Issue of time
My trading schedule right now is not conducive to making money throughout the entire trading day. By around 1:30pm, it's pretty much hit or miss whether I monitor the markets for new opportunities. By that time I'm juggling more than a few tasks at once and can easily miss a few :15 trading sessions. I think we all know that the market can be a bit two-faced. What it does in the morning could be something different come the afternoon.
What I'm getting at is that I missed a few very good setups yesterday due to the fact that I was pre-occupied and had essentially lost interest. Here are a few charts of some afternoon entries that coincided with the market downturn. These are not random entry points... these are setups that I actively look for at key support and resistance areas. For golfers... hitting the perfect drive keeps them coming back for more - despite the number of slice shots. For me, my motivating factor involves not missing opportunities on an already reduced watchlist. This hindsight crap is costing me money!!!!
Posts
7 comments:
Hello 00nr7.
quote====
"My trading schedule right now is not conducive to making money throughout the entire trading day".
end quote =====
This is exactly what I have been thinking over the past couple of months. hence one reason why I have tried trading in the last session on some days.
IMO, another factor is the mechanics of how to look for setups.
E.g. I have a watchlist and just cycle round every 15mins. This is ok, but it can get fustrating as you can lose interest if nothing is going on. Then wham!!! once you go away to do something a setup appears and you have missed it.
2) Have a scanner to do the work and then once it highlights a stock you can go to it. This is something I'm kind of trying out. The problem with scanners is that they can throw up too many opportunities and you still then miss opportunities.
3) The answer could be in trying to code your own specific scanner (Tyler has done that on his blog, I think). If the software is good enough then you can be very specific about the critria and thus scan for say 5 or 6 setups only ? Software like ProrealTime,Esignal and TradeStation are probably the best.
Ramble over....
I like the rambling... especially if it interests me. Your last line is probably the key to everything. A REAL charting and trading platform is what's necessary. Tradestation probably seems like the best pick of the bunch. Creating personalized indicators that highlight potential entry points, plotted along the fibonacci levels is what I'm looking for. Hell, with TS you can even program it to enter the trade for you. Quotetracker is a nice program but really lacking in many areas.
Even with everything you said and I mentioned, I feel like I need to be in front of the screen to catch these opportunities. Unless there's an automated system involved. Alert or no alert... if you're doing something else then you could miss a setup. I guess that's why I've resisted changing over so far. I've kept my monthly charges to virtually nothing yet still manage to produce a watchlist of stocks that produce a good income if I can spot them.
I guess that's why I went through my experimental stage in October... trying to spot entries off the 1-min chart to keep my interest up and try to generate revenue quickly so I didn't feel compelled to watch the afternoon session. That was a mistake.
I think I've finally settled down again into a system I like. I've stopped the bleeding now I just need to be diligent and pounce when the opportunity presents itself.
OONR7,
Email me when you get a chance (email in my profile). I would like to discuss the scanner I use, it may help you.
Tyler
OONR7,
I forgot to ask earlier. Do you sit in front of the computer all day? I know my trades don't show it, but I take a long lunch break from about 11:30 or 12 to 2:00 everyday, which helps to ease my mind and hopefully trade better in the afternoon
I might miss some good setups, but more often than not I don't miss anything and it allows me to come back in the afternoon and trade just as badly as I did in the morning. Just joking (sort of).
Tyler
tyler... I love that self-deprecating humor. Use it often myself. To mask the sadness inside :(
No, don't really take time off from 12 to 2 but that's around the time I have to start doing other things. So, maybe... in a way, I am taking a long extended lunch. However, by the time I get back I feel like I'm missing something and don't want to force a trade.
tyler... when I click on the email link it forces me to set up Microsoft Outlook, which I don't. If you don't mind, send an email my way at oonr7chat at gmail dot com
In a bear mkt look for the 2:20 sell off...in a bull mkt the 2:20 rally just as you loose interest. First hour I have 35 commodity >10% down: bry hk clr along with big pt moves: eog apa rig. Fin and Com are probably most volitile sectors. hig pru met rallied at the open. I like have the group of 300+ com on one page you really see the action amound groups you recognize the names and take the top 10 and forget the rest. I have that same problem: loose interest, ramble, data collect. GL
Post a Comment