September 8th, 2026
From August 24 through the beginning of September, I spent a lot of time refining my trading strategy. It wasn’t so much that I kept abandoning strategies—I was trying to determine which markets and approach fit me best.
Toward the end of August, I debated whether to focus exclusively on NQ or continue trading gold and oil as well. I traded multiple markets during that final week of August, but the week wasn’t very profitable.
On August 31, I decided to test trading only NQ. That day ended with a loss of roughly $800, which was extremely frustrating. What made it harder was realizing that, if I had stayed with that strategy for the entire week, I likely would have recovered the loss.
Instead, I spent the following week trading my trend-only strategy, and that also lost money. The experience reinforced how difficult it is to evaluate a strategy when I change direction before giving it enough time to play out.
Beginning September 8, I’m committing to my new NQ strategy and giving it a fair opportunity to work. I’m not going to pretend the transition has been easy—it has already been rough—but the goal now is to stay consistent enough to judge the strategy based on a meaningful sample rather than a single day or week.
Day 68 Travel Poster
September 8 was an acceptable day from a strategy standpoint, even though I lost money in actual execution. If I had followed the plan consistently, I should not have finished the day negative.
The first valid trade appeared around 8:40. Based on how I manage my two contracts, it would have produced approximately 5 points on the first contract and 17 points on the runner.
Trades two through four would have been break-even trades. Once these trades reached their initial target, I would have protected them at break-even because they began moving back in the opposite direction. These were difficult, mediocre setups, but following my management rules would have prevented them from becoming losses.
The fifth trade, at approximately 12:05, would have been a full 30-point loss. That loss was legitimate and part of the strategy.
The final trade was the critical one. I exited too early because I became uncomfortable, but the trade eventually worked. Holding it according to the plan would have recovered the earlier loss and left me profitable for the day.
The main problem was therefore not the strategy—it was my execution. My emotions caused me to leave the final trade prematurely. Going forward, I need to accept the discomfort of staying in a valid trade and allow my predetermined management rules to make the decision for me.
Total Profit: $
MNQ Chart
