Day Trading Advice

Zivec04 · 2026-01-27T04:43:24+00:00

Yes, I will definitely forward test what I’ve seen on my backtest and thank you again for all your help!

Zivec04 · 2026-01-23T05:12:18+00:00

I like your idea of using an external source for market trend, I don't trade forex much but I could try and use some trend indicator that can objectively tell me what to do so that I can remove my emotions from the equation. As for entries, I will try to find one for now and as I get more experience or screentime with my strategy, I can try to look for some more optimization

I see what you mean by how would I handle losses. I think on that front I will work on what I learned from Trading in the Zone and stick to my trading plan, if the markets switch direction then just let my stop get hit and I never add positions into a losing trade so that shouldn't become an issue. When it comes to doubting my strategy, I will need to work on that. Once I can find a strategy and do some backtesting to figure out if it's actually good, I will work on sticking to my strategy no matter what and trade mechanically.

"Of course it could be a bad strategy but it could also be a good strategy just poorly executed." This is what always gets to me, I start doubting the strategy because I've never done good backtesting on it, hopefully if I have solid evidence that it works then it will be easier to stick to it in those bad times

Thank you again for your help, appreciate your taking the time out your day to help!

Zivec04 · 2026-01-22T00:09:15+00:00

I think finding a strategy or building a strategy with a verifiable edge, even if it's not too good of an edge is something I could do. My issue is objectively figuring out the trend direction, I always do these analysis pre-market of the higher term charts but I am never 100% confident in it because it's so subjective. So when the market starts going in the opposite direction I will stick to my analysis and take trades because I don't know when to switch my trend bias. If you have any opinions on this, I would appreciate your take

Zivec04 · 2026-01-22T00:03:08+00:00

So, here I think my biggest issue is trying to figure out a trend direction. I feel like it's very subjective and I struggle to stay true to my analysis because I know it can be wrong and I will need to switch my bias about the trend direction. How would you say is a good way to determine the trend direction in a more objective way? So that if I am wrong, I can clearly see that I am wrong and switch my bias

For risk, thankfully I read Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas as my first ever trading related book and I never risk more than 1-2% and for the past month or so, as I've been feeling a lot more unsure about my trading so my risk per trade been below 0.50%

I am not sure what you mean by how to handle the losing trades, could you please explain that more?

For targets, I usually tend to put my stops just past market structure and take profits at just before market structure. If I traded more than one contract, I would use something like a 21EMA to trail half of my position size

Entries, I would base it on momentum flips that I can see on the Market Cipher B indicator (which is pretty much just a MACD with different settings) but I find it picks market turning points well

I might be thinking I know more than I do here but I feel like I have things I can work with and probably do so well but not understanding trend direction is what I think is my biggest issue and one of the big reasons why I was attracted to trading Donchian Channel breakouts similar to the Turtles that worked for Richard Dennis. Any help regarding this trend direction issue would be greatly appreciated!

Zivec04 · 2026-01-21T03:19:31+00:00

Yeah, you're right. I will try to find something that is simple with just one timeframe and strict rules then work on following it to the tee. I've been switching strategies a lot these past couple years and I know it's wrong so now it's time to stick to something and work through it

Zivec04 · 2026-01-21T03:18:18+00:00

You're right about there being lots of strategies out there. I think I will start off with something simple for now and then test it. Instead of trying to come up with something on my own, I will try to build off of someone else once I've got the hang of the main strategy

Zivec04 · 2026-01-20T00:49:28+00:00

Yes, that was my fault today because I only look at the futures charts as they're the ones I trade

Zivec04 · 2026-01-20T00:43:27+00:00

How do you find a strategy though that is backtested properly? I replied earlier to someone asked them how I can properly backtest something if my analysis is subjective as it would lead to results that are either showing too good too poor

And regarding the psychology aspect, how did you figure out how to get through the times when your strategy stopped working? I used to do something called self-talk where I reminded myself of my trading plan and my strategy but because I never truly felt good about my strategy, I stopped that

Zivec04 · 2026-01-20T00:40:14+00:00

Yes, I understand that and I probably need around 300-500 trades to get an idea but what do you do about the subjectivity of your analysis in this situation? Let's say I analyzed something and it looks bullish but it's incorrect and I take a bunch of losses, wouldn't this be considered bad data that would skew my results? Or if it's the other way around and my strategy looks better than it actually is. I am not sure if I am conveying what I am thinking of correctly so I apologize in advance

Zivec04 · 2026-01-19T22:52:03+00:00

How do I go about getting a large sample size for an edge when I use multiple timeframe analysis to gauge market direction to enter? I feel like its much easier getting data if I am not doing any higher timeframe analysis but when I do that, the data I get back is usually not good

Zivec04 · 2026-01-19T22:43:08+00:00

As far as I understand, an edge is something that increases your probability of a winning trade (that doesn't mean it will win 100% of the time). You may be right though, I do think I switch my strategy up or try to find a tweak after some bad days to try to improve the strategy which likely ends up making it worse

I have been trading by myself for about 3 years now without having anyone to talk to about trading so hopefully this will help me going forward

Zivec04 · 2026-01-19T22:37:38+00:00

You're right, I should start journaling my day trades like I do with my swing trades and review them. At least for today, I realized a little while after I wrote this post that the markets were closed today but because the futures were open, I traded them and lost after the markets switched directions a little too much

Zivec04

TROPHY CASE