CCL Trade on Oct 2, 2020 09:53 from tjmiller2001: Tradervue User Stock Trades.

CCL was on watch because it gapped down premarket and captured my attention with a strong opening drive. A previous problem for me was a fear of entering positions and putting on risk, even when strong opportunities were presented. On the bright side, I have overcome that flaw recently. However, I would like to examine my trades to see if I am overtrading now.

The first trade was fantastic. After a strong run up, CCL had pulled back and I wanted to enter near previous 1m support with the expectation of a double bottom pattern holding. My stop loevel was very clear and I entered with a 5:1 RR, one of my best ratios ever.

Yesterday, I reviewed my trades and realized that slippage was hurting me/my exits were often late. To solve this, I improved my RR standards to allow for a little slippage and still make smart trades.

Looking back on this, I entered with much less size than I should've. I bought $0.48 worth of contracts and a usual positionfor me involves $1.00-$1.50 in contracts. Just because I bought 3 contracts instead of my usual one isnt what's important here. The sum of the contracts value should hold more precedent than the # of contracts entered. This seems obvious but I wasn;t thinking of it at the time. Lesson Learned.

I exited all 3 contracts right under my take profit level. I should've focused on a scale out that involved letting 1 contract run above the level instead of getting out of all 3 so soon. I won't go broke taking winners, but if a name doesn't show weakness at my predetermined level, holding a portion of the position is a wise thing to do in the future.

My next trade was a 5:1 short near HOD. I saw a Doji candle that tapped an earlier HOD then pulled back. This was a great sign for me to get in short with a tight stop. Since I was trading 0DTE puts, I wanted to be careful and not let momentum in this name hurt me.

I got out quickly when my level was broken. Although the name immediately reversed lower, I'm proud of myself for following my rules and I am okay getting faked out here for a small loss.

The last trade on this name was a 4:1 Support buy. Although my RR was strong and I did enter at a previous spot of support, I think this was an example of overtrading and wanting to be in a position that wasn't an A+ setup. I say this because the 1m chart was making lower highs and I was eager to get long. Instead of getting long at a level that was support on the 1m, I should've looked for a more important level, like VWAP for example. This would've been less likely to break.

I was quickly red after my entry but my stop loss was acting as support. Once that level broke, I got out a little bit late but I'm not too upset with my exit fill. However, after my exit CCL was never lower than that point all day. Why? Because I got out after a hammer candle at VWAP. Normally, this would signal an A+ long entry for me. But in this circumstance, my level had already broke and I felt undisciplined adapting my plan, even though that level made much more sense. In the future, adapting a plan if the reasoning is strong should be something I allow myself to do. For now, I'm not comfortable enough with distinguishing a strong reversal signal from noise.

Very proud of my strong RR entries today, and looking to improve on setting strong levels this month. I've recently switched from a day trading to scalping mindset, expecting to be riht immediately on reversals and quick moves. I'm not upset about this neccessarility, but I'd like to get back to incorporating more trades that I let run for 30+ minutes if I see potential for an all day runner or something like that.

Lesson Learned: Set levels at places that matter, not places that seem important at the first glance. VWAP is stronger support or resistance than a level that has been touched once on the 1m chart. Enter with size, my winners could've been much bigger if I traded based on the usual $1.00 in a position instead of focusing on # of contracts purchased. Also, when entering multiple contracts, let 1 or a few of them ride the momentum. Don't be eager to sell everything into strength.

Great trading day full of lessons.