Monday, March 9, 2009

Monday Notes - Blind Squirrel Stuff

3:45pm There's just something about Monday mornings that I hate, and I traded today's morning session worse than a rookie watching three fast balls sail over the heart of the plate as my head just wasn't yet into the rhythm ... despite one of my favorite opening sequences (gap down to prior day support after a monster closing trend) that I would normally be all over.

At so it was that I sliced and diced my way to a nice morning draw before finally aligning my brain to the the beat of the market (instead of to the beat of whatever was going on in my head) from -- ironically -- 12:30pm - 1:30pm. I say ironically, because that's when trading opportunities are often at their poorest ... yet the small bull traps with downside extension potential were enough for me to give it one more go to try to get with the program, and it was enough to allow me to turn the day into a modest, yet much-improved +$8K chip gain. Note the day's scorecard pretty much reflects an average of the entire day ... I could easily have scored everything red in the morning session.

From that point, it was pretty much stay on the sidelines for the rest of the session, aside from providing some light afternoon liquidity after getting back in rhythm.

So whether it was (1) adjusting to the time change, (2) recovering from a weekend where I pretty much shut my trading brain down after Saturday's post (note I didn't post on Sunday ... which is a rarity) and spent some quality time with my family (oldest daughter home from college), or (3) the subconscious effect of a rather large weekend purchase (remember the story of my car Grace!), the motor was misfiring.

Fortunately, there's always another bus around the corner, as well as probability that eventually you'll find your game.

And as Art Cashin says, "Even a blind squirrel can find an acorn every now and then."

I'd simply add if you can't find one ... keep looking until you do.

The only other option is to go without food.

6 comments:

Charles said...

Hey Don, sounds like you had an enjoyable weekend...good for you my man.

I was just looking at your tradestation screenshot from what looks like sept '08...and I was also considering what you said in your TM interview about the importance of traders "reinventing" themselves(makes alot of sense, as the mkt seems to do the same thing in a way), and was wondering...are you still using the same basic chart setups(besides just switching to Esig) today, or have you "evolved" and made any changes since then?

thanks, and may you continue to evolve,

charles

Charles said...

(meant to put this in my 1st comment, sorry)

Also, are you still using "three line break", and how? is it a chart feature/analysis tech. in tradestation?

(if you ain't got the time/desire to answer, no worries mate)

Unknown said...

I know I am a couple of hours early, Don, but Happy Birthday my friend.

Thank you for being there every day, giving of yourself freely.

May your journey continue for many, many more decades to come!

I'm sure that at least a few of your blog readers will also achieve a level of success over time, at least in part thanks to the time you have decided to share with all of us.

Hopefully, one or two of us will decide to "pay it forward" by sharing our own success with others when the time comes.

Have a great day Don.


Mike P.

Don Miller said...

Charles -

Yes, I'm pretty much using the same setup as I have for years.

I did add the TICK, VIX, and 3-Line-Break (3LB) indicators over time, but purely as supplemental confirming indicators (meaning I could trade without them if needed) as most of my focus remains on "standard" price charts.

Re: 3LB, ESignal includes it as one of their basic chart choices, while Tradestation doesn't. I do recall years ago experimenting with someone else's attempt at programming a TS chart, but didn't like it. You might be able to get more updated info via a Google search for "Tradestation three line break".

Of all my indicators, it's the one I probably use the least and is most helpful on trend days.

Don

Don Miller said...

Mike -

Thanks. Another year older and "hopefully" another year wiser as the lessons never end :-).

Don

MACDOW said...

Happy birthday Don

I hope your rather large purchase was a Ferrari :)

Have a great day.
David