Bada-boom, Bada-bing

I signed in late this morning and missed my morning trade.  I got connected just in time to watch the market in a free fall and as my trading teacher and mentor has always said, "don't try to catch a falling piano".  So I stepped aside and waited for the bottom...eventually there is always a bottom as there is always a top.  After it finally bottomed out, I looked over the market and found two trading opportunities that both netted the profit that I was targeting...bada-boom, bada-bing.

I did simulate a trade during the fall this morning and learned a very valuable lesson about trading within the day's initial balance (IB).  The "sim" trade was very profitable and I enjoy those as much as my live trades that net real cash profits.  I enjoy the art of the trade so to speak.  I never thought that I would say this, but the trade means more than the profits, because if you can get the trades right by reading the market correctly, then the money will come.  The profit starts to become expected.

My second trade today, for example, went against me right away.  I used to get pretty uptight when a trade would go against me, but I had a pretty good idea of where it was going, so where it was at the present time didn't bother me.  I was not anxious.  I just had to wait a little longer to hear those words..."target filled".  The profit is great, but knowing that I read it right was even better.

I know that a potential losing trade is right around the corner.  When I have one of those days, I will let you know too.

Withdrawal

I was out of town in an all day meeting yesterday and on a plane today, (Wednesday) at 7:00 a.m. .   I couldn't trade yesterday or make my morning trade this morning.  I was going through a little bit of withdrawal.  I was home by 10:30, promptly ran to my computer, (after saying hi to my oldest and youngest who were at home), and then looked over the market.  I was starting to feel better....and then there it was, a great trade set up.  I placed my order, got filled and waited until I heard those beautiful words....."Target filled"  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, I had my fix, I felt much better.

I am looking forward to tomorrow morning's trade.

Good week

I am in North Carolina until Wednesday this week, which means that I won't be able to trade or even look at the market until Wednesday afternoon.  It will be a good test to see when withdrawal will set in.

It was a great morning.  I hit my target within the first 5 minutes of the day and then kept an eye on the market until I had to go to the airport.  It looks like the S&P closed over 1,100 today.  That is good news.  We have more financial news this week yet to come out.  Most of it is pre-market tomorrow and Wednesday.  I don't and won't try to make predicitions as to which way the market will move because the market is going to do whatever it is going to do and what it does is all that matters, not what I expect it to do.

I am now learning how to read the individual candles and the story they tell about price based on how they string together.  There is always something to learn, but for me it about focusing my learning and right now my learning is on trade management, which includes candle reading and how to appropriately turn a losing trade into a profitable trade through trade management techniques.

I am looking forward to trading again on Thursday morning.

Friday the 13th

There is no "lucky" or "unlucky" in trading, there is only prepared or not prepared.  Preparing take a lot of work, luck does not.  Preparing brings profits, luck does not.

No time for live trading during the day while I am working on a project, but I was able to make some trades pre-market.  I do not do that too often, but sometimes there are some good setups after 8:30 a.m. EDT.  Anyway, I am done with my work for now and am looking forward to many hours of simulating trading, reading and preparing for next week's trades.

The S&P emini broke through 1,100 this week.  That is pretty significant.  It is acting a lot like it did when it tried to sustain support over 1,000, earlier this year.  It would peak over, and then come back down and rotate below 1,000.  It took about a week for it to sustain price over 1,000.  I think that everyone expected 1,100, but I think that anything above that is suspect.

There are other financial metrics that typically move in sync with the major indexes.  They have done so all year.  They are not yet supporting this 1,100 level, so something is out of sync.  Either they need to move up in a big way, or the DOW and S&P are over-valued and need to move down.  The market always seems to find this balance and I would expect it to do it again.

Either way, it makes for some very good trading opportunities for the next few weeks.

I love that morning trade

I am swamped with a consulting project, but I am able to spend the first 3 to 5 minutes of the opening of the cash market to make my favorite trade.  The cash market opens at 8:30.  Today was quick.  I was in at 8:30 and hit my target at 8:31, and I was done for the day.

I am just now looking at the market and wish that I would have been trading all day long.  Excellent set ups and rotation today.  Today was a great day to trade.

Oh well, what I know about the market is that there is always another good trade just around the corner.  I used to get frustrated when I would miss a trade and now I am happy to have just been able to say that I read the set up correctly.  There were three phenomenal trades in the first half hour of the day.

In the beginning...

This is my first blog on trading. I was introduced to trading the e-minis, (primarily the S&P 500 and a few trades on the Russel), on the first day of the summer trading season (ugh!). I have had a lot of positions in my career, from mail room to a CIO in a Fortune 50 company and I can honestly say that none of them has been more challenging and rewarding as trading.

Trading has forced me to unlearn and "learn how to re-learn". It has forced me to be able to change my biases and paradigms on an hourly basis and how to work within a context that I cannot control.

I love to learn and I love to work, they are both passions for me. Trading offers both to the Nth degree.

Lastly, I used to think that trading was all about making money. I was wrong. Trading is about learning about myself, working very hard to create a daily trading plan, (that can change hourly) and practicing like Tiger Woods. It is not easy, there is no system, except for literally thousands of hours of work, practicing, preparation and then execution of the plan.

I am having the time of my life first, and actually beginning to consistently make money second.

I don't teach, promote or sell. I just trade, and that is what this blog is about, sharing my trading experience.