$STUDY

Reviewing my p/l spreadsheet, it is obvious what kills me is outsized down days.

REPEAT: It is obvious what kills me is outsized down days.

They weigh me down. Set me back. I'm really good at picks and trade management. Better than ever in my career. So on a day when it's not working, I need to stop with a ding and not a dent.

I can make a good living at this if I stop shooting myself in the foot. Two steps forward one step back will not get me there.

Walk away from small down days and live to trade tomorrow.

+10% day and beautiful +60% week-over-week, but...

But last week I had a very damaging loss day, in addition to 3 other losing days. So I spent this entire week climbing back out of the hole and still $300 shy. It's not worth trading beyond max loss.
It's not just the money, it's the psychological damage.

Was definitely a hard day for picks today, inside day of a massive down bar. Not much setting up. So, what do I do, especially on a Friday? Go slow. Go small. Take my piece.
Shabbat shalom.

What if my opening trade/s are losers? +5% day

I recently became aware that maybe that maybe opening loser/s could be a trigger for a sloppy day. There is no excuse for a sloppy day.

Today I opened with 2 losers. I remained conscious of that. I was frustrated, but those were clockwork trades and I lost. Bummer, but ok.

I stayed aware of my max day loss amount and braced myself to stop trading if I must. Outsized loses are enemy #1 and must be avoided.

Analyzed market. Analyzed other things on my watchlist. Found another clockwork setup. Had a nice gainer and that put me back on track.

I need to keep in mind: trades that are "hard work" and trades that aren't working show me to go slow, go small, and even stop. Not fight it.

Clockwork for 9%

Another clockwork day. Dear self, do this every day. Trade like clockwork every day. Take my piece of the market every day. Peace.

UPDATE: TSLA lotto call was so far out of the money, for this week expiration, that even as the stock went up $25, my call lost 50% so I cut it.
Total end of day gains 9.5%

Beauty day +9%

What is the most important rule of clockwork trading? Small size? Tight stop? Pay myself first? The most important rule of clockwork trading is don't stray from clockwork trading. It is a cohesive whole.

It seems a bummer to take that first p/l target, because "it's working". But these can turn on a dime. Need to pay myself. Then it's easier to hold the rest.

Today it felt hard to find picks. The market has run up like bonkers, and today the open was slightly down, so a lot of the setups were "off the highs" vs breakdowns. My picks were BA for trendline breakdown and ROKU for reversal at moving average tangle. I also traded TSLA on Meir call, and got a smidge out of that, but I traded far otm to keep my size and volatility tolerable.

I like how I waited for entries, ESPECIALLY on these daily reversal plays. Even though short on a down day is the play, the market is bull in general.

Something to ponder: what are appropriate expectations trading down days in bull market?

Clockwork trading brings my mojo back +12% day

Clockwork trading:

Small size.

Tight stop is the right stop.

Pay myself first.

I love how I traded today. I think it helps when I open with a nice winner. I should ponder how it affects my day to open with a winner vs loser.