Routine - do you have one?

[PitBull]

Dear fellow traders

I dont post that often, but I am an avid reader of the site. However, I do have a question that is bothering me and that is " do you have a daily routine, i.e. a daily ritual?" and you stick to it everyday. The reason I ask, is I seem to get sidetracked into looking at other stuff, like this website and other trading websites and I take my eye off the ball, thus I think I need a bit of discipline, like a checklist for me to adhere to.

What I mean is this:

Before market open:

1) Read news sites
2) Check out what happened in the US markets overnight
3) Check out movers and shakers
4) Scan stocks pre market for set ups
5) Find stock, evaluate entry and exit
6) Place trade, place stop
7) Monitor position or set alarms

During market

1) Read news
2) Monitor positions
3) Go for a walk

After market

1) Log trades in journal
2) Check US market
etc
etc
etc


I would be grateful if you could tell me your daily rituals.
Many thanks
Pitbull

 

[Tuffty]

"I seem to get sidetracked into looking at other stuff"

This does seem to happen to me. It tends to happen when I don't want to do something that I know I should rather than because of boredom etc. What I now do is have a task sheet so that I plan ahead and then review what actions I've done (or more importantly not done). I then know what I need to examine and try and work out what it is that is bothering me about the task in question and resolve it.

 

[JillyB]

I work full time, so getting side-tracked is an occupational hazard. I tend to spend time early morning before I go to work, looking at what had happened last night and checking all my charts, deciding what I want to trade for the day.

If there is anything specific I am looking for, then I set an alert on my trading software - so it tells me when a stock/index has reached the level I'm looking for. I can then decide to trade it or not. If it's something I'm pretty definite on, then I will set a pending order to be filled.

During the day, it's difficult to trade, but I tend to watch the markets more in an evening.

I don't really have a routine - just have to take it a day at a time.

 

[PitBull]

Thanks people for your response. I've been digging around and another trader has kindly shared his routine with me and OK'd it to be posted on here. Please see below:


DAILY ROUTINE

Pre market

1. Complete trade analysis
2. Review open positions and update targets
3. Complete Daily Market Commentary
4. Scan Universe and split into:
a. Swing candidates
b. Reversal candidates
c. Guerilla candidates
d. Intra day candidates
e. Watch list
5. Review news items

Daily Trade List

1. Reversal list
a. Extended from 20ma on daily
b. Good volume pattern
c. Near support or resistance
d. Target will be retracement %
2. Swing list
a. Min 60 points
b. Above/ below 20ma on daily
c. Target will be previous pivot Plus
3. Watch list
a. Swing pattern forming
4. Guerrilla list
a. Min 2 WR bars to support or resistance level
b. Good volume pattern
5. Intra day list
a. Good pattern on an intraday timeframe, confirmed by the daily chart



Market hour by hour

8:00 Review all candidates, document strategy and load alarms
Search for potential gaps and document strategy.
Document entry strategies for the open:
- 30 sec extremes
- 5 min extremes
- 30 min extremes
- Price point entries
9:00 Read my Trading Philosophy
9:20 Read Trading Plan
9:30 Trade the open
9:40 Search for potential 10:00 reversal plays
10:10 Set alarms for 30 min breakouts, gap + 30 min
10:40 Search for potential Lunch time fades
12:00 Trade reversals
12:30 Lunch
13:30 Scan for trades with overnight potential
Scan for potential Late Day breakouts
14:30 Look for 3 o’clock potential reversals
15:20 Search for potential overnight/swing/guerrilla trades
16:00 Market closes



In addition, everyday I will spend 1 hour reading educational materials and books.

I will take regular breaks. When I return from a break I will do a complete market analysis first.

I will force myself into compartments in order to focus to the maximum of my ability.

BEFORE TRADING


Today I have 2 choices:

1. Trade unemotionally and stay stress free
2. Trade emotionally and lose money

I have chosen step 1 for today, therefore I will:

1. Have a well laid out trading plan for today
2. I feel fit and healthy
3. I will follow this plan in a very disciplined manner
4. I will be patient and wait for the right opportunities instead of being impulsive and losing money
5. I will take each trade one at a time and will take regular breaks

Only 3 things can happen today:

1. I reach my target and then trade until first loss
2. I reach my daily stop and therefore stop trading for the day
3. There are no opportunities so I don’t trade today


FOCUS
RELAX
TAKE CONTROL

MY DAILY TRADING GOALS


MY MAIN GOAL IS TO MAKE THE BEST TRADES POSSIBLE, WITH NO RULES BROKEN OR DEMON STRIKES

 

[cj12]

It sounds like to me that you have had a bad few days or weeks. and looking to recope.I like you daily plan, but you must follow it everyday. My guess was trading emotionally and lost a few quid, we have all been there, am i correct?

sun

 

[RUDEBOY]

We've all been there at some point. RUDEBOY.

 

[RUDEBOY]

As for losses....i'm still there now.

 

[Racer]

I have been beta testing a very superior news service recently and from the vast amount of information that I can access now I think that too much is too much. I used to trade with delayed data and made a lot of money doing so, get too close and too much information and you spend too much time analysing, evaluating and not actually doing anything.
Simplicity rules, evaluate the crowd and act, be prepared for the crowd to be fickle because it gets scared if a wild animal is nearby and take fright, but will settle again and ignore.

 

[Anonymous]

I know of one routine which is very money oriented, done subject to Waltz, I term it the enchanting method, if anyone wants to try it. It can be very contagious, I can describe the whole routine at no cost here, but use at your own risk.

 

[PitBull]

To Sun123

Thank you for your constructive feedback. I think what it boils down to is not having my plan written down and having the discipline to follow it religiously, and therefore I am just looking for every opportunity the markets can give me. A typical newbie trait! Now I have blown my bank I must take steps to discipline my self.

Do you have any thoughts on discipline? Do you reward yourself after a good run and if you do break your rules, do you penalise yourself, like stay away from the markets for a few days?

Thanks
Pitbull

 

[Directional]

racer,
which news service was it you were trying out?

 

[commanderco]

To Sun123

Thank you for your constructive feedback. I think what it boils down to is not having my plan written down and having the discipline to follow it religiously, and therefore I am just looking for every opportunity the markets can give me. A typical newbie trait! Now I have blown my bank I must take steps to discipline my self.

Do you have any thoughts on discipline? Do you reward yourself after a good run and if you do break your rules, do you penalise yourself, like stay away from the markets for a few days?

Thanks
Pitbull

Forgive me for seeming rude PB, but it sounds like you neither know or understand what you are doing in the markets.
Firstly, in answer to your rewards & penalise question.
You have profits & losses .... what more do you want.
Secondly, you need to develop a deeper understanding of what you are trading and how to trade it.
By all means have a routine, but most importantly have faith that your knowledge is sufficent and your plan is robust enough to profitably trade the markets of your choice.
Remember, the markets are like the ocean.
You can surf it or drown in it, it makes no difference to the ocean ... but the difference between surfing & drowning is usually one of confidence & skill.
What you are trying to learn is partly science and partly art ... consider that you are learning a foreign language, ie the language of the markets ...It has structure and it has rhythm.
Both are completely alien to you, but gradually as you give yourself to them, the fog clears and you begin to understand this new language.
Turn OFF your computor and hand draw charts. Hand write and calulate code.

Remember, 95% of the people loss their money and 100% of the people read the books!
This must tell you something that is critical to your goal of trading profitably.
Good luck and good learning.

 

[barjon]

Pitbull,

One way to improve discipline is to put your orders in - entry, stop, limit - and walk away, but that may not suit your method/style. I've got a small sb account which I use for "off system" trades when I get tempted and where I can play around for peanuts without causing damage.

jon