20130424
Long 2 TF 925.2, 925.3, +1.5, +0.5
Long 2 NQ 2830.25, 2830.75, +2.0, -1.0
Long 1 NQ 2829.0, -1.0
Long 2 NQ 2829.5, 2829.5, +2.0, -1.0
Long 1 TF 929.3, -0.5
Long 1 TF 926.6, +1.2
Long 1 TF 926.6, -0.0
Long 1 TF 926.9, -0.5
Long 2 TF 926.1, 926.1, -0.5, -0.5
Long 2 YM 14628, 14628, +7, +12
Short 1 TF 928.0, -0.5
Short 2 TF 929.0, 929.0, -0.2, +1.2
Long 2 TF 925.7, 925.5, +0.5, +1.0
Long 1 TF 925.5, +1.1
Total YM +19
Total NQ +1.0
Total TF +2.9
The second trend of the day tends to be more impulsive than the first. It also tends to be the truer trend. Today's two-sided trading tends to defy that a bit, with a 3rd trend coming to the rescue of the 1st. But just taking that concept of the 2nd trend for consideration of breakouts still can be more fruitful than buying breakouts to the 1st trend. ...at least on the majority of days. Today was no exception to that. And after getting sucked into a TF bull breakout that stopped me out quickly at the early highs, I got mentally blocked about using bear inflection breakdowns to capitalize on the short opportunities that produced those nice plunging spike lows in the NQ and TF a short while later.
Trading with Serial Sequent signals brings an objective and mechanical way to bring floor traders techniques to the screen. It tells you where to enter the stop-n-reverse plays, assuming you can get past the mental blocks these trades can put up. And nothing reinforces a mental block about a breakout play than freshly coming off just such an entry in the opposite direction that failed, and left you feeling stupid and humiliated for buying a top, or selling a bottom. The problem in trading is not the mistakes that you make taking your trade plan, it's in trading your plan immediately after it causes you a mistake. Stay focused. When a trade is over, put it away mentally. No use still trying to prove yourself right about that trend direction if the signal failed you. And all the more so that a failed signal in one direction should quickly move your rally cap around backwards telling you that the true trend is really in the opposite direction. Have a plan for such things. Use methods that identify such things with trade models, and then trade that plan. There are no perfect days. There is just the plan.
