Today is Monday May 17th and the S&P hit the 1120 target exactly at  1120.25 in the pre-market.

I called for a reversal of the up-move last week as the market would hit the 1177 area and reverse for a minimum move down of 55 S&P points to 1120. We hit that in today’s pre-market action and reversed off of that number for a 20 S&P point move. The high was hit just after the open 1140 and then it was down from there yet again to new session lows at 1114.

I could see the 1120 area support for at least an initial bounce and safe target area to cover. The market really did what I thought it would. I did see the possibility for lower prices than the 1120 but not after a sizable bounce came in first. The 1120 was a conservative target area.

Today after the open, there were three good area’s to go short and they were at 7:41 am , 7:57 am and  8:47 am all West Coast time. After that, there were three good area’s to go long and they were at 10:15 am, 10:55 am and 11:40 am.

The market is making a good case for yet again another reversal back up with the current price at 12:50 p.m of 1135 and rising. This basically is what I expected and is what I pointed out last week, so far so good. I do see some follow through to today’s move, but it looks like it will be contained. It looks like 150 points or so on the Dow in the next day or two.

The market is in a very vulnerable position in general. We can not overall rule out that the previous lows of S&P 1055 will be taken out. I am bearish on the big picture right now and this move back up will only be setting the market up yet again for another drop. We will have to take it a day at a time, but caution is definitely in order. People should be looking at capital preservation at this point in the game.

As far as day trading is concerned I had a good day  today. I took 13 trades with 9 profitable and 4 not. The losses were very small  at -.50 -1.00 -.50 -.50. I had a 5.75 to one profit ratio. Anything at or above 2.00 to one is considered good.

The video is from the first two trades of the day. I had enough to get my daily goal with just those two small trades but while doing some training video’s I seen some good opportunities and kept trading. I don’t always trade this much as I mentioned, but today could be one of those real good days for me that I like to have to stay well ahead of myself.

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Reversing bad trading habits: Bad habits are one thing that plagues traders. I know that there are many who vow to change there ways but seem to repeat the same bad trading habits again and again. Is there hope for the struggling?

I say “Yes”. What do you say? That is where the question lies and where it needs to be answered. Each trader is different in that we are who we are as traders based on our past. This is also true when it comes to life in general as well. Our past directly effects the present and is a compilation of all our experiences good and bad. the good news is, that we do not have to stay in a condition that we no longer accept.

There is a comfort in repeating patterns, even if they are not to our benefit. The benefit is, that we are doing the same thing over and over again. The repeating of the pattern brings comfort and that is one reason why we do it. Fear of the unknown I believe is part of the reason for this. We are not use to doing things different and when we do them the same way, it is easy for our subconscious mind to accept it, even if it is wrong.

This is one of the reason’s why I think traders are making the same mistakes repeatedly. We need to ask ourselves, are we willing to change and do different, even if it means taking us into uncharted waters?  The answer is usually yes, but in reality it is only in our actions that we can see if this is true.

In order to reverse bad trading habits, we need to see what it is that is expected of us. Traders need to make a profit and if you are a day trader of stocks and or emini futures, your goal is to make a profit each day. A traders timing is key to his success, if your timing is wrong, early or late, you will suffer. If you wait to long because you want confirmation, then you will be entering as other traders are exiting. If you are in to early, you are vulnerable to getting stopped out as well because you may be afraid of missing the move.

Understanding what is expected of us is the first place to start. Is your plan to extract a profit from the markets sound? Do you know exactly what you are looking for without question and do you hesitate when faced with that decision? If you answer yes to first and yes to second you do not have enough confidence in your trading method to enter when you should and it is causing you problems. If you answer no to the first question (knowing exactly what you are looking for) and yes to second, (no hesitation pulling the trigger), than you are going to have problems as well. You can not pull the trading trigger on something that you do not have complete confidence in.

You need to be able to get both right and until that happens, it is going to be difficult to reverse bad trading habits.You have to know where to go and what to do in order to change something. Just knowing there is a problem is not going to make things better.  That is a start, but it requires an action trading plan with a solid footing. If you in need of such an action plan and trading method, I have answers and can help for stock and futures trading.  If you already have something that works, then strive on being disciplined not to go beyond it.