NexusFi: Find Your Edge


Home Menu

 





The PandaWarrior Chronicles


Discussion in Trading Journals

Updated
      Top Posters
    1. looks_one PandaWarrior with 945 posts (6,447 thanks)
    2. looks_two tigertrader with 101 posts (1,011 thanks)
    3. looks_3 tderrick with 88 posts (205 thanks)
    4. looks_4 Big Mike with 85 posts (437 thanks)
      Best Posters
    1. looks_one tigertrader with 10 thanks per post
    2. looks_two PandaWarrior with 6.8 thanks per post
    3. looks_3 Big Mike with 5.1 thanks per post
    4. looks_4 VinceVirgil with 3.1 thanks per post
    1. trending_up 398,592 views
    2. thumb_up 11,064 thanks given
    3. group 162 followers
    1. forum 2,157 posts
    2. attach_file 207 attachments




Closed Thread
 
Search this Thread

The PandaWarrior Chronicles

  #121 (permalink)
 
bluemele's Avatar
 bluemele 
Honolulu, Hawaii
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: NinjaTrader
Broker: ATC/TT, AMP/Zen-Fire, AMP/CQG
Trading: TF
Posts: 2,543 since Jun 2010
Thanks Given: 3,803
Thanks Received: 2,842

This method is so similar to Shadow Traders. A good friend of mine trades their method but they really never convinced me because their money management sucked. I think if you have good money management, then this should work.

Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal
The following user says Thank You to bluemele for this post:

Can you help answer these questions
from other members on NexusFi?
NexusFi Journal Challenge - April 2024
Feedback and Announcements
ZombieSqueeze
Platforms and Indicators
My NT8 Volume Profile Split by Asian/Euro/Open
NinjaTrader
Request for MACD with option to use different MAs for fa …
NinjaTrader
 
Best Threads (Most Thanked)
in the last 7 days on NexusFi
Retail Trading As An Industry
67 thanks
Battlestations: Show us your trading desks!
48 thanks
NexusFi site changelog and issues/problem reporting
47 thanks
GFIs1 1 DAX trade per day journal
32 thanks
What percentage per day is possible? [Poll]
31 thanks

  #122 (permalink)
 
PandaWarrior's Avatar
 PandaWarrior 
In the heat
 
Experience: None
Posts: 3,165 since Mar 2010
Thanks Given: 6,329
Thanks Received: 13,404


bluemele View Post
This method is so similar to Shadow Traders. A good friend of mine trades their method but they really never convinced me because their money management sucked. I think if you have good money management, then this should work.

I agree. First money management then the next thing is to be right a lot. Using smaller targets helps with this. You can be wrong and still make money. This is another reason I think Perry's method is good. You can be in a bad trade and still make a small profit.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci


Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
Started this thread
  #123 (permalink)
 
cory's Avatar
 cory 
virginia
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: ninja
Trading: NQ
Posts: 6,098 since Jun 2009
Thanks Given: 877
Thanks Received: 8,090



PandaWarrior View Post
...
So yesterday after trading was over, I got away from my charts ..
Cheers.

by not looking at chart you can see it better, a real head scratcher.


Quoting 
These patterns repeat mulitple times...

if you really really really believe this you will conquer the fear of missing out, fear of taking a loss and slain habit of taking win too early (they are many faces of the same problem).

The following 5 users say Thank You to cory for this post:
  #124 (permalink)
 
Surly's Avatar
 Surly 
denver, colorado
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: NT
Trading: ZS
Posts: 704 since Mar 2011
Thanks Given: 628
Thanks Received: 1,263

PW - I saw a post yesterday in which you spoke of managing emotions. Many of us struggle with this (me for sure) - Here's a book that I got recently which has a TON of great advice on helping with this problem. Its not a trading book but 90% of the ideas apply directly to discretionary trading. I highly recommend it.

Mental Game of Poker

cheers, and thanks for your thread. Still helpful.

(I hope it goes without saying that I have nothing to do with the guy who wrote this book...)

Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty. - Frank Herbert
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal
The following user says Thank You to Surly for this post:
  #125 (permalink)
 
PandaWarrior's Avatar
 PandaWarrior 
In the heat
 
Experience: None
Posts: 3,165 since Mar 2010
Thanks Given: 6,329
Thanks Received: 13,404


cory View Post
by not looking at chart you can see it better, a real head scratcher.


if you really really really believe this you will conquer the fear of missing out, fear of taking a loss and slain habit of taking win too early (they are many faces of the same problem).


Go figure. I guess for some reason I could just "see" the chart and the patterns in my brain. I think I was visualizing what a good entry/exit combination looked like without actually being in front of the chart. When I got back to the chart, the same visual patterns were there to see.....I don't even begin to try and explain how this happened or if it will be repeated. It just did.

I think the process of taking tons of trades based on what I have observed so far will instill that belief deep inside me. I have a confession to make here. The guy that originally got me involved in trading used something VERY similar except on tick charts. I could never bring myself to "step in front of the bus" of taking a pull back. To me it looked like selling a long trend. Of course, I now recognize this as just a pull back in a larger trend but seeing a tick chart of ES go 2-3 handles back to a MA in just a few seconds during the crazy days of early 2009 was to much for my first experience and is what sent me on the holy grail hunt. So to be quite honest, I have a history with something very similar to this which in part contributes to my belief in it.

Funny thing is, every time I find some nuance that turns out to be true, it reminds me of something this trader said back then. He was right about so many things I just couldn't believe it at the time. I wish I had listened and just did what he said. Like Perry, he also said you can get rich trading for 8 ES ticks a day. At the time he was trading in excess of 100 lots and just looking for 8 ticks. Most days he was done trading in the first 30 minutes of the pit session. I had a hard time swallowing that as well. Guess that's the journey so many of us have taken.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci


Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
Started this thread
The following 6 users say Thank You to PandaWarrior for this post:
  #126 (permalink)
 
PandaWarrior's Avatar
 PandaWarrior 
In the heat
 
Experience: None
Posts: 3,165 since Mar 2010
Thanks Given: 6,329
Thanks Received: 13,404

I was exhausted today....so just traded live for a short period.



Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci


Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
Started this thread
The following 5 users say Thank You to PandaWarrior for this post:
  #127 (permalink)
 
PandaWarrior's Avatar
 PandaWarrior 
In the heat
 
Experience: None
Posts: 3,165 since Mar 2010
Thanks Given: 6,329
Thanks Received: 13,404

Tomorrow starts a new chapter in my trading career for me. Last week was full of emotional ups and downs. I finished basically flat. Last two days were good, first three were crap.

From an emotional stand point, I've finally come to terms with my status as a scalper. My personality is suited to a certain type of scalping and so that's what I am.

Scalping also fits with my earliest beliefs about trading. I always looked at the guys that made it big and then gave it back with some feelings of superiority. Like some how if I made it big, I'd never give it back. But I did exactly that in the mortgage biz. I made it bigger than I ever dreamed possible and did not hedge my risks. It was a good trade that went bad with no stops in place. Fool me once, no problem, fool me twice, my bad. Thus taking smaller but more frequent bites from the elephant seems to fit me better. Less chance of having a big win on my hands and then living to regret giving it all back and then some.

Its taken two years of striving against every emotion I've ever had. I've tried to compensate for my inability to hold for large winners by using auto traders, I've tried every indicator I could find that was free, I've been to countless webinars and read countless threads both here and on other forums. All to finally come full circle to the fact that my personality is best suited for several quick trades each day. Further this fits into my systems mentality that says I can quantify a success ratio and predict with some accuracy the future given the outcome of a set of trades in the past and a repetition of a particular set up.

But as the last 3-4 weeks have went by, I found myself drifting more and more toward the idea that I can trade confidently if I know I will be in and out soon. Its the unknown of holding that causes me stress.

As these last few weeks have unfolded, I found a new cause of stress. How to be a scalper using small stops AND the workspace I'd grown accustomed to. It took me three weeks to finally break down and go to a smaller chart. Emotionally I couldn't handle the change. I've been trading with a 12 range chart for almost a year now. I know its patterns pretty well but the stop size didn't justify the targets. So intellectually I knew I needed to go to a smaller one but emotionally it was tough. Since I made the change, I've even used a 4 range to practice on although I don't think I would want to trade it live though, it is pretty fast.

Last week I simplified even more. I don't need three or four moving averages. Two will do if I pay attention to price and what its doing. I also grew more comfortable with taking a trade not at the absolute deepest pullback but at a slightly worse price IF that price was some confirmation of trend continuation. There's a pattern for that.

Next, I've acknowledged that while higher time frames are important to keep in mind, for scalping, they are not the most important factor, instead, one must be aware of what price is doing right now and trade that. In the past, I've treated HTF as a concrete wall, but the truth is, HTF is more like a trampoline. Resistance to be sure, but flexible resistance. Therefore if what is happening right now is in conflict with a HTF, as long as I have room to get my trade done on the LTF with a margin for error, I am ok taking it.

And lastly, I finally came to the realization that trading is not get rich quick but with proper money management, one can get rich slowly, just like every thing else. I do believe it is possible to accelerate the pace beyond other means of getting rich but there is no magic formula that will enable you to print money with your private ATM machine like some trading commercial I saw once.

Instead, I think once I have mastered the art of good money management and confident trading, I can with a high degree of confidence wake up every morning knowing I have the ability to extract from the market each and every day, an amount that is enough to satisfy my families financial needs.

I've been reading Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich this weekend. He states you must have a definite amount in your mind before you begin the quest. Otherwise your subconscious will not know where to take you.....to paraphrase a bit. While the book is a bit dated and has overtones of spirituality to it, I believe in the power of the mind to overcome life's obstacles. And unprofitable trading is just an obstacle to overcome. So I've written down what I would like to be making daily and posted it on the board next to my trading station. When I reach that goal, I will increase that number again and again until I am at 4X my greatest earning year as a mortgage banker.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci


Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
Started this thread
The following 13 users say Thank You to PandaWarrior for this post:
  #128 (permalink)
 
papa15's Avatar
 papa15 
Wake Forest, NC
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Sierra Charts, Investor RT, Ninja Trader
Broker: VanKar
Trading: NQ
Posts: 520 since Sep 2009
Thanks Given: 583
Thanks Received: 1,248


PandaWarrior View Post
Tomorrow starts a new chapter in my trading career for me. Last week was full of emotional ups and downs. I finished basically flat. Last two days were good, first three were crap.

From an emotional stand point, I've finally come to terms with my status as a scalper. My personality is suited to a certain type of scalping and so that's what I am.

Scalping also fits with my earliest beliefs about trading. I always looked at the guys that made it big and then gave it back with some feelings of superiority. Like some how if I made it big, I'd never give it back. But I did exactly that in the mortgage biz. I made it bigger than I ever dreamed possible and did not hedge my risks. It was a good trade that went bad with no stops in place. Fool me once, no problem, fool me twice, my bad. Thus taking smaller but more frequent bites from the elephant seems to fit me better. Less chance of having a big win on my hands and then living to regret giving it all back and then some.

Its taken two years of striving against every emotion I've ever had. I've tried to compensate for my inability to hold for large winners by using auto traders, I've tried every indicator I could find that was free, I've been to countless webinars and read countless threads both here and on other forums. All to finally come full circle to the fact that my personality is best suited for several quick trades each day. Further this fits into my systems mentality that says I can quantify a success ratio and predict with some accuracy the future given the outcome of a set of trades in the past and a repetition of a particular set up.

But as the last 3-4 weeks have went by, I found myself drifting more and more toward the idea that I can trade confidently if I know I will be in and out soon. Its the unknown of holding that causes me stress.

As these last few weeks have unfolded, I found a new cause of stress. How to be a scalper using small stops AND the workspace I'd grown accustomed to. It took me three weeks to finally break down and go to a smaller chart. Emotionally I couldn't handle the change. I've been trading with a 12 range chart for almost a year now. I know its patterns pretty well but the stop size didn't justify the targets. So intellectually I knew I needed to go to a smaller one but emotionally it was tough. Since I made the change, I've even used a 4 range to practice on although I don't think I would want to trade it live though, it is pretty fast.

Last week I simplified even more. I don't need three or four moving averages. Two will do if I pay attention to price and what its doing. I also grew more comfortable with taking a trade not at the absolute deepest pullback but at a slightly worse price IF that price was some confirmation of trend continuation. There's a pattern for that.

Next, I've acknowledged that while higher time frames are important to keep in mind, for scalping, they are not the most important factor, instead, one must be aware of what price is doing right now and trade that. In the past, I've treated HTF as a concrete wall, but the truth is, HTF is more like a trampoline. Resistance to be sure, but flexible resistance. Therefore if what is happening right now is in conflict with a HTF, as long as I have room to get my trade done on the LTF with a margin for error, I am ok taking it.

And lastly, I finally came to the realization that trading is not get rich quick but with proper money management, one can get rich slowly, just like every thing else. I do believe it is possible to accelerate the pace beyond other means of getting rich but there is no magic formula that will enable you to print money with your private ATM machine like some trading commercial I saw once.

Instead, I think once I have mastered the art of good money management and confident trading, I can with a high degree of confidence wake up every morning knowing I have the ability to extract from the market each and every day, an amount that is enough to satisfy my families financial needs.

I've been reading Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich this weekend. He states you must have a definite amount in your mind before you begin the quest. Otherwise your subconscious will not know where to take you.....to paraphrase a bit. While the book is a bit dated and has overtones of spirituality to it, I believe in the power of the mind to overcome life's obstacles. And unprofitable trading is just an obstacle to overcome. So I've written down what I would like to be making daily and posted it on the board next to my trading station. When I reach that goal, I will increase that number again and again until I am at 4X my greatest earning year as a mortgage banker.

PW
You and I have remarkably similar journeys. I know I am a scalper. I finally just accepted that in May. I also found the 4 better Renko CL chart too fast for my ability. I went to a 15 min chart and use that for my entries. I noticed you were using some ideas from Perry, so I looked at his webinar. I basically use his moving averages on a 30 sec chart to give me what price is doing "right now", but my entries are from the 15 min chart. Sort of a reverse use of the higher/shorter time frame than most use.

My biggest issue remains between my ears...self discipline.....

Any way, I have found something I am comfortable with. I hope you do also.

My focus is on:
1. Avoid the opening chop.
2. Honor stops
3. Ensure reward > risk on all trades
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal
The following 3 users say Thank You to papa15 for this post:
  #129 (permalink)
 
PandaWarrior's Avatar
 PandaWarrior 
In the heat
 
Experience: None
Posts: 3,165 since Mar 2010
Thanks Given: 6,329
Thanks Received: 13,404

I did 4 pre-market sim trades. 4 for 4. 4 live market trades. 4 for 4. 3 post trading sim trades. 1 for 3 with 2 BE trades.

No losers today.

Over the weekend I played with two indicators. A double stoch oscillator which as you know, I dislike intensely. I also added back the force index to see if it helped filter out losers. So far, its a work in progress.

Anyway, a good day today.


Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci


Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
Started this thread
The following 2 users say Thank You to PandaWarrior for this post:
  #130 (permalink)
 
bluemele's Avatar
 bluemele 
Honolulu, Hawaii
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: NinjaTrader
Broker: ATC/TT, AMP/Zen-Fire, AMP/CQG
Trading: TF
Posts: 2,543 since Jun 2010
Thanks Given: 3,803
Thanks Received: 2,842


Please take this with a grain of salt, but you don't need more indicators. You just need to do what you have been doing and get better.

To me, you are 'playing' and I do not mean that as a personal attack, but more of a distraction.

NO INDICATOR is going to help you more than feeling and 'knowing' and using your spidey sense. To me that is most of the value. Maybe I am wrong, but as you said earlier, the magic indicator is what you get when you look into the mirror.

Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal
The following 9 users say Thank You to bluemele for this post:

Closed Thread




Last Updated on May 14, 2014


© 2024 NexusFi™, s.a., All Rights Reserved.
Av Ricardo J. Alfaro, Century Tower, Panama City, Panama, Ph: +507 833-9432 (Panama and Intl), +1 888-312-3001 (USA and Canada)
All information is for educational use only and is not investment advice. There is a substantial risk of loss in trading commodity futures, stocks, options and foreign exchange products. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
About Us - Contact Us - Site Rules, Acceptable Use, and Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy - Downloads - Top
no new posts