3:30pm Yes, it could have been worse. A lot worse. And for a time, it was as I got caught leveraging hard overnight using the ES 900 area as support in positioning both ES and the DAX before the pre-U.S. open multiple cliff dives. It's frankly a trade that I'd take again in a heartbeat, yet the entries turned out to be like Tiger's driving on Sunday ... hard into the woods and behind a tree.So step one was to minimize the early damage by managing the exits (taking the hit and chipping back into the fairway), before trying to make some sense of what would likely happen when the general session opened. Remember Saturday's post about falling gracefully and regrouping? I just didn't expect to present another example so soon.
And while it's been a long time since I've been in EESM (Emergency & Extended Scalp Mode), it kicked in big time upon the U.S. session open as I tried to scrap and scrape my way to align with the expected market rhythm, knowing that based on yesterday's action, many traders still stuck holding longs would likely have to bail hard on any decent upticks in the morning session.
And so slowly, trade by trade and shorting the hell out of any feeble upticks, the P&L tide indeed slowly turned, and by the time I covered my final short from the 2pm "it ain't going anywhere" spike, I closed my final trade and was somehow able to cut nasty early losses significantly to a end with a -$4K ham sandwich scratch.
And so today again proves the trading road remains a zig-zag and not a straight line.
And so today again proves the trading road remains a zig-zag and not a straight line.
We just have to make sure on 12/31 that there are more zigs than zags.
Shower time ... helluva day.
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10 comments:
Hi Don, great post today, I also got caught up in that mess but was able to bring it back to respectable as well. I love the blog and had a quick question. I am sure that you have answered this a million times but I cant find it. If I could find the dvd's, are they still relevant? Or have you evolved greatly from those methods? Thanks again.
Matt
Thanks Don for this blog ! It's a pleasure to read it each day.
You inspire me for mine.
Jérémy
"And for a time, it was as I got caught leveraging hard overnight using the ES 900 area as support in positioning both ES and the DAX before the pre-U.S. open multiple cliff dives"
How exactly were you positioned here, Don? Were you caught long the /ES before the retail sales data? As a trader, I'd expect you would steer clear of market moving releases and stay flat, correct?
Some days are better spent in bed...LOL!
Don, I don't see your trading method under the key post. Have you posted it?
Matt -
Still relevant (timeless), but I don't believe TradingMarkets ever replenished the stock.
Sam -
I was very active in the Europe and early U.S. session before the data came out. I was flat as usual at 8:30am ET. Most of the losses were in the DAX session.
Rumpled -
The "methods" are likely scattered thoughout the posts. No single method though ... like building a house, just lots of tools and judgement.
Don
Why heavily long if your historical pattern has been less than stellar overnight?
Option expiration week as well.
Not criticizing, just wondering.
Little conslation, but the Celtics won anyways.
Nice comeback, helps create some momo for tomorrow.
All -
I have zero regrets on the entries, which as I referenced in the post I'd do again in a heartbeat ... and with the same size.
No pain, no gain. No risk, no reward. It was a judgement position that normally would be correct, and would have scored big ... and I know in the oft chance I'm wrong, that I can adjust and come back.
No regrets at all -- even if the day's hit would have been hard. Frankly, if anything, it shows perhaps my aggression is showing signs of returning which has been dormant for a while.
Don
"No regrets at all--even if the day's hit would have been hard. Frankly, if anything, it shows perhaps my aggression is showing signs of returning which has been dormant for a while."
Another great poker analogy: passive trading/poker is death. Aggressive is good, overly aggressive is death. Sounds like you're finding that sweet spot on the aggression meter again!
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