bakedbeans' learning journal

[bb01100100]

Update:

Net +0.66%, 4.44% cumulative, target 6%.

Today was a nice combination of higher timeframe context, working with the order flow for small bites and having sensible stops.

Sadly I've been sitting on my hands for the last half hour looking for a retrace in a grind up; so rather than chase or buy the high I'm finished for today.

[bb01100100]

End of week update:

Net +0.71%, 5.18% cumulative, 6% target.

The ranges were wider today, circa 4pts instead of the usual 2.5pts, which was helpful in terms of positioning after volume built at an extreme and then exiting at first stall.

I started to lose confidence in one of my trades as price rotated around a couple of points near the hourly lows, but thinking about 'support' as an interaction area was helpful to maintain patience. Price skipped up higher on low volume to the range highs providing a opportunity to exit and reposition for another pullback.

With the wicky prior couple of hour's candles, the fact it's Friday afternoon and the lack of follow-through, I'm calling it a day.

[bb01100100]

Eval update:

Net +0.71%, cumulative 6%, target 6% - I finally passed the apex eval.

Today I was patient and well positioned near the hourly lows, trading a 1x lot upwards and scalping another 1x lot here and there.

2023-12-05-apex-eval-pass.jpg (54.7 KiB) Viewed 15749 times

Looking over my stats, my average flat-to-flat winning trade is 3 points, my average flat-to-flat loser is 3.25 points and I'm 65% profitable. Mediocre indeed - but something to build upon.

Over the months I seem to have found a way of trading that works for me.. intense scrutiny of the order flow, more patience than I thought I was capable of and taking multiple small bites of price as it moves towards a higher timeframe trade idea/target.

[IgazI]

Eval update:

Net +0.71%, cumulative 6%, target 6% - I finally passed the apex eval.

Today I was patient and well positioned near the hourly lows, trading a 1x lot upwards and scalping another 1x lot here and there.

2023-12-05-apex-eval-pass.jpg

Looking over my stats, my average flat-to-flat winning trade is 3 points, my average flat-to-flat loser is 3.25 points and I'm 65% profitable. Mediocre indeed - but something to build upon.

Over the months I seem to have found a way of trading that works for me.. intense scrutiny of the order flow, more patience than I thought I was capable of and taking multiple small bites of price as it moves towards a higher timeframe trade idea/target.

congratulations, Beans!

[aliassmith]

Eval update:

Net +0.71%, cumulative 6%, target 6% - I finally passed the apex eval.

Today I was patient and well positioned near the hourly lows, trading a 1x lot upwards and scalping another 1x lot here and there.

2023-12-05-apex-eval-pass.jpg

Looking over my stats, my average flat-to-flat winning trade is 3 points, my average flat-to-flat loser is 3.25 points and I'm 65% profitable. Mediocre indeed - but something to build upon.

Over the months I seem to have found a way of trading that works for me.. intense scrutiny of the order flow, more patience than I thought I was capable of and taking multiple small bites of price as it moves towards a higher timeframe trade idea/target.

Excellent, no meltdown.
You didn't make 6% lol.
You made 100%

[Yirbu]

Eval update:

Very, very nice
Steady but determined

[bb01100100]

Hello;

Thanks for the kinds words everyone. It has (and continues to be) a long and challenging journey. I've got such a huge amount of work to do, but have now experienced how persistence, caution and carefully chosen risk can consistently work to my advantage... if I accept my losses sooner rather than later.

I'm very grateful to everyone who posts on this site and to everyone who shared their knowledge and thoughts on my thread here.. it kept me accountable despite my repeated failures and lows; it helped me to see the mistakes were always mine (not the approach, not the market, etc) and to be ready things to not work out.

I look forward to building my apex "performance account" and getting to a point where I can take a payout... that would be a big psych milestone. It would pay for converting the other eval accounts, hehe.

Some key ideas that have helped me include:

• Less is more:
  
  • I trade only the US afternoon (last two hours) and have learned its phases and moods. So many people out there complain about how the afternoon session is terrible and they lose money - it was very off-putting to start off with that in the back of my head. Just like people complain about Fridays being terrible..
  • I only trade ES despite being initially worried that I'd get eaten alive in that market (e.g. full of prop-firm pros).
• Be patient: price probably will pull back and fill me, so let it do so and don't be scared away when it does. Pullbacks have been far less stressful than breakouts, once I got over the stress of buying pullbacks, lol.
• Take profits: I got in using order flow, get out with the same. The number of time's I've let 2pt winners turn into losers is the difference between only having recently passed my eval and having multiple funded accounts.
• Take losses: I'm only profitable 65% of the time and I scalp 1-3 points.. I need to exit where I said I'd exit to stay in the game.
• Higher timeframes for context: I look for obvious bias.. higher highs, consolidation, etc. Then I look for obvious levels.. what's happening at the half-way mark of the prior hourly? Did we turn and are now at the hourly open? What's above? What's below? They might be targets or turning points.. I don't know what will happen, but I can grab a point here and there.
• Come back tomorrow. When I blow that account I'm not coming back tomorrow. I've learned to accept the situation before it turns terminal.
• Fight: sometimes I just get it wrong and I have the keep fighting to turn the day around. I'm a slow learner when it comes to not giving up vs being stubborn.

For the time being I'm building my account slowly doing the same thing that helped me pass the eval.. I'm viewing this as "eval part 2" until I've got a profit cushion.

[aliassmith]

Hello;

Thanks for the kinds words everyone. It has (and continues to be) a long and challenging journey. I've got such a huge amount of work to do, but have now experienced how persistence, caution and carefully chosen risk can consistently work to my advantage... if I accept my losses sooner rather than later.

I'm very grateful to everyone who posts on this site and to everyone who shared their knowledge and thoughts on my thread here.. it kept me accountable despite my repeated failures and lows; it helped me to see the mistakes were always mine (not the approach, not the market, etc) and to be ready things to not work out.

I look forward to building my apex "performance account" and getting to a point where I can take a payout... that would be a big psych milestone. It would pay for converting the other eval accounts, hehe.

Some key ideas that have helped me include:

• Less is more:
  
  • I trade only the US afternoon (last two hours) and have learned its phases and moods. So many people out there complain about how the afternoon session is terrible and they lose money - it was very off-putting to start off with that in the back of my head. Just like people complain about Fridays being terrible..
  • I only trade ES despite being initially worried that I'd get eaten alive in that market (e.g. full of prop-firm pros).
• Be patient: price probably will pull back and fill me, so let it do so and don't be scared away when it does. Pullbacks have been far less stressful than breakouts, once I got over the stress of buying pullbacks, lol.
• Take profits: I got in using order flow, get out with the same. The number of time's I've let 2pt winners turn into losers is the difference between only having recently passed my eval and having multiple funded accounts.
• Take losses: I'm only profitable 65% of the time and I scalp 1-3 points.. I need to exit where I said I'd exit to stay in the game.
• Higher timeframes for context: I look for obvious bias.. higher highs, consolidation, etc. Then I look for obvious levels.. what's happening at the half-way mark of the prior hourly? Did we turn and are now at the hourly open? What's above? What's below? They might be targets or turning points.. I don't know what will happen, but I can grab a point here and there.
• Come back tomorrow. When I blow that account I'm not coming back tomorrow. I've learned to accept the situation before it turns terminal.
• Fight: sometimes I just get it wrong and I have the keep fighting to turn the day around. I'm a slow learner when it comes to not giving up vs being stubborn.

For the time being I'm building my account slowly doing the same thing that helped me pass the eval.. I'm viewing this as "eval part 2" until I've got a profit cushion.

For some reason people change what they were doing when they get funded. Stay the course, maybe trade smaller at first.

[bb01100100]

Trade update:

Net +0.62%, cumulative +1.78%, objective 10%.

I had a cautious session; the volatility was low; I wanted to trade more lots but just didn't feel comfortable as price ground higher. I was quite inefficient - burning $107 in commissions, but held the course as price ground lower and got out at a sensible price instead of being greedy. Then grabbed a 3-4 ticks twice more and called it a day.

In hindsight, simply taking the market at face value today would have made for a far easier time; 2+ hours of a 3-4 point range. This is one of the areas I need to improve on. This might be how things are in Dec...

Given it's mid December, I have no expectation of hitting my objective this month; if it happens then that's good, but the real job is to manage my risk and be consistent.

[Don_xyZ]

Eval update:

Net +0.71%, cumulative 6%, target 6% - I finally passed the apex eval.

Today I was patient and well positioned near the hourly lows, trading a 1x lot upwards and scalping another 1x lot here and there.

2023-12-05-apex-eval-pass.jpg

Looking over my stats, my average flat-to-flat winning trade is 3 points, my average flat-to-flat loser is 3.25 points and I'm 65% profitable. Mediocre indeed - but something to build upon.

Over the months I seem to have found a way of trading that works for me.. intense scrutiny of the order flow, more patience than I thought I was capable of and taking multiple small bites of price as it moves towards a higher timeframe trade idea/target.

Great development!
Looking forward to see you grow even more!