Today is November 15th, 2011 and was a good trading day, not because of points made, but was a nice regrouping from yesterdays loss. The method is there to follow, and when I don’t follow it, it becomes a gamble on it working or not.
You could see in yesterdays posting, that I took some non method trades. The indicators are only a reflection of the method, but a good way of seeing if one is following it or not. If you are going off the reservation, it will be clear to see and when you are on track, that is also clear to see.
Today, I got back on track as it has been weeks of modest daily gains before this. Losses happen, but they don’t have to induced by lack of patients, or lack of allowable trading time. If one does not have enough time to trade, it can be best to not trade. I need to remember that, as that was my downfall yesterday. I did not want to take the time to wait out the market to best get into position that would allow me to get the trading advantage on my side of the table and it cost me. It was just a few point loss on the day, but that is not the point. I could see I was off and for the fact of me stopping, I get an extra bonus for that and makes up for my mental short comings at least in my mind. Let me post today’s trades below before I get to far along.
Just three trades here, with the first one a 5 tick loss. That is really not a problem as it was an acceptable loss for the entry taken. You can see a reverse signal and that is my confirmation that a stop there was appropriate. The move was a last ditch effort by the market to take out the shorts before it actually does go down. My re-entry was spot on and I did not hesitate as the shorts were right in taking the market down.
It was all in the bigger picture to take the market down, so that it could then take it up higher in a big way as shown. I did miss that next wave up as I was doing a training video for my group as things were developing. I can honestly say, I missed the move as it just got past me. The secondary move higher, was caught as I could clearly see higher prices and did point that out in great detail in the training video I was just finishing up.
The market did move higher after my last exit and that is OK. I don’t have to get it all and enjoy selling into strength a lot more than selling into weakness.
In a recap of the daily’s, we did get the second day of pull back early on as the market sold off in the night session and again just after the open, only to then recover and move higher on the session modestly.
The market is now in a position any time to make that next move. It could go either way and I won’t say it can not go down, but I do have a bullish bias and would not be surprised to see things resolved to the upside. We always have to remain open minded, which is what allowed me to see the huge reversal at the bottom of the market 6 weeks ago or so.
The same thinking will allow me to accept and see that the resolve could yet again be to the upside, to the complete and utter amazement of the masses and guru’s. We need to learn to think for ourselves, to see for ourselves, and then trade for ourselves. If we become dependent on others to lend us insight and that means even me, we will not be helping ourselves long term. I think it is fine to get different opinions from others, but that should not be the only thing we do to see what we should be learning and calculating on our own. If you just don’t know how to go about that, then that is a legitimate concern and there is no fault to bear.
To make trading progress, we need to learn and gather insight from the market as it relates to a proven methodology that will be consistent over time. Next is to not overlook what we are going to do to ensure that we have the ability to follow that trading method and execute it in a way that leaves us profitable.
To do that, we need to always work on ourselves and uncover any mental weakness and replace it with mental fortitude and determination. That can only come by facing the hard cold facts that traders don’t like to face the facts. Are you willing to see what your trading weaknesses are and do what ever you have to change that within you to get the desired goals you aspire to achieve? Many would say, Yes; but the truth is they are not willing to face those issues and change. It is a lot easier to blame past trading troubles on the method, system, the market, or any other outside factor but ourselves.
In order to take your trading to a higher level, you need to look within. There you will most often find the answers that you seek. Yes, you need a solid trading method, and without it, you will be lost, but you also need everything I just mentioned above as well. I respect my readers enough to tell them the truth.
You may have a good enough trading method as you stand today and all that is needed is the inner strength to maintain control, to follow your personal trading plan as it relates to you.
I had a nice reminder from a member this evening of this simple fact and feel compelled to share that. We all need a personal trading plan within our trading method to succeed. Find yours and you could be on your way.
Trade well, trade committed, Vince
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