Dangerous, irresponsible trading. Decent enough through the day but have problems taking losses. When I’m losing i am dangerous. I must curb this tendency. I’m good enough at tapering my energy when I’m doing well, but today, the only reason I’m green is because of a reckless play to test futures, that I got out of as soon as I was in profit.
Most of this day was me being uncomfortable sizing up, and pushing my comfort level to do so, but my initial analysis, that today was likely to be a chop day and that I would be better off not trading, turned out to be right and I should have listened to myself then. I’m still learning, and the markets still seem so enticing to me, but gradually that need to be active everyday is fading & instances like this, where I’m understanding what the beginnings of a chop day looks & feels like, what it feels like to not see any ‘setups’ worth taking and what it feels like when I do see good setups. Yesterday was an example of a clean, clear setup I was excited about and I took. I think that has to be the way to trade, only strike when the opportunity is golden. How many times have I heard this said by the gurus & other traders I know, but I, unfortunately, cannot grasp things until I experience them for myself—a dangerous quality.
Need to begin incorporating price targets, need to begin using smaller time frame levels again and setting price targets at those levels My hourly levels are good, but the time frames I’m holding in don’t always track to such wide levels, and it’s not frequently the case that there are such wide moves in the stocks I’m trading. Avoiding choppy action is one salve to this issue, but the other is having a clear plan with more detailed levels. It may behoove me to pick one chart and stick to it, but there’s problems with that as well. Must chart 5m levels as well & set targets.
Did manage to claw back some profits after initial losses just trading quick scalps in and out, and was able to reduce what would have been losing day, & did so in a reasonably calm, concise way that wasn’t desperate, though it was still perhaps ill advised. My only major transgression was the futures trade., It can be forgiven as I’ve been doing so much research into futures, I wanted to taste the divine fruit for myself, but it’s only luck that kept me from falling from the tree to what could have easily caused grave injury from such a height. While it was & would have been injury I could sustain, the emotional toll it would have had on me would have been immense. I am overly sensitive to this practice, to this vocation. I need to become a better loser. Last month, on my largest losing day of $6 I was emotionally stunted for a few days. I need to learn when to lose, and when I do, to do so graciously. Today was a clumsy day. I jumped into too much.