Upupandaway 

I've watched all your videos. I like what you do, it's been very helpful. Something I'm not to sure about is the "opening swing". I've posted a 5minute chart of the CL. Would you point out what is the open swing, as you see it. It would be very much appreciated. Thank you Chad

Your 5-minute chart is too slow to determine the opening swing. By the time a clear initial high and low were made, you had to wait 20 minutes. On your chart, the opening swing had already happened earlier.

However, imagining that this is a shorter time frame chart, the opening swing would be described as: 95.33 to 94.82. The opening type is OAOR (Open Auction Out of Range). On that day, the opening swing is very important for measuring which side has more business to transact.

You can also see that the opening swing was tested & confirmed at 8:56 CT and again at 9:15-ish CT and then AGAIN at 1:12 PM CT.

para6ut 

Hi Chad, Hope you don't mind me answering. Please see how I understand it. FT says that OS is where buyers step in at the open and where sellers step in at the open. It is not related to time - it can be 8 seconds or 15 mins, it doesn't matter. You can check this out - Opening swing / indicator for Ninja Opening swing / indicator for Ninja, Having seen FT71 use opening swing in his setup, I did a little search but could not find a reference on futures.io (formerly BMT). In my understanding, it is the first swing high / low at the open of the RTH, …

Nice going and thanks for stepping in.

marts01 

Hi FT71, Since we re on the subject of Phantom of the Pits, could you please explain how the process has changed over the past 15 years? ie. How much emphasis has been taken over by electronic trading, how strong is the physical aspects in the pits and such. Orders, locals, human interaction, etc... Really appreciate everything you and big mike are doing here. Thanks, marts

The biggest change is that the edges that existed in the pit are no longer there or are instantaneous now. Things like seeing a big broker's level of attention to the quote board before stepping in with both hands in the air or seeing a runner sprinting to a broker in the pit from the phone banks, etc. These are all gone. The field is much more level and fair = efficiency.

Also, there is a significant amount of additional noise now in the electronic trading world. There are many misleading marketing schemes, false promises, tweets, DVD's, seminars, etc. It is very easy now to get led in a lot of useless directions. This is the reason I went out into the public back in late 2009. I saw too much noise out there and too much focus on indicators and not enough on what the market really is.

The markets are much more efficient today than they were then. A trader has to trade with a more solid plan and a well-defined edge using a larger timeframe now than they did 15 years ago.

PLD3 

Hi FT71, Just a quick query, do daily moving averages play a big part in your trading strategy? If so, how? And what setup parameters do you find most helpful? (I currently chart on CQG and use type 'simple', price set to 'close', and look at 10, 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages) Many thanks to both Big Mike and yourself for all your help, its much appreciated.

No, I don't use moving averages at all. Why not 18 period? Why not 22? 36? 54? 500?

I want to thank FT71 for his time today as always. I'll post the recording of the AMA shortly.

Mike

Thanks again for your time today. One question I had but time ran out. Not sure if this has been covered earlier:

What is your view on using tick charts vs the volume chart you have?

And if using tick charts, is there a recommended volume indicator to use to help assess Wyckoff/similar type action?

FT, thanks for visiting with us again today. I just finished reading the Power of Habit and have started creating some habit loops for trading. I would be interested in an example of one that you created for yourself or someone that you have trained. Following the Cue, Routine, Reward loop format, I am struggling with the reward as I don't think it should be tied to the outcome of the trade. As you have said, we can do everything within our power perfectly to better our edge but the outcome of the trade is still a 50/50 proposition. In re-listening to one of your archived chats, I heard to you recommend grading yourself on saying what you would do and whether you did what you said. Thanks...Rhonda

Here is the recording from today's AMA session.

Mike

There is a problem with the in-line video player right now, I am working on it.

Mike

Big Mike 

There is a problem with the in-line video player right now, I am working on it. Mike

Working now, sorry for delay - was caught on phone.

Mike