End of day review 6-17-11 Friday :)

Trade plan and Price action review: (Price action) Market opened above value this morning after the big move up in globex session. Responsive buyers stepped in and sold ES down to support area below on my chart. We ranged and built out a triangle pattern that broke down. There were reaction at the IBL and my levels on my chart and the buyers finally stepped in at1263.50 which was gap fill and the uptrend line on the higher time frame. Es bounced up and made a higher low which was a sign that there was more upside possibly to come. Sellers were active at the retest of the previous day’s lows and vwap. We sold down and broke the lows at 1263.50 but buyers were active below this area as we pushed down into my 1261.75-1263.25 level which was yesterdays vpoc and the daily PP. ES closed below the IBL but value was placed higher up compared to yesterday.

(Trade plan) Today was OPEX and we had a few reversal moves as expected. Even though the day was a selling day my focus was still on the long side and this was a good plan going into the day. There were a few good opps to get long at support and buyers were active at support as expected. As I stated in the morning plan I was also looking for short opps at resistance levels. There weren’t really any selling opps at my resistance areas but there were a few trend lines that could have been sold. Overall my plan was in line with the market expectations today and would have provided a good guide to the day’s action.

Trades review: (Hypothetical) See 5 min chart and 15 min chart with black circles.

(Actual) No trades today.

Conclusion of the day and thoughts going forward: I was very busy with work once again today and didn’t have any time to really get comfortable with the market. So being it was a Friday and OPEX I didn’t really try and trade today. I didn’t place any trades today at all as a matter of fact. I think that with work getting busy it is the best thing I could do for now. I must keep balancing work and trading and I have to favor work unfortunately. Im break even for the week which is ok because I had a lot of work issues that caused me to miss trades that I lied and out lined in my morning trade plans during the week.

BSO Points for the day: 0

Winners: 0

Losers: 0

Scratches: 0

Grades for the day:

Following my plans: A I didn’t have any time to trade today

Following my rules: A  I didn’t take any trades out of haste

Emotions in check: A  I let trading take a back seat while I was busy with work.

End of day review 6-10-11 Friday

Trade plan and Price action review: (Price action) Market gaped down and sold off. It was looking like a trend down day but we found support and bounced when the treasury budget was released at 2 PM. Sellers were active at the end of the day pushing ES down into the lows and closing there. Value established at the lows of the week.

(Trade plan) Kind of kicked back on Friday because the market sold off from the open and you are either on it or you watch it go. Although today wasn’t a trend day the open was exactly how a trend day usually starts out. Because of the quick selling off the open I wasn’t to eager to chase anything so I let it go and went to lunch. I was in the market on the short side on the break of globex lows at 75.50 but I scratched because I wasn’t prepared in the morning and I was out of sync with the market this week due to work. I will try and be better prepared this next week but like I said before I have to balance work and trading for now.

Trades review: (Hypothetical)

(Actual)

1^st trade: Set up: Break and retrace

(Technical) Market was moving lower so I took a quick break and retrace of an intraday level for + 3 points

(Emotional) Felt ok taking this trade. It was a little later in than day then I would have liked but the set up looked good and I was ready for a reversal.

(Execution Grade) C Just took it because it looked good. Not the best entry but still worked out nicely.

Conclusion of the day and thoughts going forward: This week was a little hectic due to a lot of interference with work. I usually don’t get distracted this much with work but this week was more than usual. Im going to start keeping track of my winners, loser, and scratches more accurately then I have been next week. I want to see how many points I make/lose a week and what my % of trades is. Then I will add them up for the week on Friday for a week review.

Grades:

Following my plans: B

Following my rules: A

Emotions in check: B

End of day review 6-3-11 Friday :)

Trade plan and Price action review: (Price action) ES opened below value on the NFP release and buyers were active pushing ES back up into the previous days range lows. Sellers were active and ES had a PB into support level 1299-1301 and the 50% retrace as well and we trended higher making new highs. ES hit the 1309 trend line from a few day and we sold down from there breaking the days uptrend line and breaking back below the IBH which was a red flag for buyers. ES rotated all the way back to the lows and closed at the low tick of the day which is bearish considering the current context we are in. The day was balanced and we closed at the lows of day’s value and below vpoc.

(Trade plan) My trade plan was waiting for the NFP release and going from there. So I was just going to plan the day from there.

Trades review: (Hypothetical)

(Actual)

1^st trade: (Technical) I tried a short at my resistance area 1304.50-1306.00. I entered at 1305.25 looking for a short back down into the range (IB). Buyers were still active and pushed up to 1307.50 and i was stopped at 1307.00 for -2 points. Technically it looked good but i think i need to work on my timing a little bit. I obviously bought to early because the market ticked off that level after the buying dried up. Momentum was up on the 5 min chart as well so no need to look for shorts just yet. There was no sign of sellers yet. We also had a big VB div at the level. -2 points

(Emotional) At first i felt little bit like i was rushing into the trade. And i obviously did. I need to not fell like im going to miss something and let the market tell me when to pull the trigger. Currently the market reversed off that level and is at 1303.50 back below IBH...

(Grade) F Bad timing

2^st trade: (Technical) I went short on a break back under IBH and the 1303.50 level that formed. I was a bit early so i added 2 more on the retrace keeping the stop the same. So i was willing to risk a little bit more on the add. My risk was a around $300 but i was expecting a rotation lower. We got the initial move but there was bullish news from the ECB that caused a little bit of a move up. So i got out of 3 for +2 points and took BE on the forth. +2 points

(Emotional) I felt i was early once again and i was so need to work on that issue. It all a matter fear. Fear of missing something so i need to try and remove that from my trading.

(Grade) C +

3^st trade: (Technical) The market was in a uptrend and we hit the 1309 trend line and globex vpoc. The session was having a hard time trying to hold above the previous day’s lows. So when the uptrend line broke I took a retrace back into the TL. I’m only upset that I only took 3 points out of this move but it was still a nice trade. ES broke back below the IBH and a rotation to the lows was in the cards at that point. I almost got filled at 1302.25 for 4 points but it bounced a tick in front of my order. I had to go outside so I just took 3 and stuck to my plan.

(Emotional) I was a little hesitant on selling in front of the IBH but I felt good about a rotation lower so I took it.

(Grade) A Execution was perfect just needed to hold a few minutes longer but still good.

Conclusion of the day and thoughts going forward: Today was a lot better than yesterday trade wise. I only had 3 trades and still made the same as I did yesterday. I ended the week up and it feels great. I think I just need to keep doing what I’m doing with my journaling and reviewing Etc...

Grades:

Following my plans: A

Following my rules: B

Emotions in check: C Still dealing with fear of missing something and it forces trades

End of day review 5-27-11 Friday :)

Trade plan and Price action review: (Price action) ES opened above the value of yesterday and buyers were active on the open. They pushed ES up a few points into the 1331-1333 resistance area and sellers pushed back down to 1327-1328.50 support and yesterdays highs where buyers were once again active. I was long here but got scared out of the trade and took a BE scratch. ES shot back up into the resistance level and we tried to break above the IBH but responsive sellers were active pushing ES back into the day's range where we chopped for the rest of the afternoon which was expected because of the extended weekend. As of writing this ES is at 1329.7 @ 2:15PM.

(Trade plan): So i said that because of the holiday weekend that we could just chop around after the news release and that's exactly what we did... Nothing. I was expecting support to be bought on any PBs and the buyers were active at the 1327-1328.50 level yesterday highs. I wanted to see more of a PB into the globex lows area but the reaction at the first level is a bullish sign that the buyers are in control. So over all my analysis was correct and my expectations played out accordingly.

Trades review: (Hypothetical)

(Actual)

1^st trade: I was long at 1327.25 and i got scared out of it for some reason. Not quite sure why but i remember that it was all emotions that was driving that decision. I started looking for reasons to get out instead of reasons to stay in and the reason i decided to take the trade in the first place. 

2^nd trade: I took a short at 1332.75 because we were trading into resistance at 1331-1333 and 60 min trend line. Buyers gave it one last push and we had div on ticks and VB so i took it as i was expecting a balanced session anyway. I was shooting for 3 points to catch the rotation down but buyers were active at 50% retrace which is where i should have exited in the first place so i ended up taking 6 ticks on it.

3rd Trade: I sold the trend line in this choppy market for +2.5 points and got out at 61.8% retrace of the lows on the morning. It was a good straight forward trade and a nice way to end the week.

Conclusion of the day and thoughts going forward: I did well today but so so for the week. I was able to tell we had a different type of trading market this week after that big gap down on Sunday night. We mostly chopped around in the beginning and had small limited moves mostly in this balance area. We broke out of the balance area and the market started moving a little bit more which was a relief. I was only down a 100 bucks for the week so not so bad. I'm realizing that once a trader gets comfortable with the technical aspects of trading that it's just a matter of overcoming ones emotional waves of highs and lows. When you're doing well you are filled with positive emotions and you get a little bit to confident and then bam you get knocked back a few steps. And when things are going bad you never feel like you will get back up on top. Its these waves of emotions that cause a trader that is still learning to have the swings in their PnL. Trading is about staying level headed and not letting the highs get out of touch with reality and not letting the lows keep you from having the motivation to get back up again.

Grades:

Following my plans: C

Following my rules: B

Trade execution: C

End of day review 5-20-11 Friday :)

Trade plan and Price action review: (Price action) The day opened inside previous days value area sellers stepped in and moved the market down breaking yesterdays lows and moving into the 1330-1332 level of support. Responsive buyers were active below the IBL and we pushed up into the previous day's low were we had a small rotation to the 50% retrace and buyer were active there pushing ES back up into the IBH for a full rotation. Also on the lows was a H$S reversal pattern that played out nicely. Responsive sellers were active once again above the IBH and we had a trending move lower for a full rotation retesting the lows once again. Also we had another H$S pattern at the top of the move that played out nicely once again. Kind of unusual to see 2 H&S patterns like that in the same day on the same time frame. Value over lapped lower and vpoc shifted lower.

(Trade plan) So first off i completely forgot that it was options expiration Friday. I did realize it just before the open though but couldn't update it in my pre market post. The OPEX would account for all the movement today in the market which was very nice to have. I was expecting higher value and we got lower. The bigger picture is still intact and bullish but it could change at any time. I had a type O this morning i meant to say we are trending lower on the mid time frame and just in a range on the daily. Over all my trade plan is meant to be dynamic and i change as the market conditions change. What i say in the morning doesn't have to happen it's just what i think is likely to happen and is meant as an exercise for developing my market reads and feel.

Trades review: (Hypothetical) See 5 min chart with black circles.

(Actual)

1^st trade: see trades chart for break down

Conclusion of the day and thoughts going forward: Today i felt really comfortable trading other than work issues which will more than likely persist until these massive projects are finished within the next 6 months. Hopefully i will be able to leave by then. I think i followed my plan well. There was a few more trades i could have taken but the ones i saw i think i handled well. I should have been more aware at IBH instead i was waiting for a move up int the resistance area. Either way i sat there and watched that walk right past me. I had a really good read on the markets today especially at the IBH area. I was expecting a full rotation to retest the lows because of the OPEX today and the way the market was setting up at the top there. We had good rejection sticks on the 15,30,60 min charts.

Grades:

Following my plans: A

Following my rules: A

Trade execution: B

End of day review 5-13-11 Friday :)

Trade plan and Price action review: (Price action) ES opened in yesterday vpoc value area and we initially moved a little higher on the open and found sellers at the top of yesterdays range. ES moved lower and bounced off of the globex lows and my support level at 1343-1344. We bounced back up into the 1345.50-1346.50 level and rotated lower. Buyers were active at the 1339.50-1340.75 level and we got a strong bounce back above the globex lows and the 1343-1344 level. We had a small retrace and bounced again back into the 1345-1346 level and it was all downhill from there. We kept moving lower with small rotation at each level and then trend follow through. The selling picked up and we had exhaustion volume selling into the 1330.25-1331.50 level where we bounced and ranged for a bit.

(Trade plan) Although i was in the bullish camp this morning i was also expecting some down side action. I wasn't expecting this much but it didn't matter. I still had a plan for either way the market went. We did get the fast move down below the 1343 number. So trade plan looked good.

Trades review: (Hypothetical) 1st aggressive traders could have sold the move up into the yesterdays high range. 2nd there was a long at globex lows support at 9:55am but we had econ number release at same time. 3rd another long into the 1340.75 level at 10:10AM. 4th long at 10:30AM off of the FB of globex lows area. 5th If you were looking at the overnight action we had a 50% retrace at 1346.50 and i had level at the area as well for a PB in a down trend type move. 6th Selling the 1340.25 level after breaking in strong trade.

(Actual)

1^st trade: I was short at 1342.75 at 10:06 AM after the break below the globex low and level i had. Market hit my 2 point target but it didn't fill. I went to break even and was stopped for a flat trade. Good call because market steamed up.

2^nd trade: Was long at 1343.75 after the rush of buying and a retrace into the level i had there. I got out of one for 2 points and left the other for 1351 target to play the bullish macro structure. It ended up stopping me out for BE on second lot.

3rd Trade: I was long again at 1340.25 once again market hit my target but no fill so took a BE trade.

4th Trade: Wanted short at 13:25 pm at 1326.25. Boss called and had to leave computer. Nice trade tho...

Conclusion of the day/week and thoughts going forward: So i feel like today was one of my better days of trading. It sounds funny to say that because i wasn't up on the day at all. But i felt really good about my market read and my trade execution. The only problem with the 3 trades i took is i didn't get filled for my target of 2 points. On the trade i had extended target on i should have left it for 2-3 points. I was feeling a little ambitious there. I feel like im getting better at them two issues. I will keep doing the same routine i have been doing for the past few weeks. Next week i will concentrate on leaving my target at 2 points. The reason is that trading is a game of size not points. If i can consistently take 2 points on every trade i can increase my size. If i can get on a 4 lot in a short amount of time then them 2 points will add up quick. No reason to go for more than that. Ok till next week...

Grades:

Following my plans: A

Following my rules: A

Trade execution: A+

End of day review 5-6-11 Friday :)

Price action review: So the NFP number came out and it was better than expected. The market reacted bullish on the release and we shot up to 1349.50 and pulled back. The market opened above Thursday value and responsive sellers were to be expected to bring ES back into value. We initially shot up and found some sellers and traded back into 1` tick in front of my support level at 1341-1343 area and bounced there back up into the middle of the range from the open. ES ranged for a little bit in a small area then broke out to the up side breaking the IBH and testing the 1351 level. This area was good for shorts as the market stopped and stalled there for a little bit. And we had a vol spike on the 1 min chart telling me that there were sellers into that move up into resistance. We also had a small divergence in VB indicator and also a 1000 tick reading. So it was a good risk to reward set up. If you wanted to wait for confirmation in price action then when we broke back into the IB it wa safe to get short on the little retrace back into the IBH for a rotation down. Es proceeded to trade lower for its rotation in balance and a retest of the lows of the day was in the cards which we got and then some. There was a nice short back into the break and retrace of IBL. ES sold off down to my 1338-1337.75 level were we bounced and on the retest of the level was a nice long opp for 3 point scalp. ES then sold off again and put in the low of the day at my 1330.50-1332.50 level. Aggressive traders cold have got long on the touch of this area because selling shut off at 1331.75 and the shift in vol came in right after and we had a delta div into the level. The market was pretty much done after this and the day ended with the bears in control and a vpoc shift down to 1336.50 same as yesterday’s vpoc

Trades review: I took 4 trades yesterday and I felt a little better today than I did on Thursday.                (1^st Trade)I tried getting long at the IBH break out but I had a bad read on price action and was looking at the market the wrong way. I should not have tried to get long with a big resistance area right in front but I figured we would get a little pop back up and I could have went to BE after it did. But it didn’t and I was stopped for -6 ticks. After we broke back below the IBH that was a red flag for me and I should have gotten out when I had the chance to for a BE scratch. Better to be flat then wishing I was flat. I should have tried to get short after the scratch but I had to go back out into the yard and missed the opp.

2^nd Trade: I got short after getting back to my office and seeing the market trade lower so I jumped in on the back of the quick move lower and took a little retrace at 1346.25 and targeted a few ticks in front of the lows of the day. Target hit.

3^rd trade: I got long at support area after market chopped for a little bit. I got stupid and moved stop up to close and was stopped out to the tick and the market went up 4 points to my target.lol.

4^th trade: I usually don’t do this type of trade but the market was selling off and we had bad news out of EU out so there was a high probability that we were going to sell off down to the next support level. So I got short for a quick 2 points.

Next week I’m going to write down how I felt before, during, and after the trade to try and see if there are any patterns I keep repeating. This way I can try and eliminate them. I will keep a log of the feeling and emotions I have before during and after each trade and I will structure the log in list form and put a date next to each issue that I find to see how often I have these emotions and which ones I have.

End of day review 4-29-11 Friday

Today i didn't have any time to do a morning post but i still liked the market on the long side on PBs into support. We didn't PB into any support levels other than yesterday upper value area and i didn't have any levels there that i liked. I tried a short at 1357 into my level after the move lower and retrace back up. I ended up scratching t5he trade because it wasnt following through and i didnt want to sit in the chop. It was a good call as the market continued to climb higher all day making new highs on the year once again. Buyers are still in control and sellers are no where to be found. It will be interesting next week to see how the market moves. My expectation is we go higher but lets see what unfolds instead of guessing. Here is my EOW PnL and EOM PnL as well. NJot much profit but at least im making a come back from this DD im in. Lets see if i can pull it back up and be positve for the year by the end of May...

End of day review 4-21-11 Thursday

The market was a dud today. There was one opp for me to get long into support like i had planned out this morning. It was shortly after the release at 10AM when we sold down to the 1327.50-1329.50 level and found responsive buyers active. I unfortunately had to go outside again due to work issues. An after that the market was nothing but chop so there was no opps to do anything. I believe due to continued earnings release and holiday weekend (markets closed Friday). So this ends the week and next week will be a new one. And will be the last week of April. So let's see if i am up for the week and see if i can end the month up. Have a good holiday weekend to whoever is reading this if anyone at all lol...