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Catching Big Waves - a trader's journal of surfing the the markets


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Catching Big Waves - a trader's journal of surfing the the markets

  #141 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011


gain247 View Post
Real nice job Gary! I like to see your analysis and entries even when my style is totally different. I take 10-15 tick scalps at 'local' reversal points but enjoy seeing you running for larger swings.


Thanks gain. Have you been able to make scalping work for you?

I see guys who do, was trained by a hard-core scalper, and I was nothing but a scalper for a long time. I have had days with over 300 RTs, but I never seemed to be able to get very far after commissions. I traded the ES and the TF and gold and crude, for 12, 15, 20, 22 ticks. I traded scalping for a 33 trading days in a row, with no less than $200 per day "profit", but the bottom line was not impressive for me.

For frequency of trade opportunities, its a lot more exciting, and when you backtest those high trade count strategies they look beautiful on paper, but my bottom line had serious fluctuations, and/or none, meaning I was working myself silly for nothing. It was like I was trying to make my way to profatibility by blunt force. Or maybe more like pecking it to death?

I finally decided my personality works better focusing on quality rather than quantity. I used to be a high roller in real estate developing, and I would look at 100 deals, do weeks of analysis, and then still pass. Everything had to line up before I put money into something, because having a project took time and effort, and there was risk and lack of liquidity. And years to get back out. Then I started trading and got hypnotized by the constant opportunities, extreme leverage potential, complete liquidity. But now I merged to experience of the two careers, and it works for me. Finally! What a tiring, frustrating journey though...

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  #142 (permalink)
 
gain247's Avatar
 gain247 
Helsinki, Finland
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: NT8
Broker: NTB
Trading: ES, CL
Posts: 131 since Apr 2010
Thanks Given: 125
Thanks Received: 123

My story is kinda opposite. After 2 'not-so-succesful' years of equity options trading I turned to futures 3 years ago and tried to learn better read the market. I felt indentifying those bigger trends & swings would better suit my personality, but interestingly it proved to be wrong for me (like it already was with options trading). I learned that my biggest challenge was 'thinking too much' so I always saw too many contradicting variables and started to second guess my analysis and hesitated to enter. So I started to focus more on market dynamics and price action to catch reversal points within smaller swings, and based on my couple years of learning curve I developed a mechanical method with simple rules to enter and exit the market. This all forced me to faster entries with very clear entry points so I didn't have time - or have to - think too much, I just focused on my rules. And when I say scalping I don't mean a LOT of trades, I just focus on smaller SL & TP. I also have a strict daily max loss limit & profit target so I never overtrade. My typical day is 5-10 trades with 1:1 RR and I solely trade Crude Oil. I avoid any news events or times when market seems to be out of sync for my method.

Having been ATW student myself 3 years back I actually noticed your name and found your journal here very interesting and now try to check it out daily to see where you see CL is going that day So thanks a lot Gary for a very informative journal!

  #143 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011



gain247 View Post
My story is kinda opposite. After 2 'not-so-succesful' years of equity options trading I turned to futures 3 years ago and tried to learn better read the market. I felt indentifying those bigger trends & swings would better suit my personality, but interestingly it proved to be wrong for me (like it already was with options trading). I learned that my biggest challenge was 'thinking too much' so I always saw too many contradicting variables and started to second guess my analysis and hesitated to enter. So I started to focus more on market dynamics and price action to catch reversal points within smaller swings, and based on my couple years of learning curve I developed a mechanical method with simple rules to enter and exit the market. This all forced me to faster entries with very clear entry points so I didn't have time - or have to - think too much, I just focused on my rules. And when I say scalping I don't mean a LOT of trades, I just focus on smaller SL & TP. I also have a strict daily max loss limit & profit target so I never overtrade. My typical day is 5-10 trades with 1:1 RR and I solely trade Crude Oil. I avoid any news events or times when market seems to be out of sync for my method.

Having been ATW student myself 3 years back I actually noticed your name and found your journal here very interesting and now try to check it out daily to see where you see CL is going that day So thanks a lot Gary for a very informative journal!


You are welcome. Thanks for the positive feedback, I am glad you enjoy it. I never know if I am just typing to myself or not, but I figure it could help someone trying to learn how to become profitiable, or maybe just to survive in trading, even if they read it a year from now.

Despite sometimes ridiculous time spent in charts, I try to never get too stuck in any trade direction bias. But, I have had times where, for example, the market could be crashing and meanwhile I just sit and watch because I am waiting for a long. What the analysis does more for me is cause me to have a plan. Here are two recent conflicting examples; Yesterday, I knew I wanted to go long, even with the trend down, because my experience says new shorts often get slaughtered, and EVERYONE knew the direction was down. That was MY edge, because I knew what I was looking for, what it looks like, what confirmation steps i need to see, etc. Today, however, I knew I only wanted to go short (based on higher trend), and had to sit on my hands until it ran out of steam.

Without a doubt, crude will go where it wants. Support and resistance should be renamed to not sound so solid. Maybe some term that suggests, "areas of somewhat higher probability where presumably larger numbers of traders could believe something might happen"...

Started this thread
  #144 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011

Possible local double bottom formed at 79.70 in CL. If it breaks, I am looking for continuation (support is buyers, and they eventually can get used up). If it holds, I am looking for a long. But not touching this whipsaw market until after EIA.

Started this thread
  #145 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011

The S&P is most likely going to have a heavy tie to crude. It will not necessarily effect the immediate EIA burst, but something to keep an eye on for overall direction.

[img]https://nexusfi.com/v/qc9t64.jpg[/img]

Started this thread
  #146 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011

This is the crude oil daily chart This area is significant as a potential major double bottom, or major turning point.

[img]https://nexusfi.com/v/bpfn6p.jpg[/img]

Started this thread
  #147 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011

[img]https://nexusfi.com/v/dr9mgp.jpg[/img]

Started this thread
  #148 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011

[img]https://nexusfi.com/v/v4znv6.jpg[/img]

Started this thread
  #149 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011

Closed at minus 7 ticks

Started this thread
  #150 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011


I am going back to the earlier comment that this area is significant. When it broke, it should have gone. When it couuldn't, that says something, so even though I had a stop loss wayy off of the trade, I knew that the market said I was wrong, and so why wait to prove it.

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Last Updated on May 23, 2014


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