15th Feb – A whole trading day! S&P emini futures trading
Every now and again I get a Friday off and if I have nothing on, I dedicate this day to trading the S&P emini futures contract. Sometimes the problem with just trading the evening session is that I find that I have missed the days major move and then I get into the market wanting to grab some profits which I should have if i were trading the whole session.
Although I ended up down today, I didn’t feel all that frustrated. I felt that I was able to read the market. I did make some mistakes and I’ve learnt my lesson.. I hope that I don’t make those mistakes again. In fact, if it wasn’t for those mistakes I would be up quite nicely.
Anyway, as there was a lot on in the trading day and I made quite a few trades, I have annoted the chart with numbers so you know where I am with my thinking and analysis.
Ok, here goes:
Note: blue arrows are theoretical entries, red arrows are shorts, green arrows are longs
1. Ok, the market here fell through 134000 and spiked up again, the 15 mins were showing the stochastics were over sold and at some point looking to turn up. When the market went above 134000 again, I placed an order in the market at this level to go long. I was aiming for 134500 or so. The market came within 1 price of my entry and did shoot up beyond 134500.. in fact, it reached 134750. I was a bit frustrated that I had missed the entry but if it got hit, it would have been a wonderful 20 prices.
2. When the market had eased off from bouncing off 134750, I saw that the stochastics in both the 5 and 15 mins were still on the long side. I went long at 134525 with a target of 134950 (which if you look at the 15 mins is the exact 50% Fib level). Unfortunately, I got chickened out here thinking that the market was going to bounce at the round number 134800 and so I took profit here for +12.
3. Prior to the set of 3 trades comprising of step 3.. I was in profit and felt good about my analysis from step 1 (even though it had not triggered). The next 3 trades were countertrend trades.. I thought that the market would bounced at each of my 3 entries. In fact, they would do so initially and then slam down.. I was anticipating a cross of the stochastics in the 5 mins each time as the indicator was almost ripe for reversal. However, what I didn’t take into account was the stochastic reading in the 15 mins was firmly down. I wasted 3 trades here which totalled -25 loss!! Ouch!
4. The countertrend play finally worked… and I got in and took back 11 prices. At this stage I was -2 for the day.. not a particularly bad loss. However, the 15 min stochastics hadn’t turned yet so this probably wasn’t a good trade in hindsight.
5. This looked like a consolidation in the 5 mins before a move upwards… I took it. The 15 mins weren’t signalling a long so I should have left this one. This was a 10 price loss.
Then I spoke to my trading mentor and I talked to him about my trades. If you look at the 15 mins chart, you will see how choppy the market really is.. he said that it would be better to leave the market for the day… he was surprised that I hadn’t racked up any higher losses considering the days movements.
6. If I were to trade for the day, I saw an entry here. The market made a double bottom in the 5 mins but the stochastics were showing a higher level.. positive divergence. This would have been a good entry if I had taken it. The exit would have been at point 7 when the stochastics crossed.
So, even though it was a losing day, I felt pleased with my progress. I was able to interpret the market and my fear levels (though still there) weren’t so prevalent as before!!
Gee, a very long winded post.. enjoy the rest of your weekend!
