Did not follow regular routine for day, woke up late with no plan to trade, Happened to have the charts open from having been looking into futures the day before (the day I got called by TD Ameritrade agent letting me know that site was going to be changing to Charles Schwab site since they’d been bought by them, I took the opportunity while on the phone to ask some questions I had about TOS, firstly why I hadn’t been approved for futures, which he told me I had been and that I just didn’t give it enough time, second why I hadn’t been approved for forex, he said he didn’t see application but that I should apply again and I’d likely be approved, & third questions about economic data, where it’s pulled from, how encompassing it is, he said he had to get back to me on it but said I can reach out to him with any other questions. Got email from him.) Saw /ES approaching decent level, & given the significance of the level & my perception that the overall market is bearish, also having seen the insane dump that had taken place I took a short. After taking I had some trepidation as I put the levels on the screen and realized I’d shorted right around a strong daily support level, though the price had broken beneath it briefly. I placed a stop $1 above, giving ample room to fluctuate, then left to the office—the first time I’ve taken a walk away trade this month. This proved to have served me well & I held the trade according to levels because of it and took what turned out to be one of my better single trades of the month. Need to learn from this. Need to accept potential for full loss with realistic stops placed & give trade time & room to work out. I was lucky in that the move was relatively clean to the downside, but still, the resolve stands.
