Tag Archives: journaling

Get used to stops taking you out

One of the few tools a trader has to control risk is the stop loss. Continue reading

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Trading is counter intuitive

Some recent studies found that traumatic events are burned in our memories when there is a large amount of adrenaline in the human body. And we humans release adrenaline when we are scared or angy. Fear and anger are feelings that are also present when trading because we put our capital and our egos at risk. Continue reading

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I wanna trade the futures

I have been studying the E-mini S&P 500 and have dipped my toes a couple of times to test the waters. Trading this contracts is very different because of their leverage. I still have to get used to the precission one must have with entries because a one point move carries a $50 jump in my account. And 1 point is merely a ~0.1% move of the market. I realized that to be successful I needed to trade only at key price levels. And to know those key prices I needed to do my homework ahead of the market Continue reading

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Improving trading performance

Trading is simple and yet it is difficult to do it well. To trade well one must have a good understanding of the market as well as self discipline. And there is nothing better than objective observation to achieve that. The problem is that it is also very difficult to observe objectively as not only do we have expectations, opinions and biases, but we are also constantly bombarded by the opinions of others through the media. However, a trader can objectively analyze their performace through a formal documentation and analysis framework. Continue reading

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Journaling Traumatic Events

When markets turn fast and furious, as they did last week, they cause extreme emotional responses from traders. These are often very traumatic experiences and knowing how to handle these emotions is key to profit and to minimize losses. Continue reading

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April Performance Review

Another month has gone by and it’s time to look how I traded. Let’s look at the P&L and other important stats. Continue reading

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Failed Shorts

Last week I run a scan for stocks over $5, trading at least 500k shares per day on average and that were trading below their 20, 50 and 200 DMAs. I was looking for short setups as the market was in a down trend. I also run a similar scan looking for stocks trading above the 20, 50 and 200 DMAs for potential long trades. Continue reading

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Performance Analysis

At the end of every month I take a look at my journal entries and analyse my trading performance. This month my performance was poor. The main reason was that I failed to sell short. I noted in my journal both last week and the week before that selling short was clearly the trade but failed to do so. Continue reading

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Order Flow Observations and Trade Entries

Looking at a chart will give you the traded price action, but it does not show you orders that have not been filled yet. L2 data can give you additional insight of supply and demand levels. Continue reading

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The power of writing

There is very strong scientific evidence of the power of writing as a psychological tool. Writing about an experience in detail and how it relates to others across past, present and future has valuable therapeutic effects that can improve your trading performance. Continue reading

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