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I am a complete rookie who is making first steps and looking for some feedback from the fellow traders. Perhaps, I even find a mentor here. My preferred instrument is /ES mini futures. Quite possibly, some other beginning traders find my notes here helpful.
For education, I have carefully read Al Brooks' Reading Price Charts Bar by Bar. Not an easy read but I've studied every chart and taken extensive notes (10-20 pages per chapter). Now, I am re-reading the book again.
For a demo account, I have been using NinjaTrader 8 for the last three weeks. I have just signed up for an account with a broker.
As I attach screenshots of my trades, your feedback and questions are welcome, even if it is an advice on how to make it easier to read.
Are you considering what your trading into when taking an entry ? Does your trade have the ability to hit your first partial without hitting support or resistance from the left side of the chart ?
You may find that you prefer just doing a summary post with a recap chart most days, rather than for each trade.
A person could make the case either way, of course:
- Pros of one post per day: You don't get so busy with all the posts .
- Cons of one post per day: You may not exactly recall what you were thinking and doing, so you lose something in the recap.
Do your journal any way you think works for you. Remember that the purpose of the journal is to make it clear ***TO YOU*** what you did and why, and whether you followed your rules/understanding/best judgment or not, as well as to let you see what you need to work on. So it has to help you and should be done for you alone. Whatever is useful to you is what you should do.
You will find that other people are generally supportive and gentle with you, many of us having been there with our journals too, and all of us having at one time or another the same issues with trading.
Some good questions! My current terminology comes from Brooks' Reading Price charts. He insists on trading M5, to which I oblige.
Trend change - "Trend Reversal A trend change from up to down or down to up, or from a trend to a trading range. " Usually followed by a reversed bar. In that case, the trend went from bear to bull for a while. On a bigger timeframe, it looked like a leg.
Set-up bar - " A setup is a chart pattern composed of one or more bars that leads a trader to believe that an order can be placed that has a good chance of resulting in a profi table trade. In practice, every bar on the chart is a setup because the next bar always can be the start of a strong move in either direction. " Basically, it is a bar that 1) follows a signal bar (indicates a change) and 2) the bar beyond which one places an order one tick above or below.
Chart setup - Brooks advocates no indicators just candle bars and 9EMA on M5. This is what I am currently experimenting with.
I am still learning about and observing support and resistance levels. I know what they are. Brooks advocates primarily the high and the low from yesterday and previous highs and lows. My list is open.
After a series of stop-losses today, these are my thoughts exactly. A summary post per day will do it. Maybe I chose one or two trades that are the most educational for me that day.
I wish I could look at the journals of all of you guys, but I still do not have permission.
I never understood AL and to me his definitions are vague at best. If you can work with it that's great though...more power to ya. I have not used time based bars for 15 years but I will look and comment when I can.
I have heard a lot that he is not the easiest to read and his writings, to comprehend. Your questions have been helpful to clarify his definitions in my mind. If you can comment here once in a while, that would be great!
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