July 6, 2023 (5 trades) (-$19.00)

Overall Grade: D+

Day Summary: Man just really bad trading by me today.  I've been waiting for a strong selling pressure day and wanted to get aggressive short and what did I do today? I watched and then started going long once the selling slowed. How many times do I need to do that to realize I always lose money when I trade like that on days like this was. The only thing I did decent today was manage risk. That's it.

 

DAILY - SPY

5 MIN - EOD

 

                                                TRADES

Trade 1 - Long 1 Call at "Intraday Support" (no setup) (Trend Reversal)

Grade: D

  • fighting the trend - why go long on a day like this (I know this)
  • Buying at support but not on a day like this
  • Look at 5min and 15min - why go long !!
  • Cut this trade very quickly because I knew it was dumb and I could have actually scalped this for profit but it felt smarter to just get out for a tiny loss
  • risk management was the only good thing about this trade

FIX:  AVOID THIS TRADE

 

Trade 2 - Long 1 Put (no setup) (trend continuation)

Grade: D+

  • no set up but at least following the trend
  • exited when I saw no selling at previous low
  • Essentially shorting at LOD - Puts at resistance

FIX: Don't trade no setup

 

Trades 3 and 4 (no setups)

Grade: D

  • Fighting the trend on both of these trades
  • Trades 3 and 4 were just dumb - stabbing at longs on a downtrending day
  • I would have actually been green on both of these trades (Trade 3 if i held at my exit and Trade 4 if I scalped the profits right away)
  • Either way just no reason to be buying calls down here - if i want to buy calls I need to see proven strength aka the uptrend once we finally bottomed (5MIN - EOD)

FIX: Don't Trade No Setups. Don't Fight The Trend. Don't Trade Single-Factor Trades

 

Trade 5 - Long 1 Call (no setup)

Grade: C-

  • Again trading no set up
  • This was the LOD but I tried 4 times to get this before it worked
  • Now i wish i had just held this 1 contract and I probably would have if this was my first trade but nope, trading from the red

FIX: Don't Trade No Setup. Don't Fight The Trend.

 

TAKEAWAYS: I know i struggle on days like this and it's always for the same reason. Fighting the trend and trying to pick a bottom instead of just going with the trend. These days will chop longs to death and if you don't manage risk well, you can take big losses. I either need to not trade at all on days when I see us trending like this, or get aggressive and go with the trend.