+26.5 Points – The Trading Week in Review – June 20th to 24th
This week was a bit hit or miss in terms of daily opportunity, but were those hits ever great! Wednesday and Friday both had some excellent swings with phenomenal results so it didn't bother me much that I didn't even try a trade on the Thursday when the Brexit vote was to take place. As it turns out, Monday was also a solid day that would have had some points available had I traded it so we pretty much flip-flopped during the week between great days and slow ones.
That's one of the realities of trading though as not every day is going to offer tons of quality trading opportunities or bundles of points so it's always beneficial to take advantage when you can. Had I only aimed for 2 or 3 points a day I would have really limited myself when the markets were moving well and there was no reason to stop trading as soon as I banked my first few points.
It's probably worth pointing out that although Friday was a fantastic day it was also one that was a bit more geared towards experienced traders. If you're new to day trading the Emini S&P 500 and haven't been through volatility like that before then it's probably best to just watch and learn as mistakes can be made and the rapid price action often leads to emotional decision-making and less than optimal results.
That said, if it's not your first rodeo there's a lot to be happy about with a day like Friday. In some cases high volatility days are going to mean a higher loss rate and a larger average loss but usually you can more than make that up with larger wins. Price swings were large so as you will see in the recap video I pretty much started looking for 5 point winners by default (with only 1.25 points of max risk) and while I only caught one of those I still saw a number of larger wins which really made for a fantastic day in the markets!
If there's one thing to remember it's that price is king and the market is always right. That means adapting to market conditions is paramount instead of trying to impose your will on the market in the hope that your desired outcome will come through. So in my case this meant that while I was looking for big wins I was also careful not to give up the profits I had by locking in trailing stops or by getting out of trades as momentum faded and price consolidated. I just went with the flow of the market, didn't try to fight the waves, and was rewarded for it.
Most people can understand that this adaptable trading approach is a smart way to trade but few are able to put their ego aside and cede control to the market. Losing traders try to hold big winners for even more profit thanks to greed (and usually get a break-even trade as a result), expand or remove stops because they don't believe they can possibly be wrong, or take revenge trades following losses in order to "force" the market to see things their way.
For a trader, learning to let go of that need to be right is a huge step towards consistent profitability. Those who come to realise that the market can do anything at any time are the ones who succeed, because they also know they can adapt as conditions shift to take advantage of a wide variety of market conditions.
- Strike While The Iron is Hot - March 1, 2021
- The Path to Becoming a Full Time Trader - February 22, 2021
- Looking to 2021 and Beyond - January 20, 2021
Super day Cody! I know these are unusual but boy don’t they feel great when they come.
Thanks, Oliver! No doubt it was an unusual one to have that kind of profit in only three days but as you say, sometimes it can happen. Of course the other side of the coin sometimes comes up too where you trade more during the week without as much to show for it but with a good expectancy the edge should still play out favourably. Hope you had a great week too!