Traders Laboratory Forums - Blogs - smbtnt http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/smbtnt/ Traders Laboratory (TL) is the leading online trading forum for day traders, swing traders, and active traders covering forex, stocks, futures, and options. en Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:59:38 GMT vBulletin 30 http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/images/styles/Traders/misc/rss.jpg Traders Laboratory Forums - Blogs - smbtnt http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/smbtnt/ 180 to 310 http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/smbtnt/288-180-310.html Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:30:50 GMT Well this is the final straw for this friday, 185 long sgnal on mini W - 1st target 230 next target HOD. over and out for today... Well this is the final straw for this friday, 185 long sgnal on mini W - 1st target 230 next target HOD.

over and out for today... ]]> smbtnt http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/smbtnt/288-180-310.html signal not taken.... http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/smbtnt/286-signal-not-taken.html Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:21:22 GMT Just had another long signal at 205 but no confidence so did not take it - she has gone to 230 as I type, now I am not sure if this is a reversal or... Just had another long signal at 205 but no confidence so did not take it - she has gone to 230 as I type, now I am not sure if this is a reversal or just a retrace for more down so not sure whether the cont signals are worth taking. If I was to take a trade it would just be a gamble now.

So far not taken 2 signals and taken one without followthru.

Long 196, short 286 and Long 200. ]]> smbtnt http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/smbtnt/286-signal-not-taken.html fearful and stressed http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/smbtnt/285-fearful-stressed.html Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:38:34 GMT Ok i Have decided not to post technical info on this blog as I feel I am pretty proficient in this area. I will use this medium to post trades and... Ok i Have decided not to post technical info on this blog as I feel I am pretty proficient in this area. I will use this medium to post trades and why I exited them.

Today as the market opened I was overly bullish as I posted earlier. I was hoping for a retrace from the 230 resistance zone which it did and bounced at 190, I took a long at 200 with a stop at 185, price moved to 220 but pulled back very quickly, my target was 230 so i decided to let this one run but alas she promptly hit my stop for a -15.

At this point I was stunned and started doubting all the research I had done the night before and this morning. However following news at 14.55 I took another trade, a Long at 196 with a stop at 165 - 30 pips. This was the long I had been waiting for I told myself, this was my lucky break but then I brought up my autotrader API and saw exactly what 30 pip stop meant, it meant -$300 if i was wrong, I suddenly started feeling very uncomfortable and 57 seconds later I closed my trade for breakeven, feeling very angry with myself for not having the balls to follow through, not having the patience or the responsibility to execute the trade according to my plan.
10 minutes later price hit 290, at this pont i was feeling sick and very very fustrated.
I had another signal to short 286, stop 300, target 250 at 16.25 but did not take it as market was moving so slowly and felt shorting in an uptrend was a recipe for disaster.
Suffice it to say I was pretty gutted as price hit my target 30 minutes later without me.
I now feel extremely frustrated and want to trade for the sake of it, I want to make money today but I know I will take a trade without a valid signal and end up losing on a day that was perfectly poised for my style of trading. I have decided not to take any more trades as the market is in limbo now.
I have now gone through 10 days without a gain and my drawdown is £1k. My confidence is sapped and I have to admit I have only taken a handful of trades to the letter of my plan.
A quick calculaton shows if all trades taken to the letter would have yielded me at least 400 pips a week, instead I am now averaging -50.
This has to change and change very soon.:(

ps: the 286 short is now sitting under 230 and just collapsing, this has been the norm, everyday for the past 6 weeks. I will now walk away from the screen. ]]> smbtnt http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/smbtnt/285-fearful-stressed.html fear http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/smbtnt/284-fear.html Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:08:52 GMT After missing out on a few 100+ trades to fear and stress brought about by a recent horrific drawdown of 5 losers I have decided to post my opinions,... After missing out on a few 100+ trades to fear and stress brought about by a recent horrific drawdown of 5 losers I have decided to post my opinions, beliefs, mindset issues etc.

After yesterday's down move on the dow ( which I had an entry short at 250 but did not take due to a 20 pip stop - fairly large - actually let me delve on this point. I am a reversal trader primarily, my signals cater for both reversals and cont trades but i prefer reversals as the inital thrust up can be quite lucrative, however my main flaw is that I do not trust my signals and look to others for confirmation; be it forums, trading colleagues etc. Therefore When the signal does appear I go through a period of paralysis and then a session of headbutting as she eases towards my target - will address this further in later posts). Ok back to the dow, well in my experience the V off support at 12080-90 ( massive support zone and the usual resting place for price before we break 12k -> 11900 -> 11700 etc), well just before the close we saw value buyers pile in at 12080-90 pushing it up 100 odd intra and premarket whereby the bears at 12180 took over and now hoverng at 12020. Well my bias today is for an up day however I have been wrong in the past as we all have, however when I have been wrong its been completely converse. We are sitting on the last bastion of capitulation before the big break the whole world and their mother has been waiting for, so when I say it could go the other way, well it will go big time.
Case for an up day: Euro/ swiss/ jpy/chf retreating this morning against the $ and £, Euro being battered by £ also commodities - crude and gold have cooled off (oxymoron if I have ever heard one) , as I type this YM has just bounced 50 points premarket off 115. Darn! Why can she not wait intramarket, it would be too much to ask for her to pullback to the 90's now. This is where it gets tough becuase I have to enter on a pullback or at the highs intramarket which is something I am very averse to. Anyway less of the talk, I will post some charts in different timeframes to demonstrate my bias.
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Click image for larger version Name: YM daily 1306.png Views: 37 Size: 32.0 KB ID: 294   Click image for larger version Name: ym 4hr ma.png Views: 34 Size: 90.9 KB ID: 295   Click image for larger version Name: YM 4hr pa.png Views: 32 Size: 74.9 KB ID: 296   Click image for larger version Name: YM 1hr pa.png Views: 33 Size: 35.3 KB ID: 297   Click image for larger version Name: cash 1hr pa.png Views: 36 Size: 80.1 KB ID: 298  

]]> smbtnt http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/smbtnt/284-fear.html 21/05 http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/smbtnt/210-21-05.html Thu, 22 May 2008 09:03:09 GMT FOMC minutes, bias was down, entry on the hourly. Clean s/r move. FOMC minutes, bias was down, entry on the hourly. Clean s/r move.
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Click image for larger version Name: ym 21 may.png Views: 31 Size: 12.7 KB ID: 236  
]]> smbtnt http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/smbtnt/210-21-05.html FX and Futures 19/05/08 http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/smbtnt/198-fx-futures-19-05-08.html Mon, 19 May 2008 11:23:16 GMT I feel my approach to full-time trading has not been as professional or organised as it could have been. My emotions are dictating my performance far... I feel my approach to full-time trading has not been as professional or organised as it could have been. My emotions are dictating my performance far too frequently for my liking. Therefore I have decided to start this blog to keep track of my sentiment and psyche before, during and after placing a trade. Entries/exits and stops with charts where relevant. ]]> smbtnt http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/smbtnt/198-fx-futures-19-05-08.html