Trading journal

[dushimes]

I compiled a list of different questions I had about set ups. Thirteen questions in total.

Some of the questions really helped me define CLEARLY how to handle certain situations.

Other questions reminded me on an important lesson: follow the signals.

I was looking for ways to catch trends that fit my strategy, and movements that DIDN’T fit my strategy.

I noticed that trying to catch all the price movements leads to a flexible and confusing strategy.

This ain’t Pokemon!

I just need to catch enough to be profitable. No need to be perfect–just profitable.

[dushimes]

I’ve goofed some trades lately. It’s really frustrating. I practiced a trade and totally goofed it.

It was just a practice trade but it showed me a flaw in my way of thinking.

I get so frustrated. Last night, I was wrong about such a simple trade, that the frustration exhausted me and I just went to sleep. And then I had a really bad dream.

Right now, I’m thinking about so many things that it’s overwhelming. Go long here, but not if it does this. Go short there, but not when it does that. Yeah, but if it does that go long, but only when it does that. That’s what my brain sounds like right now. It’s chaotic.

I can’t think clearly. It’s annoying. I’m trying to follow my strategy but I allow my emotions to get the best of me.

It really really bothers me when I see a trade that kinda looks like I should take it, but I doubt it, then price starts trending and I can’t do anything about it. It happened several times this month.

I had a very nice AUD/NZD trade. I saw an exit signal, but kinda doubted it. I decided to hold, price reversed and watched my profits go down by 2/3.

I’m having trouble controlling my brain and emotions.

[dushimes]

In a recent set up, I was in disbelief of my strategy. This happens often. Price does its random walk in the park, and I get lost.

But the random walk confuses me so much, that I think I’m reading price wrong.

Price action sometimes, confuses me and I doubt my strategy. This is something I gotta be careful about. If I followed my strategy BLINDLY, I’d be in the green with that set up.

[dushimes]

Some of these trades are bizarre. I’m looking at a CHF/NOK set up. What drives me crazy is that after the entry signal, price consolidated for a month and a half, retested entry THREE times (without hitting the stop loss), then finally went bearish for two weeks and then gave an exit signal.

How annoying! What a tease!

Patience, young padawan!

[dushimes]

You know, I saw some charts today that made me feel confused. I don’t know if I should trade long or short. Is the major trend bullish or bearish??? Aaaargh!!

In that situation, I just have to draw my S/R, look at what would have been my most recent entry, and then just wait.

That’s so important. Just waiting. I still struggle with that. Forcing a trade is not clever. If I’m not sure, then just resist the impulse to jump in just because I see ¨something¨, and wait. It’s not rocket science.

[dushimes]

I’m studying charts, and I’m thinking about how many days there are between trades. It reminded me that I must be patient.

The impulsive trading feeling has crept up on me again. I’m acting as if every candle carries the possibility of meaning something. That’s not the case at all. Sure, pay attention, but I shouldn’t get anxious over every single candle.

I need to give more attention to patience when I start getting confused or feeling impulsive.

[dushimes]

I was just looking at EUR/CAD, and there was a time during one of its down trends that it started consolidating.

Oh man. This just shows me how important patience is. There was a weird consolidation phase during which there are no clean trades for almost three months. There are some small trades, but rather difficult ones with questionable entry/exit signals.

There can be some serious dry spells in some of these charts. And if I’m not trading, that’s not a reflection on me–it doesn’t mean I’m a bad trader. Not trading is a position!

[dushimes]

It’s funny. Sometimes, I look online for stuff I’d like to buy. A sportswatch, a tablet, a different computer mouse, etc.

I actually ran out of stuff to look up. I realised that I could buy the stuff I want with $1,000. haha it’s not that much.

But I use it as motivation because I wanna use my profits to pay for it.

I wonder how uncomfortable it would be to trade on a big tv with this thing…If you were travelling, staying in a hotel and wanted to check in on your long-term trades.

[dushimes]

I’m looking at a chart, and I’m wondering if I should trade that candle or not. Two days ago, I could feel my desperation die a little bit.

I should focus on the clear signals. I’m looking at this chart and I’m not confident in what direction price is trying to go. Not at all.

If that’s the case, then I DON’T have to trade it. So simple isn’t it? Well, it’s not so simple when you have a contradictory desperate voice saying you should force the trade.

Sure, you could trade any candle you want. Maybe you’ll profit, maybe you’ll lose. But trading like that is too unfavourable. That’s not a profitable way to trade. It’s better to wait for an obvious sign.

If I don’t take this trade, and it turns out that I would have been correct, I can’t be upset about missing out. The odds of losing are too high.

I’m gonna sit this one out. Not trading IS a position!

Patience, young padawan.

[ria_rose]

Is this an actual working keyboard? Hahaha. Looks like you’d need extra thin and dainty fingers to use it. But good motivation though. .

[ria_rose]

@dushimes

I’m gonna sit this one out. Not trading IS a position!

Have patience and all will be revealed.

[dushimes]

@ria_rose

Is this an actual working keyboard? Hahaha. Looks like you’d need extra thin and dainty fingers to use it.

Compare the size of these buttons with those on your smartphone. These buttons are probably equivalent to the buttons on an iPad.

How could it be difficult to type on this, but easy to type on a smartphone?

I’m not saying I would buy one…actually, that’s not true. haha I would totally buy one just to try it out!

[dushimes]

There were two particular trades that I wanted to take yesterday, but I wasn’t confident in them. Well, it seems, for now, that I would have been right. Those positions would have been VERY profitable. Amazing entries.

I don’t know if it’s discipline or fear that stopped me from taking those trades. Perhaps it was smart to not take trades that I’m not confident in because such a habit will not always work out in my favor as it did today (so it seems as per today’s candle).

But these are the kind of trades that I want to start catching. The problem is that they’re very tricky. If I can build my nerve to take them, I can profit nicely from them.

And the crazy part is that I’m feeling this way right now. Frustrated, disappointed. And by next monday, those trades could be stopped out and wrong. That demonstrates the market still influences my emotions.

I have some trades that are running in the green. But, I want to catch all the signals possible. Not just for money, but because they’re valid trades and I have available margin. If I see a favourable entry, why shouldn’t I take it?

That’s the point of following a limited number of pairs. To trade them to the max. Why not maximize profit? Again, I’m not talking about forcing trades. I mean valid signals.

But those signals could be invalidated in a few days, and all these negative emotions will be for nothing. What’s the point?

You know what? I’m being impatient. D1 is slow. But studying charts and speed trading is instant.

You’re backtesting and you wanna know if your entry was valid? Well, just shift the screen, and there you go–instant. But live is a different story, obviously.

I’m struggling with this patience aspect.

[dushimes]

The weather is very hot and humid this week. It’s getting hard to think.

I missed a huge huge swing this week. I read the trend completely wrong. It’s frustrating for me. It feels like there was a bag of money on the floor, but I forgot to pick it up.

Complaining won’t help. There has to be a lesson if I’m gonna complain about this. The lesson seems to be one that I’ve learned so many times. To pay close attention.

I’m not even sure what that means. I could say I’ll look out for similar setups. But no two setups are exactly the same. Everytime, I end up saying to myself that I’ll look out for that setup. It’s not gonna happen again the exact same way.

I’m trying to rebuild my demo account, and I missed a huge opportunity. I have other trades running, but that one was a big swing.

FOMO is one thing, but actually missing out is different.

[alphahavoc]

@dushimes

I missed a huge huge swing this week.

When you miss the train, wait for the next one. A seasoned traveler never succumb to impulsive actions driven by FOMO. The next train is just around the corner.

[dushimes]

@alphahavoc

The next train is just around the corner.

Yeah, you’re right. Of course, having a negative attitude (like I am right now) doesn’t help. There’s no time to complain about it like a child.

I have to stay motivated, keep studying, and do better next time.

But this swing wasn’t FOMO, I actually missed out. That’s the frustrating part.

Imagine you travel 20 minutes to go to the supermarket to buy bread…

Forget it.

I was gonna write an analogy. I’m acting as if I need to explain to other traders what it’s like to miss a big swing…like I’m the only one who’s experienced it.

It has to be something to motivate me to keep going. Something to make me wanna catch it next time. And you know what the funny thing is? I marked it. I marked it just to see what would have happened if I took the trade.

But I wasn’t confident in the trade because I wasn’t confident in the direction.

I’m rambling now.

Fall down seven times, get up eight.

Patience, young padawan.

[dushimes]

I have read a lot of times that you should buy when price is going up and sell when price is going down.

I’m starting to feel like that’s an oversimplification of trading. Price is constantly going up and down.

Just because it’s going in a direction that doesn’t mean it will continue. I think a strategy must observe some kind of signal for when it will either start going in a given direction, or will continue in a given direction.

¨just buy when it goes up, and sell when it goes down¨ is what I would say when I purposely want to be vague.

[dushimes]

I’m getting overwhelmed. I practiced some charts today, and I traded horribly. I ignored some very simple guidelines about S/R. Super simple.

So, I went back to my chart samples. But now I have some new questions about retracements and reversals, and I’m getting frustrated because I’m trying to understand the difference and they’re looking the same in my samples.

I’m getting overwhelmed and frustrated. Time to take a breather for a few minutes.

At times like this, it makes me wanna just stop and ONLY focus on the most SIMPLE and PEA BRAIN OBVIOUS trades that I could spot instantly.

To be honest, I’m not 100% sure what that would be like.

[dushimes]

Yesterday was an emotional rollercoaster. I was frustrated because I’m getting confused about distinguishing signals and setup conditions.

I just had a thought. What if all this trouble is actually just due to my impatience and fear?

I’d still be making mistakes, but perhaps my trading would improve if I was more patient, and was more willing to be wrong when I actually see something.

I’m looking at a EUR/CAD trade, and for one of the signals I’d have to wait three weeks. Watching and waiting for three weeks!

I’m greatly underestimating the patience requirements for trading D1.

[dushimes]

I’m considering trading more aggressively. That means more money, but, of course, it means more risk.

I would have to exercise more patience and increase my risk tolerance. I often see setups that I get scared to take.

Several times I’ve mentioned trading retracements. There are wide and narrow retracements. Trading them require different tactics.

I’m gonna have to be more certain in my tactics, and be willing to be wrong three, four, five times.

I’ll also have to be more mentally detached in order to stay calm and follow my strategy.