Welcome to NexusFi: the best trading community on the planet, with over 150,000 members Sign Up Now for Free
Genuine reviews from real traders, not fake reviews from stealth vendors
Quality education from leading professional traders
We are a friendly, helpful, and positive community
We do not tolerate rude behavior, trolling, or vendors advertising in posts
We are here to help, just let us know what you need
You'll need to register in order to view the content of the threads and start contributing to our community. It's free for basic access, or support us by becoming an Elite Member -- see if you qualify for a discount below.
-- Big Mike, Site Administrator
(If you already have an account, login at the top of the page)
Will post a few screenshots soon to show my setup and also a picture of my trading desk for fun.
I'm done trading for this week. I am simply planning, simplifying and preparing for starting to properly sim trade next week under all my rules/plans. Next monday I'll start my hypothetical combine Once I've passed a few of these hypothetical combines I'll be going live or doing a TST combine.
Also I contacted my friend about this job in London and told him to hook me up with an interview, so we'll see how that goes, I hope the interview isn't soon as I'd like some time to do some hypothetical combines but I should at least go to the interview to see if I like the job/environment.
This movie was awesome if you can read between the lines and understand the symbols... Of course I couldn't, I had to watch a 30-minute explanation on YouTube afterwards to understand this film with my girlfriend, after this I realized what a master piece it was!
If you like ambiguous mystery thrillers, check it out, stars Jake Gyllenhaal.
If anybody does watch it, come back here for some discussion about it, pretty confusing stuff.
I'm going through several trading materials simultaneously and developing my plan further and further. I want to get practicing trading as soon as possible, but I feel I need to process all the information before it will be beneficial to trade. My basic goal is to pass a hypothetical combine in November without breaking any pre-defined rules.
My main issue is defining entry parameters, since I like to act more intuitively and don't want to limit my flexibility to act in accordance with the flow/feeling of the market but at the same time I need a more solid framework for entries or else I'll be more prone to mistakes like overtrading, or impatience. I believe that anybody can trade like a pro by reading, sensing and hearing the market. The problems occurs when you try to apply this to all market fluctuations, without specialising.
I feel I cannot trade until I've gone through all this information, but at the same time I feel like the information isn't that important and that I already have all the knowledge I need -- and I just need to accept the uncertainty.
It is the feeling of "what is known is never enough" and "the demand to know more so as to be convinced before acting". I need to accept what there is to know and not demand what is not yet, or cannot ever be known.
I'll keep ploughing through.
Trading is one of these things where confidence feels delusional, because there is so much we do not know. Occasionally I get full confidence and positivity and then I read maybe something on a forum or something and feel completely humbled and like "I'm not ready to trade yet!" but really this is just a more subtle version of the holy grail search.
The best I can do is develop my plan and then practice executing my plan, making active developments to my plan through practice. In other words I need to practice trading, not learn more.
Right now I'm simply waiting for my mind to feel relaxed, confident and calm and not overloaded, before I start my hypothetical combine.
There is no absolutist experience in trading. I want to identify my simple setup parameters and then in such scenarios allow my intuition to take responsibility to "relating between what is actually given in sense and what is only thought or judged." It is my own intuition I have to trust: buying, selling - doing!
"A wrong note, a missed shot, a losing transaction, is all part of the passage. You can't be a better player without accepting that risk along the way - indeed, without having experienced loss along the way."
The quest for an absolute answer, produces a rejection of imperfect techniques -- without accepting what we do know: that it is an imperfect market.
Tl;Dr Developing an acceptance of uncertainty. Further defining entry parameters to prevent overtrading. Accepting imperfect techniques. Accept humility and an inability to trade all market conditions and fluctuations, i.e. patience. Realising the confidence and positivity that comes from being selective about trading conditions and entries. Focusing on developing simple consistency and not mastery.
I'd appreciate some feedback on some of these issues from you guys, as my mind is fragmented over it all.
Turismo
My sense of these issues is that if you practice your plan, meaning, sit down and trade (sim) until you have gotten it down well and don't have any rough edges left in it, nor doubts about it, your mind will also feel relaxed and calm.
If you have a plan, practice it, stop thinking about it. If it needs to be fixed in some way, fix it, then practice more....
Just my two cents.... don't take it if it doesn't make sense to you.
Bob.
When one door closes, another opens.
-- Cervantes, Don Quixote
I trade very intuitively. I feel, sense and read the markets real time. I try to simplify the information I'm consuming whilst trading, after previously trying to complicate it. I use no indicators except a simple volume bar on each chart.
Market depth, Time/sales, small fluctuations chart
Screen 3:
Larger fluctuation charts that I switch between (I.e. 5 minute, 60-minute, Daily and large range charts)
I then spend my trading sessions focused on screen 2, after identifying interesting areas on screen 3.
I draw support/resistance on screen 2.
I monitor the market structure on screen 2 - ranging, trend. Volatile, unvolatile. Fighting, relaxing. Momentum, Flat.
I then monitor market depth and time/sales to identify exact entries.
My trades can be categorised into price action and order flow setups, though I use them simultaneously.
My price action setups can be classified into four types;
Trend continuations. This is buying pullbacks and breakouts inline with higher highs/higher lows. My target is the previous high (15 ticks) or beyond (30 ticks)
Range scalps. This is identifying a market structure and buying near or beyond the low. I only play an identified range once. My target is the other side of the range between 10-15 ticks.
S/R scalp. This is identifying a support level and fading the breakout. I wait for prints to look exhausted at the lows and buy. My target is +10 ticks above the S.
Trapped Traders. Identifying an impulsive movement lower, and if I feel the potential that we have a lot of trapped traders, I anticipate the move higher and buy the first signs of seller exhaustion.
My order flow entries are harder to classify, but I will post video examples in due time for me to try quantify/define them further.
To summarise: I use price action and order flow. I use charts and market depth. Sometimes trades are anticipations of momentum. Sometimes trades are buying and selling turning points. I use a logical framework of market structure and an intuitive understanding of market depth and order flow to time entries.
It's a sensible approach and ideally that's what I want to do; practice and evolve my plan.
The issue for me is committing to a particular focus. How can I know what I'm practicing is relevant and fruitful?
I think you're right, I have to define a plan and stick with it, plough through it and adjust as I go and over time it will all become more clear what works and what doesn't. Is this what you meant?
Cheers,
Turismo
EDIT: Just wanted to say Bob, I've noticed you're really friendly and helpful on the forums to everyone, you're awesome, keep it up
Yes, that is what I mean. Find something that seems to have promise, or cook one up, and just work with it until you can execute easily and well, and of course, until it's giving you good results..... (And don't spend infinite time looking or finding....)
Thanks for the compliment. I do try to add something when I can.
Bob.
When one door closes, another opens.
-- Cervantes, Don Quixote
I'm going to try estimate where I am on this modified list, for fun.
We accumulate trading information - buying books, going to seminars and researching.
We begin to trade with our 'new' knowledge.
We consistently 'donate' and then realize we may need more knowledge or information.
We accumulate more information.
We switch the commodities we are currently following.
We go back into the market and trade with our 'updated' knowledge.
We get 'beat up' again and begin to lose some of our confidence. Fear starts setting in.
We start to listen to 'outside news' & other traders.
We go back into the market and continue to donate.
We switch commodities again.
We search for more trading information.
We go back into the market and continue to donate.
We get 'overconfident' & market humbles us.
We start to understand that trading success fully is going to take more time and more knowledge then we anticipated. We get serious and start concentrating on learning a 'real' methodology. We search for more trading information to develop our 'real' methodology. We trade our methodology with some success, but realize that something is missing. We begin to understand the need for having rules to apply our methodology. We take a sabbatical from trading to develop and research our trading rules. We start to take responsibility for our trading results as we understand that our success is in us, not the trade methodology.
We start trading again, this time with rules and find some success, but overall we still hesitate when it comes time to execute.
We add, subtract and modify rules as we see a need to be more proficient with our rules.
We continue to trade and become more proficient with our methodology and our rules.
As we trade we still have a tendency to violate our rules and our results are erratic.
We know we are close.
We go back and research our rules.
We build the confidence in our rules and go back into the market and trade.
Our trading results are getting better, but we are still hesitating in executing our rules.
We now see the importance of following our rules as we see the results of our trades when we don't follow them.
We begin to see that our lack of success is within us (a lack of discipline in following the rules because of some kind of fear) and we begin to work on knowing ourselves better.
We continue to trade and the market teaches us more and more about ourselves.
We master our methodology and trading rules.
We begin to consistently make money.
We get a little overconfident and the market humbles us.
We continue to learn our lessons.
We stop thinking and allow our rules to trade for us (trading becomes boring, but successful) and our trading account continues to grow as we increase our contract size.
We are making more money then we ever dreamed to be possible.
We go on with our lives and accomplish many of the goals we had always dreamed of.
Sheeeeeeiiiitt, I'm currently at the underlined, bold stages.
Still a lot of steps to climb. Fortunately persistence and time are some of my major strengths.
I watched this over the weekend and have to admit that I also had to consult google after watching it to figure out what was actually going on. After figuring out what was going on, I enjoyed having watched it even more. Really good movie. Probably one of the only movies i've ever really sat and thought about after watching.
If you find any other similar mystery thriller type movies, let me know. One that comes to mind from a few years back which I recall being fairly good was Memento.
Once I've passed a few of these hypothetical combines I'll be going live or doing a TST combine. 
After figuring out what was going on, I enjoyed having watched it even more. Really good movie. Probably one of the only movies i've ever really sat and thought about after watching.