March 1, 2012 trading journal – The goal for the month is to trade 1 contract and earn on average 1 point per day which equals $50.00 so that in 20 days I would have a profit of $1000.00. I feel that this is a realistic goal. I want to post this for the month of March to show smaller traders it is possible to be consistent with discipline in order to grow your account in order to trade size.
Please follow me in this journey...........
I trade JOT ( jump on the trend) Counter Trend, HLB & LHS ( higher low buy and lower high sell ) trades and Break out trades. I use small stops and all in all out targets, my methodologies and strategies are based upon taking little bites out of the market ( being a little piranha ) and being Green and Gone! I try to trade only a few hours a day, in the mornings.
1) 1st trade at 5:17 on the 6E with an entry at 1.3341 but got out at breakeven after being in the trade for too long, I got out to reduce risk as the longer I am in a trade the higher the risk. This trade was a JOT ( jump on trend ) trade on a 610 vol chart.
2) 2nd trade at 5:34 was at a re-entry point at 1.3338 and I hit my profit target of 4 pips, it was a JOT trade as well on the 300 vol for the entry.
3) 3rd trade was at 6:16 in CL with an entry at 107.42 and an original target of 15 tics, had a trailing stop of 10 tics, I noticed once in the trade that I had used the wrong ATM which had a profit target of 10 tics and before I could move it down to 15 tics I was taken out of the trade with a +10 profit. Bad management in this trade with a mistake on the ATM, giving myself a C- on this trade. This was a trend trade, jump on the trend…
4) 4th trade was at 7:52 on the 6E at 1.3307 and hit my profit target of +4. This was on the 300 vol chart and a JOT trade after bottoming.
5) 5th trade was at 8:32 on the CL at 107.36 with a profit target of 5/10/15 as I was trading 3 contracts. Again another management mistake as I want to trade just 1 contract for this journals sake, again rate myself with a C- on the trade.
So after 5 trades this morning trading from 5:15 to 8:45am EST I was 4 wins, no loses and a Break Even. It was time to stop trading for the day and go into SIM for any other entries.
For some background, I will be trading 1 contract for this journal period as it is much more difficult to trade smaller size for a trader. My preferred instruments will be the 6E, ES and CL. I trade the 6E and ES with a 8 tic stop which is trailing one tic at a time, a 4 tic profit with the stop going to breakeven after the target trades one contract so that if I am not filled then I am still in a risk free trade and worst case I will be taken out breakeven. I trade the CL with a 10 tic stop and a 10-15 tic profit target based upon the entry and any support or resistance levels in that profit target range.
Today’s mistakes did not hurt me but in the long run they will if I keep making them. What I need to work on for tomorrow is NO ATM mistakes and I am fixing that as I speak. I will not be posting the profit numbers for the day a that is not the point of having a trading journal. I will post the profits/losses at the end of the March when this is complete.
Please follow me in this journey...........
I trade JOT ( jump on the trend) Counter Trend, HLB & LHS ( higher low buy and lower high sell ) trades and Break out trades. I use small stops and all in all out targets, my methodologies and strategies are based upon taking little bites out of the market ( being a little piranha ) and being Green and Gone! I try to trade only a few hours a day, in the mornings.
1) 1st trade at 5:17 on the 6E with an entry at 1.3341 but got out at breakeven after being in the trade for too long, I got out to reduce risk as the longer I am in a trade the higher the risk. This trade was a JOT ( jump on trend ) trade on a 610 vol chart.
2) 2nd trade at 5:34 was at a re-entry point at 1.3338 and I hit my profit target of 4 pips, it was a JOT trade as well on the 300 vol for the entry.
3) 3rd trade was at 6:16 in CL with an entry at 107.42 and an original target of 15 tics, had a trailing stop of 10 tics, I noticed once in the trade that I had used the wrong ATM which had a profit target of 10 tics and before I could move it down to 15 tics I was taken out of the trade with a +10 profit. Bad management in this trade with a mistake on the ATM, giving myself a C- on this trade. This was a trend trade, jump on the trend…
4) 4th trade was at 7:52 on the 6E at 1.3307 and hit my profit target of +4. This was on the 300 vol chart and a JOT trade after bottoming.
5) 5th trade was at 8:32 on the CL at 107.36 with a profit target of 5/10/15 as I was trading 3 contracts. Again another management mistake as I want to trade just 1 contract for this journals sake, again rate myself with a C- on the trade.
So after 5 trades this morning trading from 5:15 to 8:45am EST I was 4 wins, no loses and a Break Even. It was time to stop trading for the day and go into SIM for any other entries.
For some background, I will be trading 1 contract for this journal period as it is much more difficult to trade smaller size for a trader. My preferred instruments will be the 6E, ES and CL. I trade the 6E and ES with a 8 tic stop which is trailing one tic at a time, a 4 tic profit with the stop going to breakeven after the target trades one contract so that if I am not filled then I am still in a risk free trade and worst case I will be taken out breakeven. I trade the CL with a 10 tic stop and a 10-15 tic profit target based upon the entry and any support or resistance levels in that profit target range.
Today’s mistakes did not hurt me but in the long run they will if I keep making them. What I need to work on for tomorrow is NO ATM mistakes and I am fixing that as I speak. I will not be posting the profit numbers for the day a that is not the point of having a trading journal. I will post the profits/losses at the end of the March when this is complete.
