I had exactly the same thinking as yours and also a very similar losing trade. Though I really should have been out before any major news/events. Are you back to day trading now? Luc
luckyhonda, The only trades I've done so far are: 07 July Sold 2 ZB's for position trade at 107 00. 14 July Exited above and daytraded my loss back. 19 July Bided my time for a special price and a special signal to day trade. As I've written, the setup was correct, it is simply that I waited too long and then the fateful hour came, followed by the mother of all upward spikes. I'm still taking a break from daytrading, however I will take trades as I see them per my 19 July trade. I still have a long term downward bias on the bonds, however, as seen yesterday, one must put aside one's ego when the market makes its decision. "V" days hold special significance for me. There is a lot to learn from them. To be honest the essence of trading, the psychology of trading and whether a person can trade can be determined by how a person handles a "V" day. Every aspect of trading is addressed during a "V" day. I'm in the process of writing an article on "V" days. It'll take some time. Note to paper traders, you can't paper trade a "V" day. A paper trader will say they rode the left side down, bought at the bottom, and rode the right side up all the way to the top. A real trader trading real money will say that they got the first half right, lost a couple of trades on the right half and called it a day. Better yet, a trader who has learned how to handle such a day will decide to reverse and buy right at the point where their mind is screaming this is the top, sell even more. I would say that this buy point where your mind is screaming sell, occured right around 106 25 to 106 31. I have yet to correctly trade a "V" day this year.
Bernard, Sorry for the delay in a reply. I set aside the article and all trading to concentrate on studying some neural network trading strategies I was working on. Both are cyclical in nature and look promising. My goal is to get away from 100% discretionary trading and work towards a system. I started day trading again, roughly the middle of August with solid consistent success. Last night I decided to hold a single contract short from my multiple contract short at roughly 110 00. I got out of every contract save one with a very decent profit during the break to 109 23 and slightly below. I then went to bed thinking 109 19 was a done deal and that we had placed a long term monthly high in at 110 and change. I went to bed making one of the dumbest mistakes I've made in the last 2 years. No stop. Not even a breakeven stop. Granted 1 contract is a fraction of what I'm normally day-trading these days but still, it's a mistake that should never have been made given my level of experience as well as the fact that I've mentioned it several times in this day trading journal. I guess part of the reason is that I've been getting maybe 5 hours of sleep a night these days. My night is Chicago morning. The other part might be the bottle of Bitburger I drank in celebration of my trade.
Look for an important time around 0755 CST. Too soon to tell. Personally I would be looking to short soon. Waiting a bit for a consolidation as the market bounces back from its lows. More to come... It is 0738 CST by the way....
Sold 2 ZB 111 04 may be too soon ... watching with stop at high, i.e. 111 08 or 09. Looking to add major size....maybe up to 10 contracts short.