May 18, 2026 (13 Trades) (-$35.00)
Overall Grade: D+
Day Summary: Mann today is a perfect example of how fast you can switch from being composed and making logical decisions to full blown fuck it mode. The first trade I took today aligned with my system, was showing I was on the right side of the move (order flow + price action), and was giving me no reason to close, especially since it was similar to the trade I took on Friday which I closed early and watched go to target in the following minutes. Today, however, was a different story and bounced just shy of my preset TP and came back and stopped me out. I have not had back to back winning days in over a month now, so that was a tough pill to swallow. I did not, however, jump right back in, but waited a few minutes and took another stab at it when it was showing it might want to go after some manipulation. That trade was going well and got my back into the green, before bouncing viscously and stopping me out in just a single 1 min candle. That was the turning point there. Straight to tilt after that. I need to remember that the market is what it is, and I have to be okay with some bullshit sometimes. Realistically, I should have walked away after Trade 1, even as much as it stung. I ended up putting on more risk and fees out of emotion, and that was just stressful overall and not what I want a trading day to feel like. I know that too. But I have been struggling so much recently (2026) that it has been hard to keep control of my emotions and follow my rules. I know it is hard, but the only way out of this is to get back to focusing on the process and following my rules.
DAILY - ES
5 MIN - ES
Trade 1 - Short 1 MES @ Trend Continuation + Right Idea, Wrong Timing + Held Winner
Grade: A-
- following trend - good
- playbook set up - aggressive, but yes
- entry - shorting highs not lows - good
- good hold, especially after 9:45 green candle sold into - no reason to close really - good habit
- target was 7412.50 (which did hit later in the session) but after the last down candle, I kinda realized I should have targeted the 8:35ish candle lows - but by that point I was a deer in headlights
- I have to be content with this loss - good trade, good loss - accept that it is what it is - if I was focusing on the process I would be happy with this trade!
Trade 2 - Short 1 MES @ Momentum + Revenge Trading + FOMO
Grade: B-
- thought on this trade I had just gotten manipulated out of Trade 1 and that it was now about to go
- no set up - bad
- trading with price action / momentum - good
- wasn't ever in the red on this trade until the pop to stop - so entry wasn't terrible, but no real set up so this was really just an emotional trade, even though it was technically just me thinking my first trade was now about to play out
- got slightly back into the green at lows, and to get stopped out that quick after it was looking good (especially after previous 21 EMA Trap candle) was the nail in the coffin for me emotionally today
Final tilt screenshot:
Remember man, following rules and focusing on the process is the only thing that is going to get you out of this hole that I've dug for myself. Time to man up and do it!