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My Trading Quest - a 90 day Trading Course Challenge
In most areas, the two courses/companies appear to be capable of achieving the results I want.
The two standout differences are: Initial and on-going costs Risk:Reward
These numbers are normally important but are so critical now, due to the current world situation where huge numbers of people are out of work and need an income.
It doesn’t matter how much a course costs if it doesn’t deliver!
I have had computer and internet issues for the last week so I haven't posted.
Today is Day 1 in putting the Apex Investing to the test. I have 90 days to reach profitability, so I have to get moving.
DAY 1 – Walkthrough the Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp …
I was pleasantly surprised that no credit card was required for the sign up to the free first month.
Day 1: I will walk through everything so I can see what I have to do and I can get organized.
So what do I get for the free first month? Surprisingly a lot!
All of the Sniper Bootcamp training and recommended fast track path
Access to the live trading room, forum, Facebook page, private Facebook group, and help desk
Access to all weekly webinars
Access to all Sniper Ninjatrader 7 indicators, tools and help to install if required
You have responsibilities as well:
Watch all the videos in order
Only learn Setup 2 and leave the rest until you have mastered it
Post your charts in the room and ask questions, questions and more questions
Focus on one market
The daily goal is to have 3 net positive trades then stop
Record all your trades with a marked-up chart to the spreadsheet which is provided
Practice
Be in the trading room from 930 am EST to 11 am if you can
Attend the weekly webinars if you can, otherwise watch the recording and do any homework
Participate
Everything can be accessed from the login page.
The Bootcamp page appears to cover everything that is needed. Topics include:
New fast start and welcome which includes video, checklist, and links to setting up Ninjatrader
Account Funding videos
Weekly webinar information and sign up
First Basic Trade Setup training Setup 2
Cheat sheets and Summary files
Access to the trading room – and tools for capturing the charts
Access to the forum, Facebook group page, and competitions (They regularly run competitions where you can win membership prizes and even a lifetime membership)
Setting up NT, placing trades, etc ( if you have a problem setting it up then they will help)
How to install the Apex Tool Kit which gives you access to all the data and indicators
After skimming through all these sections I was very impressed with the information available.
The page just didn’t flow as I would like. Some sections are definitely not in the right sequence. This shouldn’t make any difference as I will just follow each and if I don’t need that section at present I will mark it to come back to it. An example would be the account funding is section 2 but that will not be required until later.
I listened to this week’s webinar and they have started a series on how to get the most out of the trial and they suggested that some of the sections can be left until later. They are running three webinars this week.
So what is next?
I will start going through the videos and take the actions to get started
I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn
It has been time to put the work in setting up, watching videos and taking notes.
Actions I took:
Watched introductory and setup videos
Setup my NT7 with the Apex Toolkit and templates
Watched the Chart Overview videos to understand the differences with Apex
Logged into the trading room and watched the two facilitators call trades and educate for 2 hours from the US market open
Commence studying the first setup
Apex Toolkit:
Once you have NT7 installed then you are required to download and install the Apex Toolkit. This easy and if you have problems then the help desk will help.
I had a problem with installing on one of my computers and was helped within an hour of my request. It was a windows problem.
This toolkit gives you access to all the Sniper indicators and templates. It is regularly updated and is essential for trading the systems.
I also downloaded some OP Data (order print historical data). Normally you don’t need to do this as the OP Data is developed as the market data moves. It is important to know that if your computer or trading platform is not connected to the data server then you will miss out on OP Data. This is easily solved by asking someone in the room to send the missing data to you. Then simply copy it to your computer and restart NT7. All instructions are on the Bootcamp page.
So why do we need OP Data?
First I will show you a Sniper Chart:
This is a simple Sniper Chart and initially, I didn’t understand the lines and the boxes. In the videos, they show the motor behind these charts
So, as you can see the visible charts that are used in the Sniper Bootcamp are based on the Order Flow charts and using algorithms to simplify it for the user.
The OP Data is the data that is generated and used on the trading chart.
The Benefit of this approach is that It simplifies the setups to make it easier to identify.
Video Training
Most of the videos use NQ as the trading instrument. Due to the increase in volatility, they have moved their focus to ES. The setups work on most markets. To learn the strategy they prefer that students learn on one market initially.
Trading Room Experience
The room was an interesting experience where trades were called and some education was shared.
At this time I don’t think I will spend much time in the Market Open period as it can become confusing when the information shared is more advanced than a beginner. I can see it is very helpful but not just yet.
I also noticed that Darrell, the founder of Apex, was trading, calling trades and sharing his knowledge in the room in the US evening time.
The room is open 24 x 7 days and people are commenting and/or asking questions on and off during that time.
So what is next?
I will focus on the first setup and being able to identify it.
I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn
Disclaimer
DAY 3 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp Lessons and Setup 2 …
Today, I will share more on the chart setup and the first trade setup
Actions I took:
Watched more videos
Explored the daily process of chart setup
Continued to learn about the first setup and what it looked like on the chart
Pre-trading Chart Setup:
Before trading each day starting to trade I go to the 10, 60 and 240 minute charts and share the levels from these charts with my trading chart. It takes less than 5 minutes to do this.
Instruments Traded and charts
Up until the high volatility the sniper bootcamp was designed for the NQ and MNQ.
Trade setups could be found on either chart and traded on the other. (Micro <>Mini).
With the increase in volatility the ES and MES became the choice of instrument.
Sniper Charts use an inhouse designed bar, similar to a renko bar but apparently more accurate to increase the accuracy of the algorithms for the Order Prints.
Bar size for NQ is 10 ticks and ES is 8 Ticks.
Experienced traders, trade the setups on all the usual instruments.
The Sniper Bootcamp
The basic philosophy of the Bootcamp is to give you the information, tools and support to help you to be profitable trading 1 contract for 3 months then increasing the contracts after you have been profitable and consistent. They want the students to have 3 net profitable trades and then stop.
They recommend that you start trading only in one market and one setup (Setup #2). They say that Setup #2 is over 85% of the trades they take.
They do give you access to all the other setups.
Trade Setup #2
Trade Setup # 2 is actually 5 setups based on a basic setup.
Multi-directional
Trend
Range
Divergence
Continuation (New)
The idea is to start with the first and master it then move to the next.
The basic setup revolves around a Reversal Bar, Exhaustion and Trapped Orders in the market. This is displayed on the chart so it is easy to see.
The Exhaustion is a Box on the bar and the Trapped Orders are a blue solid box. And they must appear on a Reversal Bar.
See below to see what I mean:
This is the easy part. There are some rules with each setup and I will explain the first one, tomorrow.
From what I can see so far, the hardest part is knowing when Not to enter a trade.
I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn
DAY 4 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp Setup 2 and Testing …
Today, I will share more on the chart setup called the Enhanced Trapped X Box and identify all the setup’s on a static chart, just for one day.
I need to be able to identify the setup, see that the trade occurs a reasonable amount of times and see if it shows any signs of being profitable
Actions I took:
Watched more videos
Identified the rules for the first setup including Initial Stop and Profit Target
Reviewed one day of trading on a static chart, to see the availability and results of the setup
Continued to learn about the first setup and what it looked like on the chart
Videos:
It is important to take good notes and watch the videos in sequence as it makes it easier to understand.
Enhanced Trapped X Box
Yesterday, I introduced the basic requirements for Setup #2. Now I am going to explain the first setup which I called Multi-directional.
This trade is called the Enhanced Trade or the Enhanced Trapped X Box. The multi-directional refers that it can be taken in both directions – with the trend or against the trend.
Rules:
The first 2 rules are as explained yesterday.
Setup must be a Reversal bar
An exhaustion box with a trapped order must appear on the end of the bar
The additional rules are:
A new print of either a MM or a Paw must occur on the setup bar.
An existing level (OP Level) must be within 2 ticks of the new MM or Paw on the setup bar.
I won’t go into a lot of detail about what these lines and levels are.
OP Levels are either:
MM is a beige line which represents lines where price has strong rejection or attraction
Paw is an orange line formed at weak price levels
ZOI is a Zone of Interest where the market has a lot of participation in this area
I-Blocks – are where large orders are placed
The next important rules are based on Reasons Not to Enter:
Not within 5 minutes of Market Open, Close or Government News
Not directly into a stack of 3 or more OP Levels
Not enter when 2 clusters appear within 3 bars of the and including the entry bar
Not against a strong trend
Stop and Target
The initial Stop is 1 tick above/below the setup bar (17 ticks)
The Target is 9 ticks
The following image will give you an idea of how simple it is to identify the trade.
So, now I have a basic understanding of this setup I need to see if the setup is easy to identify on first a static chart and then on a moving chart. On the static chart, I also want to see that the setup happens regularly and looks like it can be profitable.
I was talking to one trader and he said that recently the number of Enhanced Trades have reduced recently.
Because of the Risk: Reward of the rules it is important to have a minimum of approximately 72% wins.
Please note this test is not suggesting anything more than that this setup has or has not sufficient potential to keep investigating. This is a TEST nothing more!
For the test I will use the following criteria:
The test is on a static ES chart (I will go bar by bar to test the day)
The day will be the Friday 17th April session which starts at the open on the 16th April at 18:05 and Ends at 15:50 on the 17th.
No commission is included
I will follow the rules the best I can
I may miss trades
The test is for the 24 hours and this would not be possible
The following image shows my results:
Comments on Results:
The results look positive and justify’s further backtesting.
I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn
DAY 5 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp Setup 2 more Backtesting …
Today, I backtested more and check that my observations are correct.
I need to be able to identify the setup, see that the trade occurs a reasonable amount of times and see if it shows any signs of being profitable
Actions I took:
Watched more videos – 2 new webinars from this week
Backtested 2 more days
Another Apex trader checked to see if my trades were valid
Videos:
Apex Investing held two more webinars on how to make the most of the Bootcamp. I found them very helpful.
Backtested:
I continued to backtest on a static chart, bar by bar to help me identify the setup.
The results are below.
I used the same criteria as yesterday.
Please note this test is not suggesting anything more than that this setup has or has not sufficient potential to keep investigating. This is a TEST nothing more!
Comments on Results:
The results still look positive.
Traders helping Traders
I find that if you ask a question or post a chart on the Facebook page or in the trading room, traders are willing to help.
One of the traders was willing to check my trades as I backtested each day.
On the day that I reviewed yesterday, I had recorded one winning trade that was not valid.
It helps when someone reviews your charts and results.
I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn
Why do you complicate it so much ? Take a World Cup championship winner like Andrea unger who won it 3 years in a row, do the course and let us know. Seems pretty straight forward , I don’t understand why you wrote 10 pages about it. Unless your goal is to list all the fraudulent courses ? You’d be better off assuming they all are a rip-off.
Hadn’t gone all the way to the end of the thread please disregard my comment above and good luck with your current course . I’ll check back in a week or two
