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SoftSoap's NQ Journey - from SoftSoap to SoftGold

  #171 (permalink)
 
SoftSoap's Avatar
 SoftSoap 
Canada
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: NinjaTrader
Broker: InteractiveBrokers
Trading: NQ
Posts: 594 since Aug 2015
Thanks Given: 347
Thanks Received: 1,227

I love the market most days even if it kicks my ass, but today, I was so damn angry. There were 5 setups I wanted to take today, all 5 of them would've been shorts (fantastic for a trend bear day). I passed on 3 that would've been clear wins, and I took the 2 that just barely ended up being losers. Pullbacks just killed me today, fuck those pullbacks.

What makes me the angriest though is the fact that I realized we were going to have a super strong bear day today, and I was going for 22-28pt targets. Those targets would've all been filled had I not gotten stopped by 1-2 pts.


First trade opportunity - Passed
Pre market we hit 4880 and I wanted to short. However, I thought about Monday and how we were in the exact same scenario. ON was very bullish, there were some signs to short @ 4880 and I took it, but instead we moved up. I thought about the exact same thing so I wanted to get more confirmation right off the open. This sucks because the market stayed around 4880 for like 4 minutes and the high today was 4880.50

When the market opened up it moved down very fast and I was hoping for a pullback around the 4880-4881 area. This never happened so I ended up not getting into the trade.

I still wanted to get into the trade, but I was like 'no, it would be a FOMO trade and you would be chasing the trade'. So I passed up on the trade. All 3 of my targets would've been hit and it was a very strong bear morning.

This affected my psychology so bad. I was so angry at myself for passing up this setup on 2-3 occasions. THe market moved down 40 points and I wasn't able to capture any of it, despite the signs being there and it being part of my plan.
I was so angry that I let the recency of Monday's events cloud my judgment.

This is something I couldn't shake off for the entire day, and it affected the rest of my trades.

Second trade opportunity - Taken

The market then trended until ~ 4840. Some reversal signs were there but I had seen this scenario in the past. This was no reversal, this was just a pullback for an even stronger dive. I was so excited, I sensed some long term player activity and I knew we were going to have some strong moves coming up.

I waited patiently for the pullback and then got in to the trade.



Below is a screenshot of my daily candles which honestly aligned with everything I was seeing about a strong bear move down




But nope, I did not get a good entry point, and my stop got hit by 2 pts. I wasn't happy

Trade grade - Ok
  • Part of plan
  • Signs were there
  • Decent (but not good) entry, target and/or stop

Third opportunity - Passed
So right after I got my stop taken out. I was so confident that I just got screwed on this pullback. I was going to enter into a trade that second.

BUT, I stopped myself because this almost would've been revenge trading.
The rationale to enter the trade was there but I had no entry in my plan for ~4855. I calmed myself and decided that although this looked good, I should avoid it.

Was this a good decision psychology wise? honestly I don't know, I guess?

Fourth opportunity - Taken

My snagit didn't save screenshots for this but I took a similar trade after it looked like the market was going to trend down.
I put my entry in a place where I thought I could survive a pullback if we had one, but I wasn't expecting a big one.

But pretty similar to the first trade I took, the market came up, took me out and moved 3 ticks past my stop, and then proceeded to move down 45 points.

I was aiming for 28pts on this trade.

Trade grade - Ok
  • Part of plan
  • Signs were there
  • Decent (but not good) entry, target and/or stop

Fifth trade opportunity - Passed

Again, once I got my stop filled I was so angry because I was sooooo confident we were moving down. Same thing as what happened with the last trade, I wanted to get into the trade. I was so sure we were trending down for a lot more BUT I had already hit my 2 trade limit.

The rationale was 100% there and it wouldn't have even been an emotional or a mixed trade, fully rational. It would've been in my plan as well but nope, I have to abide by my rules.

Of course, the market never pulled back more than a point from that entry point. So it would've been a winner.

Here's a screenshot of my day, and honestly I had to wait to write this because I'm so damn angry today.


It's so frustrating because minor changes would've made this a 2-3 win trade day. Instead I'm stopped out with my 2 losses.


Psychology Goals Today
  • Do not look at P&L- Failed
  • 0 FOMO trades- Passed
  • 0 Emotional trades- Passed
  • Engage deliberate thinking in all trades- Passed
  • 2 trades max today - unless trend day and you won at least 1/2 trades - then 3 trades max- Passed
  • Abide by your new trade management standard- Passed
  • Do not get greedy with any of your trades- Passed

I only failed the P&L because I couldn't help myself and I wanted to see how much I was down this week.

I should be happy that I didn't break my rules even though I was extremely mad all day, but honestly I'm not happy at all. Passing on the 3 trades that would've been easy winners and just getting stopped out 1-2 pts before massive trend on the other 2 trades just makes me feel like I was so close. Close doesn't matter in the market though, you either win or you lose. I was a loser today.

Yesterday's excellence is today's standard and tomorrow's mediocrity
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  #172 (permalink)
 
SoftSoap's Avatar
 SoftSoap 
Canada
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: NinjaTrader
Broker: InteractiveBrokers
Trading: NQ
Posts: 594 since Aug 2015
Thanks Given: 347
Thanks Received: 1,227

Today I woke up 2 hrs before my alarm as I couldn't stop thinking about my trades yesterday. I got some anxiety, a bit of anger, and I couldn't go back to sleep. I'm pretty sure my dreams were trading related lol.

I fell back asleep ~ 20 minutes before my alarm rang and when it did ring I didn't know if I should trade or not.

I couldn't stop feeling anxiety because I really wanted to trade today. I just thought, what if there was a very good setup today? Should I honestly let my trades yesterday impact me today? Am I going to be impacted for days anytime I just barely miss out on some big wins?

I have to think about why these losses yesterday got to me so bad. On paper it's not a big deal, I lost 2 trades, which is slightly above 1%. But I followed my rules, and read the market very well, I just didn't have good enough entry points and / or stops. My goal is long-term growth and not short term profits. Yesterday I showed good signs of long-term growth and I should be happy. So why did this all affect me so much? I'll be thinking about it today and into the weekend for sure.

I was torn on whether or not to trade today, specially because I didn't trade on Wednesday. Honestly though I love trading, I wish I could trade every day to be honest . I calmed myself down a bit and said I should trade, but with a big of changes just for today to mitigate my mindset. I'll talk about what I plan to do on my psychology goals.

My trading prep will be late, and I'll miss the first 30 minutes of trading but whatever. I won't rush to be ready on time, if none of my setups get hit then so be it.

Trading prep
  • 3 straight days of consistent losses
  • Currently ~30 pts below weekly open
  • Biggest weekly bear wick we have seen since Brexit
  • 14 day VA between ~4862 and ~4800
  • 14 day RTH vpoc at ~4832
  • Japan data mostly come in ~ consensus, but household spending was up more than expected
  • GDP data came in better than expected
  • Employment cost index ~ consensus
  • AMZN numbers yesterday were pretty bad, currently down 4.5%
  • AMGN is down 5.5% pre market
  • ESRX down 2.5% pre market
  • BIDU up 3% pre market
  • GOOG and GOOGL up ~1.6% premarket

News
  • Consumer confidence @ 10
  • No corporate earnings on my watchlist

Setups I'll take today


  1. ~4840
    • LF Long
    • You are looking for a break-out trade here
    • The volume profile should resemble some strong buying and/or long term players stepping in
    • Target 14 pts safe, ~4859 stretch
    • You will most likely not take this unless we have a super bull day
    • Be prepared to pass up on this setup
  2. ~4840
    • LF Short
    • You are looking for strong signs of aggressive selling
    • Strong exhaustion signs could be good enough to enter this trade
    • Ideal stop is behind 4845
    • Target 4826 safe, 4814 stretch, but you must watch the ~4820 area very close and be prepared to exit
  3. ~4820 (ON High)
    • LF Long
    • You are looking for a break-out trade here
    • The volume profile should resemble some strong buying and/or long term players stepping in
    • Stop behind 4815 is ideal
    • Target 14 pts safe, ~4838 stretch
    • The market must be coming up either from the open or a strong support area very fast for you to take this
    • Be prepared to pass up on this setup
  4. ~4820 (ON High)
    • LF Short
    • You are looking for strong signs of aggressive selling
    • Strong exhaustion signs could be good enough to enter this trade
    • Ideally look for signs that higher time frame players are stepping in
    • Ideal stop is behind 4825
    • Target 4804 safe, 4792 stretch, but you must watch the ~4800 area very close and be prepared to exit
  5. ~4800
    • LF Long
    • You are looking for signs of reversal
    • You want to see strong volume
    • You want to see higher time frame players stepping in to buy
    • Exhaustion isn't good enough to enter this
    • Stop behind 4796 is ideal
    • Safe target is ~4817, stretch target is ~4824
    • Don't get too greedy with this
    • Be prepared to pass up on this
    • Be careful as this was broken overnight quite easily
  6. ~4790 (ON Low)
    • LF Long
    • You are looking for signs of reversal
    • You want to see strong volume
    • You want to see higher time frame players stepping in to buy
    • Exhaustion isn't good enough to enter this
    • Stop behind 4785 is ideal
    • Safe target is ~4804, stretch target is ~4817
    • Don't get too greedy with this
    • Be prepared to pass up on this
  7. ~4780
    • LF Long
    • You want to see some strong buying here
    • Exhaustion might be good enough to enter, but there should've been some slowing and pullbacks at ~4800 and ~4790
    • Safe target is ~4796, stretch target is ~4809
    • The later in the day, the better this setup becomes

Things to watch @ open
  • Nothing, you won't be watching the market closely today. Read first psychology goal below as to why.

Psychology goals today
  • New goal just for today - Do not look at the market at all. Set alarms that are ~4 pts around where you would enter and you can look at the market then to prepare yourself for a setup. Spend time on things that improve your methodology and psychology today as opposed to watching the market.
  • Do not look at P&L
  • 0 FOMO trades
  • 0 Emotional trades
  • Engage deliberate thinking in all trades
  • 2 trades max today - unless trend day and you won at least 1/2 trades - then 3 trades max
  • Abide by your new trade management standard
  • Do not get greedy with any of your trades

Yesterday's excellence is today's standard and tomorrow's mediocrity
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  #173 (permalink)
 
SoftSoap's Avatar
 SoftSoap 
Canada
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: NinjaTrader
Broker: InteractiveBrokers
Trading: NQ
Posts: 594 since Aug 2015
Thanks Given: 347
Thanks Received: 1,227


So as soon as I finish my prep and I go to set my alarms this is what I see.

Very fast market this morning, and jeez 3 of my setups showed very strong signs and all did what I expected.

It definitely doesn't make me feel good that I waited so long to decide whether or not to trade today...

But hey, what can you do right?



First setup would've been to short @ 4820, and exit before ~4800 (Setup 4 in plan)
Then long @ 4800 and exit at ~4817 (Setup 5 in plan)
Then break out trade @ 4820, which may or may not work out yet we don't know lol (Setup 3 in plan)]

I guess this should make me feel good about my planning, long-term growth right?

Yesterday's excellence is today's standard and tomorrow's mediocrity
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  #174 (permalink)
 
SoftSoap's Avatar
 SoftSoap 
Canada
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: NinjaTrader
Broker: InteractiveBrokers
Trading: NQ
Posts: 594 since Aug 2015
Thanks Given: 347
Thanks Received: 1,227

Halloween weekend so I haven't really been at home much. Last week performance was bad $-wise, and decent psych wise but not good or great. I won't be doing an end-of-week analysis due to time constraints but I lost ~2.55% last week (lost 2 trades on Friday as well). Monday is the last day of the month though and this should be my 2nd positive month, I think.

It's not a big concern that I had a bad week as I've been doing pretty well lately, but I have to make sure that this doesn't affect my future performance. In the past I've started getting greedier and taking riskier trades when entering 'drawdown mode', so I'll be adding some extra daily psych goals this week to ensure I stay level-headed.

Here's the prep for the week
  • High timeframe trend is still bullish, but on the smaller timeframe we are starting to see some very strong resistance at ~4900
  • New AT high reached last week, both intraday and ON
  • Volume higher than usual last week, and steadily went up from Monday to Friday
  • Range was slightly above ATR last week
  • Honestly things from a long-term perspective looks like they might trend strongly bearish in the next month or so, but don't let that bias affect your trading
  • Weekly wicks showing balance between ~4800 and ~4860, which is a bit tighter than last week
  • Long-term value area is 4800-4860, so same as above
  • It's the week before the election. The Clinton news on Friday sure had an impact on the market, so I need to have Bloomberg on at all times even if I'm not trading in case something crazy happens. This election has been pretty unpredictable so let's see what happens :Sarcastic:

Key news this week
  • Monday - Personal income (intra), Japan Manufacturing (ON) and China Manufacturing (ON)
  • Tuesday - ISM Manufacturing
  • Wednesday - FOMC announcement, China General Services PMI (ON)
  • Thursday - BOE announcement & minutes, Japan PMI composite index
  • Friday - Employment situation and International trade

As for corporate earnings from the NQ components I follow:
  • Wednesday - ADP @ Pre-open, FB & QCOM Post-close
  • Thursday - ATVI, KHC, MNST, SBUX @ Post Close and CHTR unknown at this time
  • Friday - REGN Pre-open

Goals for this week
  • Do not look at P&L from Tuesday - Friday performance. Monday is exception as it's the last day of the month and you'll need to see it in order to do your report
  • 0 FOMO trades
  • 0 Emotional trades
  • Engage deliberate thinking in all trades
  • Journal daily
  • Aim for 2 RTH trades on most days, and 3 if the market is volatile and you won at least 1 of previous trades (as for ON / Pre market trades, 3 max per week)
  • Abide by your trade management standard
  • Do not get greedy with any of your trades
  • Complete your month-end review and post it before Thursday
  • Come up with something that will make sure you keep in track and do not fall into 'drawdown mode'. You didn't have the greatest last week but you are still positive for the month. Don't let one week ruin your end-of-month, as well as the beginning of next month!

Cheers!

Yesterday's excellence is today's standard and tomorrow's mediocrity
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  #175 (permalink)
davidtaylor
London, United Kingdom
 
Posts: 13 since Sep 2016
Thanks Given: 74
Thanks Received: 28

Hey mate,

Been following your journal for a while now, I saw in another thread you mentioned you were considering purchasing Jigsaw. Curious if you ever did, and if it helped you with the NQ. I watched a market replay of the NQ DOM over the weekend, as part of my deliberate practice scalping the DOM on different markets. I noticed it respects high volume areas, the VPOC and VWAP, however, it can be difficult to scalp because any breakouts that occur usually begin with slippage. I.e. a large trader dumps his size and clears out the thin bids/offers. It's also heavily reactive to the ES order flow, unsurprisingly and other global equity market indices are also helpful when trying to get a position in a high liquidity area, for example if they are having strong bids, it's unlikely the NQ is going to blip down on you, quite the opposite!

Of course, you are focused on higher time frames, areas of interest and volume profile more than the current order flow, so I was interested in your take on Jigsaw.

Thanks,

David.

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  #176 (permalink)
 
SoftSoap's Avatar
 SoftSoap 
Canada
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: NinjaTrader
Broker: InteractiveBrokers
Trading: NQ
Posts: 594 since Aug 2015
Thanks Given: 347
Thanks Received: 1,227

  • Volume has been steadily going up from Mon-Fri of last week
  • ON activity was bullish for the most part, balancing near ON high before the open
  • 14 day RTH VA between 4860 and 4800
  • 14 day RTH VPOC at ~4830 (ON High)
  • We are at 34/50 ATR
  • Wicks are not letting prices stay down below 4800 much, but that area has been tested so many times lately, so careful
  • Personal Income on the lower end of the consensus range, everything else came in
  • Top 6 NQ performers are in the green pre-open
  • CL down this morning
  • VIX and the ES are both up right now - you don't see that too often
  • GE merging oil division with BHI - both are up in the premarket today. GE is a big component of the S&P so watch how market reacts

News
  • Chicago PMI @ 945
  • Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey @ 1030
  • Ongoing politics coverage - watch for any key news around FBI investigation


Scenarios
  1. Open up bull and trend until PDL of ~ 4840, from there trend down until we find strong support, could be 4800, could be 4790, could be earlier. Range between those 2 points for remaining of day
  2. Open up bull and trend until PDL of ~ 4840, from there trend down for remaining of the day
  3. Open up bear until market finds strong support. Either at ~4800, ON low (4795), or the stronger area of 4790, then trend bull after that
  4. Range day between ON high (4830) and ON low (4795)
  5. Trend bear day - Maybe hit ON high or start trending right from open, until either end of day, 4780 support, or 4760 support
  6. Trend bull day - Trend bull from the open, destroy ON high, some pullback at ~ 4840 and ~4850, but continue creeping bull until ~ 4880 or end of day


Setups I'll take today

  1. ~4880
    • LF Short
    • You are looking for reversal signs
    • Be prepared for this as we might see some higher time frame players stepping in to sell around this
    • If we are in the middle of a trend bull day, be extra careful taking this
    • Stop behind 4883 is a must
    • Safe target ~13 pts, stretch target ~19 pts
  2. ~4840
    • LF Short
    • You are looking for signs of a reversal
    • There might be strength coming into the trade, but you need to be strength resisting this move
    • Aggrsesive selling would be ideal to look for here
    • Be a bit more hesitant if it looks like we are balancing near the top of this area
    • Stop behind 4845 is ideal
    • Safe target is ~14 pts, stretch target is ~4821. This is the only trade you can take a 3rd target but you must secure a 10 pt profit to do so. The 3rd target can be 4811 (do not get greedier than this)
    • Don't force this setup just because it could be your most profitable. Read and interpret the signs the market is giving you, and then act.
  3. ~4840
    • LF Long
    • LF break out signs
    • You'd like to see the the ON zone shattered
    • Ideally you'd like to see the ES break out of a strong resistance zone as well, and not close to one
    • Be very careful taking this if the signs are pointing towards us having a range day
    • Stop behind 4835 is ideal
    • Safe target is ~13 pts,
    • Stretch target is 4857
    • Watch the 4850 area for a chance of reversal
    • Keep an eye out for anything news-related that could turn the trend in an instant
  4. ~4830 (ON High)
    • LF Short
    • Could be first setup hit this morning
    • You are looking for strong signs of a reversal
    • You want to see stronger volumes from 4825-4830
    • Ideally you'd like to see some aggressive selling
    • The 4840 behind this is a lot stronger so you want to feel that the trend is reversing now and will not wait for the 4840
    • If you can't tell yourself that you are confident the trend is now bear, then don't take this
    • Stop behind 4833 is a must
    • Safe target is 4817, stretch target is 4811
    • Signs must be very strong of a reversal before entering this trade
    • Be prepared to pass up on this setup
  5. ~4800
    • LF Long
    • You are looking for strong signs of reversal
    • You want to see higher time frame players stepping in to buy
    • You need to feel confident that the force coming in is quite strong
    • Ideal stop is 1-2 pts behind the ON low of 4795, but might be tough to get
    • Safe target is ~4814, stretch target is 19 pts
    • Be prepared to pass up on this setup
  6. ~4790
    • LF Long
    • You are looking for strong signs of reversal
    • You want to see higher time frame players stepping in to buy
    • You need to feel confident that the force coming in is quite strong
    • Ideal stop is 4784.50
    • Safe target is ~4806, stretch target is 19 pts
    • Be prepared to pass up on this setup
  7. ~4780
    • LF Long
    • You are looking for strong signs of reversal
    • You want to see higher time frame players stepping in to buy
    • You need to feel confident that the force coming in is quite strong
    • Ideal stop is behind 4795
    • Safe target is ~4894, stretch target is 19 pts
    • Be careful if we shattered 4800 and didn't struggle much or see higher time frame activity at 4790
  8. ~4780
    • LF Short
    • You are looking for a breakdown trade here
    • The 4800, ON Low, and 4790 area should've been shattered with very little time support
    • Stop behind 4780 is a must
    • Safe target is ~13 pts, stretch target is ~4761
    • You must watch the 4775-4770 area closely if you entered before it
    • You must feel that we are having a trend bear day in order to take this

Things to watch @ open
  • Total volume - will we see any investors place their bets for the central banks? What about the next week election?
  • Volume profiles - any sign of a trend day?
  • Opening range - Will we see strong uncertainty? Or will the market be quite certain as to where to go?

Psychology goals today
  • Do not look at P&L
  • 0 FOMO trades
  • 0 Emotional trades
  • Engage deliberate thinking in all trades
  • 2 trades max today - unless you won at least 1/2 trades and youy have a very good setup - then 3 trades max
  • Abide by your new trade management standard
  • Do not get greedy with any of your trades - see below for more detail
  • Additional based on weekly psychology goals - Maximum of 19 pt targets today with the exception of 1 setup (4840 short). Guarantee a profit after 10 pts (set alarm for this).

Yesterday's excellence is today's standard and tomorrow's mediocrity
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  #177 (permalink)
 
SoftSoap's Avatar
 SoftSoap 
Canada
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: NinjaTrader
Broker: InteractiveBrokers
Trading: NQ
Posts: 594 since Aug 2015
Thanks Given: 347
Thanks Received: 1,227


davidtaylor View Post
Hey mate,

Been following your journal for a while now, I saw in another thread you mentioned you were considering purchasing Jigsaw. Curious if you ever did, and if it helped you with the NQ. I watched a market replay of the NQ DOM over the weekend, as part of my deliberate practice scalping the DOM on different markets. I noticed it respects high volume areas, the VPOC and VWAP, however, it can be difficult to scalp because any breakouts that occur usually begin with slippage. I.e. a large trader dumps his size and clears out the thin bids/offers. It's also heavily reactive to the ES order flow, unsurprisingly and other global equity market indices are also helpful when trying to get a position in a high liquidity area, for example if they are having strong bids, it's unlikely the NQ is going to blip down on you, quite the opposite!

Of course, you are focused on higher time frames, areas of interest and volume profile more than the current order flow, so I was interested in your take on Jigsaw.

Thanks,

David.

Hey David, thanks for the question!

I did not end up purchasing Jigsaw, at least not yet... When I was looking into tape-reading tools I was suffering from some major psychological issues that I felt I needed to correct first.
As a trader who is starting to go from the "I don't know what I don't know" phase into the "holy crap there is so much I don't know and so much I do wrong" phase, you tend to get overwhelmed with how much you need to learn and be proficient at in order to be a successful trader.

I started looking at things in terms of what I should prioritize and there were technical gaps I had such as lack of tape reading and this is where jigsaw would come in handy. But honestly being the best tape reader in the world wouldn't do much to my edge if I couldn't control myself from taking setups and trades that were bad and purely emotional.

However, much has changed in my trading since then, specially around my trading psychology. So it's something I've been discussing (with myself ) as to when and how to get into this. To be honest I'm just waiting for data confirmation that my trading has indeed improved from my perceived psychological improvements.

Today is the last day of October so I'll have my answer soon and based on that data I will either include next steps on how to proceed with this, or I won't. Stay tuned for more!


Yesterday's excellence is today's standard and tomorrow's mediocrity
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  #178 (permalink)
 
HumbleTrader's Avatar
 HumbleTrader 
Vancouver Canada
Legendary , Always learning
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Investor RT
Broker: IB & IQ DTN
Trading: Oh what a tangled web I weave, When I want to take profits in trading
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SoftSoap View Post
I did not end up purchasing Jigsaw, at least not yet... When I was looking into tape-reading tools I was suffering from some major psychological issues that I felt I needed to correct first.
...
I started looking at things in terms of what I should prioritize and there were technical gaps I had such as lack of tape reading and this is where jigsaw would come in handy. But honestly being the best tape reader in the world wouldn't do much to my edge if I couldn't control myself from taking setups and trades that were bad and purely emotional.

As a fellow trader with similar struggles and success, I suggest you delay the use of orderflow.

It clearly has benefits BUT there are a lot of things one has to master before using such a refined tool. You covered those well in your posts.

I have used Jigsaw and I like Peter's approach to trading and business. However, I found those tools distracting me from seeing the bigger picture. 'Missing the forest for the tree'.

I am using Bookmap trial now and I am very visual and like the dots. More importantly, it COMPLEMENTS with my current trading style where I rely a lot on volume patterns. I would never ever trade orderflow alone as my profit tartgets are 8-12 points in ES and there is simply too much noise in Jigsaw/Bookmap.

The single best use of orderflow is this - I realised how small or TINY my 1 or 2 contracts in the bigger picture and that market doesn't give a damn about Narcissus or Softsoap or even tigertrader or Inletcap.

One potential use for me in the future is to see where support/resistance levels are, in terms of volume so I know my leaning pillars and hence puke point.

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  #179 (permalink)
davidtaylor
London, United Kingdom
 
Posts: 13 since Sep 2016
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Narcissus View Post
As a fellow trader with similar struggles and success, I suggest you delay the use of orderflow.

It clearly has benefits BUT there are a lot of things one has to master before using such a refined tool. You covered those well in your posts.

I have used Jigsaw and I like Peter's approach to trading and business. However, I found those tools distracting me from seeing the bigger picture. 'Missing the forest for the tree'.

I am using Bookmap trial now and I am very visual and like the dots. More importantly, it COMPLEMENTS with my current trading style where I rely a lot on volume patterns. I would never ever trade orderflow alone as my profit tartgets are 8-12 points in ES and there is simply too much noise in Jigsaw/Bookmap.

The single best use of orderflow is this - I realised how small or TINY my 1 or 2 contracts in the bigger picture and that market doesn't give a damn about Narcissus or Softsoap or even tigertrader or Inletcap.

One potential use for me in the future is to see where support/resistance levels are, in terms of volume so I know my leaning pillars and hence puke point.

If you're an intraday swing trader, learning to read the order flow in the DOM isn't that relevant. It's useful for impending news, via the liquidity reducing but otherwise, it's a niche and style appropriate for short term scalping. Personally, I love it, but I'm a short term scalper.

It's really important that you specialize and leverage your interests and strengths. If the DOM doesn't immediately jump out at you as really useful and really interesting, it'll be hard to stick with it and develop an edge, you may also not be interested in short term scalping full stop. Many aren't.

In summary, if you want to develop yourself as a short term scalper, it's essential. If not, it's a distraction.

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  #180 (permalink)
 
SoftSoap's Avatar
 SoftSoap 
Canada
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: NinjaTrader
Broker: InteractiveBrokers
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Narcissus View Post
As a fellow trader with similar struggles and success, I suggest you delay the use of orderflow.

It clearly has benefits BUT there are a lot of things one has to master before using such a refined tool. You covered those well in your posts.

I have used Jigsaw and I like Peter's approach to trading and business. However, I found those tools distracting me from seeing the bigger picture. 'Missing the forest for the tree'.

I am using Bookmap trial now and I am very visual and like the dots. More importantly, it COMPLEMENTS with my current trading style where I rely a lot on volume patterns. I would never ever trade orderflow alone as my profit tartgets are 8-12 points in ES and there is simply too much noise in Jigsaw/Bookmap.

The single best use of orderflow is this - I realised how small or TINY my 1 or 2 contracts in the bigger picture and that market doesn't give a damn about Narcissus or Softsoap or even tigertrader or Inletcap.

One potential use for me in the future is to see where support/resistance levels are, in terms of volume so I know my leaning pillars and hence puke point.

That's good advice. I'm told that for my sort of methodology (15-25 pts, mostly reversals), these tools can elp with my entry and exit points. Which honestly is one thing I'm starting to struggle with once getting rid of my emotional trading.

If I do look into it though, it would be a very slow transition because I wouldn't want it to distract me too much.

When you're talking about how it complimented your trading, in what way? Does it help reinforce you where to enter and where to exit? Or what other way?

A bit curious here.

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