12/5 Trade Review → 0pts/$0 Breakeven on 2 Trades:
Here’s a screenshot of the day’s action. I marked up two spots on the chart that I want to discuss. Keep in mind that the white horizontal lines indicate the initial balance high and low (which are the actionable entry levels for my strategy).
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1. TRADE #1: Long at Initial Balance Low → -5pts/-$250
Went long on a test of the IB low at 11:30am. Market had a little bit of an impulse and then hovered above the IB low for 15-20 minutes, but then eventually cracked through and started developing value below.
2. TRADE #2: Short at Initial Balance High → +5pts/+$250
Market was showing acceptance below the IB low on the initial breakdown – so I started stalking a short entry on a pullback. Got my chance at around 12:15pm and this should have been a nice 20-25pt gain.
Instead, I got impatient during that roughly hour-long consolidation phase between 4005 and 4015 – and ended up adjusting my stop. That impatience – yet again – cost me a nice 20-25pt gain.
Overall – Disappointed in My Lack of Patience With Trade #2:
Overall, the day ended up being a scratch. But it should’ve been a much better day.
I’ve been talking about being more patient and not being so quick to move my stops in recent daily reviews – so I’m frustrated with myself for allowing this to continue to happen. I can’t keep cutting my winners so short.
It’s sabotaging the growth of my equity curve – and causing me to stagnate/consolidate in the +$5000-$7,500 profit range for over a month now. If I want to break free from it, I have to be more patient.
Moving forward, I’m going to be much more strict in regard to stop movement to allow the market to do its thing. There’s no excuse for today not being a +15pt or more day in the challenge account.
A great trade opportunity was there and I essentially let it slip through the cracks. On to tomorrow.
Written by Matt Thomas (@MattThomasTP)
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