David's journal

[immy]

Today was a great day for me. Not because of the 58 points (im pretty happy about that dont get me wrong) but because I think I finally found what it takes for me to get into the zone. When I look at the chart I keep asking myself questions like: what is the market doing right now? What is the market telling me with this new bar that just printed on the chart? This grounds me into the now and everything else just fades away, its just me and my chart.

Been doing this for 2 days now and so far its paid off big time. Lets see if I can keep doing this over and over again

This is an excellent discovery. Its all in the mind and since we are all unique beings we all have to find our own ways. Everyone must work on it and once they find an anchor point of how to get into the zone simply repeat it enough times that it becomes second nature. then you'll be able to get into the zone instantly without effort. well, if you require effort you will never get into zone anyway. there is no effort required, there is no struggle or toil in the zone. The zone is condition where you're having great fun, you're joyful, you're focused yet relaxed you have extreme self trust and free from extreme anxiety. you experience healthy levels of stress but not dis-stress.

enjoy

[azadar]

Today was frustrating because I got interrupted in my trading on a few occasions. I also tried way too hard to get in the zone and by trying so hard I could never get in the zone. Funny it happened because Immy just mentioned that getting in the zone should be effortless

Results for the day: -49 pts, DS 4/9

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[azadar]

Tough start of the week. Missed 2 opportunities then market stopped moving and paid a bunch of rents. -106pts, DS 7/7. Maybe I could have stopped trading sooner

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[azadar]

After a few rents I came back and closed the day with + 70 pts. There were some big moves today but hard to follow because of strong pullbacks before trend continued. It often pulled back on other side of green line and even broke aims levels on multiple occasions before resuming down trend. I guess the best way to trade this type of market is to trail candles to avoid losing it all due to pullbacks and not adding on too many times. Maybe just 1 add-on would be best when market constantly pulls back like it did today. Definately need to adapt to the mood of the market to get the most out of it.

Finished my second 20 trade set today. Results are: -137 pts, 13/20. DS score is low and I traded during monday bank holiday where markets were not going anywhere. I feel I have been more disciplined than usual even though I only have a score of 13. This proves how undisciplined I used to be in the past. I think the 20 trade thing gives great feedback and will be a most useful tool to improve my trading.

Here are the trades of the day:

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[immy]

After a few rents I came back and closed the day with + 70 pts. There were some big moves today but hard to follow because of strong pullbacks before trend continued. It often pulled back on other side of green line and even broke aims levels on multiple occasions before resuming down trend. I guess the best way to trade this type of market is to trail candles to avoid losing it all due to pullbacks and not adding on too many times. Maybe just 1 add-on would be best when market constantly pulls back like it did today. Definitely need to adapt to the mood of the market to get the most out of it.

David! the difficulty is this, how do you know its going to be this or that kind of day? It is for this reason, when you chose a strategy, the strategy should be able to cope with patterns and price action that happens "most of the time". So what it means is this our strategy gets us in and out into markets giving us good profits on most occasions which takes care of days like this as well as days like some in the past when all you do is collect rents.

Finished my second 20 trade set today. Results are: -137 pts, 13/20. DS score is low and I traded during monday bank holiday where markets were not going anywhere. I feel I have been more disciplined than usual even though I only have a score of 13. This proves how undisciplined I used to be in the past. I think the 20 trade thing gives great feedback and will be a most useful tool to improve my trading.

Re-Read the above guys! its a realisation and everyone should have it. performance measurement should be based on the correct dimension. Instead of counting pips, count how "disciplined were you". Discipline is the grinding machine, pips are the product.

[azadar]

David! the difficulty is this, how do you know its going to be this or that kind of day? It is for this reason, when you chose a strategy, the strategy should be able to cope with patterns and price action that happens "most of the time". So what it means is this our strategy gets us in and out into markets giving us good profits on most occasions which takes care of days like this as well as days like some in the past when all you do is collect rents.

What I meant was that there is flexibility within the rules of the AIMS system. For example we can exit on an opposite fruit, green line, trailing candles or trailing aims box. So while still following the rules of the system, we can adapt to the type of market for the day. I trade NEO so by the time I sit in the chair I see how the market moved during euro session.

But I guess the point your making is that anything can happen and markets can change behavior at any moment. Looking back at the chart for the day I do see changes in market behavior. You are right again master Immy. Thanks for the advice

Now for my daily entry in my journal: Due to lack of discipline and missing out on the big move I closed the day at -4 pts, DS 17/20. On a better note I learned how to best use the seed to get into trends (great way to add-on also).

Finished my 3rd set of 20 trades: +51 pts, DS 16/20. DS is improving so im happy. I do notice however that my trades at NEO are mostly crap and I often miss out completely on the big move. Need to work on improving my trading during first few minutes of NEO so that I dont have to come back from 60 pts in rents every day.

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[azadar]

Due to my overall performance (which is not good at all) I decided to track my trades in a spreadsheet and add a bunch of info I can then use to find out whats wrong with my trading. It also gives me an opportunity to review my trades. One thing I noticed was the lack of SAR trades. I miss many opportunities because I dont SAR when my trades dont go my way. This is especially important during high volatility (NEO) because price is most likely gonna fly in one direction or the other. This explains in part why I almost always miss out on the big moves at NEO.

Today I made 5 SAR trades and 4 out of 5 are in profits. The other one being a small -4 pts loss. Had I used SAR on all my fruit trades I would have closed the day in with decent profits instead of a small loss.

Anything can happen and no matter what you think might happen if price goes the other way just SAR and profit from it. From now on, I will SAR much more frequently !

The other thing I noticed is that I close my winners way too early. I should use green line much more often instead of exiting at the first sign of reversal (most often a fruit). This on top of no SAR means I miss on all the big moves.

I will play around with my spreadsheet to see what feedback I can get from it. If I find it useful enough I will share my template so others can benefit from it. So far, even though I havent had time to analyze my trades with the spreadsheet, just entering the 200 or so trades made me find out about the lack of SAR trades and exits taken too early.

trades for the day:

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[kooky]

Thanks David, interesting!!!! is there a special way to place SAR trades on MT4 or do you just have to be quick,
I've never been that organised to consider them either???
kooky

[immy]

Snorms new EA FTM will be a huge help to everyone once its released. Lightening fast execution.

[azadar]

Kooky: I find the best way to SAR is to prepare the pending orders ahead of time. For example, if I take a fruit, I will put the SL and then put a PO in opposite direction at the same price as the SL. I also prepare my add-ons ahead of time when possible. I tell myself that anything is possible so even if I think price will go one way, I now put a SAR PO just in case im wrong (and Im often wrong lol).

Of course sometimes things move very fast and it can be hard to have enough time to put a PO so I just enter trade with market execution.

Immy: that sounds great