Day 1 recap and thoughts

Well the selling did continue which I was prepared for but not my primary hypothesis. I did, however, stick to my plan and shorted $SPY via puts once price failed to push above prior LVN/range. As I was expecting a smaller range day I scaled out of the puts rather quickly but allowing the runners to run to my predefined targets. I ended up re-shorting for the second push/flush as I believed the market looked weak at that time. Very happy with the execution of the shorts, my scaling and holding for my targets although I probably should have been less conservative with my scales once I could see that a move was happening.

Being a great trader requires one to follow a preset plan without deviating. At least that is what is said by the pros, sort of like a pilot does during preflight, roll out, take off etc... Lots of checklists and procedure to go through that after a while just becomes habit.

I mention this for three reasons.

1. A reminder to myself that my goal is to make my plan a pure habit
2. To reinforce the uselessness of impulsive clicking
3. To scold myself for the fuck up I'm about to explain

I bottom fished, and added to it. This is something I have done previously and said I would avoid doing. Big fucking strike against myself for this one because frankly it is just not professional and 99% of the time is an impulsive reaction. I'm sure the time will come when doing it won't be impulsive but a deeply ingrained habit based upon years of experience but we're not there yet.

Fortunately I did scale out and didn't get hit too hard on the remainder but I know from prior experience how fatal this can be to one's capital. The fact that I added though is unacceptable even though it allowed me to exit with less of a loss. Yes, I timed the add but failed to execute properly. Should probably make a plan for that once I have more experience but a no no for the foreseeable future.

A couple of my long swings also got stopped out. Not really surprised but probably should have been a little more aggressive about exiting prior to my stops being hit given the type of day that was panning out. I'm going to be taking far fewer equity swing trades going forward. They often tend to distract me from day trading and add an additional level of stress.

Down a little today, less than max loss. Not awful considering I had swings stopped out but would have been a slightly profitable day had I not been impulsive with the add to the long instead of taking the stop. Greed and fear bitches.

Obviously going forward I need to manage myself extremely well in terms of gtfo of a trade that is counter trend and failing, or simply not take them. Unsure of the correct approach to proceed with as counter trend trades can often rip in your direction very quickly and a trade that gets scales is less stressful and less likely to messed with.

Stuff to ponder over this weekend and add to my trading plan.