November 18, 2022 (8 Trades) (-$242.00)

Overall Grade: D

Day Summary: We actually had some trends today, which theoretically should have been easier to trade, but I slightly imploded, similar to last Friday. However, the stats are a bit skewed because I used 5 contracts on my last 5 trades, taking 4 losers and 1 breakeven trade with the bigger size. I didn't even get to experience a winner with bigger size so I am not really discouraged about the P/L today.  I just need to come back disciplined next week and trade the trades I know I have an edge on. I should not be sizing back down from here. I felt surprisingly composed during my morning trades with 5 contracts, but I should not have come back and take two more trades in the afternoon, neither of which were A trades. I already know that I very rarely make any money when I come back to trade in the afternoon, especially on a Friday.

1YR:1D - SPY

1D:5M - 1D:1M - SPY

                                        Trades

Trade 1 - Long 3 Call Contracts - Going for Trendbreak at Fake Breakdown

Grade: C-

  • This trade was not neccesary really, even though I initially got the bounce I was looking for, I only took off 1 contract and sold the other 2 back at my entry, even though that was the trendline retest, looking back
  • Really I should have sold all 3 and scalped this trade because I really didn't have a target in mind. I was more or less just looking for a bounce
  • I also should have known this would give a retest of the trend line as thats one of the trades I typically look for

FIX: Don't take this trade, especially on the first break of the trend, as this one is usually a fake

 

Trade 2 - Long 3 Call Contracts on Pullback after Double Bottom with Strong Buy Volume

Grade: B-

  • Not really a great trade here, but I had a scalp in mind here and I stuck to that plan. I think this was only a 12 second trade, and took off all the contracts on the same candle I entered on
  • Big buy volume off the double bottom gave me more confidence in this trade, especially since it reclaimed the trendline it had just failed
  • This trade worked but, again wasn't really a high probability set up
  • If I really thought this was a good quality trade I wouldn't have sold so quick and would have targeted the above demand zone or VWAP

FIX: Again no need to take this trade

 

Trade 3 - Long 3 Puts - No real Set up

Grade: F

  • No reason to take this trade - No Set Up
  • Guess trade
  • Gave away daily profits on this trade for no reason other than FOMO
  • This was the bigging of the end of me being disciplined today

FIX: Only trade when you have a set up

 

Trade 4 - Long 5 Put Contracts (First Entry 3 Contracts, Added 2 on Second Entry) - Chasing Sell off from Demand Zone

Grade: D+

  • After getting FOMO from Trade 3 and loosing my daily profits, I started to go degen mode with a short bias and I chased a sell off from the demand zone
  • At this point I was so biased for a bearish move off of supply, I chased a short entry right into the uptrend, and when it bounced, I added into this trade
  • Should not have chased or added into this trade as it had not yet even broken its uptrend
  • I also should have just covered this at the previous high at the demand zone since I stopped out so close to there anyways, and this trade would have ended up working
  • FOMO is a bitch

FIX: Don't FOMO and don't add into losers without a solid plan

 

Trade 5 - Long 5 Put Contracts at Trendbreak Retest

Grade: B+

  • This was the short I should have waited for, even though this did not end up working out either
  • I took this trade looking for it to roll over short and sell off quick to PDC, but of course it flipped in my face and did it 10mins later
  • I was able to get off 2 contracts into the initial move but wanted to hold the remaining 3 to PDC, and once it bounced strong I flattened them at breakeven which was a mistakle. I should have had a defined stop above the high at the demand zone but the strong bounce recovery spooked me out of this trade. I was trading emmotional at this point, not logically
  • This was however, a good R/R though as I was targeting PDC. This could have been a substantial winner and I was really only a few minuted away from catching it

FIX: Stick with this trade and try again if it continues looking weak because the overall thesis was still not broken. Hard to do trading from the red though

 

Trade 6 - Long 5 Contracts at first pop during sell off, targeting below trendline

Grade: C-

  • Purely emotional trading at this point. This trade actually would have worked but I cut it immediately because I was trading without a plan
  • Guess trading will always cause you to make bad decisions on holding/selling
  • Looking back at the 5Min chart, I should have allowed it to reject this zone if I was going to take it, as this was the previous support level
  • Overall, this trade should not have been taken

FIX: Don't FOMO trade. Wait for a set up that I'm comfortable with

 

Trade 7 - Long 5 Call Contracts going for Trend Reversal. Trendline retest

Grade: D+

  • First and foremost, I should not have taken this trade because it was after I had "closed up shop" for the day. Whenenver I trade afternoons, i almost always loose money
  • I can see what I was going for here, and i stopped out just before the low unfortunately, but in general I should not be coming back for more in the afternoon, especially when I'm red
  • I should have waited for the actual break of the low to stop oout, but with the slippage of options, its sometimes hard to get yourself to do that, so you try to hop out right before the break and this time that came back to bite me
  • I should have looked to enter at PDC here and I would probably have had a pretty nice green trade

FIX: Do Not Trade the Afternoon, Be patient for a good entry

 

Trade 8 - Long 5 Put Contracts at PDC after big Fake Breakout

Grade: D-

  • This was my most FOMO trade of the day, and I rightfully took another lsoer here. This was full degen mode here
  • Chased with big size, not a good idea if I want to sustain scaling up
  • Again this trade could have worked had I been more patient and traded this with a plan, but it was starting to get choppy big volume. Really just should not have exposed myself to the market at all here
  • Adding more red to my P/L in the afternoon is really just so dumb, but fully deserved

FIX: Don't submit to FOMO, Do Not Trade the Afternoon. Always Trade with a Plan.

 

Takeaways: Really a shit performce today.  No mental control, allowing myself to succumb to FOMO, something that usually is not that common for me.  I also need to get better at trading trend continuations, because trend reversal can be so hard. Overall though, I would say I escaped today, because the damage is not that significant for using 5 contracts, as I had a bigger red day last Friday with 3 contracts, but the Pay to Play fees today killed me. $40 in fees today. That used to be one of my average green days, and that comes with the terriotry as 5 contracts will be much bigger P/L swings, but it still should be an incentive to trade less.  Also, without mental contol, I need to be very careful sizing. I know I can do it, but sizing without mental control of when I'm trading is a recipe for disaster. I am not going to size down though, just try to be more selective next week.

Easy Money: IDK, playing the demand zone maybe. Staying away from chop zones. I need to focus more on intraday supply and demand zones