NFLX-REAL MONEY!

I have practiced and practiced, but this morning I felt confident that NFLX was going in my direction and a Real Money Trade was in the works. Everything looked perfect! I have done this trade over and over again in practice, so now I just needed to push the button. Practicing has my confidence levels sky high, so I bought 2 Mar 13 190 Put contracts at about 10:10. The stock continued to tank. Although Gary said we should not be afraid, I was sweating bullets! I had nearly 2 grand in this stock (more than I am normally comfortable trading). At around 11:40, I saw my profits raise to 700+ dollars, so guess what I did? I saw it continuing to drop, so I slowly and reluctantly pushed the button! This time I was Happy In Hawaii! By the time I finally hit the sell, my profits raised to over $800 in a little over an hour. I closed up shop, and took my laptop to my car. I am forced to trade from a laptop in my office (work filters will not let me download charts). No more trading for me today. Also, I do not hold positions overnight, so there is no need for me to go back in charts. I will take a look tonight.

I simply want to continue trading well. I do not want to go back to the days of being lost again. I just want to TRADE WELL!

Great trade! I love how you put away your laptop so that you wouldn't give any profits back. Also, using the mid bollinger on the 55 as a trigger to enter a trade is a great tool. I have been studying that myself along with reading the TAFD book that you mentioned.

Have a great day!

Thanks!
This process is like becoming a professional student. It is important to always read, study, practice, and backtest. When you win over and over in practices, and if you stay true to the rules, you will have similar results as you have many times during practice.

My personal rule is, if I sell a position, I am leaving the trading world for the remainder of the day. If the trade was for a loss, I am still out for the remainder of the day. The night after selling a position, I break the trade down-win or lose. I must clearly understand why the trade went either with me or against me.

I am driven to a level that is almost finatical, but I have found my true love. My goal in life is to leave my "Real Job" in 5-6 years. I want to trade for the rest of my life, and not as a hobby. I want trading to become my primary source of income, so I have to get this right. I appreciate my job and feel blessed to earn a good salary, but in essence, my 9-5 own me from 5AM- 6PM. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired (Dave Ramsey).

Which charts did you use for your decision and action on this trade? What time did you sell?

I used the 55 and 13 only. The 55 was my decision and 13 was my action. I know this is not one of Gary's recommendations, but it works better than any other combination for me. I sold at around 11:51.

Rookie,
Thank you for posting this trade to the detail you did. I finally got StrategyDesk set up and am running with it. Because you put the times and charts you used I was able to find where the trade was. Based on what I am seeing, the decision chart was indeed screaming at you to make the trade. But the action seemed to say go about 30 minutes you actually made the trade. I wonder if you saw the same thing (maybe set up slightly differently), or you were slower than you wanted to be on placing the trade.
I also see the the trade actually went slightly against you for about 25 minutes before the stock tanked. Good job keeping in the trade and reaping the reward. Very solid chunk out of the middle!

I would appreciate your additional thoughts on my questions/comments if you're willing to share.

Kars,

I am always willing to share and help if I can. God knows I have needed it-and still do.

Yes, I was a little slower than I wanted before placing the trade. I wanted to wait until I got a break on the previous day's low. I knew once it broke, it would run down from there.

Wow, when it started to appear to go against me, I nearly freaked out. I knew my approach had not failed me in nearly 100 practice trades, and the big pull back never crossed back over the 8 MA on my 13. If it would have, I would have taken a very, very small loss or maybe broke even, so I rode that bucking bull through that rough period. I think it is risky to enter or take action from the 13, but again, it works for me. The 13 gives a lot of space for the stock to fluctuate shortly after entry. The 8 or 5 gives more of a precise entry.

I really hope my approach to trading works through the summer. The only change that I might attempt is entering off the 8 during the summer.
This weekend, I will start testing my strategies against last year's summer trading zone. I am pretty excited to see the results. I have my fingers crossed....

Thanks for posting the details, Rookie, and also for sharing your evolving journey with us! I'm curious why you didn't wait until the candle close on the 55 like Gary teaches. Please don't read this as a criticism, I simply want to understand your approach, as it seems to be working well for you! I picked up my copy of MME after Darcy mentioned it months ago, and focused on the same pages that you mentioned in a previous post. I added the 8 EMA to my charts, as I suspect you did too, and it has increased my confidence quite a bit. This is not something Gary teaches, but an added plus in my opinion.

I do not take any comments as criticism. I am still learning as many of us.

I chose not to wait on the 55 to close before entering because my confirmation came off my 13. The biggest component to this process was waiting on that break from previous day's low. It broke on the 13 before the 55 closed, so I felt strongly it would continue to go down. Again, I thought it was a bad trade because shortly after I entered, it started back up. The 8 MA is a huge peice to all of this. It guided me through that bumpy period. Again, it never drove up above the 8 MA on either chart (while I was in the trade). That 8 MA is the mother of my approaches and decisions.

I like the 55, but when trading intraday, it is big chart as a decision. I use it more as a trend chart. Too much happens from the painting of 1 candle to the next on the 55. I have been in practice trades and would have gotten toasted, if I did not use the 13 as my guide. I still use my knowledge of candle formations. If a previous formation takes place on the 55, but my 13 is telling me to stay, I am out as soon as I get a candle painted that is against my flow or trade. No exeptions to that rule. A stock such as AMZN can blister you, if you stay in only 5-10 minutes too long. I like that stock, but you better know what you are doing when trading it!!

I remember Gary stating on his CD, that he was talking with a couple or a lady, and she stated that she was doing it all wrong. He asked her what was going on. She stated she had deviated from his approach to a small degree-but was making more money than she could spend. He yelled, and stated something like, " Well, keep doing it. It is working- Keep doing it!". My point is, I think Gary knows his foundation is second to none-Period, but he also knows there are hundreds of approaches to making money. His teaching provides a solid foundation. HIs manual and materials provides more solidity to trading (books, market calendar, trading zones, etc). I am reluctant to share sometimes because some of the approaches I am using are not in alignment with what he teaches. I do not want to disrespect that in any way-NO WAY! I just hope and pray my approach continues to serve me well. As I mentioned in a previous post, if I get really good at this, I just hope I can help a few others on the way up.

I think you did great.

I seldom wait for the 55 candle close. Sometimes the trend or decision has taken place the day before to trade a particular stock so all you need is the action to go your way. I have on occasion seen a stock trend/decision the following day and the action happen before the close but not in time for me to get in. If I waited for another move on the action I could wait all day and completely miss the trade. When that happens I am in right on the open if the direction hasn't changed.

I have never used the 13 chart for entry. Sometimes I do not use any chart for entry simply because I can see the move all the way across my screens. My S/O and I use a 55 and 21 built by GW’s designs and a 10 and 21 built from TAD. S/O and I did not have a single losing trade in Feb using these 4 charts.

The more you become sure of yourself the more it won’t matter about an entry you’ll simply know…
“GET IN”.

I do not use the 8 moving average either. The 8 is usually used by stock traders/buyers. I use the 10. I use my moving averages and gaps for support or resistance.

I am happy for you Rookie…that was sweet!

PS) Not trading this week busy with other things that need a lot of attention.

Good trade!
I have to take my laptop to work also. My childern live 5 miles from my work, so when I get the alarm from my phone I go to their house for the close of the 1st 233 candle to make my trades.

I appreciate the support. It means a lot coming from other who understand WSB on it's most advanced level.


I totally agree with the point of when you have traded or practiced enough the entry become an inate decision.

I think what is clearly conveyed is, we all do things a little differently. My approach is extremely elementary. When I was going through my continuous losses, someone told me to stop over thinking. Your answers are right under your nose, just cater a style of trading that works for you. I have taken in great stuff from so many of you and used that knowledge and advice to develop my own style. When I stopped overthinking and traded the evidence (RTT), it became pretty easy (in practice). Trading real money is a different monster!

Congrats Darcy and S/O on having an entire month of all winning trades!