I took profits on the Russell 2K trade. The target was 1750 but it has gotten close enough for me.
Naturally, I feel regret about the Nasdaq, SP500 and DOW trades. I looked for the exit to early. The charts were telling me to stay long and strong. Yes they reached the daily targets, but the weekly charts were telling me to let me profits run. My emotions got the best of me. Mainly being impatient. I am probably making the same mistake right now with the Russell 2000.
There is nothing worse than watching massive profits turn into losses. When you trade the futures market, your fortune can turn to misery in a few minutes. This is due to the high leverage. I am not a mechanical trader. I “felt” a correction coming. It never came. I left over 10K on the table. I wrote a list of trading rules long ago. I took another look at them today. These three jumped out at me:
Rule #11-There will always be another trade. It is better to miss a trade than to chase it.
Rule #12-Trading from my gut is a quick way to the poor house.
Rule #15-Losing trades, losing weeks, losing months and losing years will come. That’s the nature of the business. Nothing is guaranteed. If you don’t like it, don’t trade.
Rule 11 and 15 tell me to get over it. Not following rule 12 is what got me.