Lucas' Journal

[lucasp]

Hi Everyone,

It's about time I introduce myself. My name's Lucas and I live near Newcastle, NSW, Australia. I work as a software developer by day. I've been going over the material for the last few weeks and I believe I'm ready to start my Stage 1 T20 journal.

I've been interested in trading on and off for a number of years, but have never really been confident or successful. I'm very impressed by Immy's teaching on being disciplined.

I'm yet to complete my trading plan, but here are some notes:

• I'll be taking option 2A - DAX30 on M5/M1. Reasoning: for option 1, I wouldn't be able to look at things easily during the day while at work, nor devote proper time/attention. For option 2A, I can trade in the evening, which is around the London Open.

• I'm going to try to put in at least 4 of the 5 evenings a week, and at least 2 hours per night.

• Broker: Pepperstone

• Currently demo trading until decided otherwise for some future T20 batch.

• Trading Setup 1 only, 1% risk, 1:1 Risk/Reward, as per the Stage 1 Trade Management Plan.

Well, I am pretty nervous, but will try to make it fun and remember I am trading for discipline and learning, and not worry about winning/losing.

Thanks Immy and everyone for sharing your valuable knowledge!

Lucas

[lucasp]

Reserved

[immy]

Welcome and congratulations on your first step towards consistently successful trading. Journaling and training for discipline is THE most important steps a trader takes towards becoming better version of our trading selves...

lets have fun!!!

[lucasp]

Thanks Immy for your warm welcome! Amen, lets have fun.

I didn't take any trades this evening. I came close on two occasions, but in both, I felt the AO was not close enough to zero. The second setup I thought looked nicer than the first, going by the waves on the 5 min chart (I need to study more about waves).

The second setup also went by very fast! I'm using the "Position Size Calculator" and trading script from here. I may try coding a script to automatically set the entry/SL/TP according to the AIMS box and the current side of purple line.

I'm not sure if it is a thing to post trades passed over. One of my weaknesses is becoming impatient and taking lower probably trades (whether because of boredom or pressure from unreasonable goals). I think it could be interesting to think about trades not taken.

Here are a couple of screenshots.

Screenshot_2018-10-22_21-15-46-edited-2.png

Screenshot_2018-10-22_21-14-22.png

[lucasp]

My first T20 trade!

1. Trade Number: B1-T1
2. Date/Time: 2018-10-23 13:50 (Chart time, GMT+3)
3. Symbol/TF: DAX M5/M1
4. Signal Type / Direction : Setup 1 Long
5. Comments and Feelings at the Time of Taking The Trade:

I had watched the decline on the M5 chart. I could see the waves seemed to be getting weaker going by the divergence with AO. I was thinking I wouldn't really want to trade in that direction. I thought I'd wait to see if there was a reversal and a setup I could potentially trade. It reversed and a setup eventually appeared. The AIMS Box actually further constricted after the second blue dot appeared, but I didn't have time to adjust my pending order.

6.Comments and Trades After Exiting the Trade:

It took a little while to hit the target. It had initially come close and bounced away crossing back over green. Eventually continued and hit the target. One thought: The M5 AIMS level was 5.5 points away with a M1 box size of 11 points. At the time I thought it was okay, but maybe it was a bit close - not sure if this fails DS for this trade. Also, on the M5 chart, the trade seems to be just part of the initial wave - not sure what to think about that.

7. DS For this Trade: 1 (I think? )
8. DS Running Total: 1 / 1 (100%)

b1-t1-dax-m1.png

b1-t1-dax-m5.png

[immy]

Keep collecting these gems... at the end of Batch 5, you will know more about YOU and the Market.

[lucasp]

Thanks Immy!

I didn't come across any opportunities yesterday. Today I came across one opportunity, but I felt the alligator wasn't sleeping properly, so didn't take the trade. Maybe I was too conservative in my assessment?

Screenshot:

Screenshot_2018-10-25_23-10-05.png

[lucasp]

A long time between trades, but finally a second. I've missed some opportunities, but also at times it hasn't looked very pretty (choppy).

1. Trade Number: B1-T2
2. Date/Time: 2018-11-16 13:17 (Chart time, GMT+2)
3. Symbol/TF: DAX M5/M1
4. Signal Type / Direction : Setup 1 Short
5. Comments and Feelings at the Time of Taking The Trade:

A down trend had established on the M5 chart. I wasn't too sure about things from a waves point of view. AO was small, alligator asleep. TP was right around a support level, so potentially some risk there.

6.Comments and Trades After Exiting the Trade:

It initially started in the right direction well, but only made it about half way. After pulling back, a second red dot appeared and it travelled further. It then travelled all the way back just to hit my SL (to the exact 0.1 point), before plunging through where my TP would have been, haha. Oh well. Perhaps I should have been more cautious regarding a corrective wave appearing on the M5, which seemed like it needed to happen.

7. DS For this Trade: 1

8. DS Running Total: 2 / 2 (100%)

b1-t2-dax-m1-b.PNG

b1-t2-dax-m5-c.PNG

[lucasp]

I really enjoyed this trade!

I think I was the most calm both before and during the trade that I can remember. I think after the previous trade was a loss and some other reflection, I was reminded that I'm trading for discipline and fun, which helped to take away nerves. No pressure and no rush! I just saw the opportunity and executed the plan.

Also, just thinking about the here and now in exclusion of broader goals was positive, i.e., it didn't matter what the outcome was.

1. Trade Number: B1-T3
2. Date/Time: 2018-11-20 13:08 (Chart time, GMT+2)
3. Symbol/TF: DAX M5/M1
4. Signal Type / Direction : Setup 1 Long
5. Comments and Feelings at the Time of Taking The Trade:

I could see the down trend on the M5 had stalled and very clear divergence occurred with AO. On M1, eventually a dot appeared and AO was small. I just had to wait for the AIMS box to compress, so it was time to get ready. Eventually the second dot appeared. The TP was also not far above the top of the M5 box, which seemed nice.

6.Comments and Feelings After Exiting the Trade:

The trade progressed quickly and hit my TP after a few minutes, which was pleasing. I need to make sure I'm more pleased about being disciplined, though.

7. DS For this Trade: 1

8. DS Running Total: 3 / 3 (100%)

b1-t3-dax-m1.PNG

b1-t3-dax-m5.PNG

[alison]

Well done, looks like a nice setup and execution.

Unfortunately, I missed this one.

Cheers

Alison