SniperDaytrader's journal

[SniperDaytrader]

I spent the better part of the last 6 years of my life trying to succeed in trading. I blew couple of trading accounts, lost lot of money and time. I felt both pure joy and deep frustration while on my path. I traded different methods and strategies since 2009 when I entered my first live trade. I traded ES, FDAX, 6E, TF (Russell 2000), NQ, YM.

I am currently trading strategy which suits my personality (or it helps to counter my biggest issue - impatience). I started to trade current strategy 2 years ago on sim account. I tried to trade live last year with bad results (lost 20% of my account). As of January 2015 I am currently in a final SIM testing phase and I feel confident again to start trading live soon. I currently trade on SIM account with single contract and will start trading live with single contract as well. I hope to add second contract in matter of 4-6 weeks when everything goes as planned.

I am daytrader and I am currently trading NQ and YM (E-mini Nasdaq and e-mini DowJones). I am reversals trader and I use volume profile, SR zones, and price action to find interesting price levels to enter the markets. I am using orderflow (footprints/numbersbars) for precise timing and trade management.

I created also my own blog, where I will share my results, profits, trades (full disclosure), and also my opinions in some articles. I also tweet my entries while I trade (whenever possible).

I hope to connect with some of you who are struggling with similar issues like me, so we can discuss them and help each other out. I appreciate any comment, question or critics you may have.

Let the journey begin

BTW.: I apologize in advance for my English. You will probably find a lot of grammar mistakes. I am doing my best, but I am not a native speaker.

 

[SniperDaytrader]

Weekly results: 4th week of 2015

This week was extraordinary thanks to series of unexpected events. The volatility was high but that was not the biggest issue. All the big market moves which I am used to catch at the beginning (at least some of them) had very strange start. Like if there was something missing in the orderflow. In addition, the markets have been very nervous with lot of jumping around. This unusual behaviour led to to my frustration, which took the better of my patience and resulted in overtrading and blackout (Tuesday). Even when I came back from this during the rest of the week, it left me with bad taste in my mouth.

My detailed results from SierraChart trading blog are in attachement.

 

[SniperDaytrader]

Overall results from 7th of Jan, 2015

I am attaching also my equity curve and trade activity log from SC. The red markers divide weeks, the black ones days. Please remember those are single contract results. I had some difficulties since the beginning of this year resulting in overtrading and thus lowering my win% ratio. I had blackout also this Tuesday (16 trades).

Blackouts are big threat for me. All of my big losses originated from blackouts.

My current challenges are:
- lowering the amount of trades
- working on patience
- working on discipline (specially following the Money Management rules)

 

[SniperDaytrader]

26.1.2015 premarket preparation

NQ
Nasdaq is in long term uptrend, close to it’s high from November last year. Premarket opened with gap which the market later filled. I am preplanned 2 support and 2 resistance zones (see the pic). I prefer long trades from globex low at 4233. Otherwise, I will be looking at other dynamic S/R zones during the trading.

YM
Dow Jones is also in uptrend from long term perspective. DJ created also gap but was too weak to close it (as of 1.5 hour before opening). I also prefer long trades in DJ from preplanned zones. 17500 looks promising (besides other things it is also nice round number).

In general
After the last week’s nervousness and being Monday with no significant data releases I am expecting uncertain market, meaning I will be more careful than usual and wait for clear situations.

 

[SniperDaytrader]

26.1.2015 trading results

Markets have been nervous from the beginning as I expected and wrote in my pre market preparation. I also wrote: ”I also prefer long trades in DJ from preplanned zones. 17500 looks promising (besides other things it is also nice round number)”. And look how nicely Dow Jones respected the pre planned support zone.

Trades
•T1 Long in NQ. I was too late and momentum was gone. Hasty trade. -10
•T2 Break in NQ. I saw lot of trapped eager bulls in agony here. I entered from nice price level but NQ didn’t react as I expected and this being not really my primarily type of trade I opted for quick +4
I missed the long in YM from support because I was short in NQ.
•T3 Was partly my fault because I didn’t take the offered 8 ticks, partly bad luck when I was hit by stop run. -12

•T4 Short from VAL, but again too late. When I realized my mistake I took -5
•T5 Very nice long from support zone for nice price which allowed me to give the market more space, so I let it run to +18
•T6 Another break, this time trapped bears. Quick +10
•T7 Flip trough ORH. Quick +9

Results:

• too many trades again
•only 57.14% win ratio
•I took T1 and T4 too late
•T3 loss is ok, but could have been managed better

 

[SniperDaytrader]

27.1.2015 premarket preparation

NQ

Nasdaq moved down from yesterday´s trading range. It strikes me as if NQ is seeking for bottom border for consolidation. 4200 price level could be a good candidate for it. My guess is that the break in premarket was a false one and we will see NQ return to 4240 – 4285 levels.

YM

Similar situation in YM but the situation is less readable for me. I am also expecting the market to pull back to higher levels. I will be waiting for opportunities for longs.

 

[SniperDaytrader]

27.1.2015 trading results

Again extremely tough markets. Most of the features of my trading strategy simply didn’t work today. Markets move in very strange way – there are lot of jumps back and forth. There is basically no regular rotation anymore, just big jumps. Because of this I was stopped out several times on 1-3 ticks precisely (market moved beyond my SL just 1-3 ticks). This triggered angry behaviour and I overtraded again.

Trades
•T1 ok +7
•T2 short in NQ, again ok, but marked moved 1 tick beyond my SL -7
•T3 again, thanx to extremely volatile jumps, I was stopped out from nice trade. -9
•T4 again good trade, again market moved 1 tick beyond my SL -6
•T5 tried quick short, didn’t work out -3
•T6 this was my fault, took the price too high -13
•T7 I knew I am right with the idea of markets moving back up, so I reenterd and widened my SL to 20 ticks. +24
•T8 and T9 tried to short the MID twice. -0 and -9
•T10 again my fault in trade management, I should have taken the 20ticks profit. And I had bad luck after that when the market went exactly for my SL. -13
•T11 this was technical fault, I forgot LMT order on the second chart while I was watching YM. -6
•T12 I had strong feeling the markets are going up. I entered at very nice price level and placed my PT at ORL. However the market couldn’t break up from the consolidation and I grew tired of the position so I killed it after 18min. Of course, 10 seconds later the market climbed trought the ORL almost without stopping. +13
•T13 short NQ, but the market started to chop, out at +1
•T14 I tried an aggressive long, but the market did a pullback first. -14
•T15 Finally I entered when I saw trapped bears at MID and holded the position longer. +41

Even when I managed to cover most of the loss with the last trade, I am not happy at all with today’s trading. I could blame the markets all day long but the truth is that I shouldn’t trade at all or at least not so much.

 

[SniperDaytrader]

28.1.2015 trading results

Today is FOMC in the evening (afternoon US time), so I expected the markets to be lazy and move slowly. That is why I was trying to take some trades as soon as possible after opening with at least some volatility. As the markets unfolded however, we could see quite volatile move down.

T1 I tried to enter soon. The 17360 level in YM was interesting for me and I saw the market reject the price underneath it. I couldn’t catch the price sooner so my entry price was quite high. That is why I didn’t leave the market more space to unfold and killed the position at BE+1 when I didn’t see willingness to rise.

T2 This situation was interresting both in NQ and YM. I decided to short YM. The entry was too low and market moved one tick beyond my SL stopping me out. Bad timing and bad luck. -8

T3 This was very nice ”sniper” trade. Long in NQ, market took my LMT order precisely and I was in the position without any heat. PT was hit in matter of seconds. These are the trades I like most. +14

T4 Hasty trade, I should have waited for the market reaction and then I should have killed the position at -6 -7. I married the trade and took full SL. -12

T5 Reentry of previous idea. This was exactly the reaction I should have waited for. Now I just barely covered the previous loss. +13

T6 Long in YM. I was looking at this area long before the market entered here. It was globex low, and low of yesterday’s swing. When I look back at the trade and orderflow I think the area was too visible and well prepared market maker’s trap. I let them lure me in this time. -7

T7 Very nice long. Look how the markets respected the support zone from my premarket preparation (see previous post). I saw strong and healthy move up so I left the market more space do develop. I took my profit according my trade management rules for +25 ticks.

With this trade I reached my perfect daily profit 80-120 USD/1 contract and according to my money management rules I stopped trading.

 

[timsk]

Hi SniperDaytrader,
As a benchmark in being completely candid and fully transparent in your trading, your journal is at the the spring tide high water mark. I'm genuinely impressed - well done!


Your style of trading is as far away as can be from my own and I can't get my head around your methodology. That said, my gut feeing (and I may be totally wrong about this) is that you're attempting to read the market by taking account of myriad of different things. Something tells me you might fair better if you simplified your approach and were more selective about your trades. Just a thought? Certainly, if you review your activity at the end of the day and say to yourself 'what the **** was I thinking when I took that trade', then your methodology relies too heavily on discretion, rather than specifics that can be pinned down, quantified and analysed.

Anyway, I admire your approach and I hope your journal bears fruit in due course in terms of helping you to achieve more consistent results.
Tim.

 

[SniperDaytrader]

Hello Timsk!

Thank you for your kind words. One of the reasons I started my trading journal was exactly that - trying to be transparent. I remember when I started with trading I kept asking myself questions like everybody who is starting is problably asking: How much can you earn? Is it really working? If it so easy, why does not everybody do it? etc.

I was lured to the markets like most of us by advertisements online and in books with big pictures of yachts, private jets etc. I read many advertisements promising me I will reach my financial freedom in months. I have master degree from sales and marketing so I knew what is going on. Therefore I was searching for some real traders who would share their experience and would tell me the truth. At those times I didn't know any traders and I couldn't find anybody who would share his results. I found out couple of journals on some forums but just few traders kept them updated and nobody would ever share any $ results.

So, now when I have clear trading strategy and plan I tought it might be interesting for some newbies to look at someone who is starting and see what he struggles with, see his developement and see also how much he can earn. I have to say I was also inspired by Don Miller and his book: Chronicles of a million dollar trader. If you didn't read it I strongly recommend it. Don is excellent trader and his book is great inspiration.

As to the trading style. I get these comments and questions a lot. Everybody who sees my charts is thinking my style is too complicated. In fact it is not and it makes lot of sense. I had several different trading styles in my past - no indis at all just plane price action, EMAs with CCIs, different bands etc, but it never made sense to me. Too many people are using those.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my toughts on your great forum and I wish you all the best in your trading as well.

Pepe

 

[BSD]

I am attaching also my equity curve and trade activity log from SC.

Picture of your equity curve you posted is not showing here now, but that is absolutely things off to a great start.

Keep that up and you're going to have a great trading career.

All the best !!!

 

[SniperDaytrader]

Danke BSD Ich weiss nicht warum Du den Bild nicht sehst. Ich sehe es ganz normal aber ich werde es hier noch einmal anschliessen. Ich sehe dass Du aus Deutschland bist, daswegen habe ich gedacht ich werde bischen mein Deutsch ueben

Thank you BSD I don't know why you can't see the pic. I see it normally but I will attach it once more. I see you are from Germany, so I tought I would train my German a little

 

[Fugazsy]

good thread, we might have a few ideas to share...wish you all the best

 

[Fugazsy]

I had a brief look, my advice if I may say is to focus on one instrument only, when mastered you may add another, and so on..take only the best setups, we need to learn how to be engaged with the market without having a trade, a trade is only a natural consequence of our understanding, nothing more, be aware that trading is very addictive and an reactive mode it is the confirmation of that addiction....knowing that is important to go forward....
only my two lire

 

[SniperDaytrader]

29.1.2015 trading results

I was done very quickly today. It took me just 40min to reach my PDP (perfect daily profit). I saw another good opportunities, but when I reach PDP so fast and effortless I usually stop trading for that day because I don’t want to spoil it.

T1 I saw nice situation in orderflow. Many bears trapped and in agony. I gave the market little time so it could react to them. I watched patiently and entered long after I saw the market stucked. I wanted to see a quick rejection and momentum to the long side. I didn’t see anything so I opted for quick exit at BE +1

T2 Well, I have to say that this time I was wrong about the market structure. I was expecting the market to fall because it already tested the globex high and I saw strong bears. I went short from 17146 and took quick +9

I missed nice opportunity for short at 17180 but the move was too quick and I didn’t react in time.

T3 I changed my view on the market and went long from 17133. Again, I didn’t hope for a homerun and I took quick +10. I tweeted about this trade, it is excellent example of my trading style. Duration: 14 secs, heat: 0 ticks, profit: $50

Today’s trading lesson:
Take your profit quickly and even if you are wrong in market assessment, you can still profit!

 

[SniperDaytrader]

I had a brief look, my advice if I may say is to focus on one instrument only, when mastered you may add another, and so on..take only the best setups, we need to learn how to be engaged with the market without having a trade, a trade is only a natural consequence of our understanding, nothing more, be aware that trading is very addictive and an reactive mode it is the confirmation of that addiction....knowing that is important to go forward....
only my two lire

Thank you, I appreciate you trying to help, but as for my trading approach - it never suited me better. I am done with searching and seeking, because I finally found something what suits me. I am not saying I know everything about trading, but simply I like the way I am trading and only issues I am facing come from my head. But I guess no trader in the whole world stops fighting, or evolving.

I am watching 4 markets - ES, EMD, NQ and YM and I am trading just NQ and YM.

 

[SniperDaytrader]

I traded too much again. I had couple of very nice entries but altogether my performance was very mediocre.

T1 Long in NQ. Valid try. I killed the positon after the market showed weakness to climb. +4
T2 Another long in NQ. This time too aggressive. -8
T3 I saw the quick short spike in NQ as a stop run. Therefore I jumped in and when I didn’t see price rejection I got off at BE+1
T4 I tweeted 15min in advance that the 4172.00 price level is going to be interresting for long trades. When the market came there I saw some trapped bears and willingness to climb so I entered. Nice trade. +11
T5 This was great lesson for me to remember not to chase the market. Always let the market come to you and join at wholesale, never join the retail mass. That is exactly what I did here and the market reacted accordingly and picked up my stop loss with 1 tick precision. -12
T6 I was frustraded from the previous trade and did reentry in YM. And again -12
T7 Market moved higher and I changed my view on it. I was looking for an opportunity for short trade. I saw that NQ as the only market (from the 4 I am watching) was able to create higher high. I entered short, but the market decided to test the MID before falling. -7
T8 Long in YM from preplanned support was a big mistake. Too hasty, without any other confirmation. -12
T9 Very nice long in Dow Jones. I saw other markets rise and desperate bears trying to push more down without any luck. Entered at excellent price and altogether I had just 1 tick heat. It is very easy to manage such a trade. When I saw the first momentum, I decided to give the market more space. +42
T10 Short in Nasdaq. Looking back, I see it as too aggressive. I missed the first momentum already and I entered too low, so I killed the position at +5
T11 Very nice long in NQ from MID. I took a quick +8 and called it a day.

 

[Forexmospherian]

Hello Timsk!

Thank you for your kind words. One of the reasons I started my trading journal ................................................................



As to the trading style. I get these comments and questions a lot. Everybody who sees my charts is thinking my style is too complicated. In fact it is not and it makes lot of sense. I had several different trading styles in my past - no indis at all just plane price action, EMAs with CCIs, different bands etc, but it never made sense to me. Too many people are using those.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my toughts on your great forum and I wish you all the best in your trading as well.

Pepe

Hi SniperDaytrader

Thank goodness - another FX trader who has used his own brain and as not just followed the herd or the Sheeple.

For me - Trading by keeping all simple - is exactly like the book - "Brain Surgery made easy" - or "Rocket Science for dummies".

The FX markets are dynamic and extremely complex and if traders think they can successfully make great returns by keeping everything simple - GL to them - but all what will happen is they will end up with simple results - ie either "break-even" or small profits ( if they are lucky ) ;-)

25-40% per annum on your own multi million dollar capital account might be fine - but for 95% of retail traders trading with accounts under $25 / 50k - then is it really worth all the study, effort and devotion etc - you need those results every month - not every year

I really wish you well with your own trading journal thread and wish you every success on your trading account

Good Trading


Regards


F

 

[jeffre4]

and you think traders make 25/40 per cent every month on their capital you really are in la la land

 

[Forexmospherian]

and you think traders make 25/40 per cent every month on their capital you really are in la la land

Remember - this is not compounding continually and its not the commercial way

This is working with a fairly fixed size capital account - and then withdrawing gains every 2 weeks .

The fact that I have been doing this on average for over 4 years - month on month maybe proves that 95% of retail traders are totally mislead and are just not at the standard required.

But there again - how many retail FX traders are full time and have 13 yrs of experience behind them ??

Commercial trading - different ballgame

Regards


F