Up is down and down is up

Days when up is down and down is up are my most frustrating days. For example, market is pushing new highs, but NONE of my picks played out.

Beautiful gap up plays, esp SPWR, didn't hold. Breakdown gap JKS traded strong up. 

WHYYY!??? Profit taking, is the only explanation that comes to mind. How can I tell?

Down day, it goes without saying. Carrying smidges of the longs into the close because I want to be involved to keep my eyes on it.

One idea, I heard a trader say, "The gap up [on the market] ate up all the momentum." Interesting theory. So all there's left to do is for people to take profits? 

In other words, people who pre-positioned for this move are closing, but there is no one new to keep it going. And/or shakeout, novice gap, ...

Clockwork works! +9% day

 Clockwork trading principles:
- Small size
- Tight stop is the right stop
- Pay myself first

I am still trading a reduced size account, on which I am up 9% today. Trying to monitor feelings of "my trades are not working today" or "my setups are expiring". Today I'm done at 10:18. 

No real good setups on my screeners this morning. This tells me not to trust trades = take profits and don't mess around, don't chase.

I show in the charts that I've been using a technique of scaling in. I am still building to approximately my previous size, but only when it's working. This helps reduce the sting of losers. Will continue to experiment with this.

First setup of the morning, TSLA triggered immediately and I missed it. It could have been gorgeous, but as I well know it could also burn! Definitely don't chase. 

First trade CCIV didn't work well. Was right to stop, bc it went much farther against, before it came around. I didn't get emotionally invested in it, which allowed me to take it again when it set up again.

COIN was also one to wait for. Spread was massive, so I took ~10% to make sure I got out green.

After I declared my day done, AMC caught my eye. It may still run, but I held back and passed. That's not my setup, not my money. As I continue to watch it, it would have been psychologically tough, and then a loser. Phew!

LESSON: That's the kind of thing that might make me tilt. I had a solid up day. Called it quits. But if I would have indulged the impulse to trade AMC, and lost, then I would feel like I need to "get it back", and then I'd probably make the cascade of bad decisions that eats me alive.

Seems like approximately 3-5 trades before ~10am is my sweet spot?

In addition to my solid up day, I am also acknowledging the wisdom of the trades I didn't take.

9:53, +11%

 Another hit and run day! Building back psychological capital. 

Trading hygiene: bc camp carpool, I've been rolling up pretty much at 9:30. Prone to sloppy trading when I don't do good prep. Suffered some of that today. ROKU, def nms and I know "roku eats its young" (trades with lots of false signals/setups). But I stabbed into it anyway. At least, small size doesn't hurt as much.

Today, I traded with a small proportion of my account (+11% is on the small allocation). After first trade I was up about 5%. Next 2 trades losers almost back to scratch. Another shot at COIN made the money. There's probably more downside there, but ... tight stop is the right stop. I made my piece, and PEACE!!

Tilt trigger avoidance. After the 2 losers gave back my day, there was a huge temptation to bring new money into the account. NO!! I have to build back my self discipline. In a rational time, I allocated myself that certain amount. And if I'm not doing well with that amount, there is NO good reason to bring in new money to keep chasing a bad trading day, whether it is my own bad trading or just a day that is not conducive to my style.

I've been trying to remind myself to squeeze my stops in close. Zigs, no zags. Get my piece, and peace.

BAM! +12% day

 Ba BAM!! This is me rebuilding my psychological capital. 

After some rough recent trading, my goals of the day today:
- ONLY my best setup = volume gap above/below base
- Book fast profits and walk away!

Gorgeous 2 trades (plus one mechanical mistake, which I handled well), for +12% on greatly reduced account size, and I didn't even use all my capital at that!

I was picky, I waited. I hit and run. Finished at 9:58, and done! PEACE!!