March 29, 2023 (6Trades) (-$71.25)

Overall Grade: D

*First trade review since getting to Brasil*

Day Summary: Mannnn! 7th red day in a row for me (although 3 or 4 breakeven/small red days) so I felt like I needed to review. The market has been very choppy as of late mainly due to economic uncertainty imo. That being said, going forward I should probably focus more on my range trading strategy (intraday supply and demand). Figures that as soon as I try to start trading with the trend (2023) the market gets much more rangey than it has been for the last 2 years lol. All good though! Traders always have to adapt and this is good practice for me for the years to come. That being said, the price action felt criminal today, and i know I was not the only one who struggled. But damn, fucking horrible stats today!!

DAILY - ES Futures (screenshot at 4pm bell)

5 Min - ES Futures

                                            Trades

Trade 1 - Long 2 Contracts @ PM High Support and @ 50ema on 5 Min

Grade: C-

  • In the moment I thought this was a decent place to go long because of the strong uptrend we had during the overnight session
  • I also thought we had a good chance at continuing long today because we had just broken out of the current daily downtrend (see above)
  • However, I went long straight into the 50ema on the 2 Min which was dumb
  • I did have the 2 Min trendline drawn different at the time becaue i took this screenshot a few minuted late after Trade 2

FIX: In this situation, it would be better to confirm the long move before entering. Also I should have stopped under the entry candle as that was my plan and always should be on these trend break trades

 

Trade 2 - Long 2 Contracts @ Open Demand

Grade: B+

  • This was actually a good trade thesis, and turns out, it would have been the trade of the day
  • The problem was, i didn't follow my plan and fucked up the execution
  • Same thesis thesis that we would continue long from the overnight uptrend, and this was a much better entry spot than my entry for Trade 1
  • The problem here was I had my stop too tight, as I should have had my stop under the low of the demand zone from just before the open
  • That was the plan. Why didn't I follow it ... because I'm on my 7th red day in a row, had already taken an L on Trade 1 and basically pussied out. I need to remember that past trades are non related to the current trade
  • This turned out to be the LOD, so I could have made some good money today (assuming I held all day - which i prob would have sold at 38ish)

FIX: Trade the plan. Don't trade myself out of the game before getting a trade like this (did the same thing yesterday)

 

Trade 3 - Short 2 Contracts @ PM High (resistance)

Grade: C+

  • This trade started to work almost immediately after my entry and now i wish I had scalped it into VWAP (easy to say looking back)
  • I held because I was going for a Trend Continuation move down from the highs, but I was basically guessing at the first Lower High, expecting PM High to act as resistance
  • Good job stopping out at the break of entry candle high at least
  • At this point I had fucked up twice in Trades 1 & 2 and flipped my thesis to short when i was right the whole time about continuing the overnight session trend. I just timed it all wrong and he choppiness and uncertainty of the market didn't help

FIX: Stick with the original thesis as it is usually thoughtout without emotions from previous trades. After bouncing from open demand, I should have known to cover at VWAP for a quick scalp. Entry was good though

 

Trades 4, 5 & 6 (No Set Up)

Grade: F

  • Hectic, emotional, forced overtrading here
  • Perfect example of what not to do when trading
  • Walk before taking these trades. Go spend your money on something of value instead of throwing it away to the markets
  • Entries here were all atrocious. Just didn't care at this point. i even took 3 conracts on my last trade which was my biggest size of the day on the worst set up (even though there was no set up)
  • Lucky i didn't lose too much money here

FIX: Shut the charts down and walk. I know I can recognize when I'm feeling like this, so i need to be disciplined enough to stop myself from doing trading like this. There are better set ups coming, whether it's later in the day or another day

 

Takeaways: Be patient for the best set ups and best entries, because I need to put some green on the board after 7 red days in a row now (granted a few of those red days I was up $60-$80 and continued trading trying to push some bigger green days). Also stick with the original thesis and wait for the entries that adhere to that plan, if they show. If they don't show, don't trade at all, or reasses in a calm emotional state before taking any trades.

 

Easy money: Trade 2 that I fucked up