Stay the course
For me and the way I trade, the last week and a half have been pretty challenging. Yes, I've had my share of winners, but I haven't really had a whole lot of stocks to choose from. Since last Thursday, I've really stuck to my guns, tried to reduce risk, and passed on countergap trades and trades that stray too far from my ideal entry point. Needless to say, the last couple of days have really felt like slim pickings and the stocks I have entered have forced me to get out of the trade early (which is good since I follow a solid exit strategy and I don't suffer a full 1R loss).
So, what do I do???
Do I doubt my system?
Do I try to reinvent the wheel?
No, I take my losses like a man. I suck it up and remember that tomorrow I can possibly make a 5R trade again. That's how the market goes. That's how systems go. Nothing is perfect and I will continue to stay the course and go long or short depending on the setup.
On a more uplifting note... King Jamie continues to kick ass.
Posts
8 comments:
Been on the same path lately. In fact I haven't made a trade yet all week. There's always going to be trades out there might as wait for the best setups.
Could you please also change my address on your blogroll to the new blog at www.traderbubs.com Thanks
00NR7:
Stick to your guns, man. You've got it pegged. Just when you think another lousy day with limited choices, all of a sudden everything will change and it will be Christmas day all over again!
I made out big on the HOKU along with King Jamie, but today was nothing but a wash for me.
Better luck tomorrow, IT will come!
Bigfish
I guess it's more frustration at not being able to find as many good opportunities lately. There's probably a lot of other things I can blame it on: FED meeting, summer. But hey, it is what it is and I just need to be disciplined and continue to trade my setups. This is also the first summer with a legitimate plan... which is a good thing.
Bubs... I changed your link yesterday and it was working. I like the new site.
Bigfish... congrats with HOKU. That was a nice move.
Oonr7,
I hears ya brutha. I suffered a couple a losses. The trade pulled me in at my trigger and didn't run past. It then stops me out a few ticks from the highs of that move and then goes on to show me how much money I could have made.
Unlike you, I feel my system is eithe ron shaky ground or does not have enough data for me to feel confident in tweaking it a whole lot. Frustrating but you can't let it affect your next trade. Which makes it exteremely challenging. And your challenge is damn hard man. But I can see the benefits already.
Stay strong.
LP
OONR7:
I had the same feeling with you, nothing good show up on the list.
Here is what I'm thinking... I'm a big follower of x too. and the whole thing about X trading is to find strength of breakthrough, the gapper, the support on EMA5, the hammer, the small pull back (not to reach 50% line)..
In clear trend days, I mean the whole market is bull or bear, at least at daily chart, for example bull market. of course longs will make easier money, but if you have a stock gap lower and still show up on your chart nicely, meaning there is really pressure behind it to push it against whole market, so when you short it at the breakthrough of ORL, it will have more possibility to drop even lower, Same logic on bear days with Gap higher stocks..
While in choppy days like the past week and some time early this year, there is no clear direction for the whole market, when you have a stock show up sort of nicely on your watch list, there is no enough power behind it, therefor even it break the ORH/ORL, it will have more possibility to bounce back..
does it make sense?
DT
my buddy uses a successful system he rarely tweeks it - like almost NEVER. maybe discipline & not getting chopped up is part of the trading plan? in the past, ive really screwed the pooch trying to optimize a trading system. you can get lost & disheartened quickly trying to keep adjusting a system to be perfect in any kinda market. the optimization is im the patience & discipline (easier to say than do, of course)
QQQBallz
Today and several days last week, I traded at half my usual risk. Today especially, I noticed lots of false breakouts and so I only traded the simplest and easiest to manage of all my setups - low risk, base & break.
@dt: I hear what you're saying about strong trend days... but I really let the charts tell what direction to go. If I see a good short opportunity... no matter if the market is soaring that day, I'll take it.
@qqqball: I think you're right on. And that's pretty much the gist of my post. I'm not trading anything, in fact, I'm being extra careful and only taking setups that follow my rules to the tee.
@King Jamie: yes, I think I'm going to do that especially on days where there aren't a lot of great candidates.
Post a Comment