I definitely forgot how theraputic this writing thing can be. Yesterday I mentioned the importance of shutting out the noise and today I want to just re-iterate that to myself. There is SO much negativity out there (specifically talking about the world known as fintwit) that I want to remind myself to mute anything that’s not bringing positivity into my space. It literally costs you nothing to be kind, but day in day out you see all of this demeaning activity going on that’s just exhausting.
If there’s one thing that I’ve learned is that I can learn from EVERYBODY. There are 10k+ ways to make money in the markets and what serves me best is to look at everything that’s out there and see if there are bits and pieces that I can adapt to my strategy for just THAT much more of an edge. I am very grateful for people like @LeveragedAF who take the time out to add value to my experience and share seeds of knowledge that we can learn from.
He didn’t have to go out and share that kind of information, but here we are and for that I am grateful. While I might not be able to use it now it’s something that I can work on and grow on and that’s what matters.
I also want to acknowledge @Tik4Tak and @KellerTrading for being positive spaces. Having the proper type of people and environment is critical for your growth. Hopefully I continue to connect with other like minded individuals who aren’t about tearing people down, but being positive (whether they know it or not..lol).
In regards to pure trading I’m definitely feeling much more confident about my approach to the markets lately. One thing that I have to keep in mind is that the market is ever changing and like Bruce Lee once said, I need to be like water. I will continue to monitor and actively look for any changes that I need to adapt to. Being Patient and Selective is proving to be my best friend and I’m able to approach this whole thing with so much more of a clear mind going into the day saying that I need to see X,Y,and Z all align before I get involved in a name. Today proved to be an example of why this mindset works for ME.
Something that I used to think was all made up , but has proven to be true is that you NEED to have self awareness as a trader. One thing about me is that I don’t like overly stressful situations in life in general, so for my own mental capacity I should be looking for low stress trades…it just makes sense. That’s a part of who I am and that’s what gels with me. The NASDAQ has 3,300 listed stocks and I don’t need to trade every single one of them every single day. Some people can do that, but for me it’s just tooooo much. I much rather prefer 1-2 (maybe 3 if I’m feeling like I have the go juice ) names per day.
The NASDAQ has 3,300 listed stocks and I don’t need to trade every single one of them every single day.
I remember reading a quote from someone in market wizards that said you want to wait until you see money on the floor and then just go and pick it up and I believe I get a bit more of what that is.
The only way you can accomplish this is to have a set of criteria in which you base your risk, exits, and entries.
Given my personality there’s no reason that I should be trading counter trend. What I want to do is find weakness in strength and exploit that to my advantage using basic supply and demand zones. I don’t want to be too early and I don’t want to miss the move, so to refine my system I have to spend a TON of time in data from @Spikeet and in Charts from that dataset to mark the nuances and understand what fits for ME and not someone else. I am not someone that has the ability to watch and trade a name all day, so my setups must be conscious of time. I would prefer a decent range for good r/r, so my setups my be conscious of price AND volatility. I cannot just short something because it looks like it’s “right”. I have a lot going on in the mornings, so I need CONFIRMATION. When all of these factors come into play that’s when I can spot a trade and enter to my advantage. THIS is where I define my edge, this is how I have found I can stay calm, trade, and execute.
Trades
$AUVI
When preparation meets opportunity! I was watching this nad had a very specific entry that I was looking for that I was mentioning to my trading buddy @Tik4Tat
I often used to be a bit thrown off when people said you needed to have a plan to trade because I thought the plan was as simple as short it and if it doesn’t work then get out. I think that my notes above will give a better idea of the type of plan that I have now looking for a trade in a name. As MUCH as I want to trade off the open I know that my setups are not there, so I must WAIT. In the past I would’ve chased and then been upside down for .30-40 and probably get stopped out right where I should be getting involved, so I’ve bene working on cleaning that up. Finding my spots, picking them, WAITING, and then executing.
When you think about it .30 is a lot of profit let on the table when you’re too early, so I have 0 desire of jumping the gun. I’d rather be a little late then upside down where the price action throws me into an emotional whirlwind and I’m just mentally taxed to stay in a trade to target. While I can’t always guarantee that I will follow this I KNOW this is what I must do and I am MUCH more self aware of it and am working on a way to code some colors into my trading view charts to also give visual ques.
Missed Trades
$OP
I’m a little bit conflicted about having $OP here because while it did eventually offer a setup it didn’t meet my entry criteria across the board, so I’m putting it here since it was a nice fade, but overall not wholly committed to the fact that this was a “miss”. The volume forecast numbers were just OFF in the morning and it was one of those where I don’t want to get a bias. Halts throw things off a bit for my volume forecast, so that kind of plays into it and honestly I should’ve been watching price for validation before I completely wrote it off.
Ah well, there will be more and I will look to track more like this in @Spikeet and potentially have a specific set of criteria for this setup.
Love your retro posts
Thanks for the mention bro. I feel like I’m in the very beginning stages of learning to trade! Totally agree that there’s no point in allowing negativity from others to mess up my life. Be kind – love people!