Trading one year and have a big draw down to prove it. I want small steady profits. OK, Mike, I'm journaling for accountability and want to stop changing things. Was on TF but switched to ES when TF started jumping around like a flea on a griddle. I'm going back to TF, I guess, as it looks like it settled down. Using Fibs on tick charts with MACDBBLines. Also Keltner mid band divergence with MACD (mid band push; MBP). I'm mixed up and trying to figure this out. Fattails and Sharky methods look interesting...but that is more change. Will include Snagits when I get NT to display TextandMarkers. Had three MBPs today, one successful. Also, I start clicking for breaksout, Fib reversals, with too little discipline.
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The first thing you need to do is remove seven of the charts off your screen .Two should be enough one for the timeframe you trade and another for the next higher time frame to give you trend direction
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Thanks, Oztrader25, yes I need simplification.
Today my first 6 trades were losers. With the help of your comment I knew I was trying to watch too much and look for too many setups. I narrowed my setups to two and started to make some points. I'll stick with that tomorrow and report. (Problem; when I turn off Textandmarker on a Ninja chart and try to change back, they don't reappear.)
ES is especially tough to trade. I would also get rid of the lime green and remove as many colors as possible to lower your brain activity. Get rid of indicator labels, excessive and different colors, background that is easier on the eyes etc..
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I would recommend that you spend some time with Bluemele as he seems well versed on your method or at least similar methods. I would concur with the others on getting rid of most of that garbage on your screen, all that stuff only serves to confuse you. I myself am a simple p/a guy and can tell you thats all you need. The simpler your chart is the better. All you really need is a candlestick/bar chart and maybe some oscillator and a good understanding of p/a and s/r and your good to go. I think your chosing the TF is good, ES can be traded but is a HFT mess generally
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Price Action
* Head and shoulders
* 100 percents
* Bar Setups
- Two bar reversal. Bars reach same level.
Second bar closes in opposite direction. Bars can be different lengths.
(http://trending123.com/patterns/Two-Bar-Reversal.html)
- Three-bar Reversal i.e. close, higher close, lower close
- Double Tops/Bottoms
- Rooftop
- Three Peaks (or four)
- Baby Bar
- Three Bar Slide
- Pivots from previous days
- Use trend lines
- The Overall Trend (Overbought/Oversold)
- Wedge
* MACDBB’s
- Foot
- From above/below
- From the side
- Bulge; decent bulges on the first 4 MACDs should go at least 2 and 1/2 points.
- Separation
- The “V.” Right side of V longer implies strong reversal.
- Bear and Bull Flags
- Grabbing the rail; one bb on the rail usually leads to 3 or 4.
- Trailing / Following B. Band
- Resistance area at center line
- Overbought / Oversold
* Fibs
- Retracements (50, 76, and 89 percent); these are “home plates”
- When retracement starts, mark 76 fib with orange target using last two pivots
- When surpassing the day’s high/low,
> reset pivots
* look to pivots for the new high/low from previous days.
* look to move opposite fib point to closer pivot, if there is one.
* If new high, then move low fib placement to last low pivot. If price moves down below low pivot, the next
pivot formed becomes the new low pivot.
* check Fib extensions to 61 and 100. (The 100 is most common. For the market to reverse at 61, it must
also be a 50 or deep retracement in a larger time frame.)
*Note earlier levels of support and resistance. Mark these points near price action.
> Watch for price to drop to 76 or 61 Fib, and then reverse to the deeps. Look for short.
* Price action, MACD, Fib, and Keltner Integration
- Divergence, when price trend does not match MACD trend
- The turning point, bulge, and divergence only works from Fib areas.
- Keltner “Mid Band Push,” and “Mid Band Breakthrough.” Here the price move versus the Keltner midline creates
divergence.
- Levels of past support and resistance for new highs and lows.
- Look for patterns. They may appear today multiple times when they might appear only occasionally otherwise.
With tick charts volume is expressed by the number of bars created during a given time span, no? The one minute vol indicator makes it easy to see volume activity. A acquaintance here in Houston trades 10 ES cars at a time. He uses only Fibs and a volume indicator.
Same trading pattern today as yesterday. Started confident with aim of focusing on only two setups. Got five losing trades on TF. Then I caught a 610 foot for 7 ticks. Next got two losers. Then I applied the trend lines I saw Bluemele using and started making points. .
You have to pick your poison. You don't need to combine both. Either choose the method the guy you know uses or follow/create another. I think doing both is just confusing.
I think you add tools as you need them and then you will find you peeling them away.
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Here is what I have learned that Henry doesn't teach.
1. Focus on the long term, find a setup possibility there and then work your way down. For instance, 100% ext, dt/db, 76 fib area on longer term chart (minimum 1597/4181).
2. Once you get near the area, look for the MACDBB setups to create confluence. See if you can find more confluence.
3. Already plan your exit before you click the button, you will have plenty of time because you will be waiting for it!
4. execute, rinse and repeat.
Remember, this is all about R:R, in that you are risking 5 ticks for at least 5-7 times reward. Getting out at 7 ticks is what has killed me for the last couple years. If you don't have a picked or identified exit then you are wasting your time.
I didn't do this today and it cost me some stress.....
As Judy/Roger told me once, Master the 1597 tick setups and then you will find the gold.
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Try these for the templates and such. I can't recall the best way to get everything to you. My indicators won't export, but I think you have everything you need.
zip file goes in your NT7/templates/chart folder.
The tf.xml file goes into the workspace folder under nt7.
This should give you what I have.
Oh, and 'ouch!' could be removed from the name of your thread to something a little more optimistic. No matter what method you choose to trade, they all require balanced thinking.
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I would second that advice, I also use a 1597 tick on TF along with a 2000 (you could use either one or both) they work very well...that's all you need really.
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Yes, to most people the NFT setup is f-in scary no doubt and it confuses the mind. The trick with that many screens is using them as a pattern building system to help you understand the likely path of the instrument.
However, it could all be noise keeping me from longer runs. haha...
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Yes, if you open up my workspace, you will see I also have open a 1597, 4181, 440, 50,000 on the right screen. I really only look at the left side when I am thinking I know the direction and where it will probably go. If you can do that you will do much better than me!
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2. Change your workspace to remove volume unless you use it. You can figure out if there is life in the market by how many tick bars are created.
3. You don't need horizontal lines on your chart.
4. Your coloring is confusing to me. Too much emphasis on Keltner with contrast. It isn't easy to see price action to me on your chart screen. I would reevaluate your colors.
5. Simplify coloring on the MACDBB.
6. Don't use market. You can set up your DOM to have buy/bid, sell/ask. Options.
7. You spent more time chasing the DOM than watching price action. Chart trader is great to just watch the price action with your entry.
8. Take the KeltnerChannel(xx.x.x..x.xx) stuff out of the top left corner. Same on all your charts. Just more noise. Take scroll bars off the bottom too if possible. Something I didn't do on my main chart but just wasted space.
9. Your BB's are way too spread out in my opinion. Hard to read. I would not use such contrasting colors.
10. 987 was on the rail going up, didn't look short to me. Good job on trade management though considering your first trade. You can see though that jumping around with the DOM is just difficult.
11. Please take a look at Vovan's new setup. Very cool and groovy and highly advise using it.
12. Change the midpoint on the MACD's to just be one color.
So, my advice is good job on the trade, you seemed a little nervous and I don't blame you trying to chase the DOM. I think the DOM is good to have open but not to look at unless that is what you are using to enter. Just my opinion.
Your colors and things that you are looking at have a lot of 'noise'. I would clean that up. Simplify and build on that.
Keep going! Just my thoughts, pick them apart if you like.
Good video! You are a pro! I like your thinking. Very good descriptions!
Thanks, Bluemele, for the advice. I implemented some right away. Others I am cogitating on. Your help plus making videos are making a huge difference...like making points versus losing points!
I tried Vovan's new setup and found it too 'close' for me, so going back to what I had last week.
Barely got out breakeven today, but I blame that on the new setup that I was testing. Today was strictly sim sim sim for me. Wife did well, you should watch her vids to as she is a good trader but hasn't had time with the kid lately.
Keep us posted. My advice, post every day! No matter what. Be accountable and never ever hide your junk. Air it out to the world! All will be forgiven.
Boy - that's a hell of a lot to have in your head at any one time.
Do you actually have a reason for using each of those? By that I mean do you have any reason to think that each of those things you use gives you an edge?
Personally, I look to use the following:
1 - Something to give me a bias
On the ES, I use GOMI CD as my main bias tool. Unless it puts in a major reversal, I'll only play in the direction of the CD.
I also use 'relative volume'. If volume is low or average, I'll expect a day where there will be reversals at the extremes. If the volume is much higher than average I won't expect that.
Finally, I use the average tick, mostly to keep me out if there's serious action in the underlying that goes against the trade I want to place.
2 - Entry
Based on the price & Tape only. If the market is going up, I'll put a limit order below current price at a point where I think it's a good price and where I won't have to have a huge stop to be proven wrong. I use the Tape to fine tune this, if it appears that a lot of size is coming in against me, then I'll cancel the limit. I don't like to move my limit up when I can see the pullback runs out of steam because I lose my place in the queue.
I probably get entries on 1 out of 3 limit orders I place. 2 out of 3 times, the market doesn't come down enough to get me in. This provides plenty of trades on all but the slowest of days.
For each component, I could go into detail about:
- Why it helps on the chosen market(s)
- Why it would not help on other markets
- Why there is an edge inherent in certain parts
- Why I know when to trade and when to stand aside
I won't explain at this point because this is your thread and I don't want to make it about me.
With your list of entries, it looks like you've tried to collect a bunch of stuff out of trading books/web sites and glue them together in the hope it will get you a profit.
I'd cut the list down drastically - personally, I'd try to get one setup right before you add anything else. I'd also try to ensure that there was good rationale for everything you put on a chart. If you can't explain why it should work - dump it.
DT
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The vids are for you more than us. I wouldn't shorten them as then you can go back and quickly rewatch. Just my 2 cents. Unless you are trying to find students or something... haha...
Ok, firstly, I am not an expert, just expounding on what I think is 'right' or more 'right' than 'wrong'. There are no right's and wrong's and it is up to you to decide to take it. However, if you do not heed my advice, then comments get weaker and weaker over time. So, you can choose to heed, or not, no worries either way and you decide if you like them or not. My guess is that you will not like many of the comments but will come back later in time and adapt them. (IF YOU KEEP AT THE SAME SYSTEM!)
I will break your trading down into the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY:
Firstly, the Ugly:
1. Why do you need your DOM on your screen? Please explain as to me it adds absolutely NO VALUE except a bunch of numbers moving very quickly to distract you.
2. Why do you need a volume chart on your screen. These are tick charts, so to me, you have your volume up/down screaming at you with each bar. If volume is light then bars slow down, if volume is heavy, bars speed up. If there is a lot of down volume, bars go down, if there is a lot of buying, guess what.
3. Your dot should be on the active bar for the price. Whether it be an SMA 1 or whatever, the little dot should be NOT on bar close. Because it could be a very long bar and a lot of movement and you have to look at your price marker to the right to figure that out.
4. I would remove any price markers besides actual price on the right side of your screen. Just more noise. Keltner tends to have price settings etc..
5. I believe chart trader would help you out. You have heard that before.
6. Your 144 MACD takes up too much space. Go ahead and stretch it out by holding cntrl key and adjusting on right column if you want that space. To me you want more room for price action, fibs, trendlines etc..
7. Turn the centerline to black regardless of above or below. The centerline is the 26 moving average. The dots are the 12 moving average. When they come together that is the same as the 12 & 26 colliding on that timeframe. That is what the midpoint is. The value of this is that the MACD is a very common indicator and other traders use it.
8. Remove the 'text and markers' from your screen. Use the toogle trades indicator to get this from showing if you need to, but too much junk on the screen and once you make a trade, let go of it and this helps.
9. Put your commissions into NT. There are forum posts on how to do this. it is in options. This helps you convert the thinking that SIM = LIVE.
The BAD!
1. Sim = LIVE, do everything in your power to believe this. You didn't show anything that caused me to think otherwise, but a bad habit just to not reinforce.
2. Record your whole screen. Hard to see it when you are bouncing out and in. Shouldn't be doing that while trading or bother with it while you are not trading either in my opinion. You don't need to sell us a course right now. Focus on trading.
3. I didn't see your 100% ext. or real Fibs. Your fibs were all real small areas etc..
4. Know your keyboard shortcuts for a trendline, fib etc..
5. Have the larger target areas defined on your screen so it is like a plane landing or taking off. You are ready for it. This is for both entry and exit. Maybe you do this on longer term charts which is fine. I SAW NO TARGETS FOR YOUR ENTRIES!
6. What longer term charts are you looking at? Please explain. This isn't bad, just confusing to me.. Your targets should be coming off these areas and charts.
7. When you are coming from the top, the term is 'support' on the midband or 26MA MACDBB. When coming from below, RESISTANCE.
8. You were not focused on the MACD's at the beginning. You went that way later and you were much clearer. Slow down, focus on long terms and settle in to an area to get interested. At first when it was moving quickly you were just trying to hold on with one arm and ride the bronkin buck. Relax, move your eyes off the 144 chart and settle in until you know you want to trade around here. I need some of my own advice.
9. You kept saying the market is "quick, quick, quick..." No need. The market is just the market. If anything you are slow. Just relax, no need to define that and just take your eyes off the charts, slow down your heartrate.
10. You mentioned trading is exciting. To me, trading is boring. Losing money while trading can be exciting until you are done for the day. TRADING = BORING.
11. You are focused on fundamentals "I'd like to help out those stocks and bonds" "I don't believe the economy is as bad...." Who cares, and as Big Mike has taught me, TRADE WHAT YOU SEE ONLY.
12. You said that trading is not for the 'faint of heart'. Why? You could dissect this and figure out what it means to you. Clear it out of your system.
13. Your entry on the first trade that was recorded was truly awful. Profitable but awful. That is where you will lose money in my opinion. Let it go and get the next one. Your other entries were much better after that, but that is the trade you want to erase even though it was profitable.
14. I didn't see a significant amount of price action. Few trendlines, channels, wedges, etc.. Something to work towards in my opinion, but you could have been doing them on your longer term charts, so...
15. You said once or twice "Lose Money". Take the word Money out of your vocabulary when you trade. This helps on the Psychological. Always talk in Points if you can and not ticks. Something Horst taught me well.
16. You are scalping. Yes, you can make money scalping, but over the long term it will ware you down in my opinion and the goal is to grow larger trades if possible but do what you think is right.
Good:
1. Good Patience and explanations. You know what you are doing!
2. Good entries on the last 2 trades. I liked them, especially the last one.
3. You were exceptional to let the trend run out of steam and then look for a trade!!!
4. Good use of Fibs when you used them.
5. Very good attitude on the "More trades will come".
Again, please take this from my limited context. My comments will get much shorter from here. Aloha!
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I run it on Ninja. I find for daytrading, it is less reliable on thinner instruments. On thick instruments like the ES, it works really well to keep you onside.
In an uptrend, you generally see a small shift in delta to the downside on the pullbacks.
Basically, I see it as a zoomed out version of Tape Reading.
1. I would change the name of the journal. Unless you like 'Ouch'.
2. You were caught watching the DOM go up and down. It is 'sparkly' and can keep you from properly assessing the market.
3. You didn't reference your 610 or other MACD's when you were in your trades.
4. Your 4181 seemed too spread out to me.
5. I would put the 'dot connector' on the MACDBB so it shows you the angle's but up to you.
6. You didn't have a target on your first trade. Dangerous or maybe I just didn't hear it. You did mostly continuation trades which is fine, but if market conditions change you could end up for a shock, so just know that in these conditions this is working well.
7. I would change the commission from 4.00 to what your broker is EXACTLY for each side. Build this account up to 50K, then go live or something but this helps make it real.
8. You had trendlines on your chart, but you weren't using them.
9. It is OK to take 10 ticks if you feel the move is no longer there. 10 ticks is 10 ticks! If you change your mind the change your mind.
10. To get currency in the trades window, it is a dropdown above.
Good trading today. One thing to me is that I would not have a 'daily goal' of 2 points. It is good to have that, but your goal could be "I will trade what good setups I am exposed to".
You did much better today.
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If you are scalper like me, your charts probably get very messy. This simple indicator can help!!
- Adds a button to the toolbar which lets you show/hide trades on the chart.
Note*: If you are using my 'ToogleExecutions' indicator, remove from your …
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Had trouble seeing bar setups today. Missed a good shoulder head shoulder at 9:05. No mid-band pushes.
Should have closed first trade at 2.5 + when it reached the trend line. Would have called it a day.
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Your entry was a little too patient in my opinion, but I think you will get better with that over time.
Very rangy day today wasn't it. Then a nice breakout to long. Good vision, good insight! Very impressive. A lot of improvement from your first vid just a few days ago.
Much more calm.
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Five gifts after days of profitability. First two were shorts going against strong downs on big charts. Fell for head fakes.
Last three were shorts when many charts were showing up. Took mid band push (MBP) before BBs turned.
Also ignored trend line or failed to see conflict between trend line and MBP.
I am resolved to show up tomorrow with my eyes open.
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Days like today you learn a lot in my opinion. You were 'reversed' on your thinking as far as long and short.
To me, I used to be the same way. The key that changed it was either 'don't always TRUST the indicators' or, interpret them a different way. There was a lot of hidden divergence today or what Henry calls "Going down for Gas" or "Going up for Gas" or whatever he calls it.
I traded like you for over 1.5 years, then Horst straightened me out and said, "You know this could actually bounce and continue etc." and that is where I changed my thinking. He calls it a mid-band push or whatever now, not sure, but like you mentioned the mid-band push was going up against the MACD's. Pretty much all of them.
I can tell you my least favorite thing is to enter and then get knocked out immediately. haha..
I also like the new title of your thread! Very nice!
One other thing, you will save yourself some headaches if you move to chart trader. I think you lose focus when you are trying to bounce around and enter. The DOM can also have buy/bid, sell/ask so you don't have to spend so much energy on the entry.
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I insisted in trading before market open...must stop that.
Saw H take several stop losses before catching a wave. I guess I thought had to mimic that...and I did.
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If you could post a shot of the trades you took on the trade summary that would be great too!
You opened up your stops some! Probably not a terrible idea in this market.
You kept trading which is good.
You were holding your breath it seemed once you were in your trade. Anxiety and something I do occasionally and get fixated. Sometimes I am better than at other times.
You did very good today considering! You are getting better. In my opinion I still think you spend a lot of time on that DOM.
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Thanks to Bluemele and Vovan for their recordings and advice!
I had a "ah-ha" experience last night. As clear as a bell it hit me that I must appreciate the market, respect the market, enjoy trading, and be moving forward on all fronts of life...if I am to be a successful trader.
The "ah-ha" was likely spurred by this piece distributed via email yesterday by Robert Anthony.
Opportunity in disguise?
Every action you take will either strengthen or weaken your power.
Every time you give in to any impulse, your ability to resist it
in the future becomes weaker.
Anytime you are tempted by any behavior that is in contradiction to
what you desire, you have a strengthening choice or a weakening
choice.
Instead of looking at such options as a temptation to overcome, I
want you to begin looking at those moments as opportunities. You
have an opportunity to strengthen your ability to become a
Deliberate Creator.
Think - if you make that strengthening decision just once, the pain
of it will be only very brief, but the strengthening of your
ability to make choices that will support you instead of defeat you
will last you for the rest of your life.
Say to yourself, "As I choose the strengthening decision now, I am
making myself more powerful and my life easier from this moment
on".
As you practice this way of thinking every day, these
decisions will become easier and easier because you will trust the
"Flow", as a result, you will become more and more powerful by the
minute.
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1. What if you start the day with 1 loser instead of the winner?
2. Typically if you save your ATM strategy once with that chart, then it will pop back up. You can right click on the chart trader and select properties and there is a setting that says next to "ATM Strategy Selection Mode" --> "KeepSelectedAtmStrategyTemplateOnOrderScreen" and that will stop you from redoing it each time. (I have mine showing)
3. I have also added my ATM Strategy defaults. It goes to BE+1 after it goes positive 20 ticks and it has a chase of 1.
You had a great trade today. Good job!!!!!
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It was a tough day for you. Watching you reminds me of me. You trade very similarly to a mix of my wife and I. She hesitates and waits and then gets knocked out. I tend to overtrade always trying to get that pivot and focused on the smaller time frames.
You are evolving and I can see your comfort with the platform already being much better. Your eyes are not glued to a DOM that is moving up/down! haha...
Hold your head high! This is the foundation!
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After a few gifts today I recognized I was a member of the herd. Mooo. Then I saw a big double bottom coming up at 9:51 Central Time. The earlier pivot was at 9:25. I stood in front of the freight train and placed a long. Choo choo! The train stopped and reversed in time for a 2.2 point gain. I guess I left the herd.
No vid. PC locked up.
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That 610 bulge at 8:40 Central Time was sweet. Price hit double top one bar after the 610 turned down. Please see attachment. What do I need...a engraved invitation?!?
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I noted news at 9 AM CT and then forgot about it as usual. I've got an egg timer I'll use. Turns out that was fortunate as I went long just before the market jumped up on the news.
Happy with a winning day. Finally. Thanks for your support and encouragement, guys!
Yes, I saw that first thing and decided I wasn't going to trade around news at all as when there is that many news items it tends to act funny 10 minutes prior and then kaboom.
One thing to note is that you didn't get filled on some good entries, but the bad one's you did. Are you switching from buy/bid, sell/ask to market? I think with 9 ticks you could easily to that. Another way is to buy/ask and sell/bid as that will normally get you filled.
Good job today. It wasn't an easy day for me. These last couple weeks have been rough.
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-2.1 TF today. I'm beginning a new journal on recommendation of Ed Abreu, a pro trader. He is still teaching his method while two others I followed "went out of business." Here is his recommendation and my initial entries.
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No trades yesterday. Didn't see setups. I'm a bit proud I didn't trade without setups I could see.
Today I felt confident, something new. I am keeping the goal of consistent profits in mind, or so I think I am. What does that translate into? I think it means closing the trade when you sense by indicators and intuition it's lost it's steam after a modest run. Also, no need to wait for a gift, although I'm still doing that. Again, the goal is consistent profits. I want to learn to wait out the long runs, but for now let's get consistent profits. As a pro football announcer said last weekend, "You aren't gonna' go broke taking small profits."
Remember before I started my journal I pointed out some of you mistakes and I told you that I can see it because I do the same, and I told you that you are gonna see a lot of your mistakes in my trading.
I like how HighRise1202 waits for the area and bar setup. I can do it only some days. Haha...
Chickened out? No, thinking of consistent profits, at least that's what I hope.
Missed double top at 9:38 Eastern Time. Darn, and I had made a note to look for double tops where the first is a day back (or more). No worry. There will be more trades. (Repeat aloud three times.)
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I think some days it better to stay out than trade if you are not sure about the entries or if you missed it. That's something I have to learn from you!
A demon took over my mind and manifested herd mentality. Forget areas and mid band pushes. I followed the lead steer into the meat packing plant. Tomorrow I plan to leave the herd.
I have a lot of days like this. You think long it goes short then you realize that you are going against trend but it's too late because trend is over. Just my life story. Haha...
I'll tell you what I find really helpful. Instead of looking at the charts doing historicals I like doing replay of today's market. You remember what happened and you mark your trades. When you get to the entry point pause, analyze all MACDs check all areas, take a screenshot. After you done with first hour go through your screenshots and try to remember MACDs look. I actually even zoom in on my small MACDs to see what setup each MACD has and why did it work from here. I've done it over the weekend and it seems that you can find your entry bar even without looking at the fibs.
Just try it if you have some time and analyze direction in general, then take a very close look to smaller MACDs and you'll see what I'm saying.
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Well Horst was waiting for one setup. I didn't see him making a lot of gifts. You saw Nindi's video. One shot and she's done. That means it can be done and it can be done any day. It all depends on your vision. Every day there are money to make and as much as you need. It's all in our hands and we'll get there sooner or later.
(Better sooner than later.)
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The other thing to remember is that Nindi did do one shot/kill and she is quite good. But, she doesn't show her bad days either....
That is the challenge with following the 'rules' and then having a day that will sink you. I think overall you will come out ahead, but the key is to understand two things to me:
1. never strive for perfection as you will never find it
2. there is always opportunity within the market to make money on a daily basis
The first one keeps me from beating the mental crap out of myself. The 2nd one inspires me to get one more day in.
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I hope you don't mind me commenting on your trading today. It isn't that I am better or so smart, but I feel I have 'been there', so please take this with a grain of salt.
Your patience is commendable! But, be careful because you tend to trade more later on I have noticed or you are running out of time or there is something there that is forcing you to take B setups later on.
One thing to ask yourself is, "What if the market was to never go short today, what would that look like and how would that look on the MACDBB?". If you ask yourself that, you will find it singing to you to go long and go short right? Well, it was clear it was going up while you were looking to short (because of separation and areas). It isn't that the indicators don't work, but I believe the indicators are always telling you both Up and down, and you have to be open to either. Some days the up day will be singing down and vice versa so the weaker signal short on the mid-term MACD's had no bearing.
I am always asking myself the question "what if the direction I picked is not the long term direction, what would that look like". This may do more harm than good, but I think in the long term I will work it out.
Your entries are REALLY far down. 7 ticks will not handle a deep retrace from a 23/38 pullback. My advice is to either A) always wait for the pullback and then jump in, or, B) try to get in closer to the pivot.
You are really seeing things much more clearly than I believe I did at your stage, but I think working on those two things will help you immensely. I would probably try looking at the long terms, plant some fibs and ext. and see where you think big targets will go.
Another day with the herd. I don't have the strength to analyze it just now. Bummed out. Yet there is Nindi, doing her divergence thing again. Good for her. If someone is doing it, we can.
Was setting marker for double top from previous days pivot. Was focusing on another traders method to get in on trend moves. Missed deep retracement move at opening. I am learning I am learning.
Got a nice run. However, missed nice setup. I feel like a rookie pass receiver who goes out for a pass and can't adjust to position for a catch...like a spaz.
Have a diversion. A seasoned pro is showing his method via a local futures support group I started. He uses Fibs and $TICK on ES. Eight year veteran that pulled in two trades yesterday for 8 points. I can't ignore that but lament not focusing on one method.
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OK, I admit it. Today my Indian blood took over...and I scalped. Just two tiny scalps, white man. Sorry. But two tiny scalps per day is enough to feed my squaw and horse trigger. Don't put me back on the reservation...pleeeease!
The only challenge I have with you doing this is that you will end up making a lot of gifts when these breakouts don't work in your favor.
It is good to be profitable, but worse to put in bad habits. (Like me today...)
I went down the same path you are doing now at one point and my wife probably a bit more. She is a bit more patient and cautious. So, she waits a lot more, but she makes a lot more gifts on pullbacks and finds herself unprofitable.
If you are going to take breakouts, then I suggest looking off higher time frames and then finding a breakout on the smaller Timeframe. Just some advice....
You are good and patient, something I still do not have.
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Yes, I scalped. Maybe we have to go through the same steps as we proceed. Scalping feels good because there have been + signs for day reports and no - signs of recent I can remember.
Note: H stopped showing daily results on his DOM. Instead uses Ninja ruler.
Yes, I don't know why Horst is doing that?? Strange on the change and I forgot to ask him.
I think it is good to build that confidence, but the challenge is building 'bad habits'. My wife did the same for 6 months and if you ask her, it was a waste of time.
I think something we all go through no matter what anyone tells us. Our fragile EGO's need to congratulate ourselves with the positive days. I know that is how I still behave.
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Missed two mid band pushes, then a nice foot forming on 610. Felt like a running back who fumbled the ball...three times! Then I said to myself, "Relax." I looked at the indicators, price action, waited, placed a short, and turned away to handle email. Result, 3.6 tick run.
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Thanks for the comments. Good food for thought. Can one skip going through a stage? Then there is Pro Trader Ed, a scalper. I studied with him for a while. You watch him trade live in his trade room.
1. Pro-trader Ed obviously doesn't make enough money just trading. Anyone can have that confidence IF you have 300.00 per person coming into your pocket monthly.
2. Scalping is definitely a way to trade if that suits your heart, but to me, it will never bring you real money. For me, I am not doing this to 'get by'. I can do that already, I am here to trade and make real $'s. What is real? 1M per month is REAL to me.
3. The whole vendor thing is such a turn off at this point.
4. Can you skip through a stage? Good question. I don't think so personally, but you sure can keep from repeating them and make them shorter! haha...
Just like adulthood, some may never reach it (my brother) but others will get there early. Can you skip puberty?
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Watching my thinking on recent days, I noticed a pattern. First, I had enthusiasm at the opens. Like a kid in a candy shop, I wanted to grab everything that looked the least bit tasty. Then, after a few stop losses, I realized I need to be like a dealer of diamonds. Study the markets carefully, find out what your customers want, and trade accordingly and carefully. Now, I want to be the diamond dealer at the opening.
One thing to fix the open excitement is to literally sit on your hands for the first 15 minutes. It was recommended by Danielle to me a while back and I think it works if you have that self control.
Placed a short at 8:33 Central Time. Chickened out on pullback. Got 2 ticks. Then trade proceeded down...and it's still going down hours later! Oh, please supersize my order for trade management skills.
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The whole gang of TF traders was likely waiting as price reached the deep retracement at 8:40 Central Time. I placed shorts. 987, however, was still on the rail up.
Trade 3 was a long while still in the deeps. 610 and 987 were on the rail up. It went 1 point then gave a two bar reversal...twice! Another stop out. I'll take one order of trade management, hold the fries.
I feel hopeful each morning...hope springing eternal. I feel I need to sprinkle some wisdom on that.
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Happy to get a point on a day before a major holiday. Sad I exited while in a long trend. Hit my preset target. Should have moved it down. Dealt with feeling I was left out.
Then I caught a 610 foot for 7 ticks. Next got two losers. Then I applied the trend lines I saw Bluemele using and started making 
.
Would have called it a day. 
As clear as a bell it hit me that I must appreciate the market, respect the market, enjoy trading, and be moving forward on all fronts of life...if I am to be a successful trader. 
I've got an egg timer I'll use. 
Turns out that was fortunate as I went long just before the market jumped up on the news. 
Thanks for your support and encouragement, guys! 
I'm beginning a new journal on recommendation of Ed Abreu, a pro trader. He is still teaching his method while two others I followed "went out of business." 
Here is his recommendation and my initial entries.
No worry. There will be more trades. (Repeat aloud three times.) 
)
I am learning I am learning.
I feel like a rookie pass receiver who goes out for a pass and can't adjust to position for a catch...like a spaz. 
I placed shorts. 987, however, was still on the rail up. 
