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I have not made any substantial changes to my trading routine since Nov, ie
Trading Hours: 8:00 am to 11:30 am EST (not counting the short evening owl life in early Jan)
Instruments: 6E and CL (I added CL to my radar list last week and have every intention to place real trades this week IF a great signal shows up at the right time .. not yet)
Based on my entry rules/trading plan, I have not placed any real trades for over two weeks. I'm surprised on my patience and peace of mind. I came across the Ergodic indicator yesterday and have been doing research on how to use it. Did have it on some of my charts this morning. Saved me entering into a trade which could be a baby loser. After hours of research, I now have some basic ideas on the same and plan to have it on until next Fri.
Yes, only two trading days left for Jan, I am really anxious to do more trades and prepare an impressive monthly report. Having said that, I cannot just close my eyes and submit an order lol! Even I am not making green pips for weeks, I am a Happy Trader .. Oh, I am "tamed" .. smile ..
I spent the first two hours getting used to the newcomer (Ergodic indicator). Actually, I am thinking it may help my selecting some regular signals (non-divergence ones) since divergence signals have not been showing up too often these mornings. I tried my newly acquired knowledge on the first 2 CL sim trades .. both profitable.
Note: I added MACD BB for a few quick minutes so that I can perform a crispy comparison between the two. The exercise enhanced my understanding on the Ergodic indicator. Confession: I don't think I fully understand its features/benefits. Unfortunately, I am unable to get more information from The Net .. sigh ..
When I had vague doubt on my capability to place a real trade (after 2 inactive weeks), I placed a 6E one .. haha .. I did adjust my preferred PT 8 to 6. Why?
1. The previous LL was not too far from my ideal PT.
2. 5 is the suggested PT for the first contract. Some even use 3-4. To enjoy at least 1:1 reward/risk ratio, I opt for 6:5.
3. My SL was 5 (from the usual 6) as I got a better entry. Must add that it's still a logical choice, ie 2 ticks above the High of the previous few bars.
How's my emotion?
The trade lasted too soon as PT got hit within seconds. I was happy when the Ergodic main line (red) hooked down and crossed 0/white signal line. No heart racing or shaking fingers throughout the ride. Not sure if it stays true if it went against me. Will see .. smile ..
Oh, the same trade got close to 30 pips profit IF one chose to hold for another 10 minutes. You know I'm a scalper + doing 1-contract trades. To have a 20+ pip winner is unlikely to happen until I advance to do multiple-contract trades. Let's keep our fingers crossed. It will happen .. haha ..
Some of you may be curious on what I am using. You will understand that I cannot disclose the set-up details (it's based on a commercial system). The following may give you some ideas:
1. 2-3 moving averages (for trend direction and spot retracement level)
2. 1 osc indicator (detect overbought/oversold)
3. News (SOH at least 5 minutes before and after high priority items)
4. PriceActionSwing indicator with HH/HL/LL/LH plotting
5. Ergodic indicator (for momentum and confirm both regular and divergence signals)
6. Price indicator for the current price
Substantial improvement from my former complicated systems?!!
I am hoping that some of you may be able to enlighten me on the following Ergodic questions:
1. Crossover of Red/Green Main and Signal Lines
i. I understand that safer Long and Short will be crossabove/crossbelow right at the zero line + heading up/down. How about their crossover above or below the zero line?
ii. Will you consider going Long when Main/Signal lines crossabove happens way below the zero line? Same for Short.
iii. How effective will the crossover be IF I use another osc indicator to confirm a signal?
2. Big Red and Lime Dots (Main/Signal lines crossover around +20/-20)
My guess: +20/-20 represent OB/OS or important breakout/breakdown levels. Appreciate more guidance.
Note to Big Mike: I tripped over your videos on Ergodic. Very helpful! Thank you.
Believe you have had a Nice weekend. Ditto here. I accompanied Nelson for his Sun re-order (5+ hours on the road as the customers live close to the Detroit border). We enjoyed glimpses of some big refineries .. can tell they contribute to the polluted environment ..
Back to this morning .. I spent the first two hours incorporating the Ergodic signals with the existing ones. Realized the challenge to manage two instruments (6E and CL) at the same time even I am familiar with the existing signals. Hmm, have to make a decision else I will end up missing all signals on both instruments esp I am still learning the personality of the Ergodic indicator.
I opted for CL as it definitely offers more trading opportunities. If I miss some (for sure will happen), there will still be a few left for me to catch up. Plus I will know if the trade is working within seconds. I also reminded myself that I would only place a sim trade IF I am willing to trade the signal for real $. Yes, I was sim-trading this morning in view of the changes made.
Took 3 sim trades as follows:
1. Trade No 1 with PT/SL @8/6. Subtle divergence + I liked the Ergodic crossover. It's a smooth sail.
2. Trade No 2 with initial PT/SL @8/6. I manually moved PT to 12 (based on previous HH) and SL to +2 when it's 6+ in my favor. Tried to let it run a little more. It went +9 .. a baby green of +2.
3. Trade No 3 with PT/SL @6/6. No divergence though I liked the Ergodic crossover (close to 0). I adjusted PT to 6 (from 8) to strive for a quick winner.
Post-trading Thought: Trade No 2 was not a good candidate for runner. Subtle divergence and no Ergodic crossover lol! Trade No 3 could be a better candidate as it's closer to an Ergodic zero crossover.
Note: I am not in the trading room as I want to get myself more focussed/used to the changes. Plan to cushion 1-2 real trades/day with PT/SL @8/6. Still stay with mostly divergence signals unless a regular one aligns with a perfect Ergodic crossover .. smile ..
Oh, I have the same Ergodic indicator (only the Main and Signal lines) overlay on the Price panel so that the crossover is more legible to my petite eyes .. haha ..
1. I enjoyed a short evening owl life.
2. I caught myself falling into an old trap (kept moving SL .. hoping a trade would eventually work with no logical trading reasons behind it) .. luckily I woke up .. -10 pips well spent lol!
3. Weeks of inactive live trading made me realized it's a business requiring Patience and a Clear Head/Heart. I'm glad that I did not force myself to trade when I could not spot a signal that met my entry requirements.
4. When I came across new indicators, I did not add them all to the charts. I tried them one by one for a week (some only lasted for a day or two when I could not see any added value).
5. I succeeded in removing the safety wheels (eg Auto Trend Line Detection, Divergence and Price Action %/ABCD plotting) and am not missing them .. haha ..
It's a -2 pips baby pinky month of 8 6E real trades. For the first two weeks of Feb (up to 11 Feb), I will focus on CL only. Actually, my workspace has only two charts, ie 3-Range HA and regular 3-Range. The regular 3-Range chart does not have the Ergodic indicator and I use it to alert me completion of the current bar + having the News indicator.
Daily Game Plan is slightly amended as follows:
Trading Hours: 9:00 am to 11:30 am (will start monitoring the price movement around 8:15 am)
Trading Instrument: CL
PT/SL: 8/6
Maximum No of Trades/Day: 1-3
Trading System: Sell at LH and Buy at HL (entry at predetermined retracement level with osc/ergodic indicators to confirm)
Now i see the picture of the overlay, i see what i had to do. I showed the overlay in the room but i did not remove the "mains".
No wonder my graph was looking very disturbing.........
I also see that the ergodic is making part of some traders.