The biggest heat I took was 10 or 11 ticks out of the money. That said, the market isn't going to dictate my stop to me, I am going to based off numerous factors and volatility is one. This trade I had a 15 tick stop loss as that would have put me at BE for the day. I couldn't care if the market has 100 point bars, I'm still utilizing my stops for my comfort.

Still waiting on my last trade...grrr...missed my entry on a long...

Congratulations JohnyAustin
God bless health and wealth to u r new born
By the way u r son has a nice name

JohnnyAustin 

The biggest heat I took was 10 or 11 ticks out of the money. That said, the market isn't going to dictate my stop to me, I am going to based off numerous factors and volatility is one. This trade I had a 15 tick stop loss as that would have put me at BE for the day. I couldn't care if the market has 100 point bars, I'm still utilizing my stops for my comfort. Still waiting on my last trade...grrr...missed my entry on a long...

Would I take that trade I would get in at 673.7 or 673.8 with stop order and my stop loss would be around 674.8.
You are doing a great job and I hope it will work for you for a long run.

Keep it up!!! Good luck with your trading and your beautiful SON!!!

Final trade, +1 tick. I'm tired, my 3 week old son is sleeping on me, and I need to get some sleep while I can.

The volatility in todays trading was ridiculous, truly. Kudos to those who came out in the black. It could have been done, but damn....

Replaying Thursday just to see how it is and the volatility is just crazy. No smooth action just yet....

I took a trade, which promptly went 13-14 ticks out of the money only to turn around to go 19 ticks in the money, and then 11 ticks back out of the money. ALL within 1 minute of each other. When I was trading stocks in 2008, I stopped trading because of just this same situation. This isn't a market I like to trade just due to the volatility. With my preferred stoploss, this is not healthy trading.

I was thinking about how I viewed the market and made my trading decisions and on what charts. On the tick charts, I didn't want to pull the trigger simply because 70 ticks is a VERY quick time frame and so relegated myself to the minute chart which obviously proved unreliable. Further down this line of thinking, why have I chosen to view the chart display of 1 minute, 2 minute, or 3 minute time frames? Does the market care about what happens during each minute? Is it a true representation of trading activity? Moreso, is the minute chart the best chart to view for charting trends, making trades, and movement or perhaps would the tick chart be best, as the tick is an actual measurement of contracts traded?

I think this is a two-fold answer. The quickest and easiest answer may be right short term, but not long term. I think I will retry trading on 8/11 with two tick charts instead of a tick chart and minute chart to see the difference. Also, I realize that my trading style MUST be fluid and adaptable. I've not traded the futures market before with such volatility and range of trading. But when that volatility dies down, where does that leave me?

No matter what you try, my friend, I suggest you always have a 5 min chart with a 20EMA up. Even if it is just to
reference. It may be the most used chart in the world. A true classic for trading anything.

Don't forget the price based bars either - range and momentum ...

You'll work it out, hoss

JohnnyAustin 

I was thinking about how I viewed the market and made my trading decisions and on what charts. On the tick charts, I didn't want to pull the trigger simply because 70 ticks is a VERY quick time frame and so relegated myself to the minute chart which obviously proved unreliable. Further down this line of thinking, why have I chosen to view the chart display of 1 minute, 2 minute, or 3 minute time frames? Does the market care about what happens during each minute? Is it a true representation of trading activity? Moreso, is the minute chart the best chart to view for charting trends, making trades, and movement or perhaps would the tick chart be best, as the tick is an actual measurement of contracts traded? I think this is a two-fold answer. The quickest and easiest answer may be right short term, but not long term. I think I will retry trading on 8/11 with two tick charts instead of a tick chart and minute chart to see the difference. Also, I realize that my trading style MUST be fluid and adaptable. I've not traded the futures market before with such volatility and range of trading. But when that volatility dies down, where does that leave me?

JohnnyAustin 

I was thinking about how I viewed the market and made my trading decisions and on what charts. On the tick charts, I didn't want to pull the trigger simply because 70 ticks is a VERY quick time frame and so relegated myself to the minute chart which obviously proved unreliable. Further down this line of thinking, why have I chosen to view the chart display of 1 minute, 2 minute, or 3 minute time frames? Does the market care about what happens during each minute? Is it a true representation of trading activity? Moreso, is the minute chart the best chart to view for charting trends, making trades, and movement or perhaps would the tick chart be best, as the tick is an actual measurement of contracts traded? I think this is a two-fold answer. The quickest and easiest answer may be right short term, but not long term. I think I will retry trading on 8/11 with two tick charts instead of a tick chart and minute chart to see the difference. Also, I realize that my trading style MUST be fluid and adaptable. I've not traded the futures market before with such volatility and range of trading. But when that volatility dies down, where does that leave me?

I traded 610, 144, 66 ticks today. 144 as a trading chart provide really nice stops. Profit targets are smaller also, but it just depends on the exit strategy and how long you wish to hold your position. I traded 144 before with NFT setup and that gives you nice moves pretty much any day. Because I had the same question in my head. How long this volatility gonna last and what time frame should fit any conditions.

I think that minute charts give you better feel of momentum. You can see when movement really slowed down time wise and it's different on tick charts at least for me. Tick charts can give you pretty good feel also you just have to choose what you like better.

i used a 144 tick with a 4 range on the nq for a while, and it seemed like some days it was a good match, others it wasnt.This makes sense, because some days are better trading days than others.The problem, over time, for me, is that 1 chart seemed to talk me out of trades.Some would say this is a good filter, as both need to be set up.I switched to a 5 min for the long range, with my indicators on it.Again, it was talking me out of trades too much.I switched back and forth over time too many times, and always came to the same conclusion.I have read your journal for quite some time,and its obvious you can trade well.The markets have been very emotional, and as big as the ranges have been, i have only had a few good setups each day.I find it hard to watch big moves, and not have an entry, and in the past , would look for a new way to capture the trades that i was missing.If you were happy in the past with your charts, and your method, you might want to consider staying with what you were using, because, in the near future, you might just find your way back there anyway.It always seemed to happen to me.When the market is extreme, it pushes and pulls the lines and pivots, and it seems to me, that nothing works sometimes.
I switched to range charts, because, for me, i like to see what price movement there is in between those 5 min bars.instead of using a tick chart, i track volume daily, to decide if we are at a normal volume for that time of day, or low/high for the day.Also, i have ana better vol on the bottom of my chart, just to track vol bar by bar.To me , less is better.Trading breakouts has been my style for a while, and when going with the trend, is very good.Specifically, though, i want to know how price gets to the entry.The range chart gives me this detail, that a min ch cant.Some people say its too choppy, but to me, it provides the clues i need to make a trade, or not. I believe that how price gets to the entry point is very important.I now use a 10 min , with no indicators.I use it for pivots , and trend, very simple.So much info out there, and the simple answer, is we all have to use what works for us, not anyone else.

Thanks Bob and Vovan!

I know that what I've journaled works for me on the TF pretty well in normal market conditions. However, the past week or so has not been normal market conditions and I suspect that more volatility will be coming in the next few months as well as years and as such, a trading method to capitalize on the volatility will be necessary. I'm in this for the long haul as an independent trader, so I have 35 some years of market exposure left to go before retirement.

Vovan, I don't think there is any one method which will fit every trading scenario. I think maximum gains can be achieved by developing trading scenarios for various market conditions and replaying them until systemic profit potential is realized.