My trading evolution

I know I haven't posted any details about my trading lately so I'm going to spill some details now. I took a break from the end of May till mid July. I tend to do better after taking a vacation. When I started trading again I figured I would listen to my intuition. These days when I get into a trade and something feels wrong, I would get out. When I don't see any setups and my mind is telling me to sit it out I'll stop trading. Well sometimes I don't always listen to myself hence my above average lost the other day. I have 8 years of screen time, so I really got to trust myself more.


The good trade should work right away

My trading is not totally intuitive. I still use technical analysis like support/resistance, trendlines, chart patterns, and time/sales. Technical analysis does not always work. I think rely on my gut feelings more now when I see a setup. There is one stock market saying that I believe in now, "Goods trade usually work right away". If I get into a breakout trade or if I buy at a support level and the stock does not move in my favor right away something is up. I will scratch the trade with a small loss. If your analysis is correct then you will have another opportunity to get to stock at better prices. I use other support factors to make my decision. Some things I look at include - how the tape is trading, the stocks relative strength/weakness, and how the broad market is trading(breakout day, inside day, down day). But since there are some many things I tend to do it subconciously because it's hard to take all these things and analyze them when I am in the heat of trading. That is why I choose to trust my intuition.

I am still a scalper

I tried adopting the dummy style used by many acclaimed trading bloggers, such as Trader X, King Jamie, Maoxian, The Addict, Anarco, OONR7, Trader Mike. I have had some success but I did not like my consistency. I am also not comfortable with having wider stop losses. I think the major thing that affected my consistency is my lack of experience. I did not know how to separate good dummy setups from mediocre ones.

I also had the honor to be a part of Dinosaur Trader's little rag tag Virtual Office. We did a little private chat room for a few weeks. I had a chance to observe how Miss Trade, Dinosaur Trader, and Evolution trade. Everyone had their own style and they made it work. I am on a journey to find my own trading style and I think I am going on this path until I retire from the markets.