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My Trades, Charts, Comments and all things trading
Here is a screen shot of my trade desk. It consists of a set or 2 range charts, 30m, 60m for the TF, CL, ES, FDAX.
For the YM only a 15/8m combo.
Trade Setups are defined as:
Outerband - can be a trend or counter trend
Midband - can be a trend or counter trend
Re-Entry - trend
Continuation - trend
3Bar Reversal - counter trend
Market Balance - counter trend
BoxBreakout - trend or counter trend
Opening Range Breakout
Parabolic Tap
If you do not have clearly defined setups with names (like members of your family) that recall to mind a precise course of action with the entire trade event all spelled out from entry to exit, then you may be winging it.
thank you! This is exactly what I was wondering about... just curious how long "after a while" was for you... ? lol. Know it's very different for everyone in truth. So, perhaps it doesn't matter. But if it was quick, I am wondering how you shortened that learning curve.... ?
Also, yes; I already have many people who are asking me to trade their money. But I am very clear that I'm not ready to do that.
thanks! oh, btw, Thanks also to Eric : after his post, I checked out your blog. I found the coaching suggestions to a new trader (1 pt goal a day) to be right at what I'm trying to do. I feel so many light years behind the other traders on this site often, that it was reassuring to consider that I'm moving along at a realistic clip. Nice blog. I'll check it out further later.
Keep things simple. use only high prob setups that you have tested and qualified. Keep targets realistic. Take a scratch over a stop out, a BE over a scratch, a 1st target that lets you pay yourself with every trade or at least buy most of your risk, and work to get the runner going...then let it run up to the point where what you risk giving back is greater than what you need.
Trade for money. No other reason matters. All decisions are predicated on the primary objective to not lose money.
I did not have an easy start. There was no short learning curve...there is no shortcut in this profession that I know of. However, here are some suggestions to help keep you from wandering too far off the path-
Keep it simple.
That means focus on price action, vol, and S&R. Use as few indicators as possible. You only need a trendline, a ma, vol, and if you feel squeemish use a momentum tool ...like the CCi or some kind of cycle tool.
Practice on sim each setup you devise and keep a comprehensive journal of your performance. It is not so much the trade setups, but if you can work the trade setups. That's why you will find everyone who makes a real living at this has no problem sharing what they do openly...I can trade my setups...but can you?
No one has an edge over you except those you allow to.
That is no one knows the future of price any more than you can. We are all victims to the unknown. So all we can do is look to the left of our charts and read from left to right and make an educated deduction based on our understanding of price, our trade setups, rules, and experience as to what is probable in the immediate future of our chart at the right hard edge.
Take your time.
That is do not attempt to trade everything you see, and do not rush trading. Do not try to fit the market into what you want it to do. You must adapt.
FIND A RELIABLE MENTOR! This is a great place to hook up with one. However, too many cooks will fill your head with too many recipies and you won't be able to boil an egg if you spread your focus out too thin.
One of the best exercises you can do is to study someone else's trading. So, I am listing the trades for you to review. Things to consider is whether price went through both ends, the amount of risk from entry to exit, and where the entry occured compared to what you already know or do.
Hate to show my ignorance, but:
When does one know to use a scratch vs. let oneself get stopped out or does that just mean take 3 ticks of a loss vs. the full 1pt (as an ex.)?
From some of your questions seems you are not doing your research and study, and just want answers. Well, that is a dangerous approach to this profession. I can give you my methods, my money management reasoning, and my view of the market. But, if you want to learn this profession and survive your first few years, then you need to put in a lot of work and arrive at most of your answers in the course of your study and practice in the live market. Many of your trading decisions are uniquely your own just as your approach to the market, and how you trade. There is no one way for all. People who succeed at this are usually individualist, and do things their own way.
The answer to "When does one know to use a scratch vs. let oneself get stopped out " has a lot to do with how you trade, the setups you trade, the instrument you trade, and your risk tolerance. A scratch means you just give back the $ your earned on that trade.
A BE is break even...which is a stop at your entry number. If you had no runners and was trading a single contract then that is a scratch. If you cashed in your first contract and stop out at your entry on the second contract, that is a BE on the runner.
More time in front of your charts trading is what you need....thousands of hours of screen time if you are a intraday discretionary trader.
Have you started putting together a summary of your observations for the particular instrument you are trading?
Thank you for challenging me. Maybe you're right. I will consider that about not doing my homework. But, I do find a lot of people use abbreviations quite a bit on here and I'm not always sure that a google search will put me in the right direction.
Yes.. I have a trading plan, a year's worth of screen time with the ES and I keep a daily journal. I have tried to read a lot and have been looking a lot, now, at the psychology part for me. But I have mostly to focus on the fact that I never started with an adequate size account. So, I am holding my focus there for now.
Thanks for your time! I have appreciated it and already learned a lot from what you've shared.
