Divine intervention
Don't know what else to call it. Started off the day as usual and with a good, healthy WL. However, a lot of the stocks on the list gapped down and continued moving way down during the second and third bars. I have been drawing my fib. lines from the PDH to the PDL and sometimes to the ORH/L depending on how much it gapped.
This has been working all week.
No need to change right?
Wrong.
I said... let me go ahead and draw the fib. lines from the intraday high to low. Then, once price retraced I could look for an entry. What a disaster. The first trade I entered turned against me immediately (BHP). I then shorted ADI on a break of the 11:30 bar low and that went nowhere. Then, I had an alert set for ES e-mini futures which triggered and I made a couple entries as price was breaking above yesterday's low (:05 chart). And just like that... I was in the hole big. I then said I was just going to trade my way out of it or dig a deeper hole but I wasn't just gonna stand by and be smacked like that.
I then entered AMZN and HES and, one by one, they all were stopped out. In the hole even bigger. So, I watched the ES e-mini on the 5-min chart... and noticed a cup and handle pattern forming right below yesterday's low. It was around 12:30 to 1pm and I actually thought a bear flag was forming till the very end. When I saw price take out yesterday's low on a strong bar, I crossed my fingers and loaded up on contracts. It was make or break.
I'll save you the suspense and let you know that I made just about 13 points off the ES e-mini (almost to the 38.2% level from yesterday's low)... put me back in the profit column and I have since renewed my faith in God. I also had to give up hookers and crack for life.
What's the moral here? Well, I changed what was doing well for me this week and was slapped for doing so. While I didn't change it drastically - just applied the fib. levels differently - at the end of the day I would've spotted at least two to three good trades from my list without the worries. I just feel thankful I was able to end the week on a positive note and keep the winning streak alive for another day. Another thing... it always seems like when my back is up against the wall is when I make really good trades. Joking aside, there's got to be something there I can extract and use on a daily basis. I think it's the lack of fear and being aggressive. Sometimes it's just an attitude change.
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8 comments:
OONR7,
How many contracts did you trade? I would be scared out of my mind with just one!
Tyler
PS. I just realized that the last sentence I wrote is one of my problems. Trade the chart for what it is with no emotions. Man, I always learn something when I visit your site.
Hey Tyler..I got scared just reading 00nr7's post..then I I read your post above about number of contracts and got even more scared..lol.
Nice trading 00nr7...but please be careful my friend. The current market is eating traders alive and spitting them out without a moment's thought.
Hey Tyler..I got scared just reading 00nr7's post..then I I read your post above about number of contracts and got even more scared..lol.
Nice trading 00nr7...but please be careful my friend. The current market is eating traders alive and spitting them out without a moment's thought.
Most traders would have broken a few good pieces of furniture. And after much swearing and cursing, they would have thrown in the towel. But God came through for you. Yeah sure! Big balls is more like it.
Great job, digging yourself out! Have a good weekend, you deserve it.
You can see how scared I was..I posted it twice....
Attitude change huh? I'll have to look into that. ;)
Great entry and you held it better than I could with YM today.
What's more important is that it looks like you had the presence of mind to enter at a reasonable, low risk spot despite the psychological pressure of being in the hole. Nice.
-AT
Got to hand it to you for dancing with the devil under a pale blue light and able to triumph the tale of the tape. Congrats on the revival mash. Pour yourself a tall one. You deserve a prolong guttural intake of the finest brew!.
Rudy
tyler: it was a make a or break trade so I bought enough contracts to get me out of the hole quickly. The way the market was going up and down I was really just hoping to capitalize on a quick up burst and sell quickly. I just wanted to recoup some losses. As it turned out, price continued further and after a couple of brief pullback moments I was in the clear.
I should emphasize that this is not the way I want to trade moving forward.
traderam: will do, I not looking to make a practice out of this... at least the losing part. Futures really is the devil and God all mixed into one. Some of my quickest, highest-earning days are when I traded futures. But it could be gone just as fast.
at: I think you hit it on the head. It was a low-risk entry. The only part that worried the crap out of me was the amount of contracts and the fact that I could pile onto an already losing day. Just goes to show that not every day is a % day as I only had 1 winner today but it paid off.
rudy: I did dance with the devil and she's one ugly bitch. Needless to say I was very thankful to get it all back and still maintain my confidence to trade next week.
jamie: I actually, for a very quick second... like a burst that goes through your head - thought about you when I first spotted the cup and handle formation. And yes, I would say that was a cojones trade I pulled off. Funny how those trades come along just when you need it most.
Everyone have a great weekend and thanks so much for feedback. This is such a great group. In the isolated trading world... it's nice to share the ups and downs with folks who understand.
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