how nms can wreck my account

 Just relate to the colors.

First column is winning vs losing trade result.
Second column: red is NMS; gray is lotto; blue/purple is kinds of gaps beyond levels. 
Two different sorts. This is August data. 100 perfect trades (not shown) is also a bit of a mess, but it has much less nms.

It should be no surprise that I have a great record when I stick to my system. 

Here's some more interesting views. 

My win/loss excluding nms is 67%.

My win/loss excluding nms and excluding lottos is even better. However, I did not analyze the $ gain/loss on lottos. If I have outrageous net $ gains, that might be a reason to keep playing lottos. But somehow I doubt it.

My win/loss on nms should be the true reason to stay away. 81% losers. 

absolute market wreckage

As of 3:50pm, market is getting slaughtered. Down ~3.5%

The market looked good for starters. I tried LI long (seems silly now!) above the long term downtrend line. Max loss on the calls on opening pennant breakdown and ndl 9:43. Still had last bit fing put position (stubborn!) from yesterday's NVDA puts, and that actually made the LI loss back. Coulda'shoulda had so much more on NVDA, but I should just be grateful I got anything out of that piece of junk

I hate how I traded this week, esp NVDA and LI past 2 days. Need to go slow next week and regain sanity. F'ing miserable.

fades!

Two strong gaps up, both faded. NVDA gap down, just to the edge of shorting territory. That's the one genius shorts and it goes full bull, while the ups fade down.
So, today I'm back below the milestone number 🔨

Finally! the milestone

Finally! I crossed the milestone account number. Maybe now I can stop trading like an ass.

Premkt notes: Literal flat open. Wait for entries. Take it off when I get the move.

I took 2 "perfect setups" (for my scorecard). Both struggled at first. Need to study how I could have entered better. What I am trying to do -- in addition to the usual waiting for pb, watching levels, watching level 2 -- is say to myself, for a short, "are the buyers done? are the buyers done?" and opposite for longs.

The lesson I'm well aware of, is if I'm in a "perfect setup" then I have a MUCH better chance of it playing out my way. This is the whole point, after all, of being the house. Being on the high probability side of the trade.

First I got into ENVX. It looks like a real juicy runner, but I still need to trade smart. Waited (are the sellers done? are the sellers done?). Got long on the negation of the opening selling bar. Held through the first pause ~23 bc no pltgt (hoping for 30% these days, but not to go back below 20%...) or Target on the underlying. in the next bump 9:49, the volume also grew. It didn't hold on well so I had to dump it. It continued after that a bit without me, but then pulled back below my levels and couldn't get going again. I like how I traded it. 

If ENVX would have continued, would I be regretful? I need to be able to say no because I got my piece. I can't press if I'm going to give it all back. I can press for more, but I need to also capture more.

SBLK was more of a mess. I wanted it short. Are the buyers done, are the buyers done? I jumped in on a micropause, thinking it would absolutely dump, but then it bounced back hard. My ultimate stop was approaching quickly, but thankfully it topped out at premkt level (that I was stopping beyond). Then it rolled back down agonizingly slow. When it got back to day low, and within a smidge of my entry, I put in a stop/limit and got out of dodge.

Later: 
I don't wish I stayed in. I do wish I reentered. I don't wish I stayed at my desk all day. Peace.

100 perfect trades

 I started in earnest this week, my campaign for 100 perfect trades. Meaning, only trading my very best setups. Win or lose is not the matter, though rule following is. 
Progress this week:
DIS - proper setup✅. Disappointing management.
MRO - proper setup✅. Disappointing management.
CRWD - improper setup. And not the best management.

erroneous decision making

Market volatile but inside. Don't expect followthrough. 

So, I got a lovely MRO trade. A true, clear, and obvious breakout above long term levels. Yanked it way too soon on cowardice. 

And then... for whatever f-reason... I jumped into CRWD in anticipation of a big move. 

Don't anticipate on inside days! Don't expect followthrough on inside days. I had no business being in CRWD. What was I thinking? I was thinking, this 1 min move looks strong, above opening 1m downtrend. I should grab it. I neglected to zoom out to the daily and realize there was so much overhead junk. It was a reversal gap but not any kind of breakout or new levels.

In summary, I jumped off the rocket and then reached for a rocking chair. It's a double loss... the money I should have made on MRO and the money I wasted on CRWD. ugh.

So I gave back half my day. ugh. And like the 4th day in a row that I touch over that major round number and then let it slip away.

Bad entry reduces gains

Here is another case of me jumping in too early and reducing my potential for gains. 

If I would have entered at 9:49 or 9:50, I may have gotten approximately the same entry price, but without the heart attack, though it did do another spike there at 9:55. 

Another thought about this setup: While I do think it's a valid gap below ST level, It is also the 4th consecutive down day and maybe it was not optimal in that way.

As this got back green for me, it also lost some momentum and I found it very hard to hold. I messed around with targets and trendlines, yanked stops, yanked limits. While it traded mostly flat from 10:30 until I gave up at about 11. UGH!! I just didn't want to go red again, so here I am with pretty small gains. But green. And I've released the stress of it.

Aside, a LESSON. I am pushing sooo close to a milestone account number. I think I may be trading extra-aggressively to try to ring the bell. But consider: extra aggressively should include waiting for great entries!

Update, after close.... If I would have held on for the consolidation, the next leg did come. Pltgt, Price Target, etc, etc. ... Would have been a tough hour and a half or more. That's a case (especially on a Monday) to set bracket order and walk away.