SniperDaytrader's journal

[SniperDaytrader]

Hi SDT

I wish you well and Good luck.

I am pleased its not the first time you are going from sim to live money - as you will know the emotions you will go through - they can be massive with your first 25 - 50 live trades - but after a few hundred + then you hopefully can start to relax and get to a position that you can treat your live account with the same calmness as you do with a Sim / demo.

Sod's law for me was in the first 3 months whilst compounding and going well - I had reached my highest exposure and lot size and I had 7 bad consecutive trades and it really took the wind out my sail. Took me about another 3 -6 months to regain my confidence and get back to at least a size I felt confident with - and then after that year - I never compounded again and just withdrew profits on a regular basis - and have done for last 5 - 6 yrs.

Good Trading

Regards


F

Hello F,

thank you for your support. It means a lot.
As you stated, I went from SIM to LIVE several times so I kinda have an idea what to expect but the emotional rush always suprises me. I will have to fight the emotions slowly and with discipline.

Thanx again and good trading to you as well.

SDT

 

[SniperDaytrader]

good post Sniper.

I am going to pass to you my experience....this is only mine and I am not saying it will work for you or others, but I think you can make use to it by reading it and seeing how others how develop it.

when I started with a live account, I was only risking 0.25% per trade, after 10 trading days if my curve was up I moved to 0.5%, then 1%, 2% and so on every two weeks, it worked for me because it gave me confidence in my approach, that confidence was necessary to shake off the losing trades and perceive my trading as an all and not as a consequence of a few trades.

Trading a live account is a completely game, mr ego will come to play and he will make difficult to you as much as he can, but knowing he is there you will have an edge over him, he will have not any chances in your presence..

Remember this is a never ending leaning curve, every day after your session go back and see what you could have done better, nobody can teach you more then yourself....

I am doing mine at the moment and I will post it on my thread what I could have done better....

Hello Fugazsy,

thank you for your comment.

I will start slowly trading with a single contract. I have chosen relatively cheap markets - NQ and YM (1 tick = $5). My max. stop loss is usually between 8 - 15 ticks but I am trying to manage the lossing position and get out at the loss of 6 - 9 ticks when I see that there is no reason to stay in the position. In average my lossing trades are 8 ticks which is $45 (+$5 commision) which represents 0.7% of my trading account. I will add second contract after I make $1.500 with a single one. That should give me confidence in my trading and also less stress when I will be playing with ''house'' money.

The biggest threat I am facing are blackout days where I can loose more money in a single day than I make in a whole week. I have implemented my money management rules so that I will stop trading after I reach my daily maximum stop loss ($150).

I know that my strategy is working and gives me good edge, so it will all come down to my ability to resist the emotions. In reality just one emotion - fear. I got theory that the greed which is repeated in every psychological book is just masked fear.

Thank you again for your suggestions and good trading to you

SDT

 

[Fugazsy]

Hello Fugazsy,

thank you for your comment.

I will start slowly trading with a single contract. I have chosen relatively cheap markets - NQ and YM (1 tick = $5). My max. stop loss is usually between 8 - 15 ticks but I am trying to manage the lossing position and get out at the loss of 6 - 9 ticks when I see that there is no reason to stay in the position. In average my lossing trades are 8 ticks which is $45 (+$5 commision) which represents 0.7% of my trading account. I will add second contract after I make $1.500 with a single one. That should give me confidence in my trading and also less stress when I will be playing with ''house'' money.

The biggest threat I am facing are blackout days where I can loose more money in a single day than I make in a whole week. I have implemented my money management rules so that I will stop trading after I reach my daily maximum stop loss ($150).

I know that my strategy is working and gives me good edge, so it will all come down to my ability to resist the emotions. In reality just one emotion - fear. I got theory that the greed which is repeated in every psychological book is just masked fear.

Thank you again for your suggestions and good trading to you

SDT

 

[SniperDaytrader]

 

[SniperDaytrader]

February 20, 2015 dejavú

Markets offered just limited number of opportunities for my trading approach.

T1 First trade was dejavú from yesterday. I also picked the bottom of the market (NQ this time) just few ticks from lowest low. Unfortunately after my order was filled, there was too much chaos in the markets and the situation didn't provide me with clear edge anymore so I manualy closed the position at BE+2 according to my trade management rules.

T2 After the YM breaked up from the consolidation I saw unwillingness to return and test lower levels. I entered long and found out I hit the mouse button twice resulting in two waiting limit orders. I was filled before I could cancel one of them. So I had to manage both which scared me at the beginning. I closed the first contract at BE+1 and took the primary momentum with the second one at +8.

 

[SniperDaytrader]

Weekly results: 8th week of 2015 return of the sniper

http://prntscr.com/680fsf

I hope you enjoy my modest picture As you can guess from the pic I am very satisfied with my performance for this week. Let me clear some things first. I was trading just 4 days this week because of the bank holliday in US on monday. Besides that I also decided to start with live trading beginning from Thursday. So I traded Tuesday and Wednesday on SIM account and Thursday and Friday on LIVE account. Because of that I will publish 2 statistics - one for SIM trading and the second one for LIVE trading and I will manualy count the numbers together.

Conclusion
I am very happy not just because of the outcome but also because I took all the trades exactly as I was supposed to (maybe except the T2 on Tuesday). I entered at very good prices, most of the time picking the tops and bottoms of the market which exposed me to very limited risk. It is easily visible from the statistics. Maximum trade drawdown during SIM trades was just 3 ticks for all 4 trades, meaning not a single trade was in higher open loss than $15. During the LIVE trading, maximum drawdown was 6 ticks which is still great. Most of the trades have been without any or just with a single tick heat.

This is why I call it sniper daytrading. When executed correctly my approach allows me to enter the trades with extremely limited risk resulting in great RRR (risk-reward-ratio).

Another good sign is that I was not overtrading which is one of my weaknesses. Overall I took just 7 trades, which leaves us with 1.75 trades per day.

Only value which I am not satisfied with is the average winning trade during the LIVE trading. $24.63 is too low, I am trying to reamain above $30 level when trading. This is something I need to work on next week. I have to give the market more space.

Cumulated statistics
Total net P/L: $212.76 (after commissions)
Total commissions: $32.24
Total trades: 7
Winning trades: 7
Win%: 100%
I will enjoy this winner feeling for a day or two and then I will forget about this week because new week starts on monday and the last thing I need is to be cocky or arrogant while trading. That usually results in big losses.

 

[SniperDaytrader]

BTW. I am struggling a lot to insert pics here. If I want to download them from my PC, there is no embed button so I end up attaching them as thumbnails at the end of the text. And if I want to attach img from web it is not working. Can anybody help please?

 

[SniperDaytrader]

February 23, 2015 dead market walking

The markets have been totally dead today.

T1 I took single trade at 9:16. All the other markets have been climbing except the NQ. However, I took the long too soon. I realised my mistake right after I took the position but I also saw that the market is going to turn. Therefore I widened my stop loss a little and kept waiting. I was 13 ticks in heat which is a lot for me. I am used to 0-6 ticks of heat when I am right. So when the market provided me with the opportunity to exit the position on BE+1 I gladly took it. +1

I saw one more setup later on but I didn't want to risk anymore in such a dead market. Tomorrow is another day, hopefully with more opportunities.

 

[options-george]

Thanks for sharing your update!

I guess after a strong push to new record highs on Friday, it could be expected for the market to take a bit of a breather. I saw a short setup on the DAX early in the morning, but didn't take it because of the bullish 1H trend (DAX is the only equities market I trade). But after falling a bit in the morning, it did just go sideways.

It's important to be able to sit aside/on your hands on quiet days - though I am sure you know that after 5 years+ at this game.

Out of interest, did you close your T1 because of a technical reason, or for the sake of just being able to get out for scratch (i.e. an emotional reason!).

Good luck for tomorrow.

 

[SniperDaytrader]

Thanks for sharing your update!

I guess after a strong push to new record highs on Friday, it could be expected for the market to take a bit of a breather. I saw a short setup on the DAX early in the morning, but didn't take it because of the bullish 1H trend (DAX is the only equities market I trade). But after falling a bit in the morning, it did just go sideways.

It's important to be able to sit aside/on your hands on quiet days - though I am sure you know that after 5 years+ at this game.

Out of interest, did you close your T1 because of a technical reason, or for the sake of just being able to get out for scratch (i.e. an emotional reason!).

Good luck for tomorrow.

Thanx for the comment!

I totally agree. Sitting on own hands is IMHO one of the most important trader's skills.

As to the trade management. As I wrote - the market was screaming at me: THIS IS LOW AND I AM GOING TO TURN. There have been several signs for it and me being primarily reversals trader learned to observe them. So it made sense for me to still wait in the position. However I didn't want to sit in the position for a long time because in days like this one when there is low volume, anything can happen. I expected the market to climb further, but after it crossed my entry point the ASKs have been trapped on the high of the bar. That is a contra-signal or a signal for me that something is not ok. And that is not something I want to see when I am in the position for such a bad price. It means I need to risk a lot but the probability of win is already lower = BAD situation.

So I opted for an easy exit at BE+1.

 

[SniperDaytrader]

Febuary 24
I missed couple of good opportunities today to close the day in a loss.


T1 This was nice trade. The market reacted nicely to my preplanned support level. I took long just 3 ticks from the bottom. However the trade management was a huge fail. There was not really a reason to get out. BE+1

T2 I still cannot understand why I did take this trade. It was short from historical highs. Total crap. I am ashamed. -13

February 25
Today I continued to make mistakes. Even when the market was extremely slow and didn’t offer much opportunities I could end up in black numbers, haven’t I make so many stupid mistakes.


T1 I took the short from what I analysed is a false breaktrough from consolidation. Other markets have been falling. I took the trade prematurely resulting in very bad price and huge risk (not used to 8 ticks). But the biggest mistake was that because of my greed and despite the fact I entered at bad price, I didn’t take 12 ticks profit even when I could. Third mistake was that after I saw the market returning back to my entry point I didn’t close the trade and instead of that kept HOPING that it will return back. Hoping is one of the surest way to lose money in this business. One trade, three mistakes. Not good. -11

 

[Forexmospherian]

Hi SDT

Sorry to hear about last 2 days.

What's good though is you know yourself you have made mistakes and have identified them and i am sure they will stay with you in your future decision making - and if you enter at a poor or bad price - and you see positive ticks - you will take them ASAP.

The nice thing about short term trading is that - you can always enter again if the move keeps going you way - and if it does not then you are relaxed knowing you got out with at least a few ticks.

I am sure you will bounce back and GL for today the 26th and last trading day of month tomorrow on the 27th

All the best

F

 

[SniperDaytrader]

Hi F,

thanx. We will see today

SDT

 

[SniperDaytrader]

February 26, 2015 frustration

Today´s trading was full of mistakes and frustration. The markets are extremely slow which is not a natural environment for me. There is a very easy recipe to counter such conditions. You simply don't trade or you trade less and take just the best setups. I did the opposite and paid the price for it.


T1 Aggresive entry from MID. The entry was not that bad but I couldn't manage it correctly and after I withstood the heat I killed the position at BE. -0
T2 Premature long. -7
A This was today's best trade. I identified it quite correctly and placed my long limit order. Unfortunately, I didn't get fill.


T3 More aggresive entry for bad price. Managed to get out at -4
T4 Very stupid trade. Makes no sense and in addition I couldn't manage it. -13
T5 This was more guessed trade according to the structure of the market. Also very aggresive. +16
This was the point were I should have stopped trading for today, however I continued watching the market and trading.

T6 Attempt from ORH. Didn't work at all. -9
T7 Short from ORH. I took the trade for very bad price and I was stopped out 2 ticks from high. -7
T8 I took this one too soon. Managed to get out at +2
T9 The stupidest trade of today. I took it couple of minutes before trading day close. I didn't believe that the market might actually move higher. And it didn't, it just moved high enough so it took my SL out exactly 2 ticks from high again. -12

Results:

 

[SniperDaytrader]

February 27, 2015 comming back

After yesterday's fiasco I traded much more carefully today. And it did pay off even when the markets have been dead again.


T1 More aggresive short but still according to my plan. Thanx to good entry price I was able to close the trade at +8 ticks even when the market was rising. +8
T2 Long for a very nice entry price. However after the entry, the market became very chaotic and I didn't want to risk another stop loss at the end of the week. So I killed the position at +4
Results:

 

[SniperDaytrader]

Weekly results: Week 9, lot of mistakes and frustration

Extremely difficult week to trade, but the real reason why I ruined it was my own head. All I needed to do was not trading when the markets don´t move or have just tiny volume. I did exactly the opposite. I traded too much. The worst day was Thursday when I created -$200 drawdown. I started to recover from it on Friday with results which looks more like me (100% win with 2 trades). I take the whole period as a costly but good lesson. I need to slow down, take only the best setups and slowly recover financially but more important also mentally. I need to regain the confidence in myself and trust in my system. The next few weeks will show how I will be able to accomplish that.

Statistics

Since I switched to LIVE account I am totally $206.70 in loss. Win% is only 50%. I didn’t have such a bad statistics for a long time. During 7 trading sessions (since Thursday last week), I made 18 trades. Half of it on Thursday.

It is difficult to evaluate current week and half of trading. Without Thursday I would be at break even which would be quite ok for a start in such a difficult market. The whole loss was created on Thursday. I need to pay attention for days like this. It is much easier to not create such a huge drawdown on a single day than to come back from it.

 

[options-george]

Sorry to hear that you had a tough week. Hang in there

As I am sure you know this type of situation often occurs when you switch from testing/demo to live. It just often happens like that.

It's also very easy to go back with the benefit of hindsight and say "i should have done that, i should have done this" but this is similar to looking at a chart and identifying all the places where you "should/would have" gone long and short. So don't be over-critical on yourself. It seems like you are learning your lessons and mistakes. Remember it's a marathon not a sprint.

Keep going

 

[Fugazsy]

Sniper, remember mr ego comes to play.........

be cautious at the beginning, you just need half trade a day....take only the best trades...spot the strength and trade against the weak hands..

my 2 lire

 

[SniperDaytrader]

March 2, 2015 calming down

The market didn’t offer me much opportunities today but it started to move at least.


T1 Premature and aggressive short. -9
T2 Entry into trend on pullback. Even here I could have waited 2 more bars. +12
T3 Probably the best setup for my approach today. Everything was clear to me 5min before entry. I was just waiting until the market moved to the right price level. +9

I am starting to trade more calmly without much haste. That is a very good sign. I hope I will be able to continue in this manner.

 

[Fugazsy]

The market didn’t offer me much opportunities today but it started to move at least.
View attachment 186174

T1 Premature and aggressive short. -9
T2 Entry into trend on pullback. Even here I could have waited 2 more bars. +12
T3 Probably the best setup for my approach today. Everything was clear to me 5min before entry. I was just waiting until the market moved to the right price level. +9

I am starting to trade more calmly without much haste. That is a very good sign. I hope I will be able to continue in this manner.

Good.

Be aware that fear, greed, lack of patience and more will arise, do not react to them but just be aware they are there...feel them as sensation in your body... that way they will subdue by the presence of your awareness and your further action will not be conditioned by noise...but only by clear motivation.