January 14, 2025 (2 Trades) (-$283.75)
Overall Grade: C+
Day Summary: Today was a tough day in terms of finalized P/L, but I was not unhappy with my second trade today. Looking back with hindsight, the first trade was unnecesary, but I was able to refocus and take a good second trade. However, the thing that really killed me today was my strong, long bias. I was sooo convinced in my 4 Targets plan, that I was simply not able to accept the fact that I was wrong and the market was right, and because of that, I paid a heavy price. I need to constantly remember that price action is king and if it is telling me I am wrong, I should just get out and look for a better trade. Trade 1 was just bad looking back, but it was Trade 2 that was a tougher pill to swallow, just because of the fact that I was up $120 on my live (after being down $130 on Trade 1) and a solid $600 on my challenge account, both of which reversed on me and ended up turning into big losers. I had my chances to get out at break even or for a small win / small loss but I decided to prove to the market that I was right .... and that did not work out for me. Anyways, let's take a look.
DAILY - ES
5 MIN - ES
TRADES
Trade 1 - Long 2 Contracts @ 4 Tragets + FOMO + Bias + Key Level
Grade: D+
- I did have the 4 Targets (30 MIN) in mind on this trade, but this was not the time to take a stab at it
- FOMO Entry - bad
- For some reason, I mentally put a lot of emphasis on the 5892.75 level, which in reality was not a very significant level, so my long bias coupled with the emphasis on that level convinced me to take a trade that really wasn't there
- Not only that, but I did not stop out of this trade where I had planned (close below bullish candle 3 mins to the left)
- Lack of discipline to stop out and a strong bias caused me to take an unnecesary and big loser on this trade
FIX: Bias can be a good thing at times, but remember not to marry it
Trade 2 - Long 3 Contracts @ 4 Targets + Bias
Grade: B
- This was the tough trade to accept today
- First entry was admittedly a fomo entry, but I did know that at the time
- Second entry was much better, and where I should have entered both contracts, but I didn't want to miss the move, so that's why I entered the first contract where I did
- Following the 4 Targets, I was biased that shorts were getting trapped here and that we would move back up at least into the 5880s, which we almost got to before getting crushed back down by the sellers
- I was up $120 on this trade in my live (after being down $130 from Trade 1) and $600 in my challenge account and I refused to close both just because I was biased on the fact that I was right and the sellers were getting trapped
- But I was not right, the market was right, as it always is, and I refused to accept that
- Overall, this was not a bad trade, but I neglected to recognize and remember that we have been in a predominantly bearish market recently, and for that reason I should have not gotten greedy trying to maximize profits on a long trade like this
- I should have taken a risk management approach to this trade and taken profits at yesterdays HOD (green dashed line), or at least stopped out BE on this trade
FIX: Again, don't marry a bias and recognize the type of market we are in so that I can make decisons accordingly