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The PandaWarrior Chronicles

  #1741 (permalink)
 
josh's Avatar
 josh 
Georgia, US
Legendary Market Wizard
 
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tigertrader View Post
IMO, these are the most reliable patterns for technical traders because there is finally a real buying or selling imbalance.

This makes the most sense from a technical standpoint to me, thanks for saying this.


tigertrader View Post
I don’t trade often my friend, but when I do I make sure its a trend day -XX

Maybe "stay trendy my friends" would be in order Thanks for the reply as usual Gary!


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  #1742 (permalink)
 
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 Big Mike 
Manta, Ecuador
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Very glad to see @tigertrader posting regularly again, and he's already re-earned his Wizardly status.

But please remember everyone, this is Brian's journal.

Mike

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  #1743 (permalink)
 
PandaWarrior's Avatar
 PandaWarrior 
In the heat
 
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Big Mike View Post
Very glad to see @tigertrader posting regularly again, and he's already re-earned his Wizardly status.

But please remember everyone, this is Brian's journal.

Mike

I'd rather see @tigertrader, @josh and others discuss these important topics than bore myself and others with mundane posts all about more of the same.... so have at it....but don't stray into silly territory like the last time....

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci


Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
Started this thread
  #1744 (permalink)
 
tigertrader's Avatar
 tigertrader 
Philly, Pa
Legendary Market Wizard
 
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Thanks Mike, and of course a big thanks to Brian for so graciously allowing me the use of his real estate.

...stumbled upon these Dr. Brett quotes - thought @PandaWarrior would enjoy

Brett N. Steenbarger, Ph.D.

I've never seen a trader succeed whose explicit or implicit goal was to not lose. The trader who
trades to not lose is like the person who lives to avoid death: both become spiritual
hypochondriacs.

No union was ever destroyed by a failure of romance. It is the loss of respect, not love, which
ends a relationship.

Love, once present, never dies. It must be killed.

Sometimes we select markets--and trading styles--much as we choose romantic partners: by their
ability to validate our deepest-held images of ourselves. Our choices generally succeed, for
better or for worse.

Many a trader fears boredom more than loss, thereby experiencing the two in sequence.

Goodness of character is measured in loyalty to others; greatness of character is measured in
loyalty to principle.

A measure of the soul: the degree to which the surpassing achievements of others evoke
inspiration rather than envy.

If you listen to the words, you'll understand the brains of the speaker. If you listen to the tone,
you'll understand his heart.

Show me what a man loathes, and I will show you what he cannot accept in himself.

Two traders: one increases size after a loss; the other gets smaller. Both continue to lose.

One encounters losing traders as often as one encounters losing golfers--and for much the same
reason.

The absence of self-acceptance too often masquerades as the desire for self-improvement.

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  #1745 (permalink)
 jimjones26 
Tulsa OK
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: NinjaTrader/Jigsaw Tools
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tigertrader View Post

Show me what a man loathes, and I will show you what he cannot accept in himself.

The absence of self-acceptance too often masquerades as the desire for self-improvement.

These two sentences really jumped out at me. Not sure why.

20,000,000
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  #1746 (permalink)
 
podski's Avatar
 podski 
Belgium
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Ninjatrader
Broker: Ninjatrader Brokerage, CQG
Trading: FDAX, FDXM ...maybe
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I'm very glad that this journal has become a watering hole for all sorts of stuff.

It certainly has widened our perspective on Brian and reminded us of the most important thing in trading and in life - balance. We are our worst enemies.

On Mentors:

I like Mike's remark on him having taken a number of students and that he spent hundreds of hours helping them whilst they spent little time helping themselves. When I say I like it, what I mean is it cuts to the bone.

A good mentor or a good coach doesn't have to have to be a superstar performer. It might help but only if they have the more important people and communications skills too. They do have to know a superstar when they see one. They also have to be able to tap a student/athlete on the shoulder and tell them to pack it in and get on with other areas of their life when it is appropriate.

There is both food and drink in every page of Dr. Brett's work. In his books he speaks to the individual reader as their coach. He knows that he cannot be there "live" to support that trader but wrote the books so that his words could linger. He uses an analogy from therapy, that each individual should be able to "trade from the couch". We should be able to take a step back from our trading and do the most difficult of exercises - examine what it is that we are really doing.

In order for the mentor/student relationship to work it is the student that has to bring it and do the work. The chemistry has to be right, the stage of development has to be right and the long term goals have to be right. Most importantly the successful performer needs that rage to succeed. This thing of ours (sic) is something where many are called and few are chosen. A mentor can accelerate the development of a winner and also help a loser throw in the towel.

I think that if it works it can be a very important role.

For anyone that feels that they are competent , experienced and have something serious to give then I would encourage them to be a mentor. Just be brutal about who you choose as a student. Develop your talent for picking winners. If you are your own mentor, examine where your rage to succeed is now. That is where you should be working.

p

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  #1747 (permalink)
 
PandaWarrior's Avatar
 PandaWarrior 
In the heat
 
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Posts: 3,165 since Mar 2010
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I've been looking at ZN now for a few weeks. Another trader turned me onto it. Well to be fair, I thought it was boring at first....and it still is for the most part. But what I like about it is that seems pretty directional. Unlike CL with it's multiple stop runs and direction changes each day, ZN seems to pick a direction and move that way pretty methodically.

Another thing that seems nice, is that it appears to respect levels much more than CL or even ES does. The edges appear nice and clean with clearly defined breaks and pullbacks.

So I traded it in sim for a couple of weeks alongside CL. I would put on a trade and then hide the chart and forget about it only to hear, target filled an hour later. Whoops, I had forgotten about it by that time. So decided to take a flyer on it this week live. Yesterday was pretty good but I exited the second trade a bit early as I had already taken a nice profit on the first one and on the second one I was merely trying to end up with a small winner or at worst a BE.

Today however was a monster day.....with one lot. But I let it run all the way out to the projected profit objective and sure enough, it hit it within one tick. $587 on one lot......for me, that represents close to the largest single lot trade of my short trading career. And most definitely the longest held trade ever.

I had opportunity to add another lot to the trade but elected not to since I am so new to this instrument. Next time I get the chance, I'll add on.

I'll be trading both live and sim over the coming days and weeks in this instrument as I attempt to learn some of the nuances it possess.


Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci


Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
Started this thread
  #1748 (permalink)
 
tigertrader's Avatar
 tigertrader 
Philly, Pa
Legendary Market Wizard
 
Experience: Master
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Yesterday Brian asked me about trading ZN and because I was pressed for time, I gave him a very brief and inadequate reply to his query. Ironically, I made only one trade today, and it wasn’t until I sat down to trade at 3:15 PM ET. There must have been some kind of subliminal forces at work, because I made the trade in ZB (I don’t trade notes), which is a non sequitur of sorts, because I have been trading Gold (and some ES) almost exclusively as of late.

The trade was essentially a scalp from my perspective although the time from entry to exit was over 4 hours. Nevertheless, it does provide a chance for me to explain in more detail, some of the data points I consider when making and managing a trade.

Reiterating what I have posted previously; traders operate at differing time-frames, markets are interconnected, themes abound in the markets, and probabilities and departures from value govern trading opportunities. Recency bias - identifying what is driving price at the current time and in turn what techniques or strategies are effective at the current time, always play a role in making an informed decision. While I won’t cover every data point I considered, I will mention the most salient.

The trade was initiated from the short side at a time of the day that was consistent with higher volatility and consistent with the current theme (scaled back QE) and trend (down) in treasuries. ZB had been trading below the VWAP since 8:30 AM and failed to trade above the intra-day VaH. At the time I initiated the trade the NOB was strengthening, which has been a leading indicator throughout the recent selloff in the bonds. And for the day at least, the bonds negative correlation to equities had reemerged. With the ES higher into the 3 p.m. hour, there was a high probability of the ES moving higher into the 4 p.m. close (70%), which meant there was a high probability ZB would continue its selloff. Which it did.

I took the trade into the close and did not cover because my expectation was still lower for ZB. When ZB reopened at 6:00PM ET it gapped up a few tics. I noticed that the yen was getting hit at the same time and decide to add to my position by 40%, which proved to be an auspicious move as the yen traded lower and the bonds followed. I made one more add in decreasing size on a cue form the yen and decided to target the 133.20 level as a potential point to cover. It was -2SD from the VWAP and the bottom of value from the previous day. However, I would first see how ZB traded at that level and what if any cues the yen would give me.

The yen did in fact start to rally and the bonds lagged far enough behind that I was able to cover near the low of the move. Otherwise I would have been looking to add more and press further.

The lesson to be learned is that there is no hurry to cover a trade just because you have money in it, and you are worried about that profit dissappearing before your very eyes.

Get out of trades because you dont expect them to continue working.



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  #1749 (permalink)
 
josh's Avatar
 josh 
Georgia, US
Legendary Market Wizard
 
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tigertrader View Post
The lesson to be learned is that there is no hurry to cover a trade just because you have money in it, and you are worried about that profit dissappearing before your very eyes.

Get out of trades because you dont expect them to continue working.

The above is very much appreciated Gary--thanks for posting it.

As a side note:
1) Why do you prefer bonds instead of notes?
2) Why does your VWAP begin at midnight instead of the globex open time at 18:00 ET?
3) Can you talk a little more about the yen-bonds correlation you used?

  #1750 (permalink)
 
tigertrader's Avatar
 tigertrader 
Philly, Pa
Legendary Market Wizard
 
Experience: Master
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josh View Post
The above is very much appreciated Gary--thanks for posting it.

As a side note:
1) Why do you prefer bonds instead of notes?
2) Why does your VWAP begin at midnight instead of the globex open time at 18:00 ET?
3) Can you talk a little more about the yen-bonds correlation you used?

1) I traded Bonds on the floor for 25 years and also, the farther out the curve the more volatility in the instument - I like volatility

2) I've always used the VWAP this way and found tht it works for me

3) I mentioned themes and recency bias - there is a theme in the markets that is au courant becuase of a comment that Bill Gross made back in May; and that is that he expected bonds and equities to become positively correlated moving forward - he went on to state that the global levered trade is depndent upon a stable yen, JGB yield, and Treasury yield, and that if these were to become unstable the highly levered trade would begin to unravel
,
ever since he made those comments there has been increased scrutiny on all of the above

the professional trading community is smaller than you would think and they talk to each much in the same way that people on this forum share and exchange ideas - that is why you will often see large desks implementing the same strategies, often at the same time, in the same direction - but more importantly; they all look at the same things in an almost trendy way

i mentioned how the desks were all keying off Italian credit spreads at the height of the euro crisis - for a while this was all they were following and and was the driving force behind their decisions

then conditions change and its something else, like china or commodities, or whatever the theme may be that is relavant or percieved to be , at that point in time

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