tderrick 

It feels good have finally settled on a system

Now stick with it and give it a chance, plus a lot of wiggle room.

Mike

Prior day was a tight range and the overnight saw consolidation.

It was a setup for my least favorite market - Grind



Pre- Market

The early trade went well as a nice counter trend entry formed.
I try to play these with as little risk as possible. I am out or BE+1 quickly.
I trailed the stop fairly tight. It could have been a nice winner, but I was content to
hang back and see if I could be in early on a big runner.

a PB caught me

+7

Trades 1-4


I used all the rest of my trades in the same area. I need to implement @privatebanker 's rule of not
reentering in the same area you take a stop in, but it really didn't apply because I tightened up my stop
when PA stalled a bit.

I don't like hanging around in a trade when it stalls at entry... so I didn't. 4 times in a row... lol

I would have been at the profit target if I just would have left my original stop alone.


lesson ? you know...



-9
BE +2
-3
+9


up $40 = lucky



I am trying to work up the live trading emotions again and it worked. I got very antsy in the trades... just like the old days.

Trust the trend - stay in until the obvious happens.

My range chart was telling me the move was legit. It was purely my emotions that made me jump in and out.

Now this was my kind of PA

Prior day saw a big sell off then a 50% PB.
Globex saw a nice slow buying trend

I have settled on a few particulars about returning to live trading.

As I need $200 / day to keep my current lifestyle intact, I have come up with some targets.

Daily PT - $300
Daily SL - $150

Trade PT - 15 ticks / BE+1 at 10 ticks
Trade SL - 10 tick start- to adjust below / above previous swing. No trade with risk greater than 15 Ticks

Number of trades -
1 pre-market / BE+1 at market open
3 RTH
3 BE +1
_____________________________________________

Pre-Market trade

Entry on a PB of a nice uptrend long

I have noticed that the equities open does not effect the TF so much. So now my only
risk management to taking a trade in progress across this time line will be to move to BE+1.

target hit +16 with slippage.



Trade 1

Entry one tick below support level short
I moved to BE+1 at 8 ticks as it stalled a bit and the 5min bar was already quite large.

Target hit to the tick

+15

Up $298

Close enough to daily target to quit.

This was a week that included testing of the Felton system. While the system was profitable for me,
I don't believe it is for me. I need very little cash out of the market daily, so what i need mostly
is patience in reading raw PA so that I can wait for the optimal trades that suit my eye. Indicator heavy
systems don't allow me to see PA well.

I don't have my normal stats because I took so many trades with the Felton system, I didn't want
to log them all into my spreadsheet!! lol

The week found me up $1384 besting my weekly target.


OK... I'm going to load one more week of data into the Replay engine and if the numbers hold up
one more time, I will be a live trading daddy in short order...

I feel at home with the TF now.
If I am patient, the trades will come.

Prior day saw a nice slow sell off.
Globex was rangy with a bearish bias.


Pre-Market.


Oh, I was feeling this one but chickened out just before the bell.

-3

Would have hit the PT

I'll remember this one. TF typically "blows" in the direction of the pressure at the moment.
I will try to hold it next time . Not looking forward to seeing how much slippage I would get
if Price goes against me, though...

I will finish this day off in the morning...

hmmm....

...working on finalizing my system on Easter morning. Something seems inherently wrong with this.

Forgive me, Lord, for I am too close to slow down now.




The continuation of 4-11 did not go well. I took a full stop on a break out long resulting in -11 ticks.

down $152... and out, in accordance to my new Risk management rules.

I forgot to save my chart, as I was a bit peeved... lol

___________________________________

4-12-11

Prior day started rangy then ended up selling at 10am . Consolidation started at 10pm.

I came to the market at 715am to find beautiful channel cycling.


Pre-market trade

I went short on a breakdown of the continuation of a cycle. I was only looking for the 10 ticks
to the channel bottom, but when it broke through, I new it may run.

I moved my target way down to the next support level and kept my stop at BE+1 until I hit my
normal target of 15 ticks, them I kept pulling it up behind every 6range bar made.

+24

I will see if I can get another trade in before everyone wakes up. If not, I'll continue while listening
to the Predators NHL game this evening.

Oh yea... Profit target hit before market open.

Up $298 ... close enough to target.


I can see already that my risk management needs a little tweaking.

Since I now realize that the pre-market is viable, I am going back to 3 normal trades per day,
plus 3 BE+1's

I am expanding the $ numbers a bit also to stay in trading just a bit longer.

the latest...
________________________________

1.) Three Normal Trades
2.) Three BE+1 Trades

____________________
1.) $400 Profit Target
2.) $200 Stop Loss
____________________
Trade PT - 20 ticks
Trade SL - 10 tick start with adjust to PA / no risk greater than 15 ticks (stop for day)

Prior day saw steady selling. The bulls came in at 10pm with consolidation starting at 6am.


Trade 1

I had to wait a little longer for an entry today. The five minute bars were huge and price just wouldn't
pick a direction. The bears seemed to be applying steady pressure, so I placed a stop below an SR line
as soon as a smaller ranged bar appeared.

+21 ticks - target hit.

with big rangy bars like these, I have to leave my strat at BE+1, to let it fight. It came within 1 tick of me.
No trailing stop on days like these.


Trade 2

Price appeared to be turning so I entered on the closest thing to a pB I could spot.

+10 after I DID move my stop off BE+1


Trade 3

The Winfrey entry. I was just trying to get my 10 ticks to get my daily target and panicked
after price stalled at the top of the 5 min bars. As soon as I bailed, price took off like a rocket.

Damn...



Up $342 with mild disgust at two of my exits.

Got a little work in on the Risk management portion of show this morning before my session starts.

Prior day had huge swings in both directions and the overnight saw mostly selling.



Trade 1

a PB entry that took out my BE+1 strat with a hard PB

+1


Trade 2

an ill advised inside break long. I felt the bulls building, but It was a bit
too early.

-11 on bail out.



Trade 3

Tried the BO entry long again

BE +1 on hard pull back.


Trade 4

The long finally gave. I nice long entry on the break of two long, side by side
5 min bars.

target hit
+21


I have one normal stop trade and one BE+1 remaining to try and get the daily goal.

...will resume later.

I got some music to cut...

I took one more trade on this day.

I took a gamble on an inside break / PB type of entry. I'm still working on this trade.
The 1 min chart seems to give good feedback on this type of entry.

This type of PA is tough on me... sort of a trending chop. So good PB entries are essential.

Target hit +20


up $300 for the day.

Not going to push it, although I have one trade left in my plan and haven't reached the daily target.
It just feels like a good time to quit given this PA.