February 5th

Made a lot of paper-trade scalps in FAZ and... made some judgement errors by averaging down on a couple of my entries. Still, I was 22 of 25 winners. My 3 losses totaled $17.00, the 22 winners totaled $797.
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My averaging down, even if rare, is troublesome; even as I am sharpening my feel for movement. Getting better at trading but still averaging down is a losers folly. A sharp trader can get away with averaging a losing trade for better price quite often, but in the end will still be punished on those rare occasions. Call it what you will: "Trading around a core position," "averaging in, averaging out," scaling in, scaling out." No matter the name, it is faulty trading and is a sign that more work has to be done to sharpen one's skills. A better entry will dramatically reduce the need to average down; use of a stop will be the safety net.
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If you didn't know already, this is the reason why I have not traded real money in many months and why I will not trade real money until I solve this mental shortcoming.

February 4th

I had only about 30 minutes to dip my toe into the markets for paper-trading today and I caught FAZ for a few small gainers in the short time I had available. I had some initial trouble reading what was going on but started to get a feel soon after I was watching. Both trades, one being a two-part position, were right but slightly early. Also, I sold too soon on both.
I am encouraged by my progress thus far but really need to "sharpen" my skills and try to determine why I tend to be early on both entries and exits.
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As of last Monday, this blog is 1 year old! My "year in review" will come soon.

January 28th

I had some extra time today to practice trade today so I took advantage.

Nothing unusual really... just looking for my favorite signs of direction change as guideposts for my entries. While my instincts seem to be improving, I still find myself in early, unable to sit back and wait for the candles to show me the way to a timely entry. Inevitably, I am also early getting out, though that is less of a concern to me at this point. When using 5-minute candles as signals for a call to action, I must allow the candles to complete unless it is an extreme move that is developing.

It is at my peril that I not develop the appropriate amount of patience.