So, How did you trade today?

…So a follower asked me today: “How did you trade today?  Were you profitable?” 

My gut reaction was to respond with a yes or no answer, but after a moment I realized how quick traders are to fall into a trap.   Let me explain:

The initial part of the question asks how I traded today.  A good trading day is one in which I follow my well thought out and researched trade plan.  This includes all setups, entries, and specific exit strategies.  This plan is 100% formulated before the trade is placed each and every time.  There is not a situation in which I do not know how the trade will go, it is a finite series of “if – then” statements.  I may not know which path of “if – then” statements will be executed, but do know the probabilities of each one.  The plan is researched to the degree that I know, statistically, what percentage of these trades will be profitable, IF AND ONLY IF the trade plan researched and documented is followed to the letter.  Any deviation throws all the research and likely the entire plan out the window.  We should never be figuring out a trade plan while trading, this is too late!  So the question of how I traded is answered by how well I followed my plan, not if they were profitable or not.  So if the researched and documented trade plan is deemed to be profitable over some period of time then the question of profitability after one or two trades or one or two days is moot because I know if I follow my plan that there is a high likelihood that profits will be the inevitable outcome. 

So to answer the follower’s questions:

“I traded excellent today, thank you!” ;)

Good Trades,

Trader Joe

eminiedge.com

https://www.eminiedge.com/trading-blog/todays-setups-and-real-time-trade