So far so good. I credit a lot of that with my broker, Optimus. I traded 10 contracts in Cl with them a few years ago for a very short period of time and got great fills.. even with that much. Then I did some dumb things..lost quite a bit of money..and decided to start over at 1 contract untill I really felt I knew what I was doing. Hopefully things will go better this time as I work my way back up.
Failure is not an option
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Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
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When trading futures, your fills are on a centralized marketplace and should not vary from one broker to another. The only thing that changes on the broker side would be the risk assessment prior to allowing the order to be submitted to the exchange, and it is usually measured in nanoseconds.
You can credit the broker for service, you can even credit them for data if they have their own FCM gateway server, but you shouldn't credit them for fills. This isn't Forex!
Amongst the many things that differentiate one broker from another, the choice of software offered by a broker for use by its account holders cannot be underestimated. Yes the time taken to perform a pre-trade risk assessment is generally insignificant, but it is the total time taken by the software from receipt of an order to its release to the exchange that is often the difference between profit and loss.
Traders who maintain accounts with brokers who are sensitive to the differences in software and offer the use of the faster platforms may find that they do, in fact, get better fills.
Matt
Optimus Futures
There is a risk of loss in futures trading. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Trading futures and options involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. You may lose more than your initial investment. All posts are opinions and do not claim to be facts. Please conduct your own due diligence. Use only Risk capital when trading Futures.
1 800 771 6748 local 561 367 8686 email support@OptimusFutures.com
The following 2 users say Thank You to mattz for this post:
This is the final recap for my two week experiment in transparency. It was a little bit stressful..knowing I was going to "put myself out there" and show these videos of my recorded sessions. But I wanted to stick to my commitment to post them..regardless if I failed or succeeded.
Failure is not an option
The following 14 users say Thank You to lancelottrader for this post:
I watch your video each time and I found that very interesting. You are a good trader and keep up the nice work.
I'm happy for you that your transition for 5 contracts work well.
So I'm interested to see more video and by the fact like you said I think it a good learning process to stay on the good path to fallow your rule. I think if the temptation of breaking your rules come back, and you know you have to show us the video, you will will think twice before doing it
Congrat for your success
When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you will be successful
-Eric Thomas
The following user says Thank You to Dervakon for this post:
first post and i have been a long time lurker. I want to thank you for your videos and i do appreciate them and watch every video. It just demonstrates that there are different styles of traders that can achieve success if you follow your rules which you define. It takes guts to show your losses and your mistakes on video and discuss why you took the trades. I hope you continue to make the videos because i learn something new each session. My hats off to you and i wish you much future success!
-Pivotaltrader
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I came into the day only needing about 5 ticks to hit my minimum 60 tick weekly goal. I wasn't planning on trading unless I felt there were some pretty good setups. Won 10 ticks on first trade. Scratched the 2nd trade and won another 10 on the 3rd trade. So finished up +75 ticks on the week after commissions. Charts are below.
Failure is not an option
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Today is the type of day when you have to be more agressive and really try to extract as much as you can from the market. It became very obvious early on that Cl was in a huge uptrend.
This is a day where you have to go for bigger targets and forget about 10 tick scalps...and weekly goals. You don't get days like this too often. You just ride out the swings..wait for nice pullbacks and hop back aboard the train. I had a great day.
It also made me realize how important it is to adjust your strategy for what type of conditions you get. Some days the best way to play the market is to wait for price to fail at support and resistance and play little reverse scalps. Oil often respects these areas and tips it's hand when it is going to fail. Other days you can get extended periods where price moves randomly and is noisy. I try to stay out unless I see a real change in price action.
So, to me..the number one thing is to try and ascertain as early in the session as possible what type of conditions are underway..and if we are in a consolidation phase, the early stage of a reversal..or a pullback. This is one of the reasons every 5 minutes or so, I will scribble on a notebook what type of conditions the market is in. The more I describe the prevailing price movement by speaking out loud or in writing, the more in tune I get. If I rely on my silent thoughts, I don't seem to do as well. Maybe it's my ADHD (I think I have it, although I haven't bothered to get diagnosed)..but I am way more focused by articulating what I think the market is doing.
I have also resumed SIM trading Gold. My setups and system work well on it when there is some volatility. If I continue to do well, I will go live with that in the near future..along with my Cl trading.
Failure is not an option
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I'm currently trading 8 different markets. I personally stay away from gold because it seems to have flash crashes too frequently. For example, take a look at the 7/19/15 intraday chart of gold.
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I saw that chart..pretty crazy! I've traded it off and on for while..so I've seen it do a lot of extremely sharp, fast moves. I'm just monitoring it again. I probably won't go live with it unless I get some consistent results. Thanks for the heads up.
Failure is not an option
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In this video, I talk about the biggest problem I have tried to overcome in my trading. It deals with psychological issues that I'm sure many other traders experience as well.
Failure is not an option
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Unbelievable strength in Oil today. I did well..but left a lot of money on the table. I had several opportunities I didn't take because I was way up on the day..and didn't want to give anything back. That's an amateur mindset. If the market is offering these kind of moves..you have to keep taking them. This could have been a 100-150 tick day easily and I settled for 55 ticks.
Failure is not an option
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Actually, not trading very well today. I've made a few good trades..but too many poor ones. Even worse, I failed to follow my rules and entry criteria a few times. I shouldn't be still making mistakes like that at this point. Anyhow, about 20 ticks down right now. I was worse earlier.
I wanted to share an entry I made from my personal trade journal I keep. This was after a few weeks of poor performance. If any of you are going through a period like this, I think you will relate to how I was feeling. Since I am seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, I am glad I hung in there. Here it is:
It is the end of August 2014, and I am not sure if I should continue my trading endeavor. I am extremely depressed. I have put everything into this. I have spent the last several years trying everything I can to master this. I have several good weeks in a row...but then I still can't seem to handle the choppy, chaotic days. I know my system works best in certain market conditions but I seem unable to stop myself from trading..even when those conditions don't exist. This week I failed to even honor my maximum daily drawdown. My reasoning at the moment was, "Why should I stop trading just because I'm down 40 ticks or so..If I'm really as good as I think, then I should just keep taking all good setups." I finally stopped after being down 100 ticks. All my rules went out the window..stopped announcing my setups, stopped doing my pre-trade checklist..everything! If I can't control myself any better than this, I have to stop! As they say, this won't end well. Although I feel I have some good skills, my psychology is probably not suited for this. I'm starting to wish I had never gone into this. Trading is not my thing, obviously. I know I have to give this up and it is making me incredibly sad. What's really pathetic is that I think I really know how to trade well, but I always have these days when I do something extremely stupid...or maybe i should say ..INSANE!! I really think I have to quit and I need to figure out something else to do. This has gone on too long.
Failure is not an option
The following 20 users say Thank You to lancelottrader for this post:
Because what you have write is the same thing I'm going thru now. This post is exactly what I feel about trading. I don't want to give up because I near the goal. I just miss something... the funny thing is we're at the end of August 2015
Now that your're successful what was your turning point to becoming consistent ?
What is the process you did to overcome all your bad behavior
Thanks again
When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you will be successful
-Eric Thomas
The following 3 users say Thank You to Dervakon for this post:
I'm sorry you are going through a similar issue. I know how depressing it can be. I think if you saw my video from August 29 on the previous page of this thread, I explain some of the things I did to overcome my issues.
Another thing I did was to try and do a vocal commentary (almost like I was conducting a trade room) where I describe at all times what price is doing and what possible setups are occurring. Before I could take an entry I had to quickly announce the name of the setup (I have about 4 different setups with specific names), my potential target and stop...and quickly list any valid reasons for not taking the trade. These reasons may be: choppy price action, support or resistance in the way of target, insufficient volume and momentum, possible news event about to come out, or price having moved to far already from a good entry...etc. By saying these things out loud, it helped me in two ways. One's thoughts and emotions can get jumbled while watching price move.. and by stating entries out loud, you can have better focus and control. Also, when I reviewed my trade recordings, I could actually hear my reasons for taking a trade, instead of guessing what I was thinking. I don't know if doing this would help most people, but for my type of brain, it definitely helped me.
Good luck with your trading.
Failure is not an option
The following 7 users say Thank You to lancelottrader for this post:
This is very much appreciated. There are lots of use hiding out there the bushes and do not want to be seen or heard, just of fear of being told we are not good at trading and we better get ourselves a true PHYSICAL job. By that I mean work for some one else, get up in the morning and go to work, drive in the traffic, deal with some demanding employer / boss...etc... I just had the same thoughts you had in August of last year. But I am starting to turn the corner. Watching your recent video was also a great encouragement. Thanks again.
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The original name of this thread was, "How I catch runners on Cl and TF". I recently changed it since I hadn't traded TF in a couple of years. I have been looking at it lately and reviewed a few months of charts. I had forgotten how well that it often moves and that my system works very well on it.
I also have come to the conclusion that exclusively trading Cl isn't probably the best course of action for me. There are days when the price action almost guarantees every trade I take will be a loser, but since I haven't been focusing on any other instruments..I get tempted into less than optimal trades. I tried for a while SIM trading NQ..but the point value being half of CL would mean double the contracts to get the same profit per tick. I'm not a huge fan of the ES .
I took some live trades on TF today and did well. I used a small contract size since I haven't traded it in a while. I may try this for the next couple of weeks. If CL is behaving in an erratic manner on a particular day, it would be nice to have an alternative instrument to trade. However, watching two instruments at one time is usually the most I will do. For my type of entries..too many instruments would be counterproductive .
I don't want to change things too much since I have been getting pretty good results. However I could possibly have even better results if I have the opportunity to trade two instruments and wait untill one of them is showing the type of market conditions that I know works for my system.
Failure is not an option
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Here's basically what my charts look like spread over two monitors. On the right side I have my 2 range entry charts and on the left, I have the instruments viewed in higher timeframes.
After plotting all relevant price levels and putting together a trade plan, I watch a maximum of three instruments . Right now, my main focus is still Cl..but I am also watching GC and TF. I have decided to only trade CL live this week..but if SIM trading on the other instruments shows good results, I will go live soon with them as well.
Even though I have been doing well with CL, I feel I have the ability to trade these other instruments also. I specialize in markets that are moving with momentum and if there is a long patch where CL is slow..or choppy , it makes sense to take advantage of something else if it is moving. At any given moment, I only want the best setups..in terms of volatility and price action setups. I am very good at recognizing those moments and capitalizing on them. My problem has been not being patient enough to only trade those moments. When watching only one instrument, there can be numerous temptations that are sub optimal.
Today, the markets weren't extremely strong..but I was still able to make close to 40 ticks on Cl..and on SIM between Gold and TF , I made about 58 ticks. Also, I only traded one instrument at a time. I assume I'll be at full leverage on all instruments, so I will only go in one instrument at a time. So, I stuck to that premise today..even though I was on SIM for TF and GC.
I use price alerts a lot. If I am looking at an instrument, I will set price alerts at possible entry areas before looking at another instrument. This way, if my attention is diverted for even a brief moment I will have an audible alert. This will help with not missing a good move if several markets get active simultaneously.
I felt trading this way today kept me very focused. Sometimes, if I'm watching only Crude and nothing is happening..my attention can drift. But everything is still the same...all trades are announced and checklisted.
I'll know for sure by the end of this week if trading multiple instruments works better for me than only trading CL.
Failure is not an option
The following 7 users say Thank You to lancelottrader for this post:
Thanks for the link. I downloaded the indicator and applied it to a few charts. Honestly, though..I don't think it will be something I will use. ...especially since none of the colors and lines mean anything to me. I really don't see any point in changing anything up. However, I sincerely appreciate you giving me the link.
I am finding some success trading TF and GC along with Cl. It has taken a little adjustment in getting used to the different ways these instruments move . The most consistent trades for me are always the one's that have real strength behind them.
TF is a little trickier to time in since you don't always get the same type of retracements as Oil. Often when Oil makes a fresh reversal and the volatilty picks up, there is usually a small pullback opportunity to be had. You get the strong first impulse wave and then you can get the 2nd wave moves very consistently.
TF can make a move and then travel in a fairly vertical manner without any real pullback. So, if the volume is there, there are some nice runners to be had...but you have to catch the move early on. If not, you end up waiting for a pullback that never comes. The good news is that you can enter slightly late and not have price suddenly back up on you 10 or 15 ticks..like it often does with oil. With oil, you have to be meticulous with your timing or else you need to drastically widen your stop (which I seldom do.)
Gold can spend huge amounts of time doing nothing, and then suddenly take off. Kind of reminds me of my pet monitor lizard (in the pic below.) lol
Today's Gold chart shows why I am happy I have been keeping my eye on it. I hit my live CL goal already this week, so trading it tommorow is optional. I will SIM practice either way on TF and GC . I hope to go live with them very soon.
Failure is not an option
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Ok..some of you may have watched the video I posted yesterday and thought, "This guy has really flipped out." Yes, I admit the video is quite absurd...but there's a reason for that.
A few days back, I was in the midst of having a trade hit my stop..and my girlfriend apparently was watching me from outside my office. She said, "You should see your face right now. You look like you are about to get killed or something."
It made me realize how strong I react emotionally when I am taking a loss. I definitely feel my adrenaline start to surge. Now with more contracts, the reaction is even stronger.
One thing I have always done is try to find solutions to my trading issues...even if they are unconventional. Sometimes you have to do some strange things to interrupt your pattern. So as I mention in the video, I now smile (and sometimes laugh a bit) as my stop is getting hit. Believe it or not, this seems to derail the whole anger/adrenaline problem I get from losing a trade.
I have the confidence of knowing if I follow my system and all it's steps 100%, I can hit my goals virtually every week. The steps are :
1. Doing my research and putting together a basic trading plan for the day before the markets open.
2. Doing a constant verbal commentary on the state of the market and describing several "what if scenarios."
3. Announcing the type of setup before entering a trade ( a rare exception is an extreme sudden momentum move where I need to enter immediately).
4. Doing a quick checklist before taking a trade to see if there are any valid reasons not to enter.
5. After two consecutive losses, taking a brief timeout. I then regroup , assess my emotional state and re-examine my trade plan and market conditions.
6. If I hit my max daily drawdown, I must shut down my platform and P.C.s. If necessary, place my modem in a special safe I have that will only open after a programmed time has elapsed.
If all these steps are done, I know I will be consistently profitable. If I skip any of the steps, then it is likely I end up like the majority of traders who are not profitable.
Failure is not an option
The following 9 users say Thank You to lancelottrader for this post:
Lance, I hope you are doing well. I thought I would share my results from September with you. I am starting to try and build some statistics around my trading style and edge to discover finer edges for improvement. Any thoughts are welcome. Cheers Michael (BlueRoo)
The following 3 users say Thank You to BlueRoo for this post:
Hi there. These appear to be very impressive results. Your win ratio is extremely good. Perhaps you could share some of your method and rules..if you are comfortable with that .
But yes, it looks like you are doing great. Thanks for showing this.
Failure is not an option
The following user says Thank You to lancelottrader for this post:
Lance, Yes the win rate is good. I put that down to being patient. My R:R could improve and some of my entry and exit errors as well as psychology. Working to improve. Here is a graphic of the main setup. Simple price crossover...with second average confirmation. "If price crosses the vein in favour of the spine enter at the value of the vein or on the confirmation bar."
A little update. I have continued to hit my weekly goal the last several weeks. As far as trading TF with Oil, I have not transitioned to live trading 100% on TF. I have taken some live trades with it. There are days where it does get into the type of conditions I can recognize and do well with.
However, I realize my expertise is with Cl. I understand how it moves and I know what my charts look like when it is the ideal time to trade it. The reason of course is that I have traded it, almost exclusively for the last three or four years. I am still going to keep watching TF as well for a few more weeks. There are volatile days with great moves..and I want to try to see if I can take advantage of those days. But for me, even on a lousy Cl day, I can usually find a move or two and make at least 20 ticks or so.
The one area that I have made great improvements in, is in controlling impulses and following rules. I also feel like I have gotten very good at reading real time market conditions. I absolutely will not put my money at risk in what I consider adverse conditions. At the same time, I will not hesitate to take a trade if everything lines up such as...momentum, lack of obstacles in the way of target, great price action setup...great hotzone time of day and overwhelming order flow imbalance.
Failure is not an option
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Do you feel that you're now at ease with your new contract size? How long did it take you after increasing to really feel comfortable like you used to before you increased? Just curious as I'm contemplating an increase in contract size. I would also be interested in how your fills changed if any. I know CL is fairly liquid but nothing like ES. Thanks!
The answer is no...I'm not at ease yet. I still get a bit of adrenaline after entering a trade, but much better than a few weeks back.
On a positive note, I am much more likely to wait for the absolute best setup and conditions now..since there is more at stake. The fills have been fine so far. I don't know how many contracts one can trade with Cl before there are problems. I traded 10 a few years back and they filled fine. Maybe 20 and up is an issue? I don't know. Maybe if I get up to that eventually, I'll just press 10 twice. lol.
Failure is not an option
The following 2 users say Thank You to lancelottrader for this post:
Hiya, I just spent over 2 hours reading through your CL trading thread. Very entertaining read.
I have a very stupid question but cannot shake off why this wouldn't work. Using the rampage scalper indicator, why can't you just reverse your position every time you see an arrow / the color changes? Yes you would rack up the commissions during choppy times, and break even a lot. But you wouldn't miss any big rides?
Please let me know why this clearly wouldn't work
Thanks again for posting it has been a great read!
Hi. Probably the best indicator for me that shows order flow imbalance is something I've used for a few years called Tick Strike. It is an audible and visual indicator . When there is extreme selling or buying volume, it is has a meter that lights up..red for selling and green for buying. It's shown in several of my videos. It also has a ticking sound and the cadence and intensity increases as the order flow increases. So, after years of using it, it gives me a very reliable confirmation that a move is underway.
Also I have volume charts set up on a 10 second timeframe as well as a 1 minute. When I see large orders coming across a 10 second timeframe..like 500 to 1000 contracts or more..that tells me something is going on.
Failure is not an option
The following 2 users say Thank You to lancelottrader for this post:
no I totally get it. Especially smart to have many indicators to help you trade.
As a thought experiment, I am just saying, why not be in the market 100% of the time (with stop losses to prevent HUGE moves against you in milliseconds); and just constantly reverse when rampage has that arrow/change of color? Wouldn't that work?
edit: oh I realize you weren't replying to me. Sorry.
Hi. Thanks for your comment. Glad you are entertained. Better than boring, right? lol
To be honest, you may be correct. (I do not have the Rampage "Scalper Indicator" installed, just the original Rampage. I may give it a try though and install it.) If one were to take every signal and endure the choppy days etc, but were to ride out some big winners..it is possible you would end up ahead of the game. I think the original Rampage would be better for the big rides...especially set on a 1or 2 minute time frame. Often I will see, on a 2 minute setting..200 tick moves or more.
I do use Rampage mainly for trend confirmation..but I do think it can be very useful for staying in a trending move longer..at least from a psychological standpoint.
I am, however, a big believer in reading market conditions..and I doubt I could ever trust an indicator enough to take every signal. I really don't enjoy taking multiple losses in a row in hopes of nailing a big move.
If the volume is there and I see Cl really starting to move, I could see me going for a 100 tick move and using rampage to keep me in the trade. In other words, it hits my target or I get out with a signal change. I'd probably use a 2 minute chart with the original Rampage on it. My testing shows me the two minute would be best for that. A 5 minute chart can make you give back way too many ticks..sometimes over 60 or more before a signal change.
Staying in for longer moves on trending days is definitely something I need to work on more.
I don't think it's a good idea to be in the market 100% of the time..especially in Crude Oil.. There are days where you can lose virtually every trade that way. I prefer to wait until the conditions and setups appear that I feel are extremely high probability..and only trade those.
I mean 100% of the time when you are actively trading. I was watching your videos and if you just set a stop loss and reverse every time you see the ramage arrow; it seems like it would breakeven/small loss when choppy and yet capture every big win? The only thought I could imagine it wouldn't work is getting eaten away by commissions and the constant very small losses (2 ticks, kind of like slippage). Again I have no idea, it was just a thought experiment.
Lance,
I was checking the broker Optimus futures.. Probably you are using ninja trader for charting and other platform for execution ? Does this delay your reaction time if you want to get in or out of a trade ? I think I may be overwhelmed with 2 different platforms? How do you handle both platforms ?
Thanks
Amin
last week i became aware about this excellent Thread. Just wanted to thank you and let you know this thread has slightly changed my perspective on trading systems.
When i started short term trading forex i began with a similar system consisting basically of some moving averages and a supertrend. However i was not successful with that system so i did basically skip it.
Looking at this thread (and i read it from the beginning) i was quite curious to see how you handle such a system and whether you gonna succeed. And you did
I appreciate sharing all ups and downs in this thread and showing how you are getting a grip on it.
I like how you emphasize whether good market conditions are in place which are needed to make this trading approach successful. Well, some might say: This clear and simple, and i did know that but now i feel i do understand now
Thanks for that
Michael
The following user says Thank You to MichaelH for this post:
The last week or so, along with my live CL trading...I have been conducting a SIM experiment on Cl as well.
After back testing almost a year of charts..plus many days of Replay trades...I have seen so many days of much larger trending moves of 100-200 ticks or more. Plus I watched my recorded sessions enough to know what the conditions often look like when these moves take place. So, I have been going for much bigger targets in my SIM experiment and taking some Rampage (indicator) signals on a 1 minute chart and riding out trades for very large moves. So far, I am liking the results. I am having several days already of making over 100 ticks. Yes, it's only SIM..however I am letting the signals get me out or my target is hit. So, it's nothing I wouldn't be able to replicate live.
I think I may be taking targets often that are way too small. I often allow countertrend noise to shake me out of trades that have huge potential. Now, it may be too soon to tell...but if in a month I keep getting good results..I may start going for bigger targets in my live trades as well.. If not, I can still get good results from what I am doing now.
I don't like to change things if I am seeing some consistency,,,however I do have days where I hit my max drawdown and it can become very challenging to hit my weekly goal. At this point, it is just an experiment..but I am already seeing some benefit from managing larger target trades. Also, I am still keeping my entries low risk. The main difference is my minimum target is 50 ticks. I either get 50 or the signal change(or EMA breach) takes me out. Some I am letting go 100 ticks or a signal change. It's very interesting because some trades seem to stall at 20 ticks. They will just sit there for a long time and do nothing...and then suddenly take off and go 100 ticks. I just stay in until the software gets me out. My stops are generally never more than 15 ticks..so the risk/reward on some of these trades is excellent. But I figure if I can nail several 50 tick winners along with a few 100 tick moves (some signals have given 300 tick moves!) I could be looking at some weeks making close to 200 ticks. This would really take me to another level.
I will report the results of the SIM trades in about a month. I will, of course continue live trading using my same method.
Failure is not an option
The following 9 users say Thank You to lancelottrader for this post:
If you're trading multiple lots already, just convert one or two of them into runners....take one off at +50 and let the other go until it either hits 100+ or an opposite signal....You should like the results.....not as good as being all in all out at +100 but still, if you grab one of those a week along with 2-3 50 tick trades, along with the profit from the first scale out, you should be doing good!!!
Congrats on making it....it was a long haul but you made it....
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
The following 5 users say Thank You to PandaWarrior for this post:
Thanks for the suggestion...I've always been an all in/all out guy...but I will probably give your suggestion a try. I don't feel like I've made it yet...but I am way ahead of where I was. I am definitely showing decent periods of time where I am consistent.
Thanks again for your nice comments. Your journals were always very helpful to me and I really miss them. I hope you are doing well.
Failure is not an option
The following 2 users say Thank You to lancelottrader for this post:
Crude going lower? Or is this article and the OPEC meeting today to bait the bears? My sentiment is short at the moment but with all else ignored it's bleeding for a up day IMO
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If your losing trades are small even with multiple lots and you really do let the runner go without killing it early, it can be a very powerful way of capturing those runners.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
The following 2 users say Thank You to PandaWarrior for this post:
This is a nice video. I was chopped into pieces at the 45.37 level.
Question: what type of orders you use on such a small time frame of 2 range ? Do you ever use market orders to enter, specifically on the power moves you referred to in the video ?
I was fortunate to have several days last week on CL where price was moving with some direction and momentum. Those days I find work very well with my style of trading. My last video is a good example of the type of days I really like. However, last Monday was a day where I actually hit my max daily drawdown. I failed to properly read the prevailing bad market conditions until it was too late.
Like many Mondays that had no news planned on the economic news schedule, it was choppy and lacked a lot of directional moves. After my first two losses, I should have changed course. It was the type of day where my price action setups are doomed to fail on virtually every trade. The best way to play that type of day...after incurring a few losses, is to no longer take trades until an important price level is reached .
In other words, lets say I am looking for a trade and I see a target at a serious point of resistance which is maybe 50 ticks away. I am now seeing that we are in a choppy mode...so I will no longer take any trades at my current price level..short or long. I will now wait until price somehow chops it's way to an area of strong support or resistance..and then see if I have some sort of reversal or breakout type trade. But I will ignore any moves or trades until they reach that destination. So basically on chop, you have to stay out and not get lured in by sudden hints of volatility..because price will often look like it's shooting up and then will suddenly fizzle and reverse sharply on you. Now some people might look at it a different way. They will say chop is only there because you are looking at too small a timeframe...and if you are patient and employ a huge stoploss, then maybe you will be ok. Again, for my system..I don't really like that idea. It seems way too speculative..and if you are wrong about the direction, you could end up taking a big loss. I prefer small losses and trades that are very high probability.
This also could be a day where it makes sense to watch another instrument (for me TF is a great candidate) that might be moving well.
The bottom line is one must have a strategy to deal with those choppy, lousy days before they incur a string of losses. This is one of the reasons trading can seem so difficult. When we have a series of days where the conditions are good, it's easy to believe we have this thing figured out. But then several days in a row can arise that are choppy and suddenly discouragement and failure set in.
Reading market conditions before it is too late is a very important skill and one that I still find very challenging.
Failure is not an option
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I had a friend over today who used to be a pretty big trader on Wall Street. I ended up showing him my last video I posted on here.
He asked"Why the hell are you giving out all this info? What are you getting out of that? I don't think it's a very good idea and if you have something that works..keep it to yourself!"
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I think that is ridiculous. It implies the methodology is what is important, when in truth the importance is the context and execution, neither of which can be "given" to someone else.
