Lessons from the Pros

I’ve just joined Extended Learning Track (XLT), so I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself.

I’m an Equities Professional Trader grad. I did the course in April. Since then, I’ve been trading YM and have recently switched to NQ. I’ve attached a picture to put a face to my name.

I work full-time, until 11:00 CST every week day, so I trade in the evenings, from 13:00 to 14:30 CST, Monday to Thursday. I don’t trade Fridays.

My account is currently standing at $15.5K and I have been trading with a maximum $100 stop limit up until now, trading one contract. I have done about 50 trades and I’m up around $1000. That was all trading YM. I’m just about to fund my account by another $3K.

I know that that’s not a lot of trades for that time, but there have been many distractions and disruptions, so most of the time has been spent simulated trading, developing strategies and basic skills, familiarization with platform, execution drills, etc. On YM, I also had volatility rules that kept me out of the live market during much of the recent months, due to my max stop loss limit.

My live trading is currently on hold, since I made the switch to NQ and signed up for XLT. I don’t see any point in practicing trading my plan if I’m likely to be re-writing it in the near future. I’m focused on aligning myself with your guidance and developing a profitable trading plan along with the skills to implement it.

Once I am generating enough regular trading revenue, I plan to start dropping one afternoon a week from the day job, so that I can trade the US morning session. That will also mean that I can start attending XLT live on that day. Step by step.

For the moment, I will be picking up the sessions as recordings, although I may be able to occasionally log in from my desk and listen to the audio feed live, while I’m working on documents, etc.

I am currently reviewing the recordings from November, to get up to speed with the theory content. I’ve done the first two weeks and think that I have enough to make a start on some initial exercises, to identify levels, apply odds enhancers and try to make some simulated trades.

Because of my risk management preferences, and because I like the level of activity, I expect to be trading the one minute chart, using the wider time frames for context.

I’m really happy to be on board and looking forward to learning.

All the best,

The attached file shows the result of my third day of simulated trading, trying to identify levels and apply the three odds enhancers that I can remember.

That’s me taking 107 ticks out of NQ, between the hours of 13:00 and 14:00 CST.

With a bit more practice and study, I might be able to make a go of this

I’m thoroughly enjoying being involved in your XLT, even if I can’t participate as actively as I would like. It’s fantastic information and I’m looking forward to embedding it into my habits.

Cheers,

Having incorporated your idea on short term trading and trading breakouts and breakdowns, here is Rev 2 of my trading plan, along with my scoring spreadsheet and levels memo sheet.

My clients have agreed to me dropping an afternoon of engineering, as soon as I have got past the initial push to kick off my new projects. This will allow me to attend the XLT live from home one day a week, and trade the open. Can’t wait. I’m hoping to be able to begin that from February onwards.

Of course, as soon as I’m profitable, you’ll be the second to know.

Many thanks for your valued guidance. I’m on the brink of setting out upon a great journey. If it lives up to its promise, my life, and that of my family, will be transformed. I have just returned from a week away working in Scotland. I look forward to the day when my place of work is my spare bedroom.

Hope you’re having a great weekend.

All the best,

I wanted to give you an update on my progress. I have just finished the first week of implementing my new trading plan in simulation mode. It was disrupted by FED day on Wednesday, but basically it has been a very productive week.

I have focussed on developing analysis and execution skills in short term trading, so that I can use my available time window to grind out income which will enable me to free up time at a later date in order to develop my trading career.

When I was trading YM, it was not unusual for me to make $300 trades that lasted just a few minutes. Before I switched to NQ and went back into simulation, I had been live in the market for six weeks, had made just short of 50 trades and was about 60% up on my one contract exposure of $2500.

I have had a frustrating time during the Autumn, adjusting to trading a new instrument and trying to develop a trading strategy that fit my schedule and disposition.

One of the things that hit me at the end of this first week with my new plan was disappointment at my performance. I had three trading days. Three green days. $145, $110, $95. I constantly examine myself, my attitudes, my motivations. I realize that the theory of trading is the easy part for me and that self mastery will be the key to my success.

I was feeling despondent about my performance, compared to my returns on one contract of YM and also compared to my cost of living requirements.

I remembered that my target is not to feed my family on one contract of NQ. It is to develop the skill to capture enough market movement consistently so that I can eventually add size and generate healthy income.

A quick calculation revealed that I could exceed my current income on 3 points of ES with only 3 contracts.

I also remembered that I’m practicing on NQ to develop my skills with minimum exposure, with a view to switching to ES when my consistency warrants it. I’m not seeking a dollar return right now. I’m just aiming to capture 12 ticks. Just 60 bucks a day.

Now, when I review the first week of my new plan, I can clearly see that on every single day, I hit that little white ball way over the fence. If I repeated that every day on just 3 contracts of ES, I’d be looking at a significant pay rise. I ought to remember that I was done for the day in each of my sessions by 13:20 Chicago time. On one day, I was out of the market 2 minutes before my session was officially due to start. The trade came up, I took the bounce, job done.

So, I’m happy with the task ahead of me. For now, 60 bucks a day. One of my challenges will be to leave my target there and let it get hit, without reaching for more. I’ll focus on those simple habits. One step at a time.

I still set up my bigger levels and will take them, when relevant, of course, but this short term income trading is the key to the door that faces me right now, so it is the skill set that is most relevant to my current situation.

Many thanks for your valued guidance.

Have a good weekend,

One thing I forgot to mention, when people are looking at my plan and wishing that they could end up with something similar, I always want to remind them that it started with your five questions.

I wrote down your five questions, then I set about answering them from my own thoughts. The rest was an inevitable process of development and discovery.

Many thanks, again, for your valued support.

Cheers,

I just wanted to give you a quick update on my progress. I have had a period of consolidation, since finalizing my trading plan, where I have been settling into a good routine, practicing the skills needed to faithfully trade my plan.

Having achieved a level of performance and consistency that has met my requirements, I have now switched to live trading, as of Monday 1st June.

I’ll keep you posted as to how it progresses.

Thanks again, for your valued guidance, along with that of Steve and Michelle. The Futures XLT room is really shaping up into an excellent facility.

Have a great weekend.

All the best,

Here’s my trade log from my first day of live trading. At the weekend, I grayed out the item "Switch to live trading" on my milestones list.

Last night, I grayed out "First green day" and "First $120 day (three points)."

All the best,