Everest Or K5?

One of Austin's videos that I really like.



You can find his other videos here.

Many reading this post are going to start hating me - that is, if you don't already. And that's fine. I'm not here to please. I like to speak my mind, and I like to share what has been of value to me.

I mean, I did mention that this is MY DIARY.

I'm not Austin's client, and I do not benefit in anyway from your accepting his philosophies and beliefs in trading. The main reason that I'm "promoting" Austin's teaching is that I have nothing else better to do. Market's dead, I need a break in between my studies, and I'm extremely annoyed by people out there who don't trade themselves but yak a lot of crap about trading that's rather TOXIC.

Before you dismiss what I have to say about holding for profits and trading multiple instruments, be reminded that I have been a scalper myself who used to trade just the ER2, then the ES ONLY. I made money in my first year of trading scalping the ER2 - that was Aug 2008. I fumbled it in 2009, although the damage was not catastrophic FOR ME. I still scalp well today - if I don't overtrade, and if I don't hear from my mum, I make money 90% of the time. But the 10% of the time that I had messed up, I had put a huge dent in my trading account. It would take me a long time to recover from the shock of such drawdowns, and it would take me a very, very long time to recover the money that was thrown away, simply coz my profit for each trade was just too minuscule compared to my cost of trading ie. the wide stops that I used.

I'm not the type to stick with something that doesn't work. I have the habit of constantly throwing out things - including methods, systems, theories, hypothesis etc etc that I have painstakingly put together - once I'm satisfied they are a waste of my time.

But that's just me of course. I'm not suggesting that that's THE WAY to learn. What I'm saying is that there's a lot of garbage out there and it's so important to periodically sift through what's in your knowledge bank and be able to tell the junk from the gems and be willing to just toss out the former in a heartbeat.

I do not condemn scalpers. But I do condemn those who are in a position to scalp an instrument like the ES (for instance, market makers & REBATE traders) who encourage the average retail traders to take that route. Scalping is just NOT for everyone.

Here , and here are easier reads on rebate trading.

10 Items Or Less

What's with the good Doctor??????!!

I start my day EVERYDAY knowing there're data releases (though I do forget the time of release from time to time) and not giving a damn about what market's expectations are. And I most certainly do not have any thoughts regarding where market's likely to go as a result of these expectations not being met.

No wonder I start my day everyday completely CLUELESS.

Nothing much went on today. Crude inventory report totally destroyed my chart - not that it was pretty before - after all the sweat and blood I've put in to prepare for the session, all I could do once market opened was sit and watch. Traded soybean instead and gave up 200 profit once, then 100, while waiting for price to hit what was to me a very reasonable target of yesterday's high.

Well, at least I ended the day in the black.

My quiet inner world's a tad dark though.

Was watching "10 Items or Less" (for the 2nd time this week) during dinner, and couldn't get Morgan Freeman out of mind after that.

The movie is one of my favorites. Totally baffles D. I love the part where Freeman asks Scarlet to name her 10 keepers. And I melt everytime I watch the final scene where Freeman touches Scarlet's face gently, telling her they will never see each other again. It's so sad I could cry.

I've been thinking, if I were only allowed to keep 10 things, or less, for the rest of my life, what would they be.

D's keepers: Al, Keish, Me - that's ONE item; his mum, dad and sister; his home; his car; his money; his first car; INTERNET SERVICE; the COMPUTER; HIS JOB (!!!!)

Tharp Trader Test

Gav & MBA: I'm sold. Took the test, and realized I took it more than a year ago.

Result's the same.

If only I had paid attention to the warning on lifting stops, I would have been richer by thousands of dollars.

I Want To Kill Myself

I could really kill myself. Waited for this since 7am ET and gave up just before it gave me my signal (with 10 min, I have only ONE chance to enter). This is not the end of the move. 2min needs to show a divergence. I'm sure that this thing is looking for 5.598. That's a near USD 2000 move from my trigger.

I need to stop taking crappy trades. Dropping FX futures is the first step.

Freakin Market

Absolutely nothing is alive.

Felt really sore about having thrown away nearly USD 400 in a dead market and switched to scalping mode to recover my money. Had all my charts opened and traded every damn pattern that I recognized and got out before it failed.

Desperate situation calls for desperate measures.

The only thing that's keeping me happy now: Al's soft paws on my face when I sleep.

Crude Mess

I was really looking forward to trading on Jan 4.

So much so that I've not been able to sleep since Saturday.

I'm not kidding.

Came Jan 4 and I could barely keep my eyes open. Took a nap and got up at the open of the Europe session.

I've been shorting crude oil near 80 since Thurs (last trading day of the year) and getting stopped at breakeven each time. And finally when I gave up, it plunged 50 cents at the final hours. That was 10 minutes after I scratched my trade.

Anyway, I opened my chart yesterday at 2am ET and saw that crude was crawling up again. Didn't matter that it was trading above pivot and above MA and had made no swing lows, and didn't matter that my reading told me that I should totally go LONG - "it just can't keep going higher" was all that was on my mind.

Breaking 80 must have really exhausted the bulls I thought and I shorted it exactly where I would have gone long in the past, and then shorted it again when it made a high for the 2nd time.

My stop was fairly tight (I knew I was trading against trend) and I was stopped out for 100 in total.

3rd stop went totally wrong. I was stopped out for 6 ticks more than what I had set.

Didn't lose my cool though. When price hit R3 and took a pause there, I decided that crude can most definitely keep going higher. So I went long on a "inverted scallop" or Al Brook's "double bottom bull flag" pattern (also what Long and Wrong called "buy an uptrend cheaply to maximize profit, and minimize cost should I be wrong"), aiming for target at R4.

I scratched my long after some really fierce bear bars threatened to take out my stop.

As fate would have it, price didn't get anywhere near my stop, and continued soaring towards R4 instead.

But by then I was already in another short.

When price broke R4, I covered. Well I thought I did. I realized seconds later that I had entered another short instead. Just as price was shooting up. Lovely.

Since that would have been the 4th time that price was making a new high, and R4 has almost been the furthest that crude would go, I decided to just sit and see what happened.

Sure enough, price came tumbling down after making its newest high. So I was effectively averaging down. Got out at a USD 200 loss when price couldn't go any lower, it seemed. That was surely better than the - USD 1000 I was looking at before.

I'm just thrilled. A brand new year and I've started to do things I've never done before - fading the highs on a wildly bullish day and averaging down.

As I said, PnL to be posted at end of each month.

Here's the mess:

Clean Slate

This an account separate from all the others. I'll be taking only intraday swing trades. There's no target, and there's no timeline. Instruments that I'll be trading: CL, NG, GC, ZS, ZC, 6E, 6J, 6S, 6B, TF, ES. I'll be using my Infinity Futures account on top of this account during the US session

Trading Courses & Coaches

Revisiting an issue that I hold dear to my heart: Good Coaches vs False Teachers

Austin's starting his 5k (correction: just noticed it's 2.5K... Unbelievable...) project in Jan 2010. Am excited to see how it turns out.

D took a 1 point winner trading the TF on Thurs while listening to Austin. He usually runs after 3 ticks MAX.

I always say we tend to listen to strangers and acquaintances.

But who can blame us?

Family sabotages.

Except you, Seabloke, of course... I am still invited to CNY reunion dinner... RIGHT???

Trading Courses & Coaches

Revisiting an issue that I hold dear to my heart: Good Coaches vs False Teachers

Austin's starting his 5k (correction: just noticed it's 2.5K... Unbelievable...) project in Jan 2010. Am excited to see how it turns out.

D took a 1 point winner trading the TF on Thurs while listening to Austin. He usually runs after 3 ticks MAX.

I always say we tend to listen to strangers and acquaintances.

But who can blame us?

Family sabotages.

Except you, Seabloke, of course... I am still invited to CNY reunion dinner... RIGHT???

2009 - Reflection

Strangely, I haven't much to say about the year that's gone by just too quickly. There was no drama, no tragedy, no sufferings. Absolutely the best year of my life.

Makes me wonder, is sadness really merely a product of our own imagination? If we haven't the time to think about things that make us sad, do we then naturally live happily regardless of what happens around us?

I try and I try but my mind's drawing a blank. I simply have nothing to say. I have been living each day as it comes, and when it's gone, I can hardly remember what it was like.

Maybe this is the life that I've been longing for since I was a child.

For the first time in my life, I am happy.

What's With 2010???

It's 5:30am, Dec 31 2009.

I'm sleepless.

Seabloke,
I WANT THIS TO START THE NEW YEAR:
http://www.realself.com/Latisse/reviews

I can't believe I actually spent half the day doing loads of laundry, and the bulk of the other half surfing the net checking out useless girlish stuff. After I'm done, I realize I need MUCH LONGER, THICKER EYELASHES to seduce D into paying someone to do my housekeeping job.

2009 - Wrap Up

No wrap up.

Trading is a journey.

Ok, that figure was a real eye-sore. I'm putting it behind me (D keeps the score anyway), which I will, and am looking forward to 2010.

No trading today (12/30) and tomorrow (12/31). I want a green month (USD 4600).

Starting Jan 2010, I'll be posting monthly figures. Will still post trades, very likely not daily though.

Natural Gas Trades 12/29 (Tues) & Austin P

PnL for 12/28 & 12/29

NG 2min

Both short entries.

Still really clumsy on execution (actually, always the entry). And a little generous on initial stops. Guess they go hand in hand. I can be less generous when I'm more precise. Not exactly great money management in the long run, but am working on improving execution.

2nd attempt after the first was stopped out was a little easier as far as setting stop is concerned. It was a USD 160 stop (less than half of what I set for the first trade). And I was able to move it to + USD100, then + USD 150 just prior to that plunge that hit my target.

It was a real struggle to see 300 disappear right before my eyes TWICE though.

Had I been trading like before, I would have taken the 300, and call it a breakeven day, effectively letting the vicious cycle continue forever.

I decided that since I had the conviction to get in again, I'm holding to target.

Besides, I wasn't going to be taking a loss if I get stopped out at the new stop.

Best case scenario: I get my net USD 400 profit; worst case scenario: -USD 200. I can live with the latter.

Was listening to Austin's videos the whole day, and totally tickled by him, even when I was in trade. A really, really lovely guy. Unorthodox, but definitely VERY wise. He most definitely was the reason that I stuck with what was a reasonable bet. Something about the voice I guess.

Gold Trade 12/28 (Mon) & An Exasperated Doc

GC 2min

Just 1 GC trade today since the last time I posted my PnL.

Basis of entry is a little complicated, but the main reason is MACD divergence (overlayed on main chart - I have difficulty focusing on 2 regions at the same time, so everything at ONE place).

Targeted exit was pivot at 11o3 (thick solid red line on chart), or on MACD bullish divergence, whichever's hit first.

I exited on extreme MACD reading instead, at 1106, leaving USD 300 on the table.

But it's ok. Holding for 10 hours for something I wanted, tightening my stop from 5 ticks above HOD to 2 ticks above breakeven while GC struggled to stay above 1110 - it's an experience I'll pay 300 bucks for, ONCE.

Again, if I see something in the instruments I want to trade tmrw til thurs, I'll trade. Otherwise, I'll listen to the good doc and stay in bed after taking my medication. I was at his yesterday (finally, after 4 days of asthma plus flu attack...Doc was gone during xmas...), and when we were almost done, I asked Doc a few innocent questions.

Me: Doc, do I have to stop taking chilli padi (really, really tiny chilli that's REALLY REALLY spicy) and fried food (I'm a steam food, soupy food, white meat, nearly vegetarian person, but for the past week I've been taking food that my system must find really repulsive)?

Doc: Well, if you're not used to it, then don't take it at all coz it's going to upset your stomach and your throat. If you want your system to get used to it, keep taking it after you get better (what a wise doc).

Me: So, Doc, do I have to stop smoking for the time being?

Doc: I THOUGHT YOU QUIT???!!

Me: ..........

Doc put me on Zyban twice and it worked the 2nd time. That was more than 7 years ago. I stayed clean for 5.5, or was it 6 years....anyway, I pointed my finger at D and said it was his fault.

I'M ONLY HUMAN.

I have 4 pills (for asthma, allergy, flu, and throat infection) plus a really foul smelling cough syrup to take 4 times everyday. I took 3 in the 10 hours I was in trade. What a record.

Ziad, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013 (Cut The "The World's Ending In 2012" Crap!)

play around with what feels natural
don't let anyone mess up your swing

From Ziad.

I always love Ziad's emails. He writes in a way that I can fully understand. Reading him is like reading Enid Blyton. Not a single word bores.

I'm not paying Ziad a tribute. After all, he's well and alive and kicking ass.

Ha.

Sorry, Ziad.

The 2 lines came in 2 separate emails 2 months apart. I've been messing around with my swings since, and seriously, I enjoyed it. Tremendously.

Fun aside, the info gathered in the process is priceless. Had I not ventured/ fooled around, I wouldn't have found the missing pieces of the puzzle I've been searching for for the longest time.

Since the beginning of this year, D has been telling me over and over that all I needed to do was to stick to what I do best. Problem was, I hadn't the slightest inkling what that was. There was absolutely no proof that I was doing anything right in fact. D brought up the 200, 300, the occasional 400 and 500 daily gains - I mentioned the 800, 1000, 1200 and 2000 daily LOSS. D said that I was good at scalping. I said I needed to be good at LOSING. I know, I'm yawning too. Cut your losses quick, let your profits run. YAWN.

D's impression has always been that I am getting way ahead of myself, that I am not happy with my small consistent gains. He's totally right. I am indeed very unhappy. I have been miserable as a matter of fact. Trading was all about protecting whatever amount I had made for that particular week, and about not letting a few stop outs wipe them out. That's no way to trade!

Anyway, I really digressed.

This post is really to thank Ziad for his emails. If there's anything I do well, it's to have fun doing serious work. I just needed a reminder. And I will never let anyone mess up my swing. Not that anyone can anyway unless they know the way to my cave.

Something I found out about my trading in 2009 - the losses and the agonies were necessary. I don't know how else to put it across, and I won't attempt to.

That said, I'm not giving myself 10 years to enjoy the pain.

I graduated.

I'm serious. I always hated school.

XMAS RANT

Fell really sick yesterday. Could barely move around. Managed to do a little reading, and spoke with an old friend who called after I text him. He must have figured I wasn't in trade. Told me he's moving to Australia with his family. I said good for him.

Life here can be quite a pain for those that cannot tell the pradas from the gucci's, cannot appreciate the soulless-ness of the country, cannot understand why everyone's flocking to the ION, and attending Halloween parties in ultra thick makeup and pretty, sexy evening dresses.

I took some time to log on to facebook to look at a picture that a friend was upset over. It was a picture of her husband. There was a lady in the picture. Her head was resting on his. In another, she was holding his hand. My friend's not the hyper-sensitive kind. After going over the husband's album, I know why she's upset.

Since I was logged on, I checked out a close friend's wife. The pair has had some problems before they were married and I was asked to mediate. I met up with them separately to listen to them. Shortly after, they tied the knot. That was almost a year and a half ago. Anyway, I was looking at her pictures and felt really sad for my friend. I could barely recognize her. While she was definitely really sweet looking before and had the most innocent smile, she is a complete sex bomb now. Pictures of her at numerous parties and holiday trips show an extravagant lifestyle (ok, I do recognize the brand of her shades, tote bags, dresses, even the fake eyelashes) that I think my friend is probably having a very hard time supporting (he's young, his family isn't rich, he just set up his own business and hardly surviving). Her bubble bath and bikini pics had me frowning the whole time I was going over them. I am judging. Yes. I can't help it. I am a rebel, but I am traditional. I believe that a lady that's married is a lady that has lost all her rights to flaunt her body for ALL to see. And I believe that a man who enjoys having others go gaga over his wife's body is a sick man. And I know my friend's not sick.

30 minutes on facebook made me feel 30 years older after I logged out.

I should be in bed, but I'll rather read and review my charts. These are things that always make me happy. Work makes me happy. Following the real life story of a woman from New York who travelled alone to Italy and India, spending a whole year away from people that she was close to but who hurt her - makes me happy.

Yes, I live in a world of my own. But I'm happy here. I wish I'd never have to step back into that ugly reality out there, where people pretend to like and care for others when they can barely spare a thought for their own spouse, where people genuinely feel sorry for homely looking poor Janes that are not invited to parties, where people would not lend a mobile phone to a kid whose friend was SEEN struggling for his life in a calm river (the kid drowned in the end - he was REALLY not a swimmer, and neither was his friend, and they really thought he could wait til the civil defense got there. It's a shame that the passerby - a swimmer - was not willing to dive into the filthy river to save the boy; neither did he want to hand over his phone. An incident from years back that I never forgot and won't ever want to).

I hated this place the moment I touched down. It was the day that I stopped a fight that hundreds of others could have done before I got there, But they did nothing. Not only did they not do anything to break up the fight, they gave the bullies enough space to beat the daylight out of a 15-year-old boy so they could watch with their wives and kids. The boy was bleeding. There were families on weekend outing, there were M1 service personnels promoting their service at booths just meters away from the scene. There were a dozen gangsters older than the boy and they were kicking and punching him - and a girl with her 3 inch killer heels was stepping on his face! And no one did a bloody thing. I yelled at them so loud I nearly broke my voice and approached them holding my cigarette (I was having my smoke break when I heard the commotion). I had really wanted to put out my cigarette on the girl's face. The gang was gone in less than a minute. None could be found afterwards. The boy asked if I could walk him to the opposite side of the street where he lived. He didn't want to file a report. Seriously, I don't care if that was some sort of a gang fight. A dozen against one is outright bullying.

Parents who chose to do nothing that day but stood by to watch are imparting a certain set of values to their children.

That was 12 years ago.

Today, I live among people who were taught from young to not meddle in other's business, to not care, to not feel, to not be interested in activities that do not generate immediate monetary benefits for them.

I live among people who are obsessed with their looks, with showing off their material possessions and with getting into the "right" social circles, people who cannot tell right from wrong.

Well, ok, they do know the right from wrong. Here, to be poor is wrong. Damn wrong.

D was collecting his pants from Armani last weekend, and while waiting, he overheard a lady demanding specifically for ANY pair of jeans that says "Emporio Armani". That particular outlet carries only "Armani Jeans" - which to her, is inferior to E A. She was clear in her instruction. She didn't care about design. She just wanted the brand name to be prominently shown on her jeans.

Yes, D likes Armani. And Gucci. And Dolce & Gabbana. And Valentino. And Versace too.

But D's compassionate.

D's like my Dad.

And D plays the piano.

Poetic Energy Analyst

Cute Phil Flynn wrote this on FuturesMag:

T’was the last Energy Report before Christmas, while all through the pits
the oil had rallied before taking a hit.

The traders put on their positions with care,
yet a stronger dollar and stock-market gave the buyers a scare.

In the upcoming year the buyers will start fearing the FED,
while visions of rate increases will dance in their heads.
And with Obama as Chief, and trade that will be capped,
demand growth for oil might be in for a long winter’s nap.

Still Nigeria and Iran are starting to make a big clatter,
yet with a glut of oil and spare capacity it does not seem to matter.
Any production void will be filled in flash,
as oil producers are real hungry for cash.

You see OPECS production continues to grow. Even as Demand for oil is relatively slow.

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
the cartel thinks theses high prices can stay high next year...

But the little old cartel might be missing the trick,
if production exceeds demand growth oil could fall like a brick, as the dollar raises oil prices will quickly be tamed.

As the cartel will be cheating and I will call them by name! Now Iran! Now Iraq! Now Kuwait and Algeria, on Venezuela, on UAE, on Qatar and Nigeria. Libya and Ecuador have their backs to a wall, and Saudi and Angola may cheat for them all.

As the year ends the stock market continues to fly,
because when the Fed met with an obstacle, new rules did apply.
So up to the house-top the money supply grew,
with the sleigh full of dollars, and low interest rates too.

When rates will rise Fed is aloof.

But if inflation pressures rise stimulus could be gone in a poof.
The biggest threat to oil as things start turning around,
is that the battered US dollar may start to rebound.

Our soldiers are fighting in lands far away, and we should remember to pray for them each passing day.

It is for freedom that they are putting up this incredible fight

So to them and all of you Merry Christmas and good Night!

Trades (Live) & Merry Xmas

Entire week's trading in 2 days.

The rest of the time I sim traded, practising scaling in.

I'm not sure if this is the format I'll be using to blog about my results going forward.

I'm not showing charts and details of each trade for now until I can find a way to explain my trades without letting my explanation affect the way I trade the next day.

I keep a daily trading log and another journal for observation of how each of the instruments I trade behaves on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. So this blog is really just to document my results and my trading journey. It is of course also really my personal diary. I keep no private diaries coz I'm not big on writing to myself.

But I like to write. So, I'll just keep writing as and when I feel like it.

Oil & Beans

The potential of ZS and CL.

Corn's a little slow, so is yen (and 6E and 6B) after US market opened.

All shorts.

I'm following a specific schedule in terms of the instruments I trade. I trade on days with events & data releases, and I trade divergences & spreads. Without any of these, I don't trade. I've wasted enough resources trading uneventful days and on days that no one's puking.

ok, I really just wanted to show that TF sucks. But that's what TF does at this time of the year.

I'm going live on ZS on 26 Dec. Will be trading on both AT and IB.

This is my last trading post for 2009. As mentioned, I will post live trading results in Feb.

I'm not going to wish anyone a Merry Christmas, coz, personally, I don't like Christmas. I dislike Chinese New year even more though.

I just hate holidays.

Update on AUD/USD Long - still holding. I'm prepared for USD to keep going up til March, maybe even to May. I just bought really expensive USD to top up my Infinity Futures account, so I'm really not loving USD. To make things worse, I bought EUR as well. I think I might just have to keep shorting 6E til March...I'm holding both AUD and EUR. They are not leveraged so unless both goes to zero, my account is safe. I won't be able to trade FX in the meantime though.

ZS & 6E (SIM) Trades 12/18 (Fri) - Sell Everything Day

ZS 2min

6E 2min

ZS - same old same old. Just go with the trend. Not something I'm used to doing. Moving average helps.

6E - just a crazy fight to figure out where it was going after a round of data releases. Delayed response almost a norm on Fri for FX futures. Everyone was waiting for US market to open I gather. Chart above shows only the final trade.

Sim trading on both AT and IB platforms til Jan. Am looking for a simpler way to enter and exit volatile instruments like CL. With IB, I get really clumsy with bracket orders (I'm dumb, IB's for smart people).

I really like ZS and CL's clean moves. Totally addictive.