09 Apr How did I trade today? 20210409
Summary: God, I love trading
#fintwit #orderflow #daytrading #dailyreportcard #tradinglifestyle #daytraderlife #grasshoppersanonymous #tradingforex #tradingcommodities #NEXT
Every trading day I recap my trades, including more than entries and exits. Why did I take the trade? How did I manage the trade, my emotions and cognitive function? All the good stuff as well as all the ugly of being a day trader. As always, feel free to reach out to me.
My weekly goal:
- Min. 3 times hitting the gym + mandatory cardio
- Did a double workout yesterday and had a regular workout the day before. Going again tomorrow.
- Only trade the main account
- No trades taken
- Be mindful of DTTZs
- Check
- Only price-action based exit rules (or if hit time stop comes earlier)
- No trades taken
- M15/M30 entries and exits at 1st DTTZ, M5 entries and exits at 2nd DTTZ
- No trades taken
Good Pre-market routines
Good Session PECS
Good Trade selection
Good Trade sizing or SL placement
Good Trade Execution & Mgmt.
Good Risk Adjusted Returns
Yes Daily review
Muppet meter (1 being best — 5 being worst): 1
Summary
- GBPNZD
- IB: Slight M30 DBD but price still above M30 VWAP and lots of selling wicks around
- C: Closed as a Bull Engulf, M15 did not close within supply
- D: Price retraced all of C and tested IB low
- Even an extension below IB is a bit problematic with newly formed H4 c‑dem. Although this is part of my research on how a higher timeframe sentiment forces a lower time frame to create an ‘invalid’ reversal pattern. Will take notes and observe.
- Closed as a Bearish Inside Bar, no IB extension
- E: Extended below IB (just noticed D had extended 1 TPO below as well weird that the indicator didn’t show it).
- Closed as a hammer
- F: Closed as a DBD taking out LTF demand
- G: Formed a poor low right above H4-C‑D 1.94690 and returned to IB low, will probably take out the poor low but no idea to what extend
- Closed making LLs with a selling wick that tested IB low
- H: Made LLs nearly taking out H4 demand before popping back up
- I: made a poor low on the profile but price action showing a slight LL almost taking out LTF/H4 demand closing almost on its low
- J: Price took out LTF and H4 demand and price would have reached 2R. Expecting more downside. W1-C‑D 1.93978 is at 3.7R although H4 200MA in UT still in the way which price is testing right now. I will review this tomorrow.
- GOLD
- IB: M30 DBD
- C: Closed as a DBD
- D: Closed as an Inside Bar at ADR 0.5 low within M30 QLo above D1 Base demand level
- E: Three Outside Up
- F: Closed as an Inside Bar, still no extension
- G: Responsive activity testing IB low, no extension
- H: Closed as a Dragonfly doji, H4 Evening Star closing slightly within H4 demand with buying wick almost having taken out said demand.
- I: made a huge move up to IB high but no extension (yet) looks like Hypo 2 could be playing out later.
GBPNZD
- Which hypo played out and how did I hypothesize it playing out? How did it actually play out? What did the profile and price action show?
- Hypo 1 — Return to Value
- Hypo 1 — Return to Value
- Narrative: Possible D1 phase 4 (bearish marubozu), H4 Evening Star, price not tested QLo
- Preferred: Strong Bearish Price action, IB extension down with sustained auction taking out LTF demand closing within H4 demand.
- Con: Newly formed H4 demand
- 100% correct
How accurate was my assessment of market context? What were the circumstances of the developing narrative? How did they develop according to DTTZ?
I did great here. Due to the D1 Bearish Marubozu phase 4 narrative the H4 demand proved less of an hindrance to short right into it. Although it did react towards the end of the session.
What was the play of the day?
Return to Value based off a D1 Bearish Marubozu phase 4 narrative. Open below value and range with moderate to large imbalance 0.5xASR. Moved slightly higher (faking a Bull Engulf reversal) towards VAL and consequent extension below after bearish Inside Bar.
Was I right on the outcome? Which Hypo played out and why was it not Hypo 1 (if any)?
Hypo 1 perfectly
Was there an opportunity and did I take it?
There was an opportunity but I did not take it due to wanting to test my understanding of the narrative objectively before acting on it. I have observed these conditions objectively multiple times now and I believe next time I will execute a trade.
DTTZ: 1st DTTZ
Entry: C closed as a Bull Engulf to which D completely retraced and finally closed as a Bearish Inside Bar (with slight buying wick testing IB low). E then extended below IB before closing as a hammer (high failure rate) and turned into a DBD in F.
Profit Margin (ADR or congestion): Due to nearby H4 demand I did not think this would have had a good profit target. Although if executed perfectly on close of D this could have netted 1.8R at yesterday’s low 1.94453.
What would a price action exit rule have done?
This is one of those trades where I might have grasshoppered out due to M15 reversal patterns. There was none on a M30 timeframe so a near hit of 2R would have netted 1.8R. I am rarely a dick for a tick 🙂
How was SL placement and Sizing?
SL placement would have been right on top of IB high although I could have placed it slightly higher. Entry 1.94909 around x.xx50 and SL above x.xx85 in this case 1.95160 was actually close to perfect.
What would time-based have done?
1R
What could I have done better?
I think I did everything well. I hypothesized a narrative but was uncomfortable to trade right into a newly developed H4 demand. Thus I decided to let the trade go and just sit and observe. God I love trading. And God do I love improving my understanding of the markets. Why stop there? I love taking notes. Researching. Gathering my stats. Hell, I even love typing on my nice mechanical keyboard sitting at my nice office in front of my multi-monitor setup. But I digress… 🙂 I love everything about trading Lol. If you are reading this I sooo hope that this is how you feel too… It might not feel like this when you start out but I sure as hell hope you have that sparkle of research and statistics in you that will help you bust through the awful stages of purgatory before being accepted into heaven. Haha… I am not religious in this way so I hope I got that right. Although with all the God and talk about purgatory and heaven you might think I am 🙂 Sorry, had to get that out…. I wish you all the best my friend. Wherever you are, at whatever stage of your trading development you are.
How did I feel before, during, and after the trade?
One word. Great.
GOLD
- Which hypo played out and how did I hypothesize it playing out? How did it actually play out? What did the profile and price action show?
- Hypo 1 — Value Acceptance
- Narrative: near proximity to value edge
- Preferred: Early acceptance with quick follow-through
- Con: D1 base demand at VAL
- 90% correct
How accurate was my assessment of market context? What were the circumstances of the developing narrative? How did they develop according to DTTZ?
There was no real follow-through to VAL after acceptance and in fact I believe Hypo 2 is actually the one that is playing out. Due to hypo 1 playing out within my trading window I am sticking with that. Price basically showed responsive activity and there was nothing significant to report until TPO I made a big move to IB High although no extension (yet).
What was the play of the day?
Value Acceptance and responsive activity.
Was I right on the outcome? Which Hypo played out and why was it not Hypo 1 (if any)?
Yes. Hypo 1 and I believe Hypo 2 could play out in overlap noise. Will review tomorrow.
Was there an opportunity and did I take it?
There was none so no.
What would a price action exit rule have done?
N.A.
How was SL placement and Sizing?
N.A.
What would time-based have done?
N.A.
What could I have done better?
N.A.
How did I feel before, during, and after the trade?
N.A.
How well did I manage my physical, emotional and cognitive states?
I did great here. Not much to report besides getting a little tired. Probably because I didn’t have my usual coffee in the afternoon. Nothing big though.
What did I learn today?
That I know how to read price action and orderflow (well duhhh). I mean within the context of what conditions supercede what conditions if that makes sense. We all know (hope you do know) that larger timeframe narratives supercede the lower ones but it takes time and experience to see how the lower timeframes react to that narrative when there are seemingly contradicting price action patterns developing. Hope that makes sense otherwise hit me up with a message.
What’s one thing I need to do more often?
Trust myself in that I:
- More than not am aligned with the market narrative as shown through the statistics in my hypos
- I can read price action and orderflow events in alignment with that market narrative
- I am confident to execute when I am good and ready to execute on a premise I have back- and forward tested.
- I can listen to my inner-voice to guide me
What’s one thing I need to do less often?
I executed perfectly today without taking any trades. Trading is not about trading. It is about aligning yourself with the market within your “EDGE”. This mythical or mystical word traders through around which you can’t truly grasp until you do. Sorry to say that but there is a lot that goes on ‘behind the curtains’ that nobody can teach you. You have to experience and develop it for yourself. Wish you all the best on your path and have a great weekend!
Under the circumstances, did I perform at my best?
Fuck yeah!
For my trade plan(s) on this particular day, go here:
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