20130423
Short 2 ES 1568.75, 1568.5, -1.25, -1.5
Short 2 NQ 2828.25, 2828.75, -0.5, +2.0
Short 2 YM 14632, 14635, +7, +10
Short 2 YM 14637, 14636, -4, -5
Long 2 YM 14642, 14642, -4, -4
Short 2 NQ 2832.5, 2832.5, +2.0, -0.5
Short 1 NQ 2832.5, +2.0
Long 2 NQ 2833.5, 2832.5, -2.0, -1.0
Short ES 1572.5, -0.75
Short 2 TF 924.9, 924.8, +1.2, +0.4
Total ES -3.5
Total NQ +2.5
Total YM -0
Total TF +1.6
Some days seems would have been better spent fishing... but it can't be great every day, can it. Was reminded of one thing today. It's much easier taking breakouts when the chances of success are actually worse. Why is that...? Mostly, I believe, because things a much calmer, and this sense of tranquility draws you in. On days when the action really pops, and you have to be on your toes to react quickly at the stp-n-rev junctures, you can have a tendency to freeze up, at least if you're breakout shy, as I am in my trading. I took several breakouts today. One in the NQ and one in the YM. The YM breakout was clearly outside my plan. I don't use it for a breakout leadership role, but today, possibly because it just stopped me out from a short at resistance, I flipped and bought the breakout to 'get even', only to see it belly-flop right back down in my face. This is a discouraging aspect of breakout trading. Breakouts can hook you so badly, and nothing feels worse than shorting a bottom or buying a top. All in all, when the action is choppy and the pullbacks shallow, keep the losses small, and if nothing else, let the gains help you tread the water on a day that's not really good for trading.
