2010-05-05

Not a good day. Anticipation is important in such environment. When markets are oversold, bounce is imminent. Tops take longer to form and are rounded, but bottoms are sharp and quick. Found opportunities, but breakouts did not work. All action was mostly done in first hour of the session. I was able to catch some fishes, but I was trading breakout method which did not pan out well. Overall a learning day, rather than profitable one. Mean reversion method (RSI2, BB Crash, rubber band) works better here, to keep the list short and look for anticipatory bounce.

Day Result

Positive -35 (-30 before commissions).

STATS

--------------------------------------------------------------------- # Win Trades: 1 Win %: 25 # Loss Trades: 3 Loss %: 75 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Win $: 2 Win Shares: 200 Win Ratio: 7.50 Loss $: -32 Loss Shares: 600 Loss Ratio: -53.33 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Max Win $: 2 Avg Win $: 2 WRatio/LRatio: 0.14 Max Loss $: -26 Avg Loss $: -11 Win$/Loss$: 0.05 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments: Obviously a bad day for PnL, but good day for learning.

Mood	Great.	No issues.
Stress level	No stress. Screen time: 45 mins.	Still working on 30-45 minutes screen time. I am at 45 min screen time now.
The Good	Did not scalp today. Average hold time was 10 minutes. Market was not cooperating. Getting better at removing emotions with position on.	Goal: Keep working on this strategy until May 15
The Bad	Today was not a good day for trading breakouts. After large move down yesterday, it was supposed to be bounce day, with meat of the move happening in first hour of trading. However, I will not change the strategy because of just 1 odd day. This strategy has worked for me in last 1 month, giving about 80-90% positive days.	Goal: Identify candle patterns at the end of 5 min bar to decide whether to stay or leave trade.
The Ugly	Nothing to say here today. Just identify context with candles.	Goal: Think about staying with winners longer.
Psychology	Keep unattached from P/L and focus on charts. Charts saying. Listen. Play small until emotions are totally detached. No emotion or rush of blood during the red PnL, which is good. One entry was based on fear of missing the train, so I'll keep that in mind and make sure that I practice this scenario to avoid such fear before entry.	No hurray, no sorrows is the goal. Practice scenarios in imagination to avoid such situation in future. Before beginning close eyes and imagine all green in PnL. And still waiting for candle signals to show up before exiting.