him like air - and I'm really starting to notice it's not that difficult - I'll be more hopeful that I'll eventually succeed in finding my edge as a trader.

In life as in trading, I must EMBRACE "que sera sera", NOT condemn it.

TF Trades 12/2

It never fails to amaze me that whenever I am looking for a trade, the trade will end up giving me hours of stress, and that those that I am NOT looking for tend to run into profit zones immediately.

Was looking for a daytrade but needed TF to breakout on the upside of the triangle (see chart below). So I wasn't looking to scalp. But the tape was so predictable today that I couldn't just sit watching.

So, while waiting, I took a few scalps.

TF 5min


Am seeing a bull flag in the making.

Waiting PATIENTLY for a breakout and then a pull-back before placing a long entry.

Am not too hopeful about today's range though...

Anyway, if I can't get a good entry before lunch, I'm turning in.

TF 12/2 - Fib Retracement Level 61.8%

The market is in such a dire state that Briefing no longer knows what to say.

TIME TO BUY!!!! LOL!

Of course it's only prudent to wait for a valid pattern to emerge before one hits the "ask" button.

TF Hourly

What I see:

- Yesterday's 50 over point drop has taken out 60 over percent (ie. ENOUGH!!) of TF's gains accumulated in the past 4.5 sessions

- TF's fallen through support provided by Nov 20's peak, and sitting on my purplish downtrend line

- TF bouncing off the floor of my red descending triangle (I did say "what I see", didn't I? Ok, maybe "imagine" would be a more suitable word...)

- Strong resistance above at 460 - 488

A breakout from the descending triangle and piercing of the resistances provided by the price consolidation area above (460-488) would be needed to confirm trend continuation (ie. UP).

A more likely scenario is that TF would test the 412 low again.

Whether it'll bounce off from there and break out of all the resistances above is anybody's guess.

At this moment, I'm not sensing any bullish bias in the market.

But maybe...just maybe...and I'm REALLY HOPING...that we'll see a breakout on the upside today.

TF Trades 12/1

Stopped out once, stopped out twice.

Loss: 550

So much for today.

BUY again tomorrow!!