T.J. 9/27/11

It was a good day ES. All winners from Vader. Huddy didn't have any calls during RTH.

A mess was created on 6J entry yesterday. First, I didn't realize it was a mini contract J7. I used a full contract of 6J. Second, the entry point wasn't a decisive break out area despite I already raise my entry higher than Dave's. I guess my concern was that I would have had much less profit if I raised the entry too high. Missed the main objectives of having a optimal and safe entry as my rule of engagement. Third, My stop point was too large although Dave didn't issue a stop point as this is his weekly type entry. My rule of 2-3% for swing trade was not followed.
Lessons learned: 1. Correct any trading error as soon as possible; 2, Follow rules for stop. Exit to limit losses first. There will be other opportunities to get back in if the trade setup is still valid.

T.J 9/22/11

A 500 Dow drop day. Open gap on ES was over 20 points.

Vader had extremely well performance. I was hesitated to pull the trigger. All of my four shorts were stopped out. Two of them I didn't move my stops quick enough to protect profits. It's still a mental issue. Vader gave some good advice: planning pre market, visualize the plan, execute the plan, manage risk. Start to noticing edges now. Need to execute it.

Did well on the HE trade on a pull back and target. Closed USO put for a +100% gain.

Types of Divergence

T.J 9/21/11

Fed day, stayed out most of afternoon. Wild price action. Major drop in the afternoon. ES had 40 points move.

Traded SB and followed day trading rules. Although missed some over night moves but it's much safer.

Building self discipline is a process. It envolves every trade and every decision. I waved a little on LE reentry today and costed extra loss.

T.G. 9/20/11

A over night bottom to top swing. I was expecting a up day to break the double top.

Over traded ES while try to follow Vader's every trade. Daily limit was throwen out. Thinking that I could use yesterday's win to off set today's limit. Each day should have its own limit. Discipline is a requirment for all the time. It should not be wavered

QM was stopped out over night. it's a dilama as where and how much profit should be prectected. This one had $750 but only realized $87. I guess this is part of trading.

T.J 9/19/11

Monday, over night gap down on Euro zone worries again. It's also ES technical level hit on Friday and retrace.

My QM short trade is going well so far. Managing a position seems more challenging in emotionally. Every up and down make your expectation swings. My quick protection stops have not worked well on swing tradings. More often than not my stops got hit and the prices didn't go to the next level where I plan to re-enter.

Today's ES trades went well, 2 winners and 1 losser.  I am much less worried or tense while in a trade. I was more willing to let the trade work. Patience and discipline are paying off, improving it one trade at a time.

T.J 9/12/11

Monday, things didn't go well as I planed. OEC had sever problem and my WSG and MW orders had big sliperagy. QM didn't hit my short target over night and it bounced back against me when I got up this morning.
I flipped long on QM and it had a good run. I was a bit too greedy and didn't take R2 as my exit. Also didn't follow my plan to re-enter it at Fib D 61.8%. Over all this position was poorly managed and it cost me $800.
I will not enter any over night position on my own without OSO stop orders. The ZL is a big lesson which is still under water now.
It's still a self discipline issue.

I was scramble to manage all swing positions and no time to day trade. Over all it's a messy day for me. I didn't consider enoough of risk, especially on Sunday night knowing Monday's risk.

T.J 9/9/11

A gap down opening due to the fear of European debt crisis. Cautions as it's Friday too.
ES trading was B/E today. Held one to full target. The other 2 failed on wild price actions. Forgot to change to BB5 setup on volatile condition. Missed all Vader's calls. Need to be brave about it. He has more winners than losers.
Another 300 point down day.

Closed SPY and Silver options. Scaled out both as winners.

T.J 9/8/11

Took two big hits on swing trading. One was my mistake not seeing the Daily Batch's order time. It was an RTH order and I keyed it in for over night. Price pushed through BB/D line then closed above it. My rule is to wait for close and confirm. The other was MW which is in an range bound. I used BB/H for entry. I knew there was an R line and Fib 61.8 above which I was hit once already. Hope it might break and fear of missing a trade from Dave.

Disciplines won't become a habit over night. Keep working on it and eventually it will be a second natural. As frustrating as it is I get to keep going.

T.J 9/7/11

O/N up on Asia and Europe. ES touched 1134 of last week's support and bounced.
No Major news today. Market started going up from opening and grinding up. Most of my ES trades turned out to be counter trend. My mind set influenced my Vader's C-trend entries. Must learn to be adaptive and be willing to change bias as the price action is showing.

Still working on my swing trading management. Taking bigger stops and small winners in the name of not losing money. It should be based on set up and risk tolerance. Today's coffee trade was a good example. I had a stop point identified and it was higher than Dave's. I wanted to have a better result than his so I moved my stop lower. The price stopped me out and moved down. It didn't reach my logic stop which was only few ticks up. Similar cases in two recent bound trades caused me missing $7k profit.

Discipline produces consistency.

TJ 9/6/11

The day after Labor Day weekend O/N dropped around 2% reflecting Asian and European markets' down move in fear of European debt and banking crisis, plus US stalled growth.

Had a good position on SB, WSB and ZS. Need to clear define my objectives of such trades in order to set proper stops and targets. Otherwise, a trade could be taken over by fear and greed. like today's WS which had over 500 before 62% daily Fib. It end up given back 2/3 of profits. From now on, all my trades should be managed as day trades. I will tread the other system signals as swing trades.

TJ 9/2/11

Yesterday and O/N dropped quite bite in anticipation of today's job report. It turned out to be worse than expected. The lowest estimate was +25K and the consese was 75K. I am not sure how it can be exactly 0 job creation. I guess they don't count it for less than a thousand.

I was worried about One & Go's positions in ES and NQ from yesterday. They kept falling as he entered long after the morning's double top. I didn't enforce my stop loss rule for this system. I wasn't clear weather to take 12 or 15 ES points stop or use a $ figure for both ES and NQ. While I was debating where to put my stop loss: gap fill on pb or below H trend line the news was out and the both got a full stop out. I must enforce $600-750 stop rule for recover and R/R purpose.

Also new related price moves stopped my 10 yr bond position then went straight up left me with a little profit. It also missed my 30 yr bond entry price by 2 ticks. I forgot to review these positions in the morning while worrying ES & NQ positions.

I closed Euro Bund with a nice profit since I didn't want to hold it into the Labor Day weekend. It had a big draw down first.

Stop loss quick and let the profit run. Am I doing it right?

In order to be consistence rules must be followed at all time. It requires unwavering self discipline.

Trade Journal 9/1/11

A busy morning managing swing positions. Get distracted by an oversea call.
I keep catching Vader's losing trades, then missing his winners. Can't pick and choose.
Still need to work on mental game. Today's 30 year bond was an example of fear of loss, set stop too close and missed a big move.

ZC was a good trade. Should I let such swing trade run instead of setting a target?