A very tiring first day of manual day trading
I somehow just jumped into my first day of mini Dow day trading today. It started pretty bad as my emotion and lack of a definitive strategy resulted in a couple of big losses and excessive trading early in the day (see chart below). One thing I’ve done well that saved me from a probably whipout was cutting my losses short. I was on the wrong side a couple of times before the spikes, but I was able to hit the “close all” button despite seeing some big paper losses already. Those decisions turned out well as I would have been down even more if I wasn’t decisive.
As the day went on, I was more comfortable and my trades became more and more successful. I nearly brokeeven but a few “out-of-strategy” trade (bad!) put me back deep into the red again. A few key concepts that I need to remind myself again and again are as follows:
- PATIENCE!
- Wait for the right signals for HIGH probability trades. It’s ok to miss some moves!
- Cut losses short and take profit SLOWLY. Stick with strategy on both entries and exits.
- Don’t over-trade!
Here’s the final screen I used for day trading today. I went through a few versions as the day went by already. This particular screen and strategy seems to perform well.
On a positive note, the strategy I developed from today’s experience using trial and error is invaluable. I think this can be programmed into a mechanical system. More on this later after I’ve done my trade analysis.
For now, I need some rest!
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