my journal 2

Ok, establishing a new rule.

All like before but now this rule: if it's unprofitable after 2 week, I close it. If it's profitable, I keep it open for 4 weeks.

Starting from this game below:



Now like this: 2 weeks if unprofitable, otherwise 6 weeks.



I think I am getting there. I need hammers on support. That's all I'll be looking for. Or (novice) gaps down on support.

It didn't go well at all. I don't even feel like finishing it. Maybe I was lucky earlier.

This will be the last one I will post for a while. From now on I will just post the best ones, and mention how they happened and how frequently they're happening. I am tired of posting all the bad results, which I don't know yet why they're happening.

I've been posting to make a commitment and make myself try harder. But since i'd try anyway, I'll only post the good ones from now on, because otherwise this would be just interfering with my practice (having to post pictures all the time).

So here is my last crappy 10 trades.



In case I change the rules, I'll come and write it.

Right now the rule is: LONG only and 2 weeks if unprofitable, otherwise 6 weeks.

It's interesting how it keeps bouncing on round numbers, in particular 10 and 100, regardless of the stock.

Ok, I am satisfied. The two weeks limit to unprofitable trades is working...!

The "6 weeks if profitable after two weeks" is also working!

The LONG only is allowing me to focus on the most probable direction and at the same time not going crazy with all the ups and downs.

I am mostly looking for hammers on important support levels, but occasionally and increasingly I've been learning to play (resistance) breakouts.

Have you checked to see if there is any relationship with your profits and the time period e.g. 2003-2005 or 1998-2000?

Well, this guy, Matt, the creator of the chart game, is a genius, so I don't think he put the same period in every chart (e.g.: 2004). Besides, I've been looking at these charts and they're all totally different. in that they don't all go up and down at once. I am always playing the fourth year and by now I would have noticed. Unless you know/read something I didn't, please don't spoil my satisfaction by insinuating the doubt that I have memorized all charts or that they all go up. On top of this, don't forget that I am only going long for 6 weeks. It's not like I just open up a chart and go long from the beginning to the end.

To answer directly your question: no, I haven't checked. But I don't think I am being helped in any way by rising stocks or by stocks moving in similar ways. However, I've downloaded the genesis software so once I am done with this (if I ever will have figured it out, which would be an excellent achievement for me), I will use the genesis software to test my skills on all sorts of futures and timeframes (even intraday).

After all this, a great great step ahead, if I will be done, will have been made. However, real trading doesn't go as fast as I want, but usually slower. On the other hand, the confidence developed here can only benefit me. What IB's paper trading account was always missing was the possibility of playing and trading historical data, and possibly speeding it up. I never realized the markets were so boring because they were slow. They're difficult because they're slow. If you can speed them up, they become much more interesting and learnable. It's as if I was doing exercises and handing them in, and my professor gave me the answer only 3 months later. I mean: you make your bet... betting your balls most of the time... and you have to wait relatively a long time to find out if it was the right bet. Yes, you can play the intraday chart, even the one minute candles... but those are not as easy to analyze or rather... commissions and spread eliminate your edge, and discourage you from learning: plus... losing money is something else that hampers your learning. But if you don't lose real money and if you can speed them up, I am starting to think that trading can be learned just like a video game.

That's an interesting comment. I agree that sometimes it can be hard to sit on your hands. I find that in quiet markets I sometimes increase leverage and then the markets go crazy... and for some reason always against you.

A friend of mine had a crazy mother. She claimed that if the speed limit were 200kph it would be a safer place as you would be completely on the ball, and any mistake would kill you! Some truth in the focus aspect of her argument... the trick is to maintain emotions under control when nothing is happening. After all, with the 4-year timeframe and some leverage, you could be making an easy 200% / year!

Yeah, I'll see how it goes. I've not been getting good results in the last few tests. I'll keep trying with the mentioned method (only long, and 2/6 weeks if unprofitable/profitable after 2 weeks).

Yes, I am convinced they're slow. I am glad you agree. For example the only time trading seems easy to me is at 7.30 CST, when the news is released, and the markets move 10 times as fast. Isn't that what everyone means when they say that volatility is great for a trader? I think so. For example, the CL is very volatile, and it's the least boring. Actually, the CL is an exception: it's not boring at all. It's almost never boring, and instead it is scary by how fast it moves.