Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Wednesday, 5/3...More Chop Suey!!!
My head hurts thinking about the day in the the trading toom today. As has happened over the past week, the big move comes early and the rest of the day seems to chop, chop chop. We were really keying into this action though, & I had a plan (although I did not get a chance to explain it to my good trading buddy, Red Beard, aka teq) to allow us to scalp at least 1 point per move. But the cagy es was just not co-operative & we ended up floundering some (at least I did). Anyway, here are the highlights.
Fooser had a fine trade going when I first peeked through my half opened eyes at the computer at about 5:10. He was short from 1318.50 and the mkt had then sold off to around 16.50, so it had moved too far for me to jump in. I was able to enter a globex long as triggered by the phase & macd at 1315. The market moved in my direction & was able to get 1.5 points before being taken out at 16.50.
Next trade was a globex short that turned out to be a scratch just before the open as it had not moved in my favor more than a tick or 2. Turns out if I had of led it ride it would have been a nice 3-4 point winner.
next was a holp long @ 1313.25 at around 10:20. Went as high as 14.50 befor reversing & stopping me out for -2 points. Note here....a doji formed on the candle that I entered on and then the next candle closed below it. Probably should eject when I see that next time.
Unfortunately the rest of the day was so choppy, we were doing paper trades, reversing, exiting, you name it and I must confess, I had a problem focusing on it cause I was stuck in a bond trade with my runner in limbo land. Oh yes, the bond trade....
Stood aside for the first 15 minutes or so of the bond trade as Berrnanke was supposed to make some speech somewhere. Turns out it was a very bland speech, not on the economy or Fed issues, & had no affect on the market. Of course, the bonds were right at 105.31 at noon & soon moved lower, right to the exit point of 17 before I could get an entry. Was able to get a fill on a bounce up, & watched as the bonds continued up to 106 03. It did reverse finally & I was able to pp @ 27. No luck on the runner tho and, well, guess what, I broke the rules & left it in cause I coulnd't take a 3 tick loss @ 3 pm. So now I am here at 9:15 with a b/e order in @ 105 31 STILL! Bad, very bad!
As I said the rest of the afternoon was a blur and will have to revert to red beard's dilligent recording for the rest of the day. I do know that the 5 min sq signals were good for a few points today when they fired off.
My last trade was the 3:52 reversal. Another b/e trade on that one.
Totals: paper trades ??? Real $$ -.5 es & +2 bonds ( with 1 runnner hoping to be a b/e)
OK, back to the books.
etr
Fooser had a fine trade going when I first peeked through my half opened eyes at the computer at about 5:10. He was short from 1318.50 and the mkt had then sold off to around 16.50, so it had moved too far for me to jump in. I was able to enter a globex long as triggered by the phase & macd at 1315. The market moved in my direction & was able to get 1.5 points before being taken out at 16.50.
Next trade was a globex short that turned out to be a scratch just before the open as it had not moved in my favor more than a tick or 2. Turns out if I had of led it ride it would have been a nice 3-4 point winner.
next was a holp long @ 1313.25 at around 10:20. Went as high as 14.50 befor reversing & stopping me out for -2 points. Note here....a doji formed on the candle that I entered on and then the next candle closed below it. Probably should eject when I see that next time.
Unfortunately the rest of the day was so choppy, we were doing paper trades, reversing, exiting, you name it and I must confess, I had a problem focusing on it cause I was stuck in a bond trade with my runner in limbo land. Oh yes, the bond trade....
Stood aside for the first 15 minutes or so of the bond trade as Berrnanke was supposed to make some speech somewhere. Turns out it was a very bland speech, not on the economy or Fed issues, & had no affect on the market. Of course, the bonds were right at 105.31 at noon & soon moved lower, right to the exit point of 17 before I could get an entry. Was able to get a fill on a bounce up, & watched as the bonds continued up to 106 03. It did reverse finally & I was able to pp @ 27. No luck on the runner tho and, well, guess what, I broke the rules & left it in cause I coulnd't take a 3 tick loss @ 3 pm. So now I am here at 9:15 with a b/e order in @ 105 31 STILL! Bad, very bad!
As I said the rest of the afternoon was a blur and will have to revert to red beard's dilligent recording for the rest of the day. I do know that the 5 min sq signals were good for a few points today when they fired off.
My last trade was the 3:52 reversal. Another b/e trade on that one.
Totals: paper trades ??? Real $$ -.5 es & +2 bonds ( with 1 runnner hoping to be a b/e)
OK, back to the books.
etr
HOLP
I am excited about these setups and the way we are paper trading them. Seems to be very effective for learning trader psychology.
RedBeard
RedBeard
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Tuesday, May2
Tuesday sarted with a globex sell around 5:30 or so @ 1313.25. This trade actually went into the mony by about a point or so but the pivot area around 12.75/50 held it from dropping too far. Had a gap down to 8.50 so that was prominent on my mind. There were no 8:30 news releases so I though we had a good chance of closing it after the open. Left my adjusted stop in @ 1314 & headed off to the office. Dang es worked against me & took out my stop right after the open for -.75.
Next was an lohp sell@ 1313 at 9:53. THis was a mismanaged trade on my behalf because we dropped a full point & I failed to lower stop (only 1 car). the mkt chopped around a bit & I was very sure we were going to drop because the internals looked weak. But, as before, the 12.50 area held & soon it reversed direction & took out my stop @ 15.25 (had moved it up a notch) for -2.25 points. I also missed a warning sign, an holp signal that should have gotten me out at that point. Teq started experimenting with trailing stops as per ttm, & we started to use the 2nd prior candle +3 ticks.
Next entered a paper short @1314.75, & moved stops down as we went. At 13.75 we had an holp signal so exited, +1 (1 car). Started talking with teq about reversing at this signal during choppy markets. we may be on to something.
Another holp long hit @ 1313.50 & we rode it up with the stop trailing. Exited with stop @ 14.25, +.75
The bonds finally worked reasonably well today. Shorted @ 10615, took a pp @ 13, didn't get the reload & runner target hit @ 11 for +6 tick total.
Also during the doldrums the 5 min sq fired off so I took a paper long @ 12:45 at 1316.75. After some time of little movement, the histogram started to fade & I exited @ 17.25 for +.5 point. the 5 min sq ended not long after pretty much at the same place as my exit.
We had one more lohp short @ 1317.25 that worked in our direction down to a 16.50 stop out for another +.75.
The last trade was the 3:52 trade which I took short after a nice run up to 1318. THe trade looked promising at first but basically just choped around & I was timed out @ b/e
Totals: Paper +4; Real $$ -3 es points & +6 bond ticks for a b/e $$ day.
Next was an lohp sell@ 1313 at 9:53. THis was a mismanaged trade on my behalf because we dropped a full point & I failed to lower stop (only 1 car). the mkt chopped around a bit & I was very sure we were going to drop because the internals looked weak. But, as before, the 12.50 area held & soon it reversed direction & took out my stop @ 15.25 (had moved it up a notch) for -2.25 points. I also missed a warning sign, an holp signal that should have gotten me out at that point. Teq started experimenting with trailing stops as per ttm, & we started to use the 2nd prior candle +3 ticks.
Next entered a paper short @1314.75, & moved stops down as we went. At 13.75 we had an holp signal so exited, +1 (1 car). Started talking with teq about reversing at this signal during choppy markets. we may be on to something.
Another holp long hit @ 1313.50 & we rode it up with the stop trailing. Exited with stop @ 14.25, +.75
The bonds finally worked reasonably well today. Shorted @ 10615, took a pp @ 13, didn't get the reload & runner target hit @ 11 for +6 tick total.
Also during the doldrums the 5 min sq fired off so I took a paper long @ 12:45 at 1316.75. After some time of little movement, the histogram started to fade & I exited @ 17.25 for +.5 point. the 5 min sq ended not long after pretty much at the same place as my exit.
We had one more lohp short @ 1317.25 that worked in our direction down to a 16.50 stop out for another +.75.
The last trade was the 3:52 trade which I took short after a nice run up to 1318. THe trade looked promising at first but basically just choped around & I was timed out @ b/e
Totals: Paper +4; Real $$ -3 es points & +6 bond ticks for a b/e $$ day.
Monday, 5/1 First Day of May
Monday started actually on Sunday Night. We had closed out the day friday with the p/c above 1 so I felt sure we would see some erosion over night. I shorted the es @ 1318.25, put in a 2 point stop & hit the hay. Upon rising Monday morning, there had not been much movement so I exited with +.5 points.
No bond trade again as the bonds were unusally quiet during the doldrums.
Did a paper trade off an lohp signal @ 2:08 @ 18.75, yes only paper. es droped like a stone to around the 11 area & my stop was finally hit @ 13.75 for a 5 point winner. Dang, I needed that one for my account too!
Lastly, I did a paper trade on the 3:52 setup @ 1310.25 because the last 1/2 hour move up had retraced about 50%. This is a good thing to note because the trade went against me (I went long), & I was stopped out @ 8.25 for -2 points.
Totals: Paper net +3; real $$ +.5.
No bond trade again as the bonds were unusally quiet during the doldrums.
Did a paper trade off an lohp signal @ 2:08 @ 18.75, yes only paper. es droped like a stone to around the 11 area & my stop was finally hit @ 13.75 for a 5 point winner. Dang, I needed that one for my account too!
Lastly, I did a paper trade on the 3:52 setup @ 1310.25 because the last 1/2 hour move up had retraced about 50%. This is a good thing to note because the trade went against me (I went long), & I was stopped out @ 8.25 for -2 points.
Totals: Paper net +3; real $$ +.5.
Friday 4/28, Week ends with a Bang!
OK, have some catching up to do. Friday was not a bad day, but, oooh baby, it could have been a lot better! First trade of the day was a Globex long @ 1311.50. sigs were pointing up but ended up getting stopped out @ b/e. Then I had a long signal @ 1312.75 near the open (holp) and....and...I hesitated, didn't take it & didn't it run balls to the wall right up for a 7-8 point winner!!! OK, lesson learned again (10000th time). Take the frickin' holp/lohp signal & GO WITH IT. ahem, there, got that out of my system.
Next trade was an lohp sell @ 1319, went down to 1316, trailed the stop & exited @ 17 for 1 point winner.
The bonds were trapped in a tight range between 107 16 & 107 24 and entry did not fill. No bond trade today.
The last trade of the day was an holp long @ 15.25 around 3:26. Now I know what my trading plan says about entering new trades after 3:00. But, well, I felt good about the signal & went after it. The trade really didn't go too far & 3:52 was fast approaching. I analyzed the situation & decided to keep the trade right where it was. This is the last trading day of April & I had a similar trade on the last day of March that scored nicely. So, sure enought the es started climing after the cash market closed. I raised my stop to 14.24 along with it & exited at 17.25 as time expired for a respectable 2 point winner.
Totals on the day: 3 es points Real $$$.....not too bad, but coulda, shoulda, woulda been much better!
Next trade was an lohp sell @ 1319, went down to 1316, trailed the stop & exited @ 17 for 1 point winner.
The bonds were trapped in a tight range between 107 16 & 107 24 and entry did not fill. No bond trade today.
The last trade of the day was an holp long @ 15.25 around 3:26. Now I know what my trading plan says about entering new trades after 3:00. But, well, I felt good about the signal & went after it. The trade really didn't go too far & 3:52 was fast approaching. I analyzed the situation & decided to keep the trade right where it was. This is the last trading day of April & I had a similar trade on the last day of March that scored nicely. So, sure enought the es started climing after the cash market closed. I raised my stop to 14.24 along with it & exited at 17.25 as time expired for a respectable 2 point winner.
Totals on the day: 3 es points Real $$$.....not too bad, but coulda, shoulda, woulda been much better!
