Phew

Opening balance £542

Closing balance £694

Today's profit £152

I was plagued by doubts this morning, haunted by my profligacy Monday. Thankfully I have achieved what I set out to do this morning which was make a few trades and earn some money.

I played with a maximum £5 a point so I must have won 30 points, I'm not concerned with how I won them only that I did.

I traded so carefully, each pound was and is precious. I have to maintain that attitude, keep my stake small and build step by step.

I feel a hell of a lot better at 4.30pm than I did at 8am.

Sclap

Scalp

Scalp

I know my weakness, I get cocky, greedy and eye big money. I actually look upon this week's losses and subsequent humbling as a positive. The acute distress and pain it has caused is a place I never want to revisit.

I'm going to forget about trading, stop reading books and just enjoy this weekend, the break will do me good.

Next week's target is to remain disciplined and post a positive return every day. If I do that I shall be sitting here posting feeling a real sense of achievement and of course my account balance will be considerably healthier.

Nice weekend.

The Comeback Starts Here

Right, that's it, no more fucking about.

I've put another £500 into my account which takes my total funding to £4500.

I can't begin to describe how sickening it feels to blow money I can ill afford to lose. I KNOW I can string winning days together, I have posted successful days on this very blog so to remind myself all I need to is scalp a few points at a time and control my greed.

I'm absolutely disgusted with myself and the only way I will feel better is when I start to post day after day of steady progress. I got sucked in to believing this was easy, that I could have the lifestyle I dream of in minutes.

I am capable of earning from this game but there are strict rules I must follow in order to be successful. I have to take temptation away by withdrawing any winning funds daily. That way I reward myself and take the risk away of over trading.

I will be up bright and early tomorrow looking for an opportunity. If it comes I'll take it.

You have never met a more determined man, foolish? yes. Greedy? yep. Humbled? You bet.

Will I make a success of this? Absolutely.

I Need a Few Days Off

Yesterday's £1000 lasted all of two hours this morning.

Instead of scalping 10 points I made a judgement call that we would get a retrace and so I positioned a few small long plays before the market opened. The index was steady for the first few minutes, strangely calm, it dipped a few points so I bolstered my small positions with a £15 a point long.

Then the market collapsed and like a fool I repeated yesterday's errors.

I need a few days off to gain perspective, I don't trust myself right now which is a ridiculous state of affairs.

I have around £200 in my account, not much to show for a total funding of £4000.

I'm going to leave this baby until next week. I have to remind myself that all I need do is pinch 10 points a day, a fairly easy call. I've become way too involved with the direction and how far the index is going to go. It doesn't matter.

Scalping is the name of the game.

I'm very disappointed with my performance. I'd performed admirably last week and was picking up a few hundred pounds a day but I got to big for my boots and started chasing big money.

The market taught me otherwise. What is called for is another steady week, slow and steady progress, I can make money at this for sure but not if I contine like this.

Disgusted with my stupidity.

Opening balance £2468

Closing balance £103

I don't need to list the trades, the balance tells the story. Where did I go wrong?

Firstly I woke up determined to play at £50 a point, that's greed getting the better of me after a few successful days. I've been ticking along beautifully at the rate of a few points a day and picking up £2-300 comfortably.

Secondly technical analysis went out of the window today. I was aware that Spain was having to pay record interest on it's bonds and also of the euro at an all time low against the dollar so I didn't go into the day blind.

I made my forecast of the day's movements and when the 'outlook' of the ftse according to the website I subscribe to came in and pretty much matched my view it gave me confidence to make the trade.

I waited 15 minutes for the opening exchange which was mild then as the index touched 5590 I took a long position at £50 a point. I was looking initially for 5600 and a lovely £500 or so to kick off the day. Instead it tumbled right through support at 5588/5590 and I was frozen. 14 points and £700 adrift within 5 minutes I was unsure whether to close the trade or ride it out.

I decided to 'force open' a trade in the opposite direction but the maximum I could play at was £40 a point. I got a few points on this trade and the market began to turn. I should have closed the trade at a profit and ridden the retrace up and see how things panned out over the next few minutes.

Instead I delayed and lost not only the points I had made but my hesitation cost me a few more precious points so I closed for a 5 point and £200 loss. Immediately upon closing the recovery stalled and the index went into free fall.

I was down around £1500 by 8.45 so I decided to let it ride and hope buyers would come in and steady the ship. They did but only at 5510 and after I had been margined out. A Little frustrating to see the index climb to 5550 by 9pm but with the heart ripped out of me and no funds in my account I watched forlornly.

Strangely I don't feel anything other than stupid. Had I closed the trade at 10 points I'd have lost £500 and would still have been in the game.

I know this may sound ludicrous but I'm not worried at all. I'm disgusted at my stupidity but I consider this the price of learning, I'm by no means the finished article but the fact I've been able to string together a disciplined and profitable week (£1200) shows me I have the ability and acts as my road map for the remainder of this week.

I've funded another £1000 and my target is quite simply 10 points tomorrow at £30 a point scalping. I was overambitious, lost my caution and got bitten. Four days of disciplined trading and I'll feel a whole lot better.

To reiterate I am absolutely convinced I can earn a good living from this alone. Thankfully I have a decent living from my day job which I have now moved back to my flat so I am able to trade with peace of mind and not worry about an unnecessary commute.

I'm excited about tomorrow. I know I haven't lost this money, it's merely a temporary loan.

More Profit, Another Lesson

Opening balance £2221

Closing balance £2468

Today's profit £247

• +3.7 points @ £30 = £111
• +5.7 points @ £30 = £171
• +1.5 points @ £20 = £30
• +0.8 points @ £10 = £8
• +0.5 points @ £5 =   £2.50
• +0.5 points @ £10 = £5
•  -8    points @ £10 = £80

A brief post.

I'd made £320 by 8.15 this morning, the feeling that accompanied the win is hard to describe, floating would be the most apt word.

That should have been my day's trading, I was set beautifully for the weekend but after popping out for a well earned and deserved breakfast I entered into a trade around 3pm.

I made the mistake of going short when the day's drop had already been substantial. Greed (and tiredness) obviously got the better of me so I closed the trade out at an £80 loss and closed for the day.

I've had a profitable week, ending each day with a more than I started with, my goal for the week was simply to finish profitably each day and post 5 winning days in a row so I've achieved my goal.

The lesson is cheap and must be heeded, stop after a good win, I had everything and more I wanted for the week.

Clicked for the first time

Opening balance £1836

Closing balance £2221

Today's profit £385

• -12.8 points @ £10 = £128 (Closing yesterday's trade)
• +0.8 points  @ £10 = £8
• +2.5 points  @ £10 = £25
• +1.7 points  @ £10 = £17
• +1.7 points  @ £10 = £17
• +2.7 points  @ £5   = £13.50
• +2.5 points  @ £10 = £25
• +1    points  @ £30 = £30
• +2    points  @ £30 = £60
• +0.8 points  @ £5   = £4
• +2.5 points  @ £5   = £12.50
• +8.3 points  @ £5   = £41.50
• -0.8  points  @ £5   = £6  
• +5.2 points  @ 35   = £26.50
• -0.5 points   @ £10 = £5
• +0.2 points  @ £10 = £2
• +1.7 points  @ £10 = £17
• -0.3 points   @ £10 = £3
• +1.5 points  @ £20 = £30
• +1.7 points  @ £30 = £51
• +1.5 points  @ £10 = £15
• +2.5 points  @ £30 = £75
• +3 points     @ £30 = £90
• -0.5 points   @ £10 = £5
• -2.5 points   @ £10 = £25

Today was the first time that I can honestly say I felt in control. I no longer bent on self destruction by feeling I have to go short as the index is too high. That's not my problem and today I took advantage of the fact it wants to climb by jumping on the express train.

The profit total includes me writing off last nights losing trade, in the end I closed it gratefully around £80 off, no disaster. I closed because I felt so confident of making it back and more which is what I did.

I had a picture of how the day would pan out and this was confirmed when my daily email landed 15 minutes before market opening.

I made quite a number of trades however I'm too tired to calculate them I'm afraid, along with the number of points. Suffice to say I traded feeling confident and at ease. My lowest £/point was £10 and my highest £30, a new high for me. At one stage I had two trades at £10 each and a trade at £30, so a total of £50 a point. Boy it moves quickly (thankfully in the desired direction).

My obsessive devotion to studying is beginning to permeate through to my performance. I chose my entries wisely and was patient throughout. I also read the chart clearly and every move played out in the direction I anticipated. I closed trades too early but that's to be expected, after all £30 a point can be crucifyingly destructive if I get it wrong.

So, I've actually surprised myself with how quickly I'm progressing, today means nothing though if I lose my discipline tomorrow or allow today's success to inflate my ego.

There will be plenty of time to make big money, tomorrow calls for another positive return, putting a weeks worth of winning day's back to back is the most important action called for.

Now for some welcome sleep!

G'night.

Profitable but I Must Make My Own decisions

Opening balance £1575

Closing balance £1836

Day's profit £261 (worthless, read on)

• +1.7 points   @ £10 = £17
• +3 points      @ £10 = £30
• +0.2 points   @ £10 = £2
• +2.5 points   @ £10 = £25
• +5.2 points   @ £5   = £46
• +0.5 points   @ £20 = £10
• +3.8 points   @ £5   = £19
• +10.5 points @ £10 = £105

 

 

Looks good in print right? Only problem is I have an open trade, I'm short from 5674 @£10 a point and the market has taken off at 10pm to 5699 so with the 6 point spread I'm £290 adrift on this trade.

There are two very good lessons here.

I am NEVER comfortable leaving an open position at market close, it's just not my style.

I stupidly took the trade on a recommendation from someone I trade with on line in a chat room  I simply have to have confidence in my own ability to make the call and not listen to anyone else.

Another timely reminder is I took the trade almost at the end of the day when I'd sat in front of my screen and had won almost £200, it wasn't necessary to jump into a trade that late.

So I'm faced wit a dilemma of having a fitful night's sleep (if I manage to gram any) or closing my position so I can sleep but faced with the prospect of the index dropping overnight and unnecessarily blowing hundreds of pounds.

I'm doing well, I've shown great patience and discipline and I can really feel the difference when I sit here to trade so I'm going to accept I'll make mistakes from time to time but they'll be fewer and never the same one repeated.

To remind myself, I make the decisions!

Good Afternoon Trading

Opening balance £1426

Closing balance £1575

Day's profit £149

14 points @ £5

8 points @ £10

5 trades

Feeling out of sorts at my screen this morning I made the wise decision not to trade and go to the office early.

I've had moments like this before and from experience (which is after all why I'm keeping this trading diary) the only positive action is to walk away, so I did.

I returned home in time to hear Ben Bernanke updating congress, the world and his wife on the state of the US economy and how he planned to nurse it through the current woes. I know it's a dicey time to trade but I saw the price see sawing and holding at 5620 so I dipped my toe in the water long and came up with two nice trades.

The first was at £10 a point, the second and the one I was most pleased with for £5 a point. I wasn't that confident but thought it was worth another try as the price had risen for my first trade and promptly retraced to my initial entry level. I deemed it worth a punt at £5 and if it hadn't been for a loss of internet connection I may have made 20 points but I closed the trade on my mobile rather than lose additional profit.

All in all another disciplined day. Like I say the money although welcome is secondary to posting successive winning days.

A Steady Day

Opening balance £1287

Closing balance £1426

Day's profit £139

7 points @ £5

6 points @ £10

2 points @ £20

5 small trades.

After drawing a trading plan for the day and expecting it to play out by midday it took ALL day to play out. although it happened as I thought it would the market had no real momentum and although it dropped painfully slowly to around where I thought it would it rose equally slowly, weakly too.

I'm most pleased that I was able to exercise admirable patience and have become ultra cautious before committing to a trade, understandably since my early ill discipline.

Not bad, £140 for staying at home and learning how to trade.

In Control of my Emotions

Opening balance £1145

Closing balance £1287

Today's profit £142

Points +28 @ £5

Only 5 trades in three days.

I wasn't planning on trading today although yesterday's surprising late rally convinced me that there remains an active bullish community.

The index opened and moved slightly up before settling around the 5640-5645 range. That confirmed yesterday's move and so I resolved to go long if the opportunity presented itself. I was keen on waiting for a hit of support level at 5620 but the lowest I saw was 5635 so I waited around an hour and came in at 5638. I wasn't bullish to play £20 a point instead opting for £5.

Of course the index ridiculed me by dropping to 5627 almost straight away but steadfastly refused to go lower so I took this as an opportunity to go long at a lower price with another £5.

After hanging around this level and briefly hitting 5625 it found it's legs and within 15 minutes broke out of the range and shot to 5650 inside 3  or 4 minutes. Upon hitting the psychological 50 barrier I closed both positions for a £142 profit.

Playing £5 a point ensured I kept some of my ammunition in reserve with the option of playing out just as I did or indeed opening a forced trade (going short on the same index).

Sure enough, having reached 5650 the index faded and when I left the flat around half an hour later it was down to 5638.

I was very happy with my trade selection, thrilled that I posted another positive day and most of all delighted that I appear to have the discipline to just walk away.

This game really is psychological. Last week I could not have simply turned off for the rest of the day as I feared I would be missing a significant move.

Today I actually didn't care what I missed, I traded sensibly, defensively and knew when to leave. I embrace the weekend feeling good about myself and my prospects for next week and indeed the longer term having grown my account balance nigh on 30% in 3 days. If I had tied £1000 in a building society I'd be lucky to see £20 interest for the year.


Attitude is key to my future success and making the leap to full time trading as my main income. Just relax, control greed, don't be over ambitious, play sensibly, manage my account and treasure each pound. Look to win gradually, I'm in this for the long haul, there's no rush to make money.


Next weeks target is to increase my balance each day, remain focused and disciplined.  It's more important for me to win £50 each day than £1000 over 3 days with a day's loss in the mix. I simply have to show I can trade with discipline and positively each day, trust me, if I achieve that part the money will come.

Enjoy your weekend, see you with Monday's report.

Disciplined

Opening balance £1105

Closing balance £1145

Today's profit £40

I enjoyed today as I spent the majority of the day as an observer, making calls in my head and watching the results play out.

My winnings were the result of a 3 point scalp around 8.15 at £20 a point.

My calls were good, I would have made a lot of money but the damage from last week is still with me, that's a good thing as it makes me ultra defensive.

A couple of points to note. I'm using EMA's to good effect along with support/resistance and trend lines, most important though is my reading of candles. When used in conjunction with the above it's a powerful combination.

Of course I would have liked to have earned more and that will come as my confidence grows. I did make a great call right at the end of play, we had support at 5587 and after observing a small zig zag pattern between 5591-5598 I went long at 5593. Of course the index immediately moved south to test the support (and my nerve) at 5587 and after 5 minutes of shall we say a heightened heart rate it began to climb quickly. At 5592, a point short of my entry level I could wait no longer, a combination of having to pick up my son and also damage limitation, having been 5 points adrift I was grateful for damage limitation. I closed my position for a one point loss.

I will develop more confidence to hold a trade as I develop.

Five minutes later while checking the index from my car on my iphone I see it had soared to 5606, I would have made 13 points had I been in front of my screen.

So, my calls are getting better and I've only made 4 trades in 2 days, I'm able to sit and observe without feeling anxious to trade.

And that's a good thing and will serve me well going forward.

I will observe tomorrow morning, I'm not planning on trading unless a really good opportunity presents itself. Honing my skills by making calls based on live price action is a great way of testing my methods.

More tomorrow.

A Fresh Start

Opening balance £1000

Closing balance £1105

Today's profit £105


I declare myself very happy with my day's trading.

I've changed my attitude, my relationship to risk and as importantly my spread bet company.

As you may have noticed I paused for breath and have taken the last few days off.  I retreated to gain a valuable insight into my methods and to continue my trading education.

I now have a much better trading platform with ultra professional charts which enable me to pull up all kinds of goodies, immeasurably more powerful than my previous company and incredibly better terms.

I was as good as my word today, signing out of my account at midday. I recognised occasions where I would previously have impetuously jumped into a position, this time I was relaxed and very happy to observe, wait patiently for my opportunity to open up. I pinched a point and a half early on when I could have made 10 but I wanted to familiarise myself with the new trading platform and make and close a trade. I did just that.

Two hours later I sensed my chance and rode a rise for 10 points on the way to a resistance line. I had to be brave and stomach a 9 point retrace but I was pretty confident the ticker had to reach north and so (eventually) it did. Once again I baled out early for a nice 10 point gain at £10 a point and even though I was confident it would carry on (it did for another 10 points) I was comfortable calling it a day with a victory.

That's all I need, a simple 10 points a day.

Until now I have been plagued by fear, more specifically fear of missing out on a potential profitable trade. I've not been able to keep away from the index, if I played in the morning and went to my office in the afternoon the first thing I would do would be to sign in.

Today I am relieved to report that feeling has gone, the demons exorcised.

Up bright and early tomorrow and it's imperative I post another solid day's profitable performance.

My Trading Strategy, Micro Scalping

My first post here was on 28th May, having started trading the FTSE a few days previously.

I've invested £2000 and hundreds of man hours letting this game teach me some invaluable lessons which will enable me to become a successful intra day trader.

I strongly believe you don't learn anything from playing demo accounts or with pennies, it's only playing with real money at a level that can hurt you that you learn. It's got to make you sit up and take notice in an 'ouch, that hurt' kind of style.

I look upon the £2000 I have 'invested' the same way I would had I paid to attend a course or seminar, it's educational.

The 'game' is the best teacher, dispassionate, unyielding. It punishes even the slightest mistakes mercilessly yet rewards discipline, prudence, planning.

After making so many mistakes, ones previously identified, written about yet foolishly repeated I have arrived at a strategy that best suits my personality, my lifestyle and my goals. I know I loathe going to bed with an open trade. I don't enjoy sitting in front of a screen for hours, I'm not excited nor comfortable at guessing the direction the index will go in on a long term basis and just placing a trade and letting it run.

So here's my strategy for playing the FTSE. It suits my character, the time I have available and my lifestyle.

I enjoy scalping, rapier like thrusts into the market, taking advantage of small fluctuations in price.

My recipe for trading success is the following.

Trade only from home.

Finish by midday regardless.

Scalp at £50 a point, targeting 2 to 3 points at a time, 10 points a day.

Withdraw winnings daily.


Never trade on a Friday

That's it. Stick to that and I will make money and of course you will read about it right here daily.

Have a good weekend, update Monday.

Damn, Lost Everything

I made two mistakes today.

The first was trading from my office. I simply cannot concentrate fully as there's just too much seeking my attention.

I knew the NFP was being announced at 1.30pm and I was still at home at midday, having succesfully scalped a few points.

I had planned to take the day off but by mid morning i realised there was too much happening not to go into the office. I knew it would be tight for me to get everything completed had I stayed to hear the figures at home so I made my way into the office by 1pm, immediately my workload increased.

That should have marked the end of my day's trading, regardless of how alluring the imminent opportunity of making a few quid and that is where things went wrong. I was too busy with my work to focus on trading.

Nevertheless trade I did and although I am naturally bearish I went long once the index plunged 20 points, thinking it would be a nice steady slow ride back to 5690.

I was right but temporarily wrong as the index continued it's descent to 5645 before retracing exactly back to close at 5690. I had so much going on that required my attention that not only did I make the wrong decision (it's never right to lose 30 points on a short term trade) but I neglected to put in my stop loss.

5662 was a key support level and it glided past it effortlessly. It flirted with the 50's before plunging to 5645. At this point I baled out, £200 lighter and made the impulsive decision to switch allegiances and immediately shorted in an effort to recover some funds.

Of course the index had other ideas and began to work its way back upward. Of course, having neglected my initial stop loss I made the exact same error again and so my account was wiped out.

How do I feel? Stupid, humbled (yet again) yet strangely very calm.

This wekend I will post my trading bible, everything I have learned (at a cost of £2000) these past 5 weeks and next week I will fund my account and trade as the scalper I am, from home, mornings only.

Another Steady Day

Opening balance £328

Closing balance £401

Day's profit £73

I opened my day with a near £50 losing trade thanks to my new use of stop losses. I could see the candle moving away from my desired range and it just crept to my stop loss. Had I allowed the trade to run a little further I would have seen it turn and put me in positive territory yet I did the right thing, I limited my losses.

Only yesterday I wrote about how my biggest loss wold have been around £50 had I used stops and today provided a perfect example of prudent risk. Nobody can know for sure that the index will turn back in the favour of your trade in 2, 5 or even 20 points, this way I am limiting my losses and that can only be a good habit.

Undeterred I went on to win a net total of £79 today, playing mostly between £3 - £5 a point.

I placed my first OCO trade just before the Bank of England's announcement about QE and sure enough the index climbed immediately on the news. I won around 7 points but had I not been so keen to protect my profit I could have comfortably harvested 20.  I did the same thing on the way down, this time missing out on a tantalising 50 points.

It's still early though in my trading development, I'm still vulnerable from my losses and you can't argue with profit!

A Turning Point

Opening balance £287

Closing balance £328

Today's profit £41

Last night's open trade, at one stage £120 against me mercifully reduced to £27 this morning, I hungrily devoured the loss otherwise my actual trading profit on 3 small trades today was £68 playing £5 a point.

I went to work today and immersed myself in finishing my vat return and processing orders. I returned home at 4pm having not traded. I was happy to feel comfortable not trading as most times if I'm not observing the index I feel I could be missing out on potential opportunities. Today I was relaxed and not bothered whether I made a trade or not.

I opened my trading platform to see the index, plot a few graphs in preperation for tomorrow and couldn't help seeing an opportunity.

Between 4pm and 4.30 I made 3 lightening fast scalps, no more than a couple of minutes and this time as I placed the trades I created a very tight stop loss of 3 points. In each trade the 'ticker' moved in my desired direction (probably because I was waiting for the right moment before entering) and as I collected the points so I moved my stop loss up. On each occasion I managed to bring it up to my entry point and the feeling I experienced from playing with 'their' money is almost beyond my power to describe.

I harvested 12 points with minimal effort and all inside 15 minutes. Imagine playing at £50 a point, that's how easy it potentially is to make money.

I have to alter the way I've ben trading, work with very tight stop losses and be prepared to trade for minimal periods each day, maybe even miss some days if I've made my week's target. Staying fresh is key.

I feel today has been not only cathartic but I've had an epiphany, trading with a stop loss and making money in virtually no time with little risk. If I'd traded like this from the start my biggest loss would have been 3 points or £48, shamefully I've lost as much as £400 and £700 in single trades.

I only need a couple of trades in 10 to go my way and they alone will more than compensate for the other 8 tripping out early due to my tight stop losses.

Tomorrow is an exciting day. The Bank of England meet at midday to discuss cutting interest rates and pouring more money into the economy. I plan to open a OCO order (one cancels other) with very tight stop losses and sit back and watch the plot unfold, hopefully I'll be in either way. Choosing my spread is critical though and I won't know that until closer to the time.

Although I've made more in a single day I have never felt this good, nor indeed so confident about the future.

Up but Down, Read on...

Opening balance £246

Closing balance £287


Day's profit £41

Lots to report this evening.

There was very little price movement, just a small sideways pattern with a range of between 5645 and 5660 points for the whole of the morning. I managed to scalp £60 from this at £5 a point and was feeling pretty pleased.

Using the fibonacci tool I actually had a projected high today of 5682. We'd taken out last months high in yesterday's session and that gave further credence to my target.

So far so good.

From 8am until 2pm the Ftse fought valiantly to overcome a stubborn resistance point of 5662. After finally breaking though this and with my target a further juicy and almost touchable 20 points away what did I do?

I went short at 5666. Fucking unbelievable.

So I'm currently 27 points south of break even and £100 down on paper. Just how I managed to turn a winning trade into a potential losing one defies belief.

I was frightened of betting on the index going up for fear that the market had all of it's run and would retrace back down. The 5682 was the 61.8% fibonacci so having passed that it looks very likely the uptrend will continue.

I read it correctly today but allowed my bearish self to take control and sabatoge my trade. It's astonishing how I can trade with good intentions, show discipline for 6 hours and scalp £60 from a flat market then blow the whole lot (potentially) on a dumb decision.

Frustrating isn't the word. I have to admit though that reading this dispassionately it's highly amusing. Just what kind of a foll is this guy?

Today's lessons.

Have a little more confidence to follow through on my analysis and yet again, EXIT A LOSING POSITION AT 10 POINTS. A simple stop loss (or just closing the trade as I was in front of my screen) would have resulted in a £30 loss.

Finally I think I will only trade from the opening bell until Midday. any longer than that and I feel my already dubious decision making is compromised through having to concentrate.

Much Better Day

Opening balance £75

Closing balance £246

Day's profit £171

My day's trading is over by 10.30am, I've enjoyed trading whilst slurping coffee and eating porridge. I made a point of not reading any blogs or 'experts' charts and simply observing the price action.

My profit has come as a result of using Fibonacci retracements, moving averages and known support and resistance levels.

So that''s it for today, I have to be satisfied with today and not trade until tomorrow.

Lost My Way & My Money

Tuesday's balance £1500

Friday's balance £75.

I've not posted for a few days as I've been so dissappointed with myself and I wanted a few days to give myself time to reflect.

I basically made the cardinal sin of reading other people's opinions on blogs, including a daily chartist's post and allowed myself to become influenced by their opinions and charts..

I've discovered I'm most comfortable trading short, by that I mean bearish and every time I have made a big loss has been because I've thought the market was ready to drop. When I read these opinions and they co-incided with my own I was chomping at the bit, deservedly I wiped out.

I have to remind myself that when I keep things simple, when I read the candles, draw very short term trendlines and respect obvious horizontal support and resistance lines I make good trades. Proof being the 7 out of 8 days I posted positive results, some days making 10 succesful scalps in a row.

I have allowed myself to indulge in the mid to long term future of the index when all I really need to concern myself with is the next few minutes and base my trade on where the index has been heading for the previous few minutes.

That's it.

So, even though I still believe we are in for a massive correction I have to be satisfied to scalp trade.

Having made my weekly target by Tuesday I should have remained on the same path, happy to scalp a few points and would surely have made my £2000 original stake back by Friday. Instead I post today, yet again feeling stupid and humbled.

Although I am angry and frustrated with myself this episode has not put me off for one second. I know I can and will crack this but I simply have to forget about where the index is heading, if it drops to 4800 and I'm not on it so what? All I need do is scalp.

Scalp.

Scalp.

Scalp.

Pffff.

Finally, this entry will make interesting reading when I return to it in the weeks ahead.