bakedbeans' learning journal

[bb01100100]

Took a 1x lot long for 3.5 points during Asia.. it certainly popped higher and after watching for a while I got the sense that it was bid so got involved and moved my stop to breakeven as quickly as possible.

I was thinking we might push up to 4176 (close to the opening price of a H1 momentum candle from earlier today), but I was happy to exit near the top of the Asia opening candle...

edit: looks like we are still pushing up...
edit again: and in typical Asia price-action style I can't tell what it's doing. No more trading for me!

On reflection: I worked with the bias despite the fact that price was "high"

2023-10-27-1lot-asia-trade.jpg (68.71 KiB) Viewed 20313 times

Net +0.215% for the day on Bulenox.

[IgazI]

In general, if you feel that you should move your stop up then it's time to take profit.

Maybe test this for yourself.

[bb01100100]

In general, if you feel that you should move your stop up then it's time to take profit.

Maybe test this for yourself.

That makes sense and is why a 1x lot trade is always awkward. Trading with more than a lonely one-lot is useful.. can scale out without moving a stop.
I do need to work on exiting and re-entering (at a better entry price).. so I might try this next week.

[bb01100100]

Eval accounts update:

Bulenox: Net -0.03% (e.g. -$75), +0.919% this week, cumulative 2.884%, target 6%
Apex: Net +0.33%, +1.72% this week, cumulative 4.994%, target 6%

Fear ruled my day today - I had some very good positioning (short with the bias early on in the session) and later again long at a support level, but I didn't make the most of each opportunity.

I was short the continuation of a down move, but realised in time that this market was now bid and repeated attempts to push below the range were being opposed.

I closed out my short for a couple of ticks; then I got long at the bottom of the upward trending range and took 2 points on a 1x lot... such a missed opportunity: there was 7-10pts available depending on how the trade could have been exited.

What stopped me from trading 4x lots was a fear of being stopped out for 2 points.

Several lessons need to be learned from today:

• trading 1x lots is simply counterproductive for the account size I'm using. If I can't get in with 2s (scaling in twice) or 4s (all in) then I shouldn't be taking the trade.
• occasionally I keep my stop too far away which makes for a pnl gouge when I'm wrong; there was an opportunity to keep my stop tighter and re-enter, but instead I took a 4pt hit. Change this habit.
• believe in the ability for the market to cover ground over time... I took 4pts on what could have been an 8pt move if I'd waited to see what happened next and 12pts if I'd held for a test of a pointy place. The exact same thing happened in the opposite direction later on.
• reading the above point, it sounds like hindsight regret - but the market was quite active today and flowing back and forth. Realising this is part of knowing whether I should be a 2pt trader or a 6pt+ trader on a given day.
• better risk control means less remediation work
• the only way I'm going to get over the extreme discomfort of holding trades to target is by... doing it.

Positives:

• I traded with the bias - good!
• I entered on retraces sometimes, also good!
• I know what I things need to work on
• Today could have been one of those days where I lose it, but I managed to keep my eyes open and believe what I was seeing rather than trading what I was thinking
• I disable trade copying when my linked accounts hit circa 0.3%; this helps me emotionally to continue trading the main Bulenox account.. it's not doing so well this week, but I'm still up 0.919% for the week.. not stellar, but moving forward.
• Bulenox has been 10 profitable trading days, 1x down day, 1x flat day; $6981 net profit. It's important to note that this is my third Bulenox account. The first I blew up within a couple of days of getting it; the second also had something like 14 profitable days and $11k in net profit, but I didn't stop for the day when I was down 3x my average daily profit. This third account really needs to be pushed cautiously towards passing the eval.
• Apex has been 11 profitable trading days, no down days and one 'small' day, lol; $2325 net profit. This is probably a good example of how stopping when you hit your daily target can pay off over time...

The critical thing I need to do at this point I keep my eye on managing my risk. Whenever I write one of these posts I tend to mess it up a day or two later. Perhaps I will recognise this and maintain a cautious stance until we get under way with a new month next week.

[aliassmith]

Eval accounts update:

Bulenox: Net -0.03% (e.g. -$75), +0.919% this week, cumulative 2.884%, target 6%
Apex: Net +0.33%, +1.72% this week, cumulative 4.994%, target 6%

Fear ruled my day today - I had some very good positioning (short with the bias early on in the session) and later again long at a support level, but I didn't make the most of each opportunity.

I was short the continuation of a down move, but realised in time that this market was now bid and repeated attempts to push below the range were being opposed.

I closed out my short for a couple of ticks; then I got long at the bottom of the upward trending range and took 2 points on a 1x lot... such a missed opportunity: there was 7-10pts available depending on how the trade could have been exited.

What stopped me from trading 4x lots was a fear of being stopped out for 2 points.

Several lessons need to be learned from today:

• trading 1x lots is simply counterproductive for the account size I'm using. If I can't get in with 2s (scaling in twice) or 4s (all in) then I shouldn't be taking the trade.
• occasionally I keep my stop too far away which makes for a pnl gouge when I'm wrong; there was an opportunity to keep my stop tighter and re-enter, but instead I took a 4pt hit. Change this habit.
• believe in the ability for the market to cover ground over time... I took 4pts on what could have been an 8pt move if I'd waited to see what happened next and 12pts if I'd held for a test of a pointy place. The exact same thing happened in the opposite direction later on.
• reading the above point, it sounds like hindsight regret - but the market was quite active today and flowing back and forth. Realising this is part of knowing whether I should be a 2pt trader or a 6pt+ trader on a given day.
• better risk control means less remediation work
• the only way I'm going to get over the extreme discomfort of holding trades to target is by... doing it.

Positives:

• I traded with the bias - good!
• I entered on retraces sometimes, also good!
• I know what I things need to work on
• Today could have been one of those days where I lose it, but I managed to keep my eyes open and believe what I was seeing rather than trading what I was thinking
• I disable trade copying when my linked accounts hit circa 0.3%; this helps me emotionally to continue trading the main Bulenox account.. it's not doing so well this week, but I'm still up 0.919% for the week.. not stellar, but moving forward.
• Bulenox has been 10 profitable trading days, 1x down day, 1x flat day; $6981 net profit. It's important to note that this is my third Bulenox account. The first I blew up within a couple of days of getting it; the second also had something like 14 profitable days and $11k in net profit, but I didn't stop for the day when I was down 3x my average daily profit. This third account really needs to be pushed cautiously towards passing the eval.
• Apex has been 11 profitable trading days, no down days and one 'small' day, lol; $2325 net profit. This is probably a good example of how stopping when you hit your daily target can pay off over time...

The critical thing I need to do at this point I keep my eye on managing my risk. Whenever I write one of these posts I tend to mess it up a day or two later. Perhaps I will recognise this and maintain a cautious stance until we get under way with a new month next week.

If you keep a good log you will know if stopping after 2 trades or 6 points or whatever your data tells you.

[bb01100100]

Eval accounts update:

Bulenox: Net +0.23%, 3.12% cumulative, target 6%
Apex: Net +0.16%, 5.16% cumulative, target 6%

Not a terrible day; I was wary of perception issues today, so I kept asking myself if I was trading what I wanted to see or what was there.

I still need to work on my stop placement.. I'm too generous with stops that in hindsight should have been placed closer.. those losing trades add up and make the difference between being efficient and flip-flopping around profitability.

I had an issue with the trade copier - for some reason it increased my lot size on one trade (should have been 12 micros, went to 18 micros) and of course I was stopped out for a larger than expected loss. The other Apex accounts worked fine - net 0.41% and net 0.43%; but I only report my first account. Need to investigate.

[bb01100100]

A pinch & a punch, it's the first of the month.

Eval accounts update:

(edit below - I mistakenly reported the Apex cumulative result in the Bulenox row and vice versa; thanks Alias for the spot)

Bulenox: Net -0.32%, 2.796% cumulative, target 6%
Apex: Net -0.34%, 4.798% cumulative, target 6%

I am delighted at my modest down day.. After my small up day during the US afternoon yesterday, I made a total mess of trading Asia (who kept buying the lows and getting stopped out? it was me!) and hit my self-imposed stop out limit (3 day's profits lost).

Asia price action is completely different to the US session and frequently catches me out with fakes or slowly drifting price.

That was stressful but I took heart that the stop-out allowed me to come back tomorrow, fresh. No accounts blown, etc.

During this afternoon's US session I was able to catch some nice movement and reduce the loss; reducing my risk appetite as the session progressed.

I got long on a push out of 'support' and was able to move past my fear to add to the position after price tested the extreme of the momentum bar, it sprang forward and I ran a very nice trade for about 4.5 points.

My only disappointment was observing the we'd made a high and price was ebbing lower, but not letting a 2x lot run down to the prior hour's half-way mark... Too focused on pnl recovery and not enough focus on riding the opportunity and letting it work out. Instead I scalped a little and then sat out as price sat on the lows of a range before pushing lower without me.

Still in the game, able to keep hitting singles and inch closer to passing the evals.

[aliassmith]

A pinch & a punch, it's the first of the month.

Eval accounts update:

Bulenox: Net -0.32%, 4.798% cumulative, target 6%
Apex: Net -0.34%, 2.796% cumulative, target 6%

I am delighted at my modest down day.. After my small up day during the US afternoon yesterday, I made a total mess of trading Asia (who kept buying the lows and getting stopped out? it was me!) and hit my self-imposed stop out limit (3 day's profits lost).

Asia price action is completely different to the US session and frequently catches me out with fakes or slowly drifting price.

That was stressful but I took heart that the stop-out allowed me to come back tomorrow, fresh. No accounts blown, etc.

During this afternoon's US session I was able to catch some nice movement and reduce the loss; reducing my risk appetite as the session progressed.

I got long on a push out of 'support' and was able to move past my fear to add to the position after price tested the extreme of the momentum bar, it sprang forward and I ran a very nice trade for about 4.5 points.

My only disappointment was observing the we'd made a high and price was ebbing lower, but not letting a 2x lot run down to the prior hour's half-way mark... Too focused on pnl recovery and not enough focus on riding the opportunity and letting it work out. Instead I scalped a little and then sat out as price sat on the lows of a range before pushing lower without me.

Still in the game, able to keep hitting singles and inch closer to passing the evals.

You accumulate values seem backwards

[bb01100100]

Eval accounts update:

Bulenox: Net +0.10%, cumulative 2.9%, target 6%
Apex: Net +0.31%, cumulative 5.12%, target 6%

Tricky session with the FOMC statement; sadly my very first entry short was smashed to stopout within 2 seconds before proceeding down 10+ points. I spent quite a bit of the session looking for good positioning and not chasing price.

Happy to finish up for the session with good risk control and a reasonable patience.

[bb01100100]

Eval accounts update:

Bulenox: Net +0.32%, 3.22% cumulative, target 6%
Apex: Net +0.31%, 5.45% cumulative, target 6%

Not a terrible session - I realised there was a grind higher and that today was low-volatility session, so I took smaller moves on larger size.
Still, I flip-flopped between 0.10% and 0.30% up for session, but happy to recognise the behaviour and trade accordingly.

I did think we would pull back towards the magic vwap line for the session towards the close, but we didn't; persist buyers in the market and size trading.