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Thanks dude. I'm working on it. Right now I've been trying to get Camtasia to do what I want it to do. I've made videos, but it records my whole 21.5" screen and the business end of the chart is too small to see. Haven't figured out the editing thing either. I was going to bug you for pointers later. I won't have any time to work on it for awhile. I'm leaving early today to get ready for a camp out. Tomorrow I'm going on a 20 mile hike with the Boy Scouts. Might need a day or two to recover!
Hey, all you have to do is on the recorder part with the little window that has the 'rec' button on it. You just select the custom arrow instead of 'full screen'.
It then lets you select the screen area and you will see it highlight and it will tell you the dimensions. Also, go into tools on this screen and save files as .avi instead of .camproj or whatever.
Had to leave in a hurry on Friday for the camp out, so I didn't get a chance to put up my journal. Too ragged out to trade today. Funny what walking 20 miles with a backpack will do to you.
I wanted to focus more on CL today. Consequently I missed some nice pullback entries on the 6E. No matter.
The pre-market in CL was very whippy, and I didn't see a good entry. The 05:30 news caused some big fluctuations, and I wanted to wait for that to die down. The news caused a big drop, but the overnight low of 90.50 held, and CL started to make its way higher. The 06:05 bar was a big green candle, and I was looking for a long trade.
Trade #1
Really poor timing here. Still getting a feel for scanning 2 charts simultaneously. Was looking for a pullback entry on the lower time frame chart, but what I managed to do was get caught on the bar's high tick and taken out before price moved higher. -8 ticks.
More news coming at 7am, so I waited and watched that triangle form. There were several false breakout probes downward. After the 07:10 bar, price kept forming LH's. I watched that double bottom form right before the price jumped off the cliff. There was no heat on that play, but I didn't take it.
Price bounced right off the overnight low before heading down. I was watching price fall, and to be honest, I was dumbstruck and more than a little nervous. It was very violent.
Trade #2
I really wanted to get in on this drop, and was watching it on the 1 minute time frame. Found a good place to enter the trend, but got 2 ticks of slip on the entry. I put a sell stop at 90.52 but was filled at 90.50 and stopped out on that bar. -8 ticks.
Switched to sim to play that breakout of the 89.20 LOD.
Sim Trade #3
Price broke the LOD of 89.20 and I waited for a retracement higher. At the close of the 08:45 bar I entered a sell stop at 89.20 and was filled on the way down for a 30 tick hard target. No heat at all.
After price settled down, I switched back to live.
Trade #4
Price finally closed above the EMA on a 2 push move. I was looking for a 50% retracement on this move. Bought the first pullback after the close above the EMA, but it was a scratch. +1 tick.
Today I definitely let the violent move fluster me. I really, really wanted in on that. I saw some entries earlier, but fear kept me from entering the order. Possibly the best thing I did today was get back on the live horse at the end, even if it was just a scratched trade.
I would love to see your video when you upload one.
If you keep them small and under 10-15 minutes then you can upload them to youtube until you have uploaded a bunch. Or you can just load up the .mp4 here.
It would help me understand your trading method a bit more.
Today was a wash. There was only 1 trade I really screwed up on - I got greedy and missed it.
Still learning how to read price. Funny how clear everything is after it's over. There were a couple of lower time frame entries on CL that I passed on. At this point in my short career, I'd rather pass on a profitable trade and learn from it than take a hit.
CL dropped off a cliff overnight and looked like it was pulling back to the EMA when I got in. My sell stop off the 04:55 bar wasn't filled. The next bar was a green candle with a shaved top, indicating a strong bar close, so I didn't want to use that as a signal bar. The next bar was a doji that spanned the EMA and I don't like to take signals from doji's (this will haunt me later).
CL Trade #1
Price pushed above the EMA and looked like it was going to challenge the 86.53 pivot high. I wanted to get long, but was worried about the overall trend being down and the LL that was formed at 04:55. Entered off the 1 min chart, but didn't trail my buy stop down. I could have (should have) gotten a better fill by 4 ticks. Went to BE+1 after 6 ticks. +1 ticks.
After that push up to a HH, CL made HL. I was expecting another leg up, but I was in a 6E trade. I debated entering an order on CL, but figured I have a hard enough time managing 1 trade at a time. I passed on the long entry.
I watched the 08:10 and 08:15 bars push up, but didn't see an entry, except at 08:14 bar. I wanted to see one more pullback bar, but never got it.
CL Trade #2
After the retrace on the 08:20 candle, the next bar was an inside bar that made a HL. I was expecting a push back to the HOD. Went long, but was stopped out. +1 tick.
On the 6E side, my first 2 trades were good, but didn't work out.
6E Trade #1
6E was in a nice wavy down trend. A with-trend candle formed at 06:06 and I entered a limit order at 50%. The two prior green bars were too large for a normal sell stop order. After the entry bar closed as a doji, I moved my stop. +1 tick.
6E Trade #2
6E poked above the EMA and made a double top, then formed a LL. The big green outside bar made me cautious. I didn't want to take a trade off of that. The next bar was a with trend bar that formed a double top. Entered a limit order with a 5 tick stop above the 06:51 bar. This was the beginning leg of the uptrend. Stopped out -5 ticks.
I got greedy (read stupid) on this attempted trade. 6E made a perfect pullback to the EMA. I didn't do the arithmetic, and didn't see the signal bar was only 5 ticks tall. It formed a nice double bottom and I put in a limit order at 1.3632 and amazingly wasn't filled. I should have put a buy stop order in above that signal bar. Dumb.
The next entry was another pullback to the EMA at 07:42, but it left a doji and I don't like to use those as signal bars. I was waiting for another, smaller candle to enter on, but didn't get it.
Lots of overlapping bars in CL today. I took 2 trades, one for an 8 tick stop and the other BE+1 with a 1 ticks slip, so I got nothing.
Trade #1
My pre-market homework lead me to watch for a range bound market between 88.11 - 85.88. I saw the resistance at 87.75 and watched as the market pushed past that. I was hesitant to go long because we were at the upper third of the market range, but if the market was going to test the upper range, there was room for a trade. CL pushed up to resistance, then pulled back. The next candle was red, but did break the level before pulling back. I was waiting for an entry on the 1 min chart and found a perfect one - right after a retracement to within a few ticks of the EMA, and supported by a triple bottom only 6 ticks away. Went long and was stopped out by a doji before the run. -8 ticks.
There was about an hour of sideways stuff. The bars weren't big enough for a trade even at the 1 minute level. Finally CL made another run for the top before failure.
Trade #2
CL broke through the overnight low and made a LL before pushing back up to just under the EMA, then started to fall back. Entered short looking for a test of the low. The trade was above the EMA on the 1 min chart, so I was cautious. The next 2 bars were doji's, which I didn't like at all. The trade didn't seem to be going my way, so moved my stop to BE+1 and was stopped out with 1 tick of slip. 0 ticks.
On the 6E side, I let the resistance levels I drew persuade me to not take winning trades. The first pullback entry was too close to the overnight high of 1.3667 and the second one was just under yesterday's high. Price moved right through them like they weren't there.
6E Trade #1
Trend was down and the first pullback I saw was the 05:09 bar. I didn't take that because it was just above the Feb 9th LOD, plus it was an inside bar (don't like to take trades from them). Price broke that support, and the next leg down broke the Feb 8 LOD. When price failed to make it back to the EMA, I placed a sell stop and was filled. Kept my stop at 8 ticks and was taken out. -8 ticks.
6E Trade #2
The bar that took me out on trade 31 failed to make a HH. I tried to get back in the trend with a sell stop under that bar. I had 9 MFE and thought about going to BE+1 but kept my stop at 8 ticks, but trailed it on the close of the entry bar. -5 ticks.
Two mistakes with this trade: I didn't notice the double bottom that formed, and I should have protected my position with a move to BE+1 after I saw the doji form.
CL was trading in a range until 06:15 when it made a push for the overnight low. I was reluctant to buy the first pullback because if fell back to the top of the range.
CL Trade #1
After CL broke the overnight high and pulled back, I was looking to enter the trend. I missed a second entry into the trend off the 06:47 bar. When the next pullback occured, I waited for a second entry as recommended (thanks you-know-who). Went long with a hard target. +30 ticks.
Happy that I kept my focus after 2 losing trades.
Had a little headache, so just watched the rest of the day. Gotta leave the office at 9am tomorrow. If I do any trading, won't be able to post for a few days.
Watched CL trade sideways for awhile, waiting for a break of a 85.81 or 85.13
Trade #1
Got a break of the resistance area, then a pullback to the EMA. The 5 min chart still looked whippy, so I waited for another push higher. The 06:40 candle was a big, 40 tick that shot up without stopping. Waited for a pullback on that and got a nice one, but was stopped out. -8 ticks.
Trade #2
This was a pure revenge trade. I was fixated on entering long, and completely ignored the fact that my last trade was embedded in a 5 min doji. I don't take trades from doji candles. The 1 minute chart formed a small ascending triangle with green candles. I waited the next candle broke the top, then fell back. I entered a buy stop above triangle. CL came up, grabbed me by the balls and pulled me down with a 1 tick slip. -9 ticks.
After seeing my trade, I was pretty disgusted with myself and was tempted to call it quits for the day. Instead, I took a few deep breaths, did some push-ups and stretches, and sat back down.
Trade #3
After the failed pullback long at 07:50, I was looking for a short entry. Went short on the 08:10 bar at 85.94 and managed the trade from the 1 min chart. This was a mistake, since I left some money on the table. +12 ticks.
I missed the short at 85.70 off the 09:05 bar because I was talking with a pesky client. To be honest, not sure if I would have taken it because of the support at 85.60 and the fact that CL was back trading in the early morning range.
Today I focused more on watching levels on the higher time frame (60 min). I was amazed to see the 09:00 candle stop to the tick of the previous candle's low, then turn around. That made me watch the eventual breakout of that level intensely, and a sell stop at 85.51 would have taken no heat at all and resulted in at lest a scratch. Similarly, the 85.13 60 min double bottom breakout was a 50 tick winner without any heat at all. Hmmmm.
Overall a mixed day. I'm happy with my first trade even though I was stopped out. My second trade was amazingly bad, but I'm pleased that I didn't give up and managed to pull a little money back. Still a red day, however.
I feel a breakthrough coming soon!!
