Friday... why?

Overdid it on a Friday. JD was a proper setup and worked great for terrific gains. 

CRM was not a proper setup. It didn't work and I hacked at it both ways (against logic/rules) for 2 losers and a max loss day, which turned my week from slim green to slim red. If it wasn't 0dte this wouldn't have been so bad, I believe. Why would I take full size here? nms... both ways... I deserved the loss. I can't trade "just anything". I need to stick to my proper setups and not imagine setups.

Next week I'm trading with the brakes on. No goals, just to turn the boat around.

small size saves the day

All small trades this morning. No great setups. Inside open. Should have just *not*.

I tried LI long. A medium setup. It failed. -18% on small size.

I tried WYNN long. That may have been the only +/- valid setup today, got chopped. -6% on small size.

I tried CRWD long. That was not a confirmed setup, had not crossed my level, but I got over-excited when it ran off a bottom. Should never have been in it. -21% starter size

When the market really weakened, I tried TSLA short. Why short the strongest stock on earth? UGH.
Short was right idea, wrong time. When it got me back green for the day I took only a partial instead of all, then gave too much room on a stop. Closed the day with green trade +3%. 

Red day overall. I did right by trading small. Would have been "right-er" to stand back.

Will I trade tomorrow? Maybe. Today brought me down to just below goal green week. Tomorrow will have to be very compelling to trade, even though I'm itching to get back up to at least goal number.

Charts maybe later. 

overconfident again?

 I had an A-MA-ZING trading day today. Made back yesterday's loss and much more. Thrilled from this huge account up day. Maybe I should make a withdrawal from my account, even though I'm not yet to the balance where I thought I might start doing that.

I've been thinking a lot about my trades yesterday. Today's setups were +/- the same. The market was/is inside. Yesterday it didn't work. Today it did. That's not the root of my pondering, though. It's how I psychologically handle losses....

I know I am prone to tilting and I have build a lot of hard and soft rules around myself to try to staunch that, ex: trading in a cash account, trading just the open

I "simply" had 3 losing trades in a row (rule to stop there), but it added up to a surprising loss, and that threw me. Am I always that exposed? Am I usually lucky (skilled?) that it doesn't burn me like that every day? Can I really handle the size I trade with? Why didn't I use tighter stops...

On the other hand, in one really good day/today, I made it back and much more. 

So, is yesterday just what I should consider a "normal max loss" day? I don't think I've had a normal max loss day for a while. Usually a max loss day is because I'm trading foolishly. New trading pod is helping me stay on my toes.

I think I just need to keep trading small for a while. Stay sane. Trade like clockwork!

The inevitable red day

"Still inside. be skeptical" is what I should have told myself premkt. I had 3 losing trades this morning and that's a wrap. I keep looking at it and I think the picks are good setups for me. I think I traded them ok (mostly). They just didn't work. Really really didn't work. And I gave too much room for stops, too much wishful thinking given market condition. 

Still pondering my technique. Maybe when under yellow light "still inside. be skeptical" conditions, I should go for 10-15% pl tgt instead of 15-20%. Definitely I should wait for best entries instead of aggressive entries. Probably use tighter stop tolerances instead of letting these go to "worst scenario". Consider smaller size! 

Yesterday afternoon I was thinking... "This is how I feel when I've become overconfident. I usually have a big losing day when I feel like this." And so it goes....

Despite inside market open, I went into my normal setups and (of course...) nothing worked. By 10:10, 3 losing trades and I'm done. UGH!!

Tomorrow is another day. At least I'm not overconfident anymore? 🤷

restraint

I had a great first trade this morning on TSN. Then I had a little bit of a trade on BILI, but much smaller and very low tolerance for it to go against me (also bc I got in a bit late). I feel excellent about both trades. 

By 9:40 I was done with those. Looked at my other picks and didn't like anything much. Passed on another BILI trade. Maybe(?) if I had entered BILI one bar earlier, would I have held for the vwap test/s and the next push down? Really not sure I would have played that right, even though obv in retrospect.

I was still "hyped up" at that point and have a LOT of capital left to trade with, but decided I should take a breather before new risk. Restraint!

I love how I'm trading lately. I love how my account looks lately. I feel very synced and at peace about the market. How do I bottle this feeling?!

I've found a little trading pod that I like. I'm so happy about that! Some different trading styles, but interesting and compatible for discussions.