20121227
Long 2 YM 13055, +7, -0
Long 1 TF 836.6, -0.3
Long 2 NQ 2626.0, 2626.0, +2.0, -1.5
Long 1 TF 835.1, -0.7
Long 1 TF 833.5, -0.4
Long 1 ES 1404.25, +3.0
Long 2 TF 831.5, 831.8, +0.7, +0.5
Long 1 TF 829.9, +1.2
Total ES +3.0
Total YM +7
Total NQ +0.5
Total TF +1.0
Trading with a bad cold is not advised. You'd think sitting in front of the video screen would not be a problem. But it's amazing how sharp your focus has to be in order to do a good job trading... even when you're trading with a plan. However, I must confess that the trade I missed today that would have captured the initial collapsing trend shortly after the opening was a trade I've missed on other days when I had no excuse whatsoever. The circumstances are worthy of note, because they remind us to trade the contracts separately as the signals occur, and be wary of ducking signals because a countering signal in another contract opposite to the prevailing trend may yet be not far off. As price rolled down today, the NQ hit an inflection point just after making a new LOD. I went long that trade with 2 units and exited one at +2 in order to pay for the trade, as my plan specifies. But at this juncture, the trade setup called for stop-and-reverse to short, should the low I was trading from fail. It did, and dramatically price was sent collapsing across the board in every contract, even though the new lows in the TF from this collapse offered a potential buy signal. By the time the TF quit falling, the NQ short position would have been fully paid for with the 2nd unit well on its way to some very nice profits. So what if the TF was working into buy territory, the NQ signal stood on its own. ....but I didn't take it, and was thus left out of that collapse as it quickly reached its first oversold level. Trade the plan, and take the signals where you see them, in any contract that is part of that plan. Stay focused and clear headed.
