It has been a while since since I posted a journal here. The last journal I posted (which btw - Mike could you please close or remove or whatever you feel is best to keep things clean) was primarily and solely about Price action and failed to take into account many things I have learned since. I am therefore starting this one in hopes that you can all help me grow and I can share how I view things in case it helps others.
Why am I doing this?
I've realized that sharing yourself has two outcomes - One it can help you get an unbiased point of view on what you are doing from many others and two, there are lots of people like me in the past that traded and put money at risk without understanding or seeking to understand why certain things happened. Example (Just because you see a DT it doesnt mean that it has to go down- the market doesn't move on patterns, it moves on imbalances of supply and demand - a concept that unfortunately many fx spot people don't pay much attention to because of the lack of volume information in that market - volume based on ticks is no replacement btw)
What happened since my last journal?
As it was my intention for many months, I decided to leave my job and focus 100% on this. I am realistic and know that it many not work out so am not really concerned if it doesn't. If it doesn't I gave it a shot and I'll go back to the corp world until I can get enough money to try again. That being said I have every intention to give it my 150% to make sure it does. Do not confuse realism with persistence :)
I am now trading futures vs spot and use a number of different approaches which I will outline below.
My technique:
I simply trade two things. Rejections or acceptance of key levels (Pivots, CHVN and CLVN, Murray Math levels, Inventory accumulation levels in CD and pullbacks (which in many ways are the same thing I just separate them in my head for convenience sake)
How do I trade these:
Most if not all of the stuff on my screen is there to help me breakdown volume. I take a bit from the material of FuturesTrader71, FulcrumTrader, eminiaddict (his approach didn't work for me as is but was key in determining what constitutes a worthwile pullback for me), Al Brooks - I still in the end trade price action and many of my learnings come from his books and videos and many of the posts I've read in Big Mike and other sites about Volume and how to read it.
In essence I use volume to determine if the above setups are looking favorable or not.
What I use:
A combo of Gomi's work and related indicators found on this site in Ninja. Investor RT for my volume profile info. Sierra for trading (I don't want to have my trading platform running massive analysis calculations so I don't use ninja for it). I keep up Multicharts running in the back primarily for the autotrendline indicator it has, it works better than most others ive seen and sometimes reminds me of lines ive missed. And finally good old twitter and the zh squakbox. IQ Feed is my feed - Sierra's and all the other free ones are not worth the trouble. If you wanna play you have to pay for the best info and what feed you use makes a world of difference.
What I don't use:
Instant messaging with friends, BBG, CNBC or anything that may make me loose focus. That being said I am always looking for others who trade similarly and whom i can learn from and share with, so if you do and want to setup a group chat I'm game but what I don't want is a place where distractions can occur.
How will I post:
I am not going to post live calls - don't have the time and find it usually takes you away from your primary task - trading. I do a Pre, Mid and Post analysis everyday, I will post my pre and post for sure and my weekend work however the mid depends on how useful it is.
Please do criticize me as much as possible, question me and get involved. That is why I am doing this. If I see no participation then I will end the thread.