weak at the EOD

End of day shows weakness in TNA. I have been out for 15 mins but the down ticks kept coming. Price has closed at $56.62 though, only 4 cents lower than where I exited. You'll notice on this as well as my 3:30pm chart from earlier that there is a blue line two hours in length from 12:40 pm to 2:40pm denoting an important level to pay attention to. Isn't it interesting that price actually came down to that point and reversed in the last 5 minutes of the day?

One of the most important discoveries last Autumn as I watched the markets was how critical it is to think in terms of price levels first, before considering trendlines, triangles, and most definitely before indicators/oscillators. It is true that all one needs is price, volume and a minimalist approach to do this. I am not where I need to be, but I am on the right path.

Most of what I need to do is get my head right. Emotional awareness and balance is the first thing on my mind and has been for months, since getting a wake-up call when I posted a comment to the SMB Blog. Mike Bellafiore printed my comment and responded, as well as having the trading psychologist he favors, Dr. Andrew Menaker, answer my post too. Wow, did I get the answer I needed! Since then, it has been slow progress for me. I bought Quint Tatro's book. Then my watershed moment was purchasing Michael Martin's book, "The Inner Voice of Trading." I began exercising with intention; 45 mins of fast walking per day. Then in late January, I added strength training. Both are doing wonders for my head. I feel better physically, with the strength training has stabilized a slight rotator cuff tear from many years ago. I listen to positive affirmations and visualization cd's while doing my treadmill walk. Some times I hold the bars and will get lost in my head. I'll snap out of my "trance" and realize I've completed nearly an hour of cardio. I am now in as good shape physically as when I was a track and field athlete in high school! Mentally, I have never been as strong. For the first time in my life, I have tools to use to understand my thoughts and feelings and I recognize when I need to use them. I am thrilled at where I might be in two or five years with this new approach to life.

I started my new book, "The Power of Habit" over the weekend. I didn't get far because it is tax time and that miserable task coupled with the Easter celebration we hosted kept me away from the book. My sense is that I'll get into it deeper after tax day, April 17th.

I am a fan of Groupon and late last week purchased from them a discounted pass for 15 Yoga visits at a reputable studio. It will be my first try at Yoga. I'm not sure what to expect, but the owner of the studio has recommended I go first to a Wednesday beginners' class, so perhaps in a couple days I'll be able to begin this next step in my journey from bluecollar guy to trading stocks for a living.

Out with a winner...

I had met my self-imposed rules and decided to exit into the strength. Too soon as it turns out because price dropped another 17 cents, but I'll take my 51 cent winner! It's been a while since I had a chance to shoot and score! I am pleased with my results and am pleased at my read of momentum change. A great way to end another practice day.

Target acquired...

price hit my presumed reversal spot and did, in fact, reverse. But we could go lower... my rules don't allow me to exit at my target, which is exactly what I would have done. So, let's see where it goes. If I have a winner in the last 15 mins, my rules allow exit with a gain. If not, I've lowered my stop from the initial level; shown as the short red dash.

A bit more...

My target is the orange line

on the chart...

cracking a bit...

My short is working so far, TNA is cracking a bit.

2nd of the day

short TNA now at $57.15; my sense is the uptrend is waning...

Back to the old format

I spent the past 30 minutes trying to get back to the old format of posting entries to the blog. I will likely miss not having the new features, but the posting speed was awful.

stopped out

Stopped out on a sharp down move.

I'm still in... earlier while I was writing the first post of the day, I missed my stopout while typing. Price dipped down in the 10:10 am candle but shot back up leaving the long lower wick that I have dubbed the Punk-Candle, where one gets "Punked " by the bigger players when they move price quickly to trip stops and to fuel their move in the opposite direction.  Also encourages impulse entries in the direction of the "punk move" before the price reverses suddenly on them  Since I inadvertantly missed this bullshit, I am still in for the big move up.  Here is where I would take some short-term profits if this were an actual real-money trade and not a sim-trade.  Note my trendline drawn as the market was just opening.  This trendline overhead is my cue to cash in.

Monday, first trade

great place to take some profit on a good trade idea, if I were inclined to break my rules.  The short red horiz line is the spot of my original stop then I moved it up as the trade gained traction.

I'm really struggling with this new blogger format... supposed to be better?!  The design is cleaner to work with but performance sucks so far.  While creating a post, it doesn't allow the photo/screenshot to upload at the same time as I write the text of the post.  So, posting takes twice as long.  I will likely switch back to the older format after market closes.
For instance, I am still writing this and the market is 12-14 minutes beyond when I took the screen shot.

Saw it, Liked it, Reposting here...

Snippet from Mike Bellafiore at the SMB Blog
(see original post here: http://www.smbtraining.com/blog/five-suggestions-for-traders )

"...Traders are often wired to grab on too tightly. They are wildly ambitious. Some even irresponsibly driven. Failure is not something they can tolerate. If they could they might not have ever tried this silly sport of trading, with more potential rejection than a NYC bar. The traders above strike me as holding on too tightly.



I see this with GMan at times. I saw this with Dr. Momentum from One Good Trade. I see this with that developing trader from our desk above.


What is progress? What is failure for the new and developing trader? Is it a month where you did not exceed last month’s PnL? Not necessarily. Is it not making money in your first 6 months of trading? Maybe not. Framing your progress incorrectly breeds unnecessary stress and regret.

Everyday that you trade you get better. Everyday where you gain screen time you improve as a trader. Often when reading the new regrets of a developing trader I think of that great Dave Matthews line, “Where are you going?”

I have found five suggestions to be very helpful to me as a trader, which relate to the comments from the developing traders above and their inability to sustain their energy.

1) Make sure you take some time off.

2) Do things outside of work so that you do not value yourself from your trading. Trading is the game we play. It is not who we are.

3) Be grateful for the privilege of trading. It really is so cool that we get to do this for a living. Be thankful for this opportunity, no matter how short or long.

4) Stop judging your trading by your PnL. For example that trader on our desk had a better month than the prior though he did not make more money. He worked on his sizing. There was less opportunity this month than the prior so comparable results are an improvement. He gained another month of experience.

5) It is ok to fail. How is Oprah doing with OWN? Remember that Michael Jordon commercial about all his failures before triumph. Oh man if you only knew how many stupid mistakes I make every week as a trader. Failure is a blessing to learn.

They say an artist is the only one who can truly judge their work. You know what you need to work on as a trader. Are you doing it? If so, then isn’t that so much more important than your PnL? And if you are doing all you can then why are you so concerned about your results?

Bella

Truth in Advertising



With Trading, and All Things in Life.