Monday 05/18/09 - Knowledge Alone is Insufficient

Execution is key. Simply "knowing" what to do is not enough. For example, I've been anticipating the 876 level to serve as support and noted the following in Friday's post: "Price still within bullish channel, and 876 low from 05/04/09 was held today." I also recognized that the trend was clearly up today, and that I should be buying the dips, yet when it came time to execute, I continued entering short positions all day, which resulted in a -5.50 pt loss. I was confused with the price action for better part of the day since price would shoot up, and then consolidate for what seemed like an eternity. Most of my break-even trades went 5-7 ticks in my favor but I tried being patient and holding for larger gains, but that didn't work out for me. I realized I was taking counter-trend trades, and that I should just bail for +6 ticks but again, even though I knew what I "should" be doing, I failed to act on the information and continued holding for larger gains which never materialized. Not much else to say except I'll try to do better tomorrow. Stats:

# of Trades	24
Longs	4
Shorts	20
% Break-Even:	41.67
% Win	8.33
% Loss	50.00
Avg Win	2.00
Avg Loss	-0.79
Largest Win (pts)	3.00
Largest Loss (pts)	-1.75
Total Win (pts)	4.00
Total Loss (pts)	-9.50
Net Gain/Loss (pts)	-5.50
ES Daily Range	19.75
P/L as % of Daily Range	-27.85

Housing Starts data released at 7:30 AM (central) tomorrow, along with Redbook at 7:55 AM. Looking for the 887-895 area to hold as support; 910-915 as resistance.

ES/$TICK (3-Min) - Open Gap at 882.50


ES (Daily) - 876 level held as support. Price still within bullish channel.