6/12 Weekly Review
It was not a good week. Compliance is everything and I ventured off and did a whole lot of whatever the hell I wanted. Took trades at poor locations, settled for simple scalps. Sized up on trades that had 0 business being that big. Waiting past my stop. Awful risk management. Pretty pissed.
Aside from performance, real life was also pretty real this week. Didnt sleep well, didnt get to bed on time, didnt wake up on time, new cat, every other cat in this house is pissed. Real life shit going down and here we are once again. Real life makes its way into my trading, NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I TELL MYSELF it does not and shouldnt make a difference. It does.
Boredom, frustration trades, early profit taking, settling for non playbook trades, it was all there this week. Perhaps a little burned out, going on a float trip this weekend, looking forward to it. Maybe too much, I just wanted to trade. I didnt have that usual killer drive. I just wanted it to go and be done with. I wanted the market to do X for me. When does that ever work out well.
There is a positive from all of this though. This week is making me realize even more so just how much your own personality and real life situations impact your trading. There are no shortcuts. There are no exceptions. I have to deal with it, and trade the market and nothing else. I have to have my plans in place and trades ready to go beforehand. I cannot force my own will onto the market and do as I please because I get crushed everytime. I am recognizing faster when I am 'off.' Problem now is that I knew it, and I did what I wanted anyways and still lost money.
I would even tell myself the night before/morning of "ok I know I am off right now, that means I have to be extra cautious about what I am doing,' And then I would do well! And then I would give it right back. Managing my trades and risk is of course important. But I did not manage myself/my emotions well at all. Simply NOT trading when recognizing my emotions are off, is managing my emotions. Get up, walk away. Come back focused and ready to trade the right way.
Volatility is here. It is go time. This is not the time to be slacking off, this is the time to make a killing given the opportunity I am seeing. This kind of market is where I need to be on my A game everyday.
I put pressure on myself to do the right thing. Is that good or bad? I think its bad if it isnt defined. If I dont have a plan for what the right thing is. I should know what my problems are and my solutions to them. I should be able to recognize when my emotions are off and I need to be extra cautious about what I do next. I should know when I need to say NO just as much as I should know when I need to say YES.
NUMBERS
-$284
31% WR
64% compliance
+18R
-Always hurts to see big +R on the week yet -p/l, Just means I am inverted on risk with losers vs winners. Sizing up on losers/taking larger than expected losses leads to this. Also not betting more on my biggest winners.
33 breakeven
15 Full -1R
10 More than -1R
Avg win $45
Avg loss -$25
Avg risk on W $25
Avg risk on L $29
Compliance down is biggest thing. More in problems.
Monday
Chased trades. Took at levels that were insignificant on top of not clear strength. Was putting size on on random level trades that had only just shows 1st sign of strength all day.
Tuesday
Was fine until the end. Took good trades, just couldnt get any good winners. Got frustrated towards the end and starting shooting at anything that looked good. Turned small green day into small red.
Wednesday
SPOT losses fine, NKLA traded around irrelevant HTF level that was not even holding above. Bad losses.
Thursday
Family came over, took a trade anyways, lost more than I should. Turned small green small red.
Friday
A+ day that I gave back way too much on. Just kept spinning the wheel and couldnt leave things alone. Fighting the trend. Taking LT trades at weak locations given a weak market. Bad longs and sized up on them. Just awful risk management.
The long dip that I did buy, was after it showed signs of strength. Not during the weakness dump.
Sized up on scalps that again were not at good locations. Bad RM.
PROBLEMS
Some serious problems this week.
-Settling for less.
I took a lot of trades that were not clean. Not around significant levels. Some trades were taken completely against the flow of the market where I get trucked getting out. I know what I needed to be avoiding but could not separate myself from the idea that I can get it right and right now.
-Risk management
Too many of these poor trades I sized up on and had no business doing that. Better trades around the right levels should have the same management style.
-Trading to trade
Im red on the day, I would start digging for something to trade. If you look hard enough youll find it. I have to accept that somedays Im going to have to deal with where im at on the day, and cant force the market to give me a good setup. Patience.
-Profit taking
A few really big wins I had, I had choked myself off too early. I ended up cutting too much size off from the trade because I was up, and had decent size on. Gave up bigger wins for the sake of less stress.
SOLUTIONS
-Label levels that you want to trade around and only trade those. Part of the solution is also recognizing when I need to avoid any trades at all and wait for a resolution before getting involved. When stocks are trading around levels without significant tape or volume cues, those are when I need to stay away and wait for a move 1st and then look to get involved on a new pullback.
-A solution that I dont want to use, is trading less size around insignificant levels, because I shouldnt be trading around insignificant levels anyways. The focus needs to be on trade location not size alone. I like the way I size into trades at the proper locations depending what I see next after initial entry. Scalps do NOT double in size after entry, only 50%. Same with reversals. I tried swinging for the fences on the wrong trades. Have to stay consistent
-Plan your trade, trade your plan. Accept that if its gone, its gone. I have to control myself better. I have to walk away from the desk when I start getting that urge. Its hard to put into words but I know what it feels like. Frustration, boredom, just being down on the day wanting to make it back. I have to catch myself before I put that dumb trade on and get up and walk off. Walking away is the solution. Get off the desk.
-I have to deal with the risk. There can be no exceptions. The only time I take off early is if there are warning signs. Like buyer/seller we are stuck at and cant get through. Lack of volume after a break. TL break. Let the trade do its thing.
GOALS
-STOP GAMBLING. When the trade is not clear like the rest of my best winners. Do not trade. To improve my win rate, I must take high probability setups. Ask myself before each trade, is this a HPB setup that is in my playbook? Is it clearly showing signs of strength or weakness, and holding levels that it should be holding? If the answer is no, I do not take the trade.
-Let your trade work. Do not get out when you are not supposed to.
-Walk away when you start to get that feeling. 3 losses in a row is a start.
Aside from performance, real life was also pretty real this week. Didnt sleep well, didnt get to bed on time, didnt wake up on time, new cat, every other cat in this house is pissed. Real life shit going down and here we are once again. Real life makes its way into my trading, NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I TELL MYSELF it does not and shouldnt make a difference. It does.
Boredom, frustration trades, early profit taking, settling for non playbook trades, it was all there this week. Perhaps a little burned out, going on a float trip this weekend, looking forward to it. Maybe too much, I just wanted to trade. I didnt have that usual killer drive. I just wanted it to go and be done with. I wanted the market to do X for me. When does that ever work out well.
There is a positive from all of this though. This week is making me realize even more so just how much your own personality and real life situations impact your trading. There are no shortcuts. There are no exceptions. I have to deal with it, and trade the market and nothing else. I have to have my plans in place and trades ready to go beforehand. I cannot force my own will onto the market and do as I please because I get crushed everytime. I am recognizing faster when I am 'off.' Problem now is that I knew it, and I did what I wanted anyways and still lost money.
I would even tell myself the night before/morning of "ok I know I am off right now, that means I have to be extra cautious about what I am doing,' And then I would do well! And then I would give it right back. Managing my trades and risk is of course important. But I did not manage myself/my emotions well at all. Simply NOT trading when recognizing my emotions are off, is managing my emotions. Get up, walk away. Come back focused and ready to trade the right way.
Volatility is here. It is go time. This is not the time to be slacking off, this is the time to make a killing given the opportunity I am seeing. This kind of market is where I need to be on my A game everyday.
I put pressure on myself to do the right thing. Is that good or bad? I think its bad if it isnt defined. If I dont have a plan for what the right thing is. I should know what my problems are and my solutions to them. I should be able to recognize when my emotions are off and I need to be extra cautious about what I do next. I should know when I need to say NO just as much as I should know when I need to say YES.
NUMBERS
-$284
31% WR
64% compliance
+18R
-Always hurts to see big +R on the week yet -p/l, Just means I am inverted on risk with losers vs winners. Sizing up on losers/taking larger than expected losses leads to this. Also not betting more on my biggest winners.
33 breakeven
15 Full -1R
10 More than -1R
Avg win $45
Avg loss -$25
Avg risk on W $25
Avg risk on L $29
Compliance down is biggest thing. More in problems.
Monday
Chased trades. Took at levels that were insignificant on top of not clear strength. Was putting size on on random level trades that had only just shows 1st sign of strength all day.
Tuesday
Was fine until the end. Took good trades, just couldnt get any good winners. Got frustrated towards the end and starting shooting at anything that looked good. Turned small green day into small red.
Wednesday
SPOT losses fine, NKLA traded around irrelevant HTF level that was not even holding above. Bad losses.
Thursday
Family came over, took a trade anyways, lost more than I should. Turned small green small red.
Friday
A+ day that I gave back way too much on. Just kept spinning the wheel and couldnt leave things alone. Fighting the trend. Taking LT trades at weak locations given a weak market. Bad longs and sized up on them. Just awful risk management.
The long dip that I did buy, was after it showed signs of strength. Not during the weakness dump.
Sized up on scalps that again were not at good locations. Bad RM.
PROBLEMS
Some serious problems this week.
-Settling for less.
I took a lot of trades that were not clean. Not around significant levels. Some trades were taken completely against the flow of the market where I get trucked getting out. I know what I needed to be avoiding but could not separate myself from the idea that I can get it right and right now.
-Risk management
Too many of these poor trades I sized up on and had no business doing that. Better trades around the right levels should have the same management style.
-Trading to trade
Im red on the day, I would start digging for something to trade. If you look hard enough youll find it. I have to accept that somedays Im going to have to deal with where im at on the day, and cant force the market to give me a good setup. Patience.
-Profit taking
A few really big wins I had, I had choked myself off too early. I ended up cutting too much size off from the trade because I was up, and had decent size on. Gave up bigger wins for the sake of less stress.
SOLUTIONS
-Label levels that you want to trade around and only trade those. Part of the solution is also recognizing when I need to avoid any trades at all and wait for a resolution before getting involved. When stocks are trading around levels without significant tape or volume cues, those are when I need to stay away and wait for a move 1st and then look to get involved on a new pullback.
-A solution that I dont want to use, is trading less size around insignificant levels, because I shouldnt be trading around insignificant levels anyways. The focus needs to be on trade location not size alone. I like the way I size into trades at the proper locations depending what I see next after initial entry. Scalps do NOT double in size after entry, only 50%. Same with reversals. I tried swinging for the fences on the wrong trades. Have to stay consistent
-Plan your trade, trade your plan. Accept that if its gone, its gone. I have to control myself better. I have to walk away from the desk when I start getting that urge. Its hard to put into words but I know what it feels like. Frustration, boredom, just being down on the day wanting to make it back. I have to catch myself before I put that dumb trade on and get up and walk off. Walking away is the solution. Get off the desk.
-I have to deal with the risk. There can be no exceptions. The only time I take off early is if there are warning signs. Like buyer/seller we are stuck at and cant get through. Lack of volume after a break. TL break. Let the trade do its thing.
GOALS
-STOP GAMBLING. When the trade is not clear like the rest of my best winners. Do not trade. To improve my win rate, I must take high probability setups. Ask myself before each trade, is this a HPB setup that is in my playbook? Is it clearly showing signs of strength or weakness, and holding levels that it should be holding? If the answer is no, I do not take the trade.
-Let your trade work. Do not get out when you are not supposed to.
-Walk away when you start to get that feeling. 3 losses in a row is a start.
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