Although entry requirements were met in terms of weekly 3SMA touch with IQM, there were weaknesses. Weaknesses that I knew at the time, but just couldn't face. The H1 IQM was weak thanks to a marginal lower low, there was no trend line support, and the H4 gartley's PRZ had been blown right through with a very bearish candle. It was the price action immediately after this candle that sucked me in, retracing sharply in a "V" like matter and creating an m5 IQM.
I thought the bottom was in, that the bearish candle was just stops getting filled and it was time to pay up. I bought 1.2625 without a small time frame pattern and outside prescribed entry times. I reasoned that I would have been set at these levels had I been watching over London, which is true, but it's bending the rules...a slippery slope. I bought out of hours, it was wrong, and I'm upset about the lapse of discipline.
Honestly, I feel my discipline is at risk. I've taken it for granted as I haven't erred for so long, but with a change of jobs there have been a number of changes to my routine lately, so I must be diligent. I'll continue to work on discipline outside of trading to ensure I can be trusted in the market, and I'm confident I'll nip the danger in the bud now that I've addressed it.
The lapse on entry and general concerns over the setup created anxiety. I never felt comfortable with the trade, but wasn't good enough to recognise I'd made a mistake and cut the position. Generally, if I'm satisfied with a setup, I'm relaxed and and fatalistic the outcome. I need to recognise the difference between these two feelings, and use them to inform me if I am in a valid trade.
Although the trade basically went against me from the outset, there were a number of opportunities to exit at break even or for a small gain, but when these opportunities arose I thought everything was going to be just fine lol and my anxiety was just jumping at shadows. Dumb.
After an agonising 24 hours, I eventually stopped out at 1.2582. Taking a loss on a marginal trade really hurts.To be fair, I avoided a lot of bad trades in the weeks since my last trade, but I really lost concentration here. I need to build a better case, and stop kidding myself about an opportunities' weaknesses. It's amazing how readily one can indulge in denial, humans are very good at it.
