Journal - 11/10/04

Trade 1

02:41 - L HSI 13617 stp 13610 - trend, fib 38% pb
02:45 - Exit 13622 +5 - chickened out, scalp target was 13629 which was reached since charts were looking good at time of exit.

Trade 2

03:41 - L ESTX50 2 @ 2886 stp 2883 - 30m trend, 5m pb10ema
03:56 - All out @ 2884 -4 - nft, but should have exited at breakeven or 2885 instead

Trade 3

04:01 - L ESTX50 2 @ 2885 stp 2883 - 30m trend, 5m bline os
04:13 - Out 1 @ 2886 +1 - nft
04:13 - Out rem 1 @ 2885 b/e - mistake, was trying to exit at 2886 also but didn't notice sell limit order was set at 2884

Trade 4

06:46 - L ESTX50 2 @ 2881 stp 2876 - neutral to slightly bullish bias, 5m pb to 50ema support
06:58 - Out 1 @ 2883 +2 - scale out, near top of bb in sideways looking market
07:00 - Out rem 1 @ 2884 +3 - out at top of bb, nft

Note: Good hold! ES was very positive so was not expecting ESTX50 to fall. However, Euro strength was putting pressure on ESTX50.

Change in Trading Plan

Starting Nov. 8, 2004, I will be changing my trading time as follows:

Asian Session - 20:45 to 22:45, 01:30 to 03:30
Europe Session - 02:00 to 04:50
US Session - 07:00 to 09:00

Also, my trading will now be limited to the HSI, EUR, GBL, ESTX50, and ZN.

After analyzing my trading results, I have come to the conclusion that my current long exhaustive trading hours may be contributing to my unfavorable results because I feel tired and sleepy already during the US market session. Considering my time zone, the US market opens very late already.

Journal - 11/05/04

Trade 1

21:30 - L HSI 13491 stp 15 - 5m trend, 5m pb10ema, entered on brk of pbh
21:53 - Exit @ 13469 -22 - stopped out

Note: First, entry was late again - continued to enter at brk of pbh, which has caused me to enter late.

Second, when price was moving down, widened stop to low of pullback. However, market has been screaming bad trade when it broke 13482 but still held on! Eventually, market stopped me out at big -22. Stop placement should have been at 13481, below the 13482 consolidation low.

Trade 2

03:31 - S EUR 1.2867 stp 3 - 10m trend, 3m pb10ema/upper bb
03:36 - Exit 1.2863 +4 - at 30m 50ema support

Note: Entry was good, at 10ema as required by setup.

Trade 3

04:06 - L ESTX50 2 @ 2883 stp 3 - neutral all time frames, 5m bline os/low bb
04:08 - Exit 1 @ 2884 +1 - market very slow, scale out
04:09 - Exit rem 1 @ 2884 +1 - going to eat now

Note: Entry was good, at low bb.

Journal - 11/04/04

Trade 1

21:42 - L HSI 13374 stp 15 - 5/10/30m trend, 5m 1st touch 50ema/low bb/bline os, entered on 5m pbh+1 (this type of entry is late for this setup)
21:46 - Exit 13380 +6 - not getting follow thru traction

Note: Late entry again, shud be at/near 50ema. The late entry got me out early and missed 16 more points.

Trade 2

04:06 - L EUR 1.2792 stp 4 - 30m trend, 30m pb503ma, 5m bline os
04:10 - Exit 1.2793 +1 - Early exit

Note: Have been cutting on winners! Trade was good at the outset but got impatient and wasted opportunity!

Comment: Yesterday's big loss seems to be affecting my patience and resulted in lots of wasted opportunities!

Journal - 11/03/04

Trade 1

10:02 - L EUR 2 @ 1.2792 stp 6 - trend, 5m pb10ema, entry at brk of pbh
10:03 - Exit 2 @ 1.2786 -12 - stop hit

Note: Hesitated to enter at 1.2786, which was at/near ema, and instead waited for break of pbh. Pbema setups are entered at or very near ema, not on brk of pbh or pbl! The bad entry only stopped me out because stop placement was within the trading range. After getting stopped out, price rocketed +100 points!

Journal - 10/29/04

Trade 1

10:16 - L ER2 2 @ 583.2 stp 6 - 3m counter, 30m sideways, 30m lowbb, 5m bline oversold,

Note: Widened stop to 11 ticks when market continued down after entry due to strong selling pressure. However, 30m chart is sideways so held on because market extremely oversold and at 30m lowbb, expecting bounce. If market is trending, widening stop is a bad idea.

10:24 - Exit 1 @ 583.4 +2 - scale out, price went negative and almost got stopped out, entry price not good, bounce doesn't look strong
10:25 - Exit rem 1 @ 583.4 +2 - bounce not strong, strong selling pressure looks like price will retest low

Journal - 10/28/04

Today's Lesson: Never trade somebody else's strategy/system without first testing it. There usually are nuances in one's strategy/system which the developer has learned through experience. Also, before adopting somebody else's strategy/system, it is important to determine if it fits your trading style.

Trade 1

03:17 - L ESTX50 2 @ 2814 stp 5 - trend, 5m RH
03:23 - Exit 1 @ 2816 +2 - scale out, stalling here
03:24 - Exit rem 1 @ 2816 +2 - looks like short-term res at 2717/18, 5m bline ob

Trade 2

03:35 - L ESTX50 2 @ 2814 stp 5 - trend, 3m pb10ema
03:51 - Exit 1 @ 2816 +2 - scale out at res
03:54 - Exit rem 1 @ 2816 +2 - taking too long, tape not getting active here

Note: Price broke thru resistance after I exited. Apparently, slow tape activity at resistance/support may indicate impending breakout/down. Abnormally big blocks went through 1 tick above resistance which signalled breakout.

Trade 3

09:01 - S EUR 1.2700 stp 5 - counter, 10m AJ 1-2-3 setup, pbl brk
09:02 - Exit 1.2705 -5 - stopped

Note: Aggressive entry of 1-2-3 reversal setup. Entered on break of point 3. The conservative entry is break of point 2.

Comment: 5 and 10min chart showed price developing an uptrend, broke above and pulled back to 50ema, near lowbb support therefore making this low probability trade.

Trade 4

09:40 - L EUR 2 @ 1.2748 stp 11 - trend, 5m RH (invalid setup, pb exceeded 3 bars)
09:43 - Exit 2 @ 1.2737 -22 - stopped

Note: RH not valid here because more than 3 pb bars. Price went against against me and never went positive, market saying bad trade but I failed to listen because I was occupied with the new system.

Trade 5

09:49 - L EUR - 2 @ 1.2746 stp 12 - trend, no setup
09:53 - Exit 2 @ 1.2734 -24 - stopped

Note: Trade was emotional after trade 4 loss. Still shocked at the big trade 4 loss and traded trying to recover loss.

Comment: Emotional trades have always been disastrous! Judgement is clouded and I throw away all my rules especially the one where the market has to prove my trade correct for me to stay in the trade. When feeling emotional, it is best to stand up, regroup and clear mind of the emotion, which I did after this trade.

Also, AJ's system does not seem to fit my risk tolerance because stop placement is wide. I have to selectively take setups that are within my risk tolerance.

Trade 7

09:57 - L EUR 2 @ 1.2740 stp 5 - trend, 5m pb10ema, potl cci zlr
09:59 - Exit 1 @ 1.2750 +10 - scale out
10:00 - Exit rem 1 @ 1.2750 +10 - stalling here, pos res

Note: Market says good trade. Trade was positive quickly!

Comment: Nice regroup. Focusing on the proven system and trading within the plan always produces good results!

Trade 8

10:21 - L ER2 2 @ 582.2 stp 8 - 3m counter, 30m trend, 30m pb20ema, lowbb, 10m 1st T50ema
10:25 - Exit 1 @ 583.2 +10 - scale out
10:27 - Exit rem 1 @ 583.2 +10 - at 3m 10ema pb res

Note: Trade was negative on entry due to selling pressure of downtrend but quickly reversed, which proved trade was correct.

Journal - 10/27/04

Back to trading within the plan. Taking only pbh and pbl break entry triggers on setups.

Trade 1

21:52 - L HSI 12844 stp 15 - trend, 3m RH, pbh brk trigger
22:03 - Exit 12854 +10 - tape not showing buying interest

Trade 2

03:20 - L ESTX50 2 @ 2761 stp 3 - trend, 3m pb10ema, pbh brk
03:25 - Exit 1 @ 2763 +2 - scale out, having difficulty at 2764, pos resistance here
03:27 - Exit rem 1 @ 2762 +1 - several attempts at 2764 would not crack it, cci hooking down

Journal - 10/26/04

A disastrous day. First, missed big profits on a great buying opportunity on ER2 at extreme oversold level. Then, emotionally kept shorting a strong short squeeze rally. Wiped out several days of hard earned profits!

Trade 1

10:11 - S ER2 2 @ 570.5 - 10m sideways, pb20ema/pivot
10:12 - Exit 2 @ 571.1 -12 ticks - stop hit

Note: Trade stalled here a bit but never got down, market not proving trade correct so should have exited when it started to move against me. Have to work on reacting when market tells me I'm wrong!

Trade 2

10:13 - S ER2 2 @ 571.0 - no real reason here, emotional entry after 1st loss, entered above 50ema (bad trade)
10:15 - Exit 2 @ 571.6 -12 ticks - stop hit

Trade 3

10:16 - S ER2 2 @ 571.3 - price stalled a bit here, was thinking short covering over, still emotional (bad trade)
10:19 - Exit 2 @ 571.7 -8 ticks - exit at market as price remained negative

Note: Exit was good, market not proving trade as correct. However, should not have entered in the first place because no reason/setup!

Trade 4

10:21 - S ER2 2 @ 571.6 stp -8 - another emotional trade, still insisting short, no reason to short as price has not made a lower low yet on the 10min (bad trade)
10:24 - Exit 2 @ 572.4 -16 ticks - stop hit

Note: Emotion clouds judgement. My stop was 8 ticks. I never enter with that wide stop (risk). R/R here was very bad and no good reason/setup to enter.

Trade 5

10:51 - L ER2 2 @ 571.2 stp 3 - 10m sideways, at lower BB/emas support
10:53 - Exit 1 @ 571.8 +6 ticks - scale out, at middle of band
10:54 - Exit rem 1 @ 571.5 +3 ticks - price could not brk middle band, looking weak

Note: This was the only logical trade made today with good reason/setup and good R/R.

Comment: Disastrous day caused by trading without a valid price action entry and setup. Emotional trading is the cause of most of my disastrous days. My trading strategy/plan works, but if I deviate from it, disaster looms!

The lesson is trade within the plan!

Journal - 10/25/04

Trade 1 (only 1 trade today)

03:20 - L GBL 2 @ 117.16 stp -3 tgt1 +6 - trend, 10m pb10ema, potl cci zlr
03:42 - Exit 1 @ 117.18 +2 ticks - taking a long time, scale 1 out here to cover commissions
03:50 - Exit 1 @ 117.21 +5 ticks - 5m bline overbought

Note: Need to exercise more patience. I have been scaling out too early for the last few days. I have to work on scaling out at my first target unless the charts and price action tells me I should not wait for it and exit the trade.

Amended Exit Rules

Based on experiences in the past and my trading style, I will be implementing new exit rules as follows:

When price goes against me after entry...

And continues to trade against me for about another bar without getting stopped out, and trade volume in mt trade's direction is low, market is not proving my trade as correct. The logical move in this situation is to take a small loss or exit if price attempts to get back near breakeven on low volume on the T&S.

The logic for this rule is that a minor intraday support/resistance level may have been broken and therfore, price may not be able to come back to my trade direction. I can always reenter afterwards if price is able to come back, and the technical situation has changed in favor of the trade.

When price moves favorably right after entry...

Market is telling me my trade is correct so I should be a little more patient. I can manage stops a little looser than normal. Scale out at S/R levels and the second contract can be held longer for a higher target if market is trending. If market is moving sideways, exit using bline overbought/oversold levels or any CCI divergence or reversal hook signals.

Journal - 10/22/04

Trade 1

02:49 - L EUR 1.2624 stp -6 tgt +10 - trend, 3m pb20ema/at low bb sup/cci zlr
02:53 - Exit 1.2628 +4 ticks - 14 cci looks to be hooking down

Note: Early exit, target of +10 easily reached in 4 more minutes. Trade was positive at the outset so should have held longer for target. Cut winner!

Trade 2

03:21 - L ESTX50 2 @ 2788 stp -4 tgt1 +6 - trend, 3m pb20ema/cci zlr
03:24 - Exit 1 @ 2789 +1 tick - scale out (getting antsy because price doesn't move right away, which is turning into a bad habit)
03:31 - Exit 1 @ 2789 +1 tick - got scared on sudden price drop, then price rocketed!

Note: I'm starting to get into a bad habit of cutting winners! Trade was positive right at the outset indicating high probability of a good trade and I gave it away. Missed +15 to +20 ticks profit.

Trade 3

09:40 - L NQ 2 @ 1470.5 stp 2.0 pts -30m trend, 30m pb10ema; 3m countertrend, error in entry, wanted to enter at 1470.0 and failed to adjust limit order
09:42 - Exit 1 @ 1471.0 +0.5 - scale out, cover commissions, selling looks strong
09:43 - Exit 1 @ 1472.5 +2.0 - take profit on short-term countertrend trade

Journal - 10/21/04

Trade 1

22:00 - L HSI 13000 stp 12985 tgt +20 - 3m pot'l cci zlr, entry pbh+1, at 10-20-50 EMA support
22:02 - Exit 12983 -17 ticks - stopped out

Trade 2

22:03 - L HSI 13001 stp 12986 tgt +20 - reenter long, prev stop out appeared to be stop running, very few trades printed below 12990
22:06 - Exit 13015 +14 ticks - At top of BB, bounce stalling here

Note: Stop trading here. HSI low volume day, sideways action, high risk environment.

Trade 3

02:50 - L HSI 12957 stp 12944 tgt +20 - counter, 3m pbh+1, at prev day's support low, expecting bounce
02:52 - Exit 12959 +2 ticks - weak volume, not getting the bounce

Note: Expected bounce came on next bar. Got anxious and exited early.

Trade 4

04:21 - L ESTX50 2781 stp 2777 tgt +8 - counter, 3m pot'l cci div
04:34 - Exit 2777 -4 ticks - stopped out, sent limit order to exit at 2778 but did not notice limit price was 2779 so lost 4 ticks instead of just 3 on this error

Note: Price went down after entry and never went positive so should have exited when price came back to 2780.

Trade 5

04:38 - L ESTX50 2 @ 2779 stp 2774 tgt +8 - counter, 5m bline oversold, pot'l 10m bullish hammer
04:53 - Exit 2779 b/e - price went down after entry again, exited when price came back, hammer did not form on 10m chart, also at top of 3m BB here

Trade 6

06:06 - L EUR 1.2618 stp -9 tgt +12 - trend, 10m pbh+1
06:53 - Exit 1.2619 +1 tick - 3m pot'l cci zlx

Note 1: Poor trade mgt, 5m bline was overbought already on a sideways market due to low volume so should have taken profits at +3 to +5 area.

Note 2: Violated trading rules here because trade taken in time period I should not trade due to low volume.

Trade 7

09:33 - S ZN 113'195 stp -5 tgt +8 - trend, 3m pb10ema
09:45 - Exit 113'200 -1 tick - taking too long, price 2-3 ticks above pivot support and price also came back above 30m 50EMA support so setup no longer valid

Journal - 10/20/04

3 trades today. I got out early on all of them due to lack of follow through and volume. Eventually after a long time, the big move follow through came. Oh well, just didn't work out for me.

Trade 1

21:54 - S HSI 13087 stp 13095 - trend, 3m RH, low vol pb
21:56 - Exit 13081 +6 ticks - nft, volume not picking up on brk of pbl

Note: Good decision to exit immediately on lack of volume. Price went back up afterwards. Big gap down probably causing more sideways action.

Trade 2

02:51 - L GBL 2 @ 116.66 stp 116.60 - trend, 3m pb20ema, 5m bline oversold
03:04 - Exit 1 x 116.67 +1 tick - scale out, taking a long time, cover commissions
03:09 - Exit remainder @ 116.68 +2 ticks - nft, heavy volume but price not making progress

Trade 3

03:26 - S ESTX50 2 @ 2777 stp 2781 - trend, 3m pb10ema, pot'l cci zlr
03:31 - Exit 1 @ 2774 +3 ticks - scale out, very slow and volume not picking up much
03:33 - Exit remainder @ 2776 +1 tick - nft, big volume did not push this down and bounced back instead, buyers in the area?

Journal - 10/19/04

22:15 - L HSI 13117 stp 13102 - trend, 5m RH, 3m/5m pb10ema, pot'l cci zlr
22:20 - Exit 13118 +1 tick - nft, no pick up in volume on t&s, buyers not excited so i'm out

Note: Low trading volume, high risk market.

Journal - 10/18/04

Incorporated Time and Sales in my trade strategy starting today. Will be on the lookout for big block trades at support or resistance areas for possible bounce or breakout/breakdown.

Made 1 trade in a generally sideways market.

09:46 - L ER2 2 @ 566.5 stp 565.9 - countertrend, 3m cci div, t&s print of 84 on the buy side at 566.5 after two bar drop on the 3min chart, flurry of buys came afterwards supporting the long position
09:47 - Exit 1 @ 567.1 +6 ticks - Scale out, stalling a bit here
09:49 - Exit remaining 1 @ 567.5 +10 ticks - stalling here, take profit on countertrend trade

Note: Time and Sales printed 101 around 10:25 @ 567.7. Price went up +6 then back down to 567.4 before going back up again. Did not chase it at 568 when I saw it.

Journal - 10/15/04

Trade 1

04:06 - L ESTX50 2768 stp 3t - trend, 50% fib retrace, heavy vol pb so high risk trade
04:21 - Exit 2771 +3 ticks - nft, cci hook, also t&s not printing buy trades (trades on offer/ask) so no buying support

Note: This trade preceded a missed trade I was anticipating and watching on a developing 30min cci divergence because I was called by my wife. So entry was made on pullback but the heavy volume on the pb made the trade high risk!

Trade 2

04:47 - L ESTX50 2766 stp 3t - entry pbh + 1 tick, noticed two trades of > 4000 and subsequently > 1200 on T&S, reason for entry, also oversold on 5min bline
04:56 - Exit 2764 -2 ticks - nft cci zlr, no flurry of big trades to confirm the big volume trade

Trade 3

04:56 - S ESTX50 2763 stp 5t - stop and reverse, cci zlr
04:58 - Exit 2761 +2 ticks - price quickly stalled, nft so i'm out, normally the zlr would result in a quick breakdown reaction

Trade 4

10:00 - L ER2 2 @ 564.5 stp 10t - counter, entry 5min pbh + 1t, 5min bline oversold
10:03 - Exit 1 @ 564.8 +3 ticks - not bouncing quickly, scale out
10:09 - Exit remaining 1 @ 564.6 +1 tick - stopped out, price rallied after stop out

Note: Stopped out prematurely because of bad stop placement. Should place stop below 5min pbl (5min was entry basis).

ER2 Observation

Observed that prints of 80 or higher on T&S could indicate short-term direction. Tradeable with tight stop especially if going with trend and confirmed by BB and other indicators. A flurry of higher volume trades after the big print(s) should confirm trade. Absence of flurry of trades afterwards could mean buying or selling to the opposite side.

Journal - 10/14/04

08:45 - L EUR 2 @ 1.2395 stp 6 ticks - trend, 3min pb10ema, entry pbh + 1 tick
08:48 - Exit 1 @ 1.2400 +5 ticks - scaled out
08:48 - Exit remaining 1 @ 1.2400 +5 ticks - not getting the follow thru I expect, heavy selling on T&S and high vol on pb

Journal - 10/13/04

Trade 1

21:58 - L HSI 13310 stp 13295 tgt +20 - trend, entered on pb though no real setup yet after big thrust up move, looking for bounce back to previous high
22:05 - Exit 13297 -13 ticks - stopped out

Note: Poor trade management! Price bounced up to +17/18 and went back down. Price kept trying to bounce but on the succeeding attempts, it could not get back to the +17/18 level anymore. I did not get out hoping that I'll get my target exit and was actually even thinking higher price. I kept on waiting even if the charts already gave a warning sign that the bounce is weak and the longs will feel antsy to get out when price could not break previous bar high on the 3min chart. I should have taken whatever profit was available. This was a winner turned loser!

Trade 2

22:10 - L HSI 13320 stp 13290 - trend, 2min pb10ema, poor entry at top of BB
22:17 - Exit 13301 -19 ticks - no follow thru

Note: Could not pull trigger to exit when price hit 13310 even when I felt that price was a failure. Went into hope mode and felt too emotional after trade 1 loss. This trade was a loser right from the start and if not emotional, I should have exited when price went back close to my entry for a small loss.

Trade 3

03:37 - S ESTX50 2813 stp 2815 - counter, 10min cci divergence
03:42 - Exit 2812 +1 tick - not getting follow thru, trend still strong

Trade 4

04:12 - L EUR 1.2320 stp 1.2314 - trend, 5min 1st pb50ema, 5min bline oversold, 2min cci divergence
04:26 - Exit 1.2323 +3 ticks - no follow thru, European economic data coming out at 4:30

Journal - 10/12/04

10:51 - S ER2 572.1 stp 572.7 - trend, 5m bline, 10m pot'l cci zlr
11:00 - Exit 572.6 -5 ticks - stopped out

Note: I failed to react and exit trade when price was not getting follow through to the downside after a long bearish hammer. Normally, the long bearish hammer should already catch the attention of sellers and price should quickly show this action. The lack of negative action was already a warning sign price was not going down and I should have exited immediately.

Journal 10/11/04

Made 1 trade. Market was slow due to Columbus day holiday.

Trade

10:20 - L ER2 575.3 stp 574.7 - counter, 5min bline oversold, enter 1-tick above pbh
10:29 - Exit 575.5 +2 ticks - nft, slow market

Note: At pre-market, I identified daily 200MA support on ER2 at 574.5 but just watched when price went down to test it. Missed a decent profit as a result.

Journal - 10/8/04

Well, hesitated again big time! Missed several 2-min pb10ema entries on the ZN, EUR after big move caused by non-farm payrolls report. Then, hesitated on shorting ES after short squeeze pushed it to 3-min 50ema. Also missed short on ER2 pb10ema.

Trade

02:50 - L EUR 1.2330 stp 1.2324 - trend, 2-min pb20ema after big up move
03:12 - Exit 1.2332 +2 ticks - taking too long (22 mins in the trade), nft

Note: Kept initial stop after entry because I expected stop gunning at 1.2329. As expected price run stops to 1.2327 stayed there a while then moved up. I held longer because charts remained positive. I exited eventually because price has not made any progress. The expected trend resumption has not materialized and we could be in a long sideways move. Of course, we know that after I got out, price moved higher just as if it only waited for me to get out.

Idea! CCI divergence on the 2, 3, 10-min charts was present when I entered but because of the strong up move, it resulted in a longer sideways action instead of a reversal before an eventual trend resumption.

Journal - 10/7/04

Two trades resulting in small gains. I still missed one good opportunity again but did not hesitate and traded the succeeding two setups that showed up. Hopefully, progress could be made in resolving hesitation problem that has been plaguing me the last week.

Trade 1

03:38 - S GBL 115.57 stp 115.60 - trend, 10-min pb10ema
03:56 - Exit 115.55 +2 - nft, taking a long time

Trade 2

08:58 - S ZN 111'270 stp 111'285 - trend, 5-min pb10ema
09:09 - Exit 111'265 +1 - nft

Hesitation, hesitation, hesitation!

HSI formed double bottom with oversold stochastics but I hesitated fearing that a wrong entry on HSI could go against me really based on observations of how HSI moves. The trading demon of wanting to be certain froze me from pulling the trigger.

Journal - 10/6/04

No trades made. Could not focus so decided to call it quits.

Journal - 10/5/04

Another disappointing day! No trades made. Market in sideways action.

Grrrr...did not pull the trigger on 1 ER2 cci bullish divergence setup on 3-min chart after an opening move down. Market has been in bullish mode so a bullish divergence was high probability with low risk.

Journal - 10/4/04

Bad day again - 1 breakeven trade and hesitated again on one good ESTX50 setup so missed good profits. U.S markets were choppy at start so no trades there too.

02:22 - S GBL 115.25 stp 115.28 - trend, 3-min pb10ema, low vol pb
02:31 - Exit 115.25 b/e - didn't like push back with higher volume

Note: Price moved favorably, a good sign. Tightened stop when price moved +4 but price wouldn't break down. Then, a push back with volume didn't look good to me, so I got out.

Here's ESTX50 chart on missed trade and profits.

Journal - 10/1/04

Disappointing day. Hesitated entry on ER2 and missed profits on huge rally.

Trade 1

02:40 - L GBL 115.70 stp 115.67 - 10-min pb10ema, 5-min bline sling
02:58 - Exit 115.67 -3 - stopped out

Note: This trade went negatively after entry and was never positive, which was a bad sign and therefore no need to hang in longer. Should have closed at/near b/e because good trades move favorably quickly without lingering too long in negative territory. Can always re-enter later if trade gives a signal or reverse if the other side gives the signal.

Idea! When price moves negatively after entry, check if an intraday range level S/R level is broken because if it did, chances are price will linger in the new range for a while. If it did break the price range of our entry, exit at/near b/e.

Trade 2

03:34 - S ESTX50 2750 stp 2753 - counter, at 30-min 50EMA res, pot'l 10-min cci div
03:40 - Exit 2748 +2 - no volume on pullback so trend should most probably resume

Note: As I have observed, winners move favorably right away. This one moved positively quickly but just could not follow through because it was going against a strong trend. Against a strong trend, I have to take quick profits!

My comment: Followed rule on countertrend trading!

Here's the chart for the missed trade. Need to work harder on pulling the trigger.

Journal - 9/30/04

Trade 1

07:25 - L EUR 1.2339 stp 1.2335 - trend, 5/10-min pb10ema, low vol pb
07:31 - Exit 1.2349 +10 ticks - target hit

Note: Target quickly hit as price suddenly rocketed by 30 ticks! This is the disadvantage of 1 contract trades - predefined targets fail to capture big moves.



My Comment: Followed my rules. No hesitation taking trade setup.

Trade 2

09:14 - L EUR 2 x 1.2403 stp 1.2397 - trend, 10-min pb10ema
09:17 - Exit 2 x 1.2397 -12 ticks - stop hit

Note: Traded 2 contracts in error. Failed to reconfigure installed new version of ZLT to trade only 1 contract.

Trade 3

09:29 - L EUR 1.2400 stp 1.2397 - trend, 10-min pb10ema
09:35 - Exit 1.2397 -3 ticks - stop hit

Note: Did not take profit at top of BB for +5 ticks and held on for target of 10 ticks, which was not reached and stop me out instead. Stop may have been too close but I stuck to my plan that if price goes back to 1.2397, I'm out.



My Comment: Tough luck, but I feel I did a good job of sticking to the plan. Losses are part of the business. The market will present better opportunities next time.

Journal - 9/29/04

No trades made today. Watched the markets but still feeling groggy from travel and can't focus. Will just pass on today's sessions and see what happens tomorrow.

Journal - 9/27-28/04

I used to post a journal on a message board. Though nothing much really happened earlier in the week because I am preparing to travel back to my current home, I am recapping here anyway to make it a complete week.

Tuesday, 9/28/04

Travel time so no trades made.

Monday, 9/27/04

10:57 - L EUR 1.2294 stp 1.2290 - trend, 5-min pb10ema
11:11 - Exit 1.2296 +2 ticks - nft, 10-min cci div

Note: 10 ticks target not met and had to exit due to cci div, pot'l revesal.