10/15
What a friggin' day
Just kept fighting the trend, and when I was with it, I'd get stopped out by huge retracements beyond entry before trend continued. Quit right before the rally I was trying to catch. I suck.

Total: -40points

I need to know when to quit and have a max drawdown per day rule.

10/16

Renovating my tools with zigzag. Seems to be helping. Crazy day today. Going to sit out. Had something like 21 points at my high. Not following my new rules on the first trade of the day cost me about 7 points. Ended

Total: +15points

Xelaneb 

if imbalance leads to balance, eyeing this distribution area within prior bracket. 1850 value, 1885 resistance, 1790 support.

keeping this for future reference on volume composite.

10/17


Total: -1.5 points

Should've been up 10 or so points, but due to technical errors, I'm down. Sucks. Apparently IB's child orders aren't OCA orders with the parent order, which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Boobs. I'm done for the day.

EDIT: oohh man, i was about to go to sleep and....there was huge volume spike at 10:49, about 8k contracts and price fell after it. I kept telling myself to sell sell sell, but i just couldn't trust myself, since i've been so wrong in the past. bought at a consolidation in the 80s and made a couple of points back on retracement. ? trend change. can't stick around to find out

It literally took me years before I could read price action correctly, and that included working with two seasoned full time traders. (I don't use market profile as I don't require anything additional to what I do)

Stan Weinsteins book is a great start. Although its EOD, all of the examples he use and more useful, the exercises he gets you doing are applicable to intraday

Secondly, moving averages can be used without leading to be chopped up. I use them in conjunction with understanding price action to avoid being chopped up. There is far more to using ma's than when they cross, which direction are they moving. More specifically, its about what price is currently doing in relation to them.

It would be helpful if you developed the ability to recognise when price is contracting and when it is expanding. Stan's book is a good intro to this (although I dont think he uses those terms)

As I said, I found reading price particularly difficult for a long time before it clicked. But when it does, you'll find stuff just jumps out at you.

If I was to have my time again, I would pick one setup and just master that before ever trying something additional. And my choice would be a retest fail on a pullback with bias. Exclude shallow pullbacks - just the ones that are deep enough that say wholesale written all over them.

Fading IMO should not be attempted until consistently profitable at with-trend trading

Hope that helps and its not a case of too much

kickmic 

If I was to have my time again, I would pick one setup and just master that before ever trying something additional. And my choice would be a retest fail on a pullback with bias. Exclude shallow pullbacks - just the ones that are deep enough that say wholesale written all over them. Fading IMO should not be attempted until consistently profitable at with-trend trading Hope that helps and its not a case of too much

Thanks man. Actually, that's exactly the road I switched to on a couple of days ago. I find the zigzag indicator really helps me with visualizing the pullbacks, especially those deep ones. I've been trying to stay with the trend, then add to those deep pullbacks, in conjunction with price action intepretation. I'm not interested in fading at the moment, but when the trend changes, that first pullback I've told myself I just have to treat like any other pullback in the old trend, then switch to the to other side when the pullback is done...still getting used to it though. Also, I can't seem to keep myself in the trend due to panicking, but I'm slowly getting better. Really, I just want 10 points in each trend leg, and I'm happy with that. I'm not at the stage where I can push it to every last tick.

Today was the first time the price action+volume jumped at me. I hope that occurs more often, and even though I've read a bunch about it, it's hard to implement in the heat of the moment. My head is just not clear enough. I think I'm slowly getting better, just have to be vigilent I guess. Thank you for the book recs, I'll check it out. As you said, I'm still very early in mastery, though I do see a glimmer of hope.

you understand the psychology behind retest failures?
think of them as 2nd mouse gets the cheese - there are a couple examples in my journal - if you can just focus on those, then you have something to lean on in terms of what constitutes a tight entry and tight risk level.
dont count ticks to set targets, look at price relative to a short term ma (no magic number to set, fyi i use a 20) - when price expands is when its time to exit - again see my journal for examples
deep pullbacks give you better reward to risk, so you can make some mistakes yet still be profitable

jackbravo 

I find the zigzag indicator really helps me with visualizing the pullbacks, especially those deep ones.

I find that indicator extremely useful as well.. One of the few ones I will use.. Keeps me in tune with current day "waves" and volatility.

Best to you..

Wolf

kickmic 

you understand the psychology behind retest failures? think of them as 2nd mouse gets the cheese - there are a couple examples in my journal - if you can just focus on those, then you have something to lean on in terms of what constitutes a tight entry and tight risk level. dont count ticks to set targets, look at price relative to a short term ma (no magic number to set, fyi i use a 20) - when price expands is when its time to exit - again see my journal for examples deep pullbacks give you better reward to risk, so you can make some mistakes yet still be profitable

My understanding of restest failures is responsive buyers/sellers come in at a certain level and drive the price back in its original trend.

I've been looking at price relative to MA but not in terms of expansion/contraction, only if higher/lower. Thanks, I'll look at that.

Appreciate the tips man!

Traderwolf 

I find that indicator extremely useful as well.. One of the few ones I will use.. Keeps me in tune with current day "waves" and volatility. Best to you.. Wolf

Thanks Wolf, best to you as well.

tigertrader 

this week's trading days are #s 14-18 of-the-month according to these stats and ryan's, i should cover my longs tomorrow...

Saving this for the future. Not sure why, but I find these random stats fascinating. It's almost like baseball stats.

jackbravo 

My understanding of restest failures is responsive buyers/sellers come in at a certain level and drive the price back in its original trend

No cigar
what is going on in the minds of other players on both sides of market?
You're a late short, market pushes down and puts in New low, retraces pushes down again and can't move lower than last low, what's going on in your mind, what are you going to do?
You are a buyer who likes to get in as soon as market looks like it has turned up from a new low, you love picking bottoms. You watch the market move up from your entry and think you are on to a winner. Market reverses back down... not all new longs picked the perfect bottom, plenty would have bought higher than the dip, what do you do when price reverses back down?
If you got stopped out of your long only to see market fail to move lower than previous low and now you are out but market is moving direction you had originally hoped... How does this make you feel andand what are you likely to do
Note, when u say you, I actuaactuay mean others in the market, just ttrying to get you to think as if in their shoes