Every trading day I recap my trades, including more than just entries and exits. Why did I take the trade, how did I manage the trade as well as my emotions and cognitive function? All the good stuff of being a trader as well as all the ugly. No secrets here. As always, feel free to reach out to me.
My weekly goal
Follow hard entry and exit rules.
Good Pre-market routines
Good Session PECS
Good Trade selection
Good Trade Execution & Mgmt.
Good Risk Adjusted Returns
Yes Daily review
Muppet meter (1 being best — 5 being worst): 1
Summary: Value Rejection Failure
- GBPNZD opened within value so will focus on XAUUSD
- However XAUUSD has a very wide IB range like yesterday so we might be in for another non-trend day
- Currently price is in the middle of a swing so sub-optimal trade location and will sit back and observe
- C TPO extended slightly up but then returned and closed within IB and M15 evening star formed and I was considering a short. However because we are not at an extreme I second-guessed myself and did not enter. Perhaps luckily so because the next M15 candle was a bull engulf and 15 minutes later we closed with a M30 RBR bull engulf.
- I am hesitant to go long as well because of the supply quite near overhead (combined with M30 in a range and supply confluence with UKC). This would mean no 2R opportunity. So I will just sit and observe.
- An entry point could have been a 2nd chance entry on the M30 bull engulf so took note of that.
- Slow/medium reactive activity on Gold
- Ended up not taking any trades but just sitting and observing. There was a missed opportunity on GBPNZD that I was pointed to which I have outlined into my playbook and recorded in EW for review later and hopefully can catch it next time.
How accurate was my assessment of market context?
- I did fairly OK here. I did not see a clear entry and was ‘second-guessing’ any trade that I wanted to put on. Now, regardless of the underlying potential opportunity, this alone is enough reason to NOT TRADE on a given day. However, in my case I find that when I am in this mode I am trying to force a setup and my subconscious is trying to fight back. Hence a great signal for me to know when NOT to take a trade since my subconscious brain doesn’t like what it sees. This could just be my ego talking trying to justify not taking a trade but I have been more right on this then wrong so will continue to listen to it. Of course it didn’t just boil down to this ‘feeling’ but also having supply in the way which would not have made a ‘clean’ break towards my 2R target. This was enough for me to not take any trades on XAUUSD. The reason I didn’t trade on GBPNZD was because of an open inside value and shifting focus to Gold instead.
How did I feel before, during, and after the trade?
- No trades taken
How well did I follow my process?
- I think I did well here following my observations
How well did I manage my physical, emotional and cognitive states?
- Did well here
What did I learn today?
- I learned that due to the ‘nature’ of a given asset the underlying can react differently to certain situations. For example thick vs. thin markets behave differently. Scenarios I can’t trade in a thick market like USDCAD (due to being a major FX Pair) I can in GBPNZD. I recorded this ‘missed trade’ into EW and will review it again this weekend when I go over all of my trades of the week.
What’s one thing I need to do more often?
- Trust my ‘instincts’ and be okay to be flat. Although this should not become a habit and turning into an owl but don’t think that’s likely. I’m a grasshopper at heart that I am trying to tame but will never really lose 🙂 I think I am growing more confident in my own ability to spot a good (or at least better) trading opportunity.
What’s one thing I need to do less often?
- I am more and more trying to nitpick what I should do less which is a good sign. However… for today I would say to not get too cocky about being on the right path. Surely I am doing things better and learning a lot. Doing more of the good and less of the bad but can’t get too high up thinking I’ve made it. I still have a LONG way to go to really put the different mechanics of the market together and be ‘fluent in this language’ as I like to call it. You’ll never master a market but you can master yourself as best as you can through knowing and improving your abilities as well as expectations.
For my trade plan(s) on this particular day, go here: