End of day review 5-17-11 Tuesday

Trade plan and Price action review: (Price action). Today was a down day and value was established lower and the vpoc shifted lower once again. The market opened below value attracting responsive buyers and we pushed up into yesterdays range a little bit. We had a little rotation down to the open price and buyers were still active pushing up into yesterday’s vpoc and my level at 1327.25-1328.75. The market stalled here for a few minutes and sold off breaking the IBL and testing the clvn at 1316.00 area. This area was rejected and buyer pushed back up into the day’s range where we had small rotations down as we trended higher in to the close.

(Trade plan) I kind of had to rush my morning trade plan because I was running late this morning. But basically I wanted to be a buyer at support and seller at my resistance areas. I was expecting more of a move today as we were at the lows of the balance area but the market just balanced in a decent range.

Trades review: (Hypothetical) The black circles are the hypothetical trades I could have taken.

(Actual) I had 2 trades today. See below.

1^st trade: I was short at 1328 even. I got this one perfectly. I was patient and waited for the right time to sell. And it paid off because the market followed through quickly. I couldn’t hold for more because I had to go back outside because of work. I would have left it to run if I had been a little more at ease and not felt rushed.

2^nd trade: I was long at 1324.75 after a big move up and a retrace. The trade quickly went in my favor but I moved my target up because I was expecting the market to rally into the close. But the buyers never followed through and I was stopped for BE. It was getting late in the session and I didn’t want to let the stop work because of a possible move against me late in the day. It would have been a quick clean 2 points and would have given me 4 points on the day.

Conclusion of the day and thoughts going forward: So the second trade got me thinking today. I really need to leave my targets alone. Because like I have said before I only need them 2 point trades to make it in trading. If I trade a 2 lot or a 20 lot I have to take the first 2 points to put some money in the bank. I can’t keep risking the 2 points that im up in hopes for more follow through. It’s not very good money management. I have to focus on consistency right now. As long as I can get in and get out with 2 points I will build consistency. And with consistency I will build my size up. Here is how I see it. I take a trade with 2 lots and I get filled for 2 points. That’s $200.00 bucks. If it keeps going oh well i made my target. On a 10 lot that 2 points is $1,000.00 bucks. It’s all about consistency and then size. Now I can choose to take 5 lots off for 2 points and let some ride to extended targets that would be $500 bucks in the bank and at least I can make something.

Grades:

Following my plans: A

Following my rules: A

Trade execution: A

Pre market analysis 5-17-11 Tuesday

News: Housing starts @ 8:30AM, Industrial production @ 9:15AM

Trade plan and Price action analysis: (Price action) Yesterday saw ES trade lower with vpoc established lower on the session compared to Fridays. Value shifted a little bit lower giving us a bearish tone to the market. We are still inside of the balance area but we are at the lower extremes of it. The market is sitting at an area where it is very vulnerable to a sell off. Globex established value lower down as well so we have bearish sentiment heading into the days trading.

(Trade plan) The plan today is to watch the open and let the day set up to gauge the control. If buyers step in down here we could see higher prices and in which case i will be looking for longs at my support levels. In the case of a bearish move I will not be looking for longs until we get down around 1313-1315 or the cvpoc at 1309-1311 area.