Monday, August 4, 2008

Monday Notes

We'll keep today's entry brief as I was called away from the market for the early afternoon. Pretty much scratched on the day as I had some nice A.M. shorts offset by the cost of midday short stops where I was a bit early on the meaty entries before re-entering. I could have managed size a bit better on the morning drop -- as the lame Factory Order data gave an artificial pop toward 5-min downtrend supports, but it was frankly tough getting the blood pumping early on a Monday.

Chart of the day may again be the 1-min 3 Line Break which was a strong guide in terms of the immediate wind at one's back, especially during the downdrift into 11am, and then again after 3pm which kept me from hanging onto any stupid end-of-day longs:




I did put a toe in the water on the PM retracement to the 5 min support, but scratched when it didn't bounce quickly. 3LB was a great guide for keeping me cautious on that.

So call it a draw on the day at this end. btw, I was pleased with my poker game last night. Stopped by Foxwoods for a few hours and played in a small 1/2 no-limit cash game. Bought in for $300 and left a few hours later with $775. Best news of the day was I only played about 5 hands in three hours. The more I dabble with my poker "hobby", the clearer the trading analogy becomes ... this time in terms of making much of your income on a small % of activity and staying out of trouble during the rest of the time.

Call today a stay-out-of-trouble day as we await a pocket pair higher than 9s.

1 comment:

traderboy said...

I find it very interesting how you find that your poker playing is quite beneficial to your trading. When I was with Bright Trading, one of their traders was a top poker player. I don't remember his name but I think his nickname was Jesus b/c of his long hair. I've heard from a number of people that good poker players make good traders.

I really enjoy reading your posts.

Have a great night.

traderboy