Weekend Trading links

Dr. Brett goes over A Few Trading Psychology Observations

I'd like to highlight a few key points I like from his post-
- Traders develop plans and trade patterns that simply don't work; they're based on randomness.
- 90% don't/can't sustain the process of keeping a substantive journal. Among the group that does journal, well over 90% of the entries are about themselves and their P/L. I almost never see journal entries devoted to figuring out markets.
-In every performance field of note--from Olympic athletics to Broadway--performers spend more time in practice than in formal performance. That is how expertise develops. The ratio of "practice" time (time spent on markets outside of trading) to trading time is a worthwhile indicator of a trader's prospective success.
Dr. Steenbargers book- Enhancing Trader Performance: Proven Strategies From the Cutting Edge of Trading Psychology (Wiley Trading)

How do traders enhance there trading skills while the market is closed?
-Record the Trading day and review it later using screen capture software like Camtasia studio or !Quick Screen Capture
-Review your charts and setups
-Back Test your strategies
-Review your past trades, look at trade frequency, share size, max drawdown, max gain
-Review the trading day with tick replay feature if your charting software provides that feature (sierra chart, NeoTicker, eSignal)
-Trade on a trading simulator if your broker has that feature (InteractiveBrokers)
-Review your trading journal to find trading mistakes you keep making, so you can focus on improving those problem areas

Drilling for trading perfection

Dr. Steenbarger is right about how elite performers are elite because of how they practice. I haven't drilled on an elite level, so why should I trade with real money against professionals. I've been trading futures for over a year, but my drilling to become better at trading has gone no-where since I started trading. Sure I study charts, look at all the indicators the world has to offer, make new rules, read up on other trading techniques, participate in trading rooms, but I have still not trained on an elite level.

So how will I train to become an elite trader?
1.I'm going to pick 1 time frame and 1 chart setup to trade off of so that I become accustomed to how it looks.
2.I'm going to save this daily chart and post it on my blog as a reference.
3.I'm going to record the time period that I trade each day using Camtasia recorder.
4.I'm going to review my recordings to look for patterns that will help me understand how to trade breakouts and when the best time to enter a trade is.
5.I'm going to view how other professional traders trade and try to learn from them by tracking there trades in chat rooms.
6.I'm going to network with other traders and share ideas and hopefully learn something.
7.I'm going to make this a routine at a set time everyday, and I'm going to look for ways to challenge myself to make the trading practice harder so that I become better.