This is my journal I am using to stay disciplined with my trading. I will have my market analysis as well as self analysis included here. Also some articles I particularly like or other ones that I write just to get the thoughts down.
Trading for 30th July
Posted 07-30-2008 at 11:17 PM by jasont
Here is my journal from the 30th July:
At 10:35am today we have the crude oil inventories. With how much we have been affected by the oil moves these days this is a rather important news item. I will remain aware of that time.
We appear as though we are going to open with a decent gap higher. We are currently trading at the 1270 area. If we stay around here I may hold off on the short trade at the open unless we show distinct signs of dropping. Beyond there I am going to play it by ear, neither side is appealing to me strongly at this point.
10:02 We opened at the 1270 resistance area and pushed through it without much hesitation. The Tick has remained above the zero area quite well at this point. From here things currently look healthy on the upside. I would like to see some form of retracement before getting on board yet I may not get that luxury. Volume has been steady to slightly declining at this point as we move down.
10:32 Ordinarily I would be looking to place a short up here at the resistance zone. However we have the news at 10:35. The tick is reluctant to drop beneath the zero line at this point. Volume has tapered off on this slow move. I'll see what happens after the Oil news.
11:18 I took a short trade at 1276.75 with my stop at 1278.25. Reason for trade was the 1-2-3 at resistance with a declining tick and weak volume on the latest up leg. I had my initial profit target at 1275.25. We were struggling at 1275.50 so I took an exit at 1276. Not entirely convinced the short side is overly strong at this point. We did break through that 1275 area though which is a lesson learnt for next time.
11:55 Ok well I'll call it a night here. We have been hardly moving since my trade. We are hanging around the 1275 area right now. The Volume has been tapering off with this sideways action. The Tick has begun moving back into positive territory and we have been riding the fast EMA on the 5 minute. That leads me to believe we may see some further movement higher but its too 50/50 to tell for me right now.
I had a good night of trading. I waited for a move at the resistance level with supporting evidence from the Tick and Volume. It wasn't a runner but the market hasn't made big swings in the morning apart from the first moves of the day. Today was more like what yesterday ideally would have looked like if I followed the plan. It was a big improvement.
Daily Wrap Up
Today was a big improvement on yesterday. I stuck to the plan of only trading at s/r levels and I was cautious of getting stuck on the wrong side of the market again like what occurred yesterday.
We overshot the 1278 resistance area initially but then the upside momentum died off as we made a possible 1-2-3 setup. The second chance to short was right at the resistance area so I took the trade as per the plan. I wasn't confident in the short side at this stage and my concerns were warranted.
For the next 45 minutes we only moved about 3 points. If I didn't exit my trade I know I would have got out anyway as 45 minutes is a long time to be in a trade not proving you correct substantially.
Apart from that one trade I stuck on the sidelines and let the market do its thing. It didn't move much during the morning so the chances for a good trade for me were limited. It has in fact been like that all week for me. Unless I get on the early move, there isn't much opportunity.
For following my focus I give myself an 'A'. I improved ten fold in following the plan today. I only traded at the s/r levels and didn't get sucked into trading non existent setups.
Trade 1a: 0.75 Win
Trade 1b: 0.75 Win
Daily Result: 1.5 Gain
At 10:35am today we have the crude oil inventories. With how much we have been affected by the oil moves these days this is a rather important news item. I will remain aware of that time.
We appear as though we are going to open with a decent gap higher. We are currently trading at the 1270 area. If we stay around here I may hold off on the short trade at the open unless we show distinct signs of dropping. Beyond there I am going to play it by ear, neither side is appealing to me strongly at this point.
10:02 We opened at the 1270 resistance area and pushed through it without much hesitation. The Tick has remained above the zero area quite well at this point. From here things currently look healthy on the upside. I would like to see some form of retracement before getting on board yet I may not get that luxury. Volume has been steady to slightly declining at this point as we move down.
10:32 Ordinarily I would be looking to place a short up here at the resistance zone. However we have the news at 10:35. The tick is reluctant to drop beneath the zero line at this point. Volume has tapered off on this slow move. I'll see what happens after the Oil news.
11:18 I took a short trade at 1276.75 with my stop at 1278.25. Reason for trade was the 1-2-3 at resistance with a declining tick and weak volume on the latest up leg. I had my initial profit target at 1275.25. We were struggling at 1275.50 so I took an exit at 1276. Not entirely convinced the short side is overly strong at this point. We did break through that 1275 area though which is a lesson learnt for next time.
11:55 Ok well I'll call it a night here. We have been hardly moving since my trade. We are hanging around the 1275 area right now. The Volume has been tapering off with this sideways action. The Tick has begun moving back into positive territory and we have been riding the fast EMA on the 5 minute. That leads me to believe we may see some further movement higher but its too 50/50 to tell for me right now.
I had a good night of trading. I waited for a move at the resistance level with supporting evidence from the Tick and Volume. It wasn't a runner but the market hasn't made big swings in the morning apart from the first moves of the day. Today was more like what yesterday ideally would have looked like if I followed the plan. It was a big improvement.
Daily Wrap Up
Today was a big improvement on yesterday. I stuck to the plan of only trading at s/r levels and I was cautious of getting stuck on the wrong side of the market again like what occurred yesterday.
We overshot the 1278 resistance area initially but then the upside momentum died off as we made a possible 1-2-3 setup. The second chance to short was right at the resistance area so I took the trade as per the plan. I wasn't confident in the short side at this stage and my concerns were warranted.
For the next 45 minutes we only moved about 3 points. If I didn't exit my trade I know I would have got out anyway as 45 minutes is a long time to be in a trade not proving you correct substantially.
Apart from that one trade I stuck on the sidelines and let the market do its thing. It didn't move much during the morning so the chances for a good trade for me were limited. It has in fact been like that all week for me. Unless I get on the early move, there isn't much opportunity.
For following my focus I give myself an 'A'. I improved ten fold in following the plan today. I only traded at the s/r levels and didn't get sucked into trading non existent setups.
Trade 1a: 0.75 Win
Trade 1b: 0.75 Win
Daily Result: 1.5 Gain
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Recent Blog Entries by jasont
- Moving Journal (08-03-2008)
- Trade Setup For 1st August (08-01-2008)
- Trading for 31st July (08-01-2008)
- Trade Setup for July 31st (07-31-2008)
- Trading for 30th July (07-30-2008)
