20121107
Long 1 NQ 2642.50, +5.0
Long 1 NQ 2642.25, -1.25
Long 1 TF 808.9, -0.2
Long 3 TF 808.5, 808.5, 808.3, -0.8, -0.3, -0.4
Long 4 TF 808.0, 807.8, 807.8, 807.6, +0.5, +0.5, -0.3, -0.8
Long 2 TF 806.9, 806.9, -0.7, -0.7
Long 3 TF 806.1, 806.1, 805.8, +0.5, +0.5, -0.5
Long 2 TF 805.3, 805.3, -0.5, -0.5
Long 2 TF 804.8, 804.8, +1.0, +2.0
Long 1 TF 805.4, -0.5
Long 1 TF 801.1, -0.7
Long 1 TF 799.7, -0.0
Long 1 TF 799.5, +1.0
Total NQ +3.75
Total TF -0.9
Trading the contracts separately as their separate and sometimes conflicting signals appear simultaneously can be challenging. Even allowing this into one's trade plan would be prohibitively complicated for many traders. But I have found it essential to have these other doors open should the exacting criteria for a model trade entry not appear in the favored contract, the mini Russell, symbol TF. This is especially true if one is to successfully position in the initial trend direction of the day. The NQ was flashing a breakout buy signal off the initial LOD and produced a nice 5 pt profit in the process. But the TF sell signal which I had already called was completing just at the moment I needed to exit the NQ at initial exhaustion levels. Mentally, I wasn't ready to reach over and short the TF just as I was feeling the joy of the NQ profitable exit. Exaltation can be just as dangerous an emotion to your trading as trepidation. The effects are the same. It distracts you from your intended game plan that must be executed often with precision in order to capture your entries correctly. In this case, having missed an important short opportunity, another did not appear til almost 45 minutes later when prices were already very oversold, and momentum indicators were filtering out further shorts. Stay focused. Those first few minutes can be critical to your day.
