TradeQueen Daily Journal

I've gotten myself into something much deeper than I could of ever imagined.

While I've lost a ton, still I have no regrets for trying.

My goal set from this point forward is to slowly recoup my losses and continue to learn the tactics to gain advantages and become a successful day player.

The positive here is everyday I learn a wealth of information that can put me on track.

The immediate goal for tomorrow, Monday 5/9/11, is to minimize the surprises and find the better gains. Until then...

Unsatisfied with myself today. Really looked forward to sitting down this morning, but just found myself watching the market like a tennis tournament.

Wasted the morning. The only thing as bad as losing money is wasting the day sitting here. What's the point if I just sit here.

Finally entered the market at 1338 and set the S/L for one point. Market took my stop and proceeded to 1340, paused and continued to 1346. Got angry and AGAIN sat and watched what could of been.

Not angry about the money, angry about the timing. Timing timing timing. I have none. It just had to be a full point dip.



I know... gotta let it go.

Not sure what you are trading, etc, but I've come to realize over time that those early days of just watching and watching and watching were of great value in helping me develop an understanding of the markets.

Best of Luck, keep learning!

I admire your honesty and hopefully you will generate some good feedback. One point stops are small for the ES. Your timing would have to be perfect and I have yet to "see" anyone who is that good. The ES needs 2 - 3 points just to breath - let folks enter and exit with profits or losses.

My suggestion would be to watch the market from a bigger perspective and see what happens if you traded smaller contracts with a wider stop.

And MR G has it correct. All the screen time isn't wasted, you need to reference that wisely and think well of it. Strive to understand what SHOULD be happeneing in the market and then find a way to exploit it. Breakout trading is a trip to the poorhouse in the ES so hopefully that is not part of your method. I wish you well and please keep us posted.

Bruce

Going to disagree with Bruce a little.

How to set your stop is what is important not necessarily how wide in ticks the stop is. I set my stop based on the last oscillation High or low I am taking my trade from - or + one tick however in no case more the 6 ticks. Also I manage my trade. I do not set a stop and sit back to watch if I win or lose. I scratch a trade as soon as I don't like the price action I am seeing. When I lose I usually get hit for 1 to 3 ticks this way. Almost never the full 6.

How to manage a loser is at least as important as how to manage a winner.

Bruce and Tom, I think that you are both correct inasmuch as each trader needs to manage their stops in the style that suits them best. That takes into account your plan, strategy, tolerance for pain etc. I think that you both agree that a tight fixed stop in the ES is difficult to profit off though...

How long have you been trading? Its a serious question and I ask it with as much compassion as can be given through an anonymous forum.

It takes years of blood, sweat and tears to learn the business of trading. No different than any other profession, whether in the business world or the sports world. In fact, I think trading is more like professional sports then simply a profession.

Just think what goes in to being a professional athlete. Essentially 24 hours a day, seven days a week, of hard work for a very long time just to get into the game. Once in the game, its constant practice and focus to be the best one can be.

Trading is no less. I realize this isn't practical advice. I wish I had some practical advice to help you make profitable trades. The fact is, trading is a career one learns through the school of hard knocks. Not everyone is going to be able to survive it. Certainly true with so many would be traders starting with such little capital.

In the end, its blood, sweat and tears.

As Bruce said, I admire your honesty. We have all been in the place you are describing. Those who say otherwise are lying. Stay away from those who just want to sell you something. It is extremely rare to spend money and learn something useful in this business.

I'm beginning to ramble. This is your journal. Good luck.

Many thanks for the moral support as well as the advise. I was going to slide my stop and should of.

It's just the timing and I know I gotta let it go.

It's like driving down a street with a bunch of traffic lights. Opportunities have been presented and I just sit at the green light.

When I finally do decide to go I hit red light after red light after red light.

I have terrible timing. On the positive, another huge lesson learned. Today is another day!

Following the trend is my newest concept. I was reading up on it yesterday, seems the main posters on this forum have mastered this concept. Therefore learning this is my primary goal.

You all post some really fantastic info. Hopefully, I'll be able to gain enough knowledge in time and we can all laugh about this little vent in the near future!

Again, many many thanks!

What an odd day. Came with my tools on today and there wasn't much to do.

BruceM gave the quote of the day at it's slowest point... "
ghessh...anybody can move the market in here......ok maybe not anyone....they'll just bore us to death.."


Note to self. Great jargon and charts to learn from on ES 5-10-2011.

Had to make the same trade today that I lost yesterday. GOT IT! Set my S/L for 1 and a quarter point this time and was ready to go to 2! But didn't have to. Didn't even drop a quarter this time. That's alright, I'm not complaining.

I didn't have the courage to go the distance like many of you who contribute, but gosh I admire you all for doing so. It was sure fun following you folks on ES 5-10-2011. It's a nice environment (ok virtual)... Still a nice environment to be in. Thanks. Got an eye appointment. Gotta run. Good night.

TQ,
A 1.25 stop on ES is very small....I would say the probability of using that successfully over time is low.......I don't like stops at all, but to each his own.....I think when we used to use stops the range that we found most useful was 5.25-6. But I don't advocate stops....machines hunt them....and they become actual losses.

Just as a reminder this a Pivot site, which is why I logged on and testing is going well.
For yesterday, the ES daily pivot was 1341.....there was 5 hours yesterday (AH) when you could have bought at or up to 2 points below that pivot.....
At EU open last night it crossed back above that pivot and never looked back........run distance was 15 above the pivot.......$750/per contract.......good pivot trade. I took more there and I'll take more tonight if it comes down to tomorrows pivot.......

Some folks say the pivots are too simple.....but in the land of chaos.....sometimes simple is good.

Good luck........

Looking up pivot definitions as I type. Thanks for the heads up. I am working on expanding my s/l as suggested by a few. Not ignoring you all, just fighting the fear factor.

Trust me... when everyone is saying the same thing, I have to figure I'm doing something wrong. I assure you I am listening!

Thanks for the Pivot reminder. For the record... you didn't remind me, you enlightened me. I really need simple for a while. Thanks! Again, many thanks to everyone in the ES Forum. Got through some green lights and really made my day today.

The surprises will always be there, but the losses can always be minimalized by better risk management and even more prudent money management.