Day Trading Online Routine

Friday, Jul 06, 2007

Day Trading Online Routine

By BoomerX65

Friday, Jul 06, 2007 09:55

My original intention on this entry was to cover some of the setups that we have been using lately on the YM, but I received a great request via the Discussion Forum about how one goes about juggling a full-time job and trading 5 days a week, so I am going to share with you what my typical day looks like. Here is how my day begins . . . .All times are Eastern Standard: 7:00AM -- Rise and Shine! - The first thing I do is check the YM, ES & NQ markets for any gaps up or down and observe where support and resistance has occurred in the overnight session. After this, I begin compiling the information for the morning "YM Observations" report. This takes the better part of 90 minutes or more and gives me a goal of posting the data between 8:30AM & 9:00AM 8:30AM -- Depending on the pre-market news event, I often take my first trade of the day here after a direction is determined. 8:45AM -- Time to hit the shower&..I know it's gross to some to not shower when I first get up, but it just doesn't work for me. I shower at 8:45, that's my routine :) 9:00AM -- Time to make all organic fruit & veggie smoothie! I love these things as they provide an explosion of nutrition consisting of coconut water & the flesh/meat of the coconut, ½ of fresh pineapple, fresh squeezed juice from 1 or 2 oranges, 2 to 3 stalks of celery, 3 to 5 leaves of kale, a nice chunk of ginger root, and several ice cubes. All of this gets tossed into a high speed commercial blender and reduced to liquid in about 30 seconds. Of course I vary the recipe from time to time with blueberries, raspberries, spinach, bok choy and other fruits and veggies, but the one listed above is my favorite. So why this, you say? Because it's alive! It is vibrant sun food! It is loaded with living and natural enzymes, vitamins and minerals. In short, it provides me with real and sustainable energy for the trading session. A far cry from the run through McDonalds that I used to do right before the 10:30AM reversal time&&"Welcome to McDonald's, may I take your order please?" . . . . "You sure can, I'll take a sausage biscuit with egg, an order of hot cakes only and medium coke" . . . "Does this complete your order?" Unfortunately it did. It's hard to believe that this was my routine just a few short months ago. Now I am 35 pounds lighter, doing cardio work 4 days a week, and eating healthy. What a difference it has made in my ability to focus and remain alert throughout the trading session. Ok, enough about that&..if anyone would like to know more, let me know and I will be glad to discuss the advantages of feasting on fresh raw fruits & veggies instead of lifeless, toxic junk food. I recommend reading JC's contribution here as well on pages 364-367 of Mastering the Trade. 9:25AM -- I am at my desk now and prepared to mark my charts with the pre-market high and lows and to review the first setups that I will most likely be taking after the bell rings. Speaking of ringing, at this time I also turn my cell phone to vibrate. 9:30AM to 9:35AM -- This is an observation only time as I do not prefer to trade this often volatile and choppy period. I take this time to note whether we opened above or below yesterday's closing price, as well as the Central Pivot and the 200 bar EMA. 9:35AM to 9:55AM -- This is where I usually take my first trade of the day. It is usually a pivot fade or a gap close bounce. 9:55AM to 10:05AM -- If there is a news release at 10:00AM, I sit on the sidelines to allow the market to absorb the news before we resume trading. The same thing applies with 10:25AM to 10:35AM on pending news days. I also use this time to record the first 30 minutes of volume on the ES & NQ as well as the range on the YM. 10:30AM -- I mark the 1st hour high and low on my charts 10:30AM to 11:30AM -- This is usually the time of day when we get a shot at fading the 1st hour high or low as well as a potential setup for the Value Areas. 11:30AM to 2:00PM -- On low volume, choppy days, this is strictly a scalper trade zone or sometimes just a No-Fly/No-Trade Zone for me as it is just too light of volume to justify the risk. 2:30PM to 10:00PM -- This is my regular work schedule on Monday's, Thursday's & Fridays. Obviously, I am not able to trade during this time. I also work my regular job on Saturday's and Sunday's.......Tuesday's and Wednesdays are my days off, which allows me to trade up until 3:30PM. 10:00PM to Midnight -- I take this time to critique the trades I took today, to review the closing bell data and to prepare the YM Key Numbers report for the next trading session. So there you have it&.that's what my typical day looks like. It may seem a little hectic or busy or perhaps even long or boring, but it's just like factory work to me now. I manage my day by the clock.. 7:00AM to midnight is a long day though, holy cow! That must be why I fall asleep as soon I as hit the pillow :) Speaking of hitting the pillow, it is now 11:45PM here in Florida and I need to get a few hours of sleep before catching an early flight to Columbus, Ohio for the weekend and then it's off to Canada for a vacation from Calgary to Vancouver via train. I have never been on a train before, so this should be a great experience. Now if all of the various members of our family can actually get along for 12 days together, it will be a miracle indeed. That's all for now&.I will be back in the States on July 19 and ready for action again on July 20th. If time permits, I will try to submit a few posts while I am out of town too. Good luck trading everyone!