Excellent summary of a crazy week. We're in a minefield war zone here. Trading has become like tip-toeing into an unknown quagmire.

I kept telling myself "the odds are in my favor", but the heat hasn't been letting all trades work out that way. I'm going into this next week with a list of written goals to keep next to my screen:

1) Wait until the opening 30-min high/low shows the way. (Don't ascribe that to gospel if the VIX & ATR are continuing erratic behavior).

2) Beware of "news" tweets, and ignore the network/email "talking heads". Insider info just prior to spikes, or the opening bell can rip my account to shreds without acceptable stops pre-set.

3) Start with reasonable contract allocation for the first trade (while my mind is adequately caffeinated). Win that, take a break before the next. Lose that and lower the number of contracts.
Lose two in a row, go do something else for awhile. Lose another that - call it a day, pick up your marbles, and go home.

4) Hit my goal of 30-50 handles, call it a day and book those gains for that account.

5) As well, I'll take your advice and start trading my Trading View Paper (SIM) account with the /NQ. All the better not to let the big numbers be intimidating.

Paraphrasing some inspirational quotes I've collected:

"Kid the key is, just to stay alive. Stay in the game.” - Brad Jack, (Lehman Brothers Trading Manager), speaking to Enrique Abeyta (Paradigm Press) in 1993

“95% of the trading errors you are likely to make will stem from your attitudes about being wrong, losing money, missing out, and leaving money on the table. The four trading fears.

"Because in trading, our mindset shows up in our mechanics.

"If we hate being wrong, we don’t cut losses.

"If we fear missing out, we chase bad entries.

"If we always want more, we fail to take profit." - Attributed to Mark Douglas

As always, thank you for an excellent, and profitable system from your years of studying the markets. Now, I just have to learn to drive with it, and work my way up to becoming a pro "NASCAR league" trader.

~ Jeff