September 25 2009 Overlay, Trades, Commentary and Weekly Review

Check out the overlay. It was basically a blueprint for everything that happened today posted before that market opened.

There were mixed results today.

The read and prep could not have been better. We had the 1039.50 support area and the 1036.25 extension support area.

For those who are wondering how I anchored 1036.25 extension support, look back to September 14 prep. This area we sneaky but we got it.

I was down 1 point today. It was not worth a green or red digital sticker.

I traded the range fairly decent and had a somewhat respectable 6 point profit going into this afternoon.

Your gut always tells you to pack it up on Friday but I no longer do this. I need to hit all setups. I do not care when or where they happen or what my PNL looks like.

I saw a decent breakout long after a failed extension low and took it. It was a good trade and had to be taken. It pisses me off that I followed my rules exactly this afternoon but screwed it up yesterday.

The afternoon loss today does not matter but the 24+ point miss yesterday does. I will not soon forget it.

These things stick with me for a long time. I wake up in the middle of the night replaying sequences in setups in my head from days and weeks ago. That is how I am.

I think the trade will work. I suspect the price will travel to the 1049.00 area Sunday night.

Back to Today's Trades:

The first long was taken 1 hour before the market opened. It was intended to be a ratio scalp and that is what I did.

The short at around 10:30 AM EST was a play back down to 1039.50 with a possible extension kicker. I exited it too soon.

It still amazes me how after pounding my rules into my head that I have been so quick to bend them all week.

If I would have followed my rules (I do not like the term rules because I do not believe in breaking rules and you have to in trading), I would have captured 50%-60% more profit today.

You can not trade mechanically. It will not work over a career. However, the discretion needs to lie in the setups and directional bias, not the management.

Management needs to remain static in order to avoid randomness. I have randomized my management this week and made little or no profits because of it. More on this week below.

One positive note for today is that I avoided TILT after missing the big move that was catchable (not a word) yesterday. This is somewhat of a milestone.

I am disappointed that I could not hold onto the early gains but it would have felt worse to skip the last trade today if it had worked.

I did the right thing.

Recap For This Week:

I brought my "C" game this week. There were some really excellent trades executed but I did not follow through and basically grinded in equity.

I said in yesterday's post that I am just about to move to a new equity high in the account. There is quite of bit of resistance here.

The major mistake was yesterday. I do not need to repeat the details.

The other problems were all related to poor management of the winners and winning opportunities.

I am leaving a lot of money on the table. What is frustrating is that it is not due to bad reads or trade selection.

If fact, virtually everything I premise for is working. I am just not maximizing the potential in it. This is the last link that needs to be fixed in my trading arsenal.

I am up a decent amount on a per contract basis in September but can do much better.

Trading Is Tough:

Trying to get a trading career from point A to point B is like fighting for your life. If you get to the point that I am at, and can not go on, you lose virtually everything.

I really fought throughout this week. I fought hard. I felt every single tick I watched. Constantly building scenarios, calculating odds, and questioning judgment.

At times, I was out my chair yelling and talking through everything that was happening. Some say that you should not get emotional about trading.

I think this is both wrong and unrealistic.

I spent virtually every waking moment with my mind on the market and the price action. There are no breaks for me during the week and the weekend is even worse because I have to live with my results.

It takes this kind of effort to have a chance to get to the level that I want to.

I know I will get there. It is a matter of perseverance.

I am not angry about my performance this week, yet. (I usually am if I do not accomplish my goals).

However, I am extremely disappointed in myself. I am doing almost everything right but am just a fraction off.

The problem is not my methodology or anything technical, it is me.

There is no one to blame and it does no good to blame anything affecting me from the outside because there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.

This is very personal. Trading is a personal journey.

I am not going to list any objectives or goals for next week. I clearly know what I need to do. It is time to do it. That is it.

I am going to close this post and this week the same way I did last week.

I can do better than this and I know it.