AbeSmith

On this trade my stop was a 17 points originally because I though it could bounce back a bit. But later I changed my mind to a 10 point stop when I saw the price move up fast and so I did that to try to reduce risk. But if I would have kept my original stop I would have weathered the pullback and now I see that my 13410 target was just reached.

You're right Notouch. I will do that from now on.

Trade 4: -10.

Nicely done.

Trade 3: -1. Got out before being stopped out.

Trade 2: -11.

Missed this nice short right there. Still finding myself to be very timid and not executing trades I should be executing because I guess I'm too afraid of losing.

The opening spike plan didn't work. Bought at 13419. Stopped at 13409. -10 points.

A good morning to everyone, and good evening to our international traders. This morning is a foggy day in the Dallas area. We have had rain and thunderstorms for as long as I can remember. I don't remember it ever raining this long. Don't know if it is just my perception or if it is really something out of the ordinary. Anyways, today I would like to trade more setups. I noticed yesterday after I had a good trade I didn't want to confront the market anymore because I think I was scared of losing my gains. So I lost some good trading opportunities due to that. Also today I would like to go long right before the open. I've noticed that the market tends to spike up on the open, even on bearish days. Again, this may just be my perception and not a fact, but I will go with that today. Good luck everyone.

Thanks Brownsfan. It is $40 though. Once I become a successful professional trader I will be able to purchase such luxuries, but until then I have to be careful how I spend my money.

Thanks Notouch. That's good to know.

I think that was due to Disney.

Sorry, I attached the wrong image. This one is the one I wanted to show:

Thanks Gary. That's what I meant, the one that was most often used. I notice some of the old timer floor traders they interviewed on CNBC they metion the 200 sma several times. One said that, I think he said S&P went below the 200sma, so I figure some floor traders pay attention to that. And today I noticed that the 200sma was a major support area:

Hello gentlement. This 200sma seems to be a strong support area right now. Am I using the right input data (Last)?

Well Paul, I've started to notice that well planned trades have a better chance of success. Also, it is important to calculate the profit to loss ratio for each trade, which I did for this trade. I estimated the profit to be much higher than the loss if my stop should be triggered. Also, it is important to consider all the factors that could weigh in on a trade, the trend on both 5 minute and 1 minute chart, the pivot point, and many more technical indicators which I don't know but other traders probably follow. But trend and pivot points are simple and popular, so I'm starting out with those for now and will build on them once I figure out other factors to consider, like the print, tick, moving averages, and volume I know a bit about but not enough I guess.

Trade 3: Excellent trade. +60 points. Realized gains today $217.96 so far.

One the 1 minute chart it was a totally different setup though. Didn't pay attention to that.

Second trade. Another losing trade. -6. But good instinct on this one to get out before it got worse. -77.78 realized loss so far today.

First trade of the day. Still having technical difficulty with firm stops, this time tried bracket order but didn't work and ended up costing me 2 round trips instead of 1. Not feeling too down about this trade though because it seemed like a good setup. Right?

A good morning to everyone. And good luck today, and everyday, for ever. Hey James. Thanks for the heads up. It's looking bad for the market from a technical standpoint IMO. Looking at the YM 6 month chart it shows that we are well bellow the lows of July and June.

Thanks Paul. I appreciate that.

Hey Paul. I tend to look at the 1 minute chart as well but a lot of my last trades I didn't even do that. I don't know what came over me. I do have the weekly chart up as well as the 2 day chart but they are IB charts and so not very useful.

11:05CT. Long at 13495. Stopped out at 13483. -12. Total loss for today so far is -50 points. 4 roundtrips. Realized P&L is -267.04. That’s more than 2% of my account value if I was trading with real money. Will take some time out to think about my trading. A lot of my trades were high risk. Also, I think the constant logging and photoshoping is taking a toll on my concentration. Not thinking clearly, taking stupid setups and risks that I should not be taking, and frankly I should know better than that. Glad that I’m trading a paper account, but still I’m very disappointed in myself.

10:45CT 13474 short. Stop at 13484. Not sure how to do firm stops yet so doing soft stops. Stopped out at 13486. -12. Horrible trade. Not following trading plan. Should have gone long not short, due to 2 higher highs preceding the entry signaling an uptrend. Looking to buy on the next dip.