Well, with all the talk about Trade Journals and Logs I figured I would start posting one here. I have always kept a journal of my trades to note why I took them and why I didn't ... as well as to note how and why I managed the trade once I had something on. Not only does it force me to write things down, but it also allows me to look it over at the end of the day and note things I should be looking at (long term) to perhaps make my trading plan more efficient.

Since I keep a log anyways, and since I apparently have no shame, I thought posting it publicly might help a few folks. Of course, constructive criticism is welcomed and hoped for. If I am doing things less efficiently than I should be, I want to be able to correct these deficiencies as quickly as possible.

To keep things simple and to obfuscate the purposes of this journal as little as possible, I won't be posting position size, etc. However, to give some insight, I will discuss entries in terms of 'Units'. The default entry is '2 Units' as this affords me the ability to go half size as well as double/triple/etc size.

That said, on to Day-1 ... ;)

Day-1 : Wednesday -- June 21st, 2006 ...

Heading: Trend Days ... Pfooey! ... What about those Triple TPO's?

Pre-Market Thoughts:
(1) Triple TPO's! Woohoo! Overnight Lows also at 1249.00. Surely, we'll go investigate that before moving too far away ... one tick ... at least ...
(2) We are coming down from Overnight Highs of 1255, so keep an eye on the VAL for a stab to the long side ... nothing says they have to check out those triple TPO's at the open.
(3) We're probably going to open in Value ... Must factor in range overlays ... and no 1m OR.

..... Market Open .....

Comment : Phooey! They Missed my VAL entry by a tick!

Trade-1 : PP Short
Thoughts : Let's go get those Triple TPO's!
Entry : 1253.50 w/ 2U
MACG : 1254.50 w/ 2U
Max Run : Zilcho ...
Exit(s) : Stopped out all 4U @ -2.50

Comment : Uhm ... ouch! ... I guess I should have waited for VAH, but I figured we'd go take a peak down there sooner than later ... Had I waited for VAH, I may not have filled there at all and missed the trade altogether ... Oh well ... Next ...

Trade-2 : VAH Short
Thoughts : Let's go get those Triple TPO's! Again ...
Entry : 1255.25 w/ 2U
MACG : NONE
Max Run : 1.25
Exit(s) : Got +1's and then took BE on the balance.

Comment : Do I go into 'protection mode' too early? I need to keep evaluating this ... Maybe I should move to BE after 1.50 or 2.00 in my favor instead of after 1.00? Tight protection does save me in Trend Days ... but might cost me overall. It definitely saved me on this trade or I'd have gotten stopped out on pretty much a full load with a MACG load on top of it had I held. Did I miss something? Did someone peak under those Triple/Quad TPO's and not tell my charting package? Cause no one seems to care about them ... Market just popping ... Oh well ... Next ...

Comment : What's Next ... Let's see ... Market is popping, ADD is 1200+ ... Maybe I should look into a 2.5ppb ... I don't normally take these trades because they work best on Trend Days, and those are rare. We're getting a huge IB, it hasn't closed yet, but we're close. Maybe I'll use ADD as a Filter. I won't take this trade, but I'm going to begin keeping track to see how well PPB's work when ADD is 1200+. I'll try to get in +/- 2.00 from the High/low which affords me about a 1.00 to 1.50 stop. Sooo ... what can I do ... what can I do ... I'll shoot for a short at PDH.

Comment : PPB Working ... MUST KEEP TRACK OF SINGLES BETTER ... Singles at 1261.25 and I was too late! It's a front-run of my PDH Trade. Really really really need make better notes of singles pre-market ... even if I dont trade them, I need to be aware if they line up with something else.

Comment : PPB Worked for about 4.50 before coming back to BE+1 and taking me out (paper) ... Singles are what brought this back in my direction ... the Singles went as much as 4.00 in their favor.

Trade-3 : PDH Short
Thoughts : Let's go get those Triple TPO's! ... Please ? ....
Entry : 1262.50 w/ 2U
MACG : NONE
Max Run : 0.50
Exit(s) : Scratched these -0.50

Comment : Uhm ... Hello? ... Singles FILLED ... HOD the day they were created was the 1267 area. Why did I take this? Maybe if it was 3-4 handles away from a single fill ... but not 3-4 ticks ... I suppose we could have had an 'odd' scenario where we filled in the singles and they still reversed; but, (1) we already moved down about 4.00 points ... this was technically a 'second time up' scenario and (2) More often than not, when singles fill, we run in that direction. Although PDH is a pretty sound trade in general, this was a bad decision as the odds were against me for two reasons: (1) Singles Filled just before the Entry (indicating a run towards 1267) and (2) We already pulled back over 4.00 handles -- this was second time up to this area ... I had the wrong teammates! Duh! This is where my 'Fear of Missing a Trade' clouds my better judgement. I need to realize that even if I miss a trade, there will be better trades down the line. These 'iffy' trades work well sometimes, but more often than not, they fail. Stay away from these 'iffy' things and stick with the odds. PDH is still an awesome trade type and should be taken at every opportunity. Oh well ... Next ...

Comment : Okay ... What's Next? We have a large IB ... I'm going to scope out the 50%IB and see if I can't get something there ... we still have these triple TPo's from yesterday down there.

Trade-4 : 50%IB Short
Thoughts : Let's go get those Triple TPO's! ... Pretty Please ? ... With Sugar On Top ... ?
Entry : 1266.00
MACG : 1267.00
Max Run : 2.00
Exit(s) : Scratched 1266.00's; Got 1.00's and 2.00's and then scratched BE on the Balance.

Comment : We couldn't pull back more than 2.50, so chances are we'd make new highs so I bailed on the trade once it came back to my entry. Protection Mode Issues again? In Hindsight, this would have worked to hold (we got as low as 1261.00 for a gain of +6.00 off the MACG). We also went up to 1268.25 and traded over 1000 lots ... that's only a tick out of the wiggle room for 50%IB, but heavy volume ... would I have held it up there? Not sure. I guess I could have leaned on the wiggle room for the weekly IB which was just above the 50% IB (1269.00) and re-MACG'd at 1268.00 since I had already scratched my 1266.00's and only had 1267.00's on. That would have meant my max stop was back to 2.00 so I would not have necessarily been risking anymore. Just not sure how to handle these ... The same logic that would have kept me in this would have also kept me in for a MACG Stop on the VAH trade earlier in the day as well as a Stop out on what I couldn't lay off of the original entry (most of the 2U). Sure, this trade would have paid better, but the VAH trade would have cost me money instead of allowing me to bail unscathed. Considering I would have stopped out on almost 4U (Balance of Inital Entry + MACG) on the VAH trade but only had the 2U's of MACG left on this trade, even if was from 1268.00, this might not have added up at the end of the day anyways. I'll need to run the math ... but these are just two trades anyways ... I need to figure out how to handle Protection Mode going forward ... I know it sucks to stop out and then see your trade run, but sometimes that is going to happen. If I make a correction to stay in one trade, I might end up taking 5 times as many losers -- definitely not the right path if I'm going to make a long run out of this. What would Brian Boitano Do?

Comment : Running the numbers, the stop on VAH would have cost me roughly 2U @ -2.25 and 2U @ -1.25 for a total loss of -3.50 point/c (2U @ avg -1.75 * 2 for 4U = -3.50). Holding the 50%IB Trade would have paid me, but the AVG profit based on my scales for the 2U would have been approximately 3.00 points/c. At the end of the day, I would have had a small loser on my hands rather than the small winner I had by protecting profits (based on these two trades). Again though, this was only one day.

Comment : I'm done for the day ... I was trying to short the 2xIB but we never got there.

Daily Order Pull / CXL Time: 3:18pm EDT.

Trade Ratio: -29.000

Great recount of the day's trading brokebackbernie! In your last posting you typed as much as JP types on the keyboard in an entire year. I can relate to your thought process that you were going through and I am guessing that 90% of the room think in the same way.

quote:

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Originally posted by day trading

Great recount of the day's trading brokebackbernie! In your last posting you typed as much as JP types on the keyboard in an entire year. I can relate to your thought process that you were going through and I am guessing that 90% of the room think in the same way.

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:lol: Yah ... I think we all know how much JP likes to type. ;)

I don't mind it ... and since my journal/log is electronic to begin with, it's not too difficult to import here (though I do add some additional comments and clean up my shorthand some). Besides, I re-read the journal anyways and this gives me a good opportunity to replay the day more than once to help with retention, etc.

I'm sure I could make stuff up and say I took this winner or skipped that loser because of this or that and that I had a huge day every day ... but that doesn't help anyone ...

imo, by writing down what I'm really thinking and what I'm really doing it may [hopefully] create some discussions that either reinforce what I'm doing to be correct or show me what I'm doing wrong so I can correct it.

I can trade the day on paper and say I would have done this or I would have done that -- sure, after the close, it's easy -- and list profits like you would not believe. But give me an entry platform and stick me right at the edge of the fire and it's a different game ... I have to think, and think fast, and react. This is where I struggle.

In fact, JP says that many people have issues pulling the trigger -- my problem is just the opposite ... I take every single level I see and pull the trigger. I'm Trigger Happy! Now I need to learn how to stay off the ones JP stays off of and still be consistent.

Like you, I believe that what I'm facing isn't unique to me ... hopefully this will help a lot of people, myself included.

I look forward to thoughts and critique ... maybe someone can help open my eyes. ;)

Day-2 : Thursday -- June 22nd, 2006 ...

Heading: Silly Market, Tricks are for Kids ...

Pre-Market Thoughts:
(1) Overnight High was 1266.75, Overnight Low was 1259.50
(2) Keep an eye on VAL for a stab to the long side. My VAL is showing as 1259.50, but I'll use JP's of 1259.00.
(3) We're probably going to open in Value ... Must factor in range overlays ... and no 1m OR.
(4) News at 10am ... might want to either be flat or have a nice fat cushion ...
(5) Will be doing playbacks to trade my journal today ... appointment at 10:30am ... Yucko.

..... Market Open .....

Comment : Here we go ... I'll take a stab on the VAL if we can get it to trigger right away ... I don't need to leave until 10:00am, and can probably stretch it until 10:15am.

Trade-1 : VAL Long
Thoughts : Quick Trade if it works, can't spend a lot of time on it. Reports, et all soon anyways.
Entry : 1259.00 w/ 2U
MACG : NONE
Max Run : 2.00
Exit(s) : Got +1.00 and +2.00 and took BE on the Balance.

Comment : Another Protection Mode Exit ... Looks like it saved me again here too ... Not only could we not get beyond the 2.5#, but we also couldn't get much above the opening range ... One of these is going to run on me and I'm going to be upset for having missed it. As of yesterday, it was a small margin in my favor to protect, but the holding wouldn't have cost me too much (I love hindsight). Need to keep an eye on this ... Oh well ... Off to my appointment ... Next Trades Will be Made after Market on Paper only ... Thinking about taking a long off of the PP if we get there ... VAL short might work out too, but I'd want to pull away from it first and come back to it ...

Comment : Okay, back from my appointment and errands ... Yay! Time to work on my journal ... playing back the day now. I understand that JP took a 2.5ppb Trade Today at some point, but I don't know what the ADD was at the time so I will not be including it in the Matrix (unless someone can forward me ADD info to confirm). From what I saw though, this would have simply stopped out -1.25 or 1.50, even with an ADD in the negatives 1200- range.

Trade-2 : VAL Short
Thoughts : Pulled away from VAL, heading back up ... Market doesn't appear to like higher prices today.
Entry : 1259.00 w/ 2U
MACG : NONE
Max Run : 2.00
Exit(s) : Got +1.00 and +2.00 and then took BE on the Balance.

Comment : Okay ... Protection Mode again ... we couldn't get beyond the 2.5 ppb number ... so I bailed ... and, as I mentioned in my previous notes, one of these was going to run ... looks like this would have gone for as much as +8.00 had I let it run. The High of the run was 1259.50 so only two additional ticks of heat. I think we should be able to take trades in hindsight. I'll be starting a petition, look for it soon. Maybe the solution is to adjust the stop to -1.00? Not changing anything yet, just continuing to keep track. Looks like we have the same deal today were protection mode saved me once and cost me once -- which we've established to pretty much wash out at EOD. Besides, if I stop out at -1.00 where JP is MACG'ing to stay in ... that could cause irreparable harm to my little brain.

Comment : What's Next ... Let's see ... Hitting the 'Play' button again ... Guess I'll take a long off the PP ... we're getting into J and K periods (man I hate to be long K period) ... but a rule is a rule ... This is also a 'middle trade'. JP looks like he's still short that VAL.

Trade-3 : PP Long
Thoughts : Got a Ledge up there at 1259.25 (DEHI) ... Let's go get it!
Entry : 1253.50 w/ 2U
MACG : NONE
Max Run : 1.50
Exit(s) : Got +1.00 and then took BE on the Balance.

Comment : Wow ... this is fun ... scalp scalp scalp goes the trader. Protection Mode pulled me out of this one again. Max drawdown was 2.50 from the entry ... not sure if JP would have stuck this one out but I'd have more than likely bailed, especially since IRT Delta shows something like 1500c traded @ 1251.00. This would have run for as much as 1257.75, so factoring in a MACG after the intial load (assuming a hold), it would have been a 5.25+ run depending on where you took the MACG (assuming -1.00).

Comment : Okay ... What's Next? Dooo be dooo ...

Comment : I'm done for the day ... I need to continue keeping an eye on my Protection Mode. Today, it would have saved me once and cost me once ... but those would have probably washed. The PP Long, not sure what JP would have done, but I can't imagine I've had held on unless I was being stubborn (or another word with the same three first letters) as -2.50 is a pretty deep stop and seeing 1500c trade down at that level ... I don't think I'd have waited for the 1250.75 to print. The only way that it would have worked for me is if I broke the rules, so I would have been rewarded for doing something WRONG and AGAINST my plan ... that's probably the worst thing that can happen to a new trader.

Comment: Just to clear this up, some may thing that if I factor in the likely stop out on the PP, Protection Mode would have actually saved me twice and cost me once. This is not entirely accurate. If I wasn't using my Protection Mode, I would have still been short from VAL and not taken the PP Long, reducing my daily trade count to two with one Protection Mode Saving and one Costing. IOW: Because I used protection mode, I was able to get into the PP long. Had I not been using it, I'd still have been short hoping that silly pivot would break. ;)

Daily Order Pull / CXL Time: Not sure, but probably sometime around 3:00pm.

Trade Ratio: 11.250
Overall Ratio: -17.75

I was AWOL from the markets today but I'm pleased to see that you made money - good job!!

quote:

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Originally posted by day trading

I was AWOL from the markets today but I'm pleased to see that you made money - good job!!

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Thanks! I didn't do great, just a little more than break-even after commissions and stuff. The good news is I didn't take any trades that hurt me, and that's important in my book. Tomorrow is a new day; already working on my pre-market details for Day-3. ;)

Day-3 : Friday -- June 23rd, 2006 ...

Heading: TGIF ... TPO's Get Inspected Finally?

Pre-Market Thoughts:
(1) Overnight High was 1259.25, Overnight Low was 1252.50
(2) VAL Areas between my trading package and JP match today, 1258.75 and 1253.75.
(3) Had an inside day yesterday and we're trading back near the lows. Maybe we get those TPO's @ 1249.00!
(4) News should be all done by market open ... if it's good ... we wont see those TPO's ...
(5) Tricky open today as it looks like we're going to open right near the PP and VAL ... this is tough for me because we're in the 'wiggle room' either way and I'm not sure which way it is going to go. We're coming from 'above' so the best bet appears to be to shoot for a long so that it the initial plan. I'm going to shoot for long off of VAL and the PP ... but I'm worried we check out those triple TPO's first.
(6) Opened in Value, by a tick ... Overlays are valid, 1mOR is not.

..... Market Open .....

Comment : Here we go ...

Trade-1 : VAL Long (ADD -800 .. -1073 .. -1200)
Thoughts : We came from above, so I have to take this long; I'm worried about those triple TPO's though.
Entry : 1253.75 w/ 2U
MACG : 1252.75 w/ 2U
Max Run : NONE
DrawDown : 2.75
Exit(s) : Stopped out 1251.25 on 4U

Comment : Wow ... so far low of the day has been 1251.00, yesterday's low ... and I stopped out down one tick above that. That doesn't make me all warm and fuzzy at all, especially considering we have already bounced back to 1253.75. It seems that I've been stopped out a lot lately right at 2.50/2.75 from my entry. Oh well, next ...

Trade-2 : VAL Short (ADD -710)
Thoughts : Pulled away from VAL, heading back up ... Taking a stab short thinking we go TPO hunting.
Entry : 1254.75 (took MACG Entry)
MACG : 1254.75
Max Run : 1.50
DrawDown : 0.75
Exit(s) : Got +1.00 and then took BE on the Balance.

Comment : Okay ... Protection Mode yet again ... it looks like those longs were the right side to be on so far, they pushed us down just far enough to pull me out of that previous VAL long just .25 from the LOD. Need to forget about those previous trades ... something to work on ... once a trade is in and done, it's in and done ...

Comment : What's Next ... Let's see ... I think I'll wait for this to shake out some. I want an entry a little further away from this mess now. Perhaps a short of VAH or a Long off of PDL.

Comment : We one-ticked the IB High, but I was waiting for VAH since lately these IB's have not been holding their 3 ticks of range-extension. Missed Entry by a Tick, maybe Two depending on volume up there. I'm still offering 1258.75 just in case we pop back up there.

Comment : JP just mentioned those triple TPO's @ 1249.00 and he says he feels they should take them out as leaving them is uncommon. He also says the longer they leave them untouched, the less likely that they will go take them out. He feels today is the day, and thought for sure yesterday and even bet his last scale out on it. If those TPO's don't get taken out today, he won't likely make plays against them next week.

Comment : Did not take DVAL Trade because we did not get range-extension, DVAL/H are only valid for me with r/e.

Trade-3 : VAH Short (ADD -280)
Thoughts : Will we finally go check out those Triple TPO's? Find out on next week's episode ...
Entry : 1258.75
MACG : 1260.25
Max Run : NONE
DrawDown : 5.25
Exit(s) : Stopped out 61.75 on 4U

Comment : Ouch ... I-Bracket just ran for 9.50 points ... Next ...

Comment : Skipped 50%IB, but I should have taken it ... got lucky here as it would have stopped out also.

Trade-4 : PDH Short (ADD +734)
Thoughts : I-Bracket is running, might just be stops ... PDH is as good a spot as any to get in.
Entry : 1263.75
MACG : NONE
Max Run : 9.50
DrawDown : 0.25
Exit(s) : Scaled Out all the way through +7.00; missed 10-pointer by a tick or two.

Comment : I'm done for the day ... I need to continue keeping an eye on my Protection Mode and perhaps adding a little more wiggle to my wiggle. Volatility sure is great for instant gratification, but it definitely makes the ES less forgiving if you make a mistake or get on the wrong trade. The PDL Short got me pretty much to B/E by the EOD, but that's only because I completely skipped the 50%IB trade. Had I taken that like I should have, I'd be down on the day. I wish I could figure out when not to take certain levels ... a trade is a trade right? Don't we have to take all the setups? The only thing that would have kept me off of that VAH short and the 50%IB Short would have been had I stayed on that VAL Long from this morning. That would have allowed me to get back in short off of PDH and I would have had a screaming day. The wiggle wiggle would have allowed for good day. Instead I was lucky and barely break even. Wonder how it'd do long term?

Daily Order Pull / CXL Time: Exited PDH Trade at 3:57p.

Trade Ratio: -35.75
Overall Ratio: -53.50

Day-4 : Monday -- June 26th, 2006 ...

Heading: Ride the See-saw, Ride the ES ...

Pre-Market Thoughts:
(1) Overnight High was 1260.00, Overnight Low was 1255.50
(2) VAL Areas between my trading package and JP are off today, JP has: 1260.25 and 1253.75 vs 60.50 and 54.00. I will use JP's numbers.
(3) We broke out of yesterday's range to the upside, but couldn't get beyond the 2.5 (3.00 MAX)
(4) We seem to be reaching an area of balance/consolidation. Not surprising though, it's Fed Week.
(5) Fed Week -- expecting pretty rotational Days Monday and Tuesday (and Wednesday Morning) ahead of Fed.
(6) Looks like another tricky open today. I kinda want to short the PP, but we came from above and are still in the wiggle for the PP. I definitely want to short VAH and take a long off of VAL. Considering this is a Fed week and we're opening below the PP, I'll take a short at the PP if I can get it.
(7) Opened in Value ... Overlays are valid, 1mOR is not

... News & Speaking Events ...

10:00am : New Home Sales
11:00am : 4-Week Bill
01:00pm : 3-Month Bill
01:00pm : 6-Month Bill

..... Market Open .....

Comment : Here we go ...

Trade-1 : PP Short (ADD ?)
Thoughts : We came from above, but with Fed, expecting rotation.
Entry : 1257.00 w/ 2U
MACG : NONE
Max Run : 2.50
DrawDown : 0.50
Exit(s) : Got +1.00 and +2.00 and BE on the Balance.

Comment : Protection Mode ... We couldn't really get through the 2.5 ppb ...

Trade-2 : PP Short (ADD ?)
Thoughts : I normally won't trade a level twice ... but ... We have Double TPO's so going to take a stab short ...
Entry : 1256.75
MACG : NONE
Max Run : 2.00
DrawDown : 1.25
Exit(s) : Got +1.00 and +2.00 and then took BE on the Balance.

Comment : Okay ... Protection Mode yet again ... I tried to give this one a little more room because of the double TPO's but ... decided to just get out.

Trade-3 : PP Short (ADD ?)
Thoughts : Will we finally go check out those Double TPO's? My TPO Hunter appears defective!
Entry : 1256.75
MACG : NONE
Max Run : 3.50
DrawDown : 0.25
Exit(s) : Got +1.00, +2.00, +3.00, and +3.50 ... took BE on the Balance.

Comment : Woohoo! Finally got them TPO's ... with my rotational thinking, I probably should have reversed at VAL, but I was hoping my thinking was wrong and we'd flush some into yesterday's tail ... perhaps take a peek under that double bottom of 1251.00. So much for that.

Comment : Bummer, VAL looks like the trade to have been on ... It's okay though, I did fine scaling today so far. I still am looking for a short off of VAH. I will not take the PP anymore though as I already took it once (and now the double TPO's are gone, so no reason to take it again).

Comment : Oh well, done for the day. I don't think we're going to get to the VAH today ... and if we do, it'll be took late for me to want to trade it.

Daily Order Pull / CXL Time: 3:04p.

Trade Ratio: 19.250
Overall Ratio: -34.250

Day-5 : Tuesday -- June 27th, 2006 ...

Heading: Ooops ... Forgot where we left those Triple TPO's ... better go find them ...

Pre-Market Thoughts:
(1) Overnight High was 1261.00, Overnight Low was 1256.25
(2) VAL Areas between my trading package and JP match today -- 1258.00 / 1254.00
(3) Inside Day Yesterday ... expecting more of the same today. Fed Week,
(5) Fed Week -- Got my rotational yesterday, expect more today ahead of Fed.
(6) Looks like we're going to open OUT of Value by about 2.00, 1mOR is iffy.
(7) Tough call this morning again ... conflicting information ... we're due for a breakout, but ahead of FOMC? I dont know. I kinda want to sell the open here if I can get 1260.50-ish ... normal rules would be looking for a pullback to 1258.00 for a long -- and I'm not sure I want to be long out of value. Sure, the last few days have had consolidating/inside value areas, but that is probably because of the FOMC this week ... why would they break out a day before?
(8) I don't ever play pre-market ... I wish I did, I'm liking a 1260.00 Offer.

... News & Speaking Events ...

08:55am : Redbook
10:00am : Consumer Confidence
10:00am : Existing Home Sales
01:00pm : 4-Week Bill Auction
01:00pm : 2-Year Note Auction

..... Market Open .....

Comment : Here we go ...

Trade-1 : 1mOR Short (ADD 500u, ADD 693d )
Thoughts : Was just looking for an excuse to go short here ... normally don't take 1mOR, but I dont think we'll make it to the PDH.
Entry : 1261.75
MACG : 1262.75
Max Run : 2.00
DrawDown : 1.75
Exit(s) : Got +1.00 and +2.00 and BE on the Balance.

Comment : Protection Mode ... We couldn't really get through the 2.5 ppb ... plus we had news in 3 minutes.

Comment : Pulled VAH Order as small IB and the entry would be 5 ticks of r/e.

Comment : Passing on the PP play too ... must ... be ... conservative ...

Trade-2 : 2XIB (ADD -250d, -434d, ADD -300u, ADD -320f, ADD -387d, -700d)
Thoughts : Not expecting this huge fallout, especially today. G Period of Death Again. 2XIB is the one to take in these cases. If we get beyond 2XIB's wiggle room with conviction, look out trend day down.
Entry : 1255.25
MACG : 1253.75
Max Run :
DrawDown : 1.50
Exit(s) : Got +1.00 and +2.50 and +2.00 and then took BE on the Balance.

Comment : Okay ... More Protection Mode ... Profile is looking really trendy: thin, small IB, H was the only bracket to not make lower lows ('I' bracket made new lows).

Comment : How can anyone expect any sort of rally when the market tanks at the slightest hint of bad news?

Comment : Passed on the VAL Short ... Not sure why ... everything pointed to a trend day ... but I had this bias in my head that we would just rotate around in a circle before the FOMC. I expected an inside day and we ended up with an Outside day. Huh? I didn't take the VAL Long either because we got beyond 2 points of the 2XIB just about, which usually means trend away ... What a shame, the VAL Short was good for between 6-7 handles depending on MACG.

Comment : Oh my ... *NOW* we try to take out those triple TPo's from last week? NOW? The one trade I don't get in on to take out the Triple TPO's ... *THAT* is the one that worked? *sigh*

comment : I'm done for the day ... need some air ...

Daily Order Pull / CXL Time: 3:04p.

Trade Ratio: 18.500
Overall Ratio: -15.750

What is "trade ratio"?

BBB: I must apologize for not reading more of your stuff. For some reason, when you post a reply or topic I don't receive my usual email notice that you have put something on the forum. This appears to be unique to you and I receive all other updates so not sure what is going on there. Anyway - that's why I don't always know that you've posted something.