I've moved this thread across from the trading journal section.
I was advised by a mate who works for Futex trading (a prop shop here in London) to look at the bund and eurostoxx. Not only do I get a whole day with normal market hours (unlike the ES), they are also really nice technical markets and don't whipsaw around too much (according to him). Have to say that I agree. I'm going on a training course of theirs at the end of September (will describe it elsewhere when I do it, pending rules on that sort of activity. I don't work for them and am not advertising in any way so will see what happens).
I have the jigsaw DOM and the GOMI volume ladder up and running but to be honest I gain nothing from reading them. I'm hoping the futex course is going to shine a light on them, because if I can ally my trading as it exists already with the ability to work out when traders are stepping away on the DOM then I believe I would have the full set of tools.
As it happens, I'm doing pretty well just reading off the charts, but wow, if I could see and area of Support/Resistance (SR), see a bar forming, then be able to tell who is in control? Oooh I'm getting all excited.
My trading is chart based, I am an avid follower of levels, opting to trade at areas of support and resistance that I have deemed worthy of interest. I then look for a signal when price reaches these levels. Very simple stuff.
Have been trading a while, and am learning that the simple principles that you learn at the start (support becomes resistance, resistance becomes support) is the most powerful you can get. I lost it in a quest for that perfect indicator/gizmo/holy grail that takes the analytical process away from me as a trader (Ichi clouds, multiple Moving averages blahblah you know the drill). I think people do that because the enormity of it all, with the endless possibilities of when to trade, is just too much.
And in my case, it's an ego (or lack of) thing. How can I, a lowly non bank backed trader, really know as much as the big boys? I've chased the dream in the past, been on a lot of courses (fibonacci retracements only, Chris Lori-don't get me started on him, he turned me into a catch the falling knife trader for a long time).
It is this final mental hurdle that I need to leap to become the trader that I always wanted to be. Apologies if this sounds like a train of thought. But it is. I think I'm nearly there. Just need more balls, and that will come with consistency and sticking to my plan without the occasional "well it's not in the plan but it looks like it's going to...." types of trades that sap my confidence when they go wrong.
Since starting the journal, I have decided to simply focus on the bund. I read it better, you get more profit as it moves more (points wise) than the eurostoxx, thus making the commission fees/trading profits a lot better.
And finally, if concentrating on one market then you know it intimately (yikes). Trading two markets I have to trade between mindsets, levels etcetc and it's just too damn much. I don't need multiple markets, and in my opinion neither does anyone else.
If you can guarantee just 5 points a day, day in, day out then you're set as a trader. You'll just keep on increasing your exposure as your bank increases-that's all that you need to do.
Have posted my trades today on the other blog. Will start posting here tomorrow.