I thought it through and decided to calculate based on how many USDT are in the account rather than extracting profits. I won’t talk about my realized gains. I’ll just share today’s US evening session trading recap, and thanks for your support. Currently, I’m up 50 USDT.

2026-07-17 US evening gold trading recap log

First trade:
- Background: After the data was released, gold quickly dropped from 3990 to around 3965, then continued to probe lower to 3959.
- Trade plan:
Entry: 3975 short
Stop loss: 3985
Take profit: near the 3960 prior low
- Trade execution:
Price touched 3965 twice but failed to break down decisively, then rebounded to around 3970. The market was already showing strong buy-side support at 3965, but because I was fixated on the 3960 target, I didn’t take profit early or move stop to breakeven.
After the third touch at 3965, the price surged quickly to 4003, and I was finally stopped out and exited.
- Recap summary:
The directional call was correct, but I ignored the important information that the market failed to break lower twice in a row.
- Better options:
① Take profit actively near 3965;
② Use a breakeven stop to protect profit;
③ Take profit in batches.

Second trade:
- After the first loss, emotions kicked in, and I wanted to quickly make up for the loss.
- I didn’t verify the setup with the system, and I chased a long at 3998 at market price.
- After opening, I realized I was trading on emotion and not following the trading system.
- I eventually exited near the break-even point.

Post-trade review:
- If I had strictly followed the system, the best approach would have been to wait for another confirmation near 3985 before going long, targeting around 4000.
- The biggest takeaway from this trade wasn’t technical—it was realizing that emotions were influencing my decisions.

Today’s summary:
1. The market won’t necessarily hit the target just because it’s only a few dollars away from the take-profit level.
2. Failing to make new lows two times in a row is itself a signal of short-side exhaustion.
3. Opening a position immediately after a loss is often not an opportunity—it’s emotion.
4. During trading, you should follow the system, not your emotions.

Trader reflection:
The first loss wasn’t a wrong direction. The market had already told me that short-side strength was weakening, yet I still remained fixated on the original target. The second trade didn’t lose, not because the technicals were excellent, but because I realized in time that emotions were taking over the trade.

What I’m going to do going forward is to follow the system, not my emotions.