A day in the life of a real trader

[SquealTrader]

Hi guys welcome to this thread.

I've been trading for 2 years now full time so thought i would document them in this journal and see how things go. I trade a variety of futures including equities, currencies and bonds. I will try to keep this blog as updated as best as i can.

I am normally in and out by the end of the day (6pm gmt) and I will post my strategies for the day with a short analysis as to why i favour a certain direction before i enter. I hate hindsight trading.

Hopefully this can give some of the guys here an idea as to the ups and downs of a pro trader and how often losses actually occur.

Black Dash = Entry
Red line = Stop
Green lines = Target 1 & 2.

My entry will always be a few pips before actual entry and my stop with be approx 4-6 ticks beyond the stop. I never place my actual orders on the line.

So here goes! Will post my first strat shortly

 

[SquealTrader]

Ok currently waiting for this setup on the e-mini SP. MY entry at 1879 with stop below 1877.50. Last nights Fed minutes saw the markets respond with a little volatility before equities rallied higher. slightly weaker jobless claims numbers have come out so hoping to catch a small retrace back to this support level before riding this to the highs. if price reaches target 1 i will always move stop to scratch. i may move it before target 1. depends how my risk appetite for this trade goes

 

[NVP]

good luck with this - always good to run a journal

 

[joeycoyle]

yeah, in from day 1 . like i am part of a club ..... BON CHANCE!

 

[Phillp01]

So you didn't got to trade your Strategy today Squealer? Well a day without a loss is a Win! Keep up the Diary very interested to see your progress.

 

[SquealTrader]

Good morning, no fill for me on SP yesterday but am not fussed - as phil said loss of opportunity always preferable to loss of capital.

This is my euro strat for the morning. Its countertuitive as i am unbelievably bearish due to the ECB expected to cut rates to negative in Junes meeting. but this range trade looks very neat technically so might be worth a punt. Some euro data out at 9 so will wait till after the data before placing my orders on the ladder. if euro data is weak i probably will not take this trade on. Ideally i want to be short this euro but shorting the lows is never a good idea. ive already got a decent short strategy in mind which i will post later if we move off these lows.

 

[SquealTrader]

Glad i didn't enter long Euro before that data....

Heres my SP strat for today. we're flirting too close to the all time highs. there are going to be a lot of stop above 2000 so i expect to see this SP pop higher. So much for sell in May go away.......

 

[SquealTrader]

Ok as mentioned earlier glad i followed my gut and didn't take that euro long. this is a trade i feel a lot more comfortable with. going with the trend and also with my fundamental view. lets see if we get a fill on this later. Light data with New Home Sales at 3pm so would expect this euro to grind lower. won't be suprised if we test 136 today

 

[SquealTrader]

As a rule i never look to enter a trade so close to data that can cause spikes so orders are off the ladder till after data at 3pm...

 

[SquealTrader]

As a rule i never look to enter a trade so close to data that can cause spikes so orders are off the ladder till after data at 3pm...

Slightly better new houses numbers with decent revisions so orders are back on

 

[SquealTrader]

Ok am in.

 

[SquealTrader]

Ok have exited this euro at 1.3631. EU has now closed. super low volumes on the SP as the US is closed for memorial day on Monday so it seems to be no real interest in the markets. Enjoy the long weekend

 

[SquealTrader]

Good morning, Hope you enjoyed the long weekend. We've woken up to equities pushing and decent $ strength. some data out this afternoon with durable goods and case schiller index. Drahgi speaking at 14:30, all ears will be on any clues he might give in regards to next weeks meeting. I'm still bearish but this euro is looking to lose its steam around here. I expect to see some kind of retrace before euro extends lower. ive just been entered long here at 13640 so lets see what happens. my 1st target i think is a bit aggressive so will prob take my first clip off around R1 1.3661.

 

[SquealTrader]

Ok first clip taken off at Target 1. stop now at scratch. risk free trade from here on.

 

[kimo'sabby]

Ok first clip taken off at Target 1. stop now at scratch. risk free trade from here on.

Risk free?? Haha....it's your money...you made it...by risking your own money. Hahaha! Go for it kiddo!

 

[Phillp01]

Risk free?? Haha....it's your money...you made it...by risking your own money. Hahaha! Go for it kiddo!

I think it's quite obvious what Squeal is trying to say here, is he's made a gain with part of his invested amount in the trade. This has been banked and his stop loss is now covering any potential loss. He can sit back and wait for his second target without any pain in the trade.

Obviously the initial trade carried risk, but the trade has been managed ok. Understand Lad?

 

[kimo'sabby]

I think it's quite obvious what Squeal is trying to say here, is he's made a gain with part of his invested amount in the trade. This has been banked and his stop loss is now covering any potential loss. He can sit back and wait for his second target without any pain in the trade.

Obviously the initial trade carried risk, but the trade has been managed ok. Understand Lad?

No! Nice little double act you've got goin'...

 

[SquealTrader]

Ok first clip taken off at Target 1. stop now at scratch. risk free trade from here on.

Yep Phil has more or less summed it up but let me explain - When i say i move my stop to scratch it means I have trailed my stop to my original entry so i no longer have any risk of losing any more money - Hence Risk Free. It means my worst case scenario now will be for my second clip to get taken out at break even so no loss whatever happens - which is just as well as those Nowotny comments have caused this Euro to whip back round and head back towards my entry. This is the importance of banking profit as and when you can but also making sure you leave some on the table so as to catch the bigger moves. If price gets back down to my entry i would not expect Pivot to hold the 2nd time as the level would've been considerably weakened.

 

[SquealTrader]

Stopped out on my 2nd clip at scratch

 

[SquealTrader]

I think today is going to be a non event for me in regards to trading. SP continues to grind higher to all time highs without looking back. Euro and cable both on their lows. ideally breakout trading would be the order of the day but doubt markets can move that much with no real data to entice them and i am in no mood to attempt any kind of counter trend range trade either. The only entries that are worth taking on are too far away and doubt ill get filled so i think its going to be a day of keeping my money safely in the bank. Part of my journey to being a trader is having the ability to identify when the market is reacting according to my style of trading - and when it is not. I doubt there will be any opportunities for me today so seems to be a quiet paperwork and youtube day. If any entries present themselves ill post them here. Good luck