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Thank you for taking the time to answer me. I do like the idea of monitoring multiple markets and waiting for the one that is moving best at any given moment. If you can do that, then you should eventually do well with this method. I have tried it myself, but I always found I would miss entries and hesitate too much because I couldn't always see the setups happening in Real time.
By the way, speaking of golf..I know a thing or two about it. My dad started me at 5 years of age. His name was Frank Stranahan and if you google him..you'll see he was quite a player back in his day. Have a great weekend and thanks again for your reply.
Frank Stranahan, are you kidding me? One of the best amateurs ever! The dashing, body builder golfer. He was one of my heroes growing up. I grew up in the 60s and 70s and tried to be a pro, so I was very familiar with the golfers of the earlier eras. I liked his image. Good stuff!
BTW, I could not follow 6 markets on 2 range charts. My 800 tick CL charts is equivalent to about a 10 Range.
Getting more comfortable entering live trades. Trying to catch quick movers so I am moving to BE ASAP and hoping the market never looks back. All trades got stopped at BE but would have produced decent gains for the trader who held.
Trade 1 6E: movement against 10t, movement for 17t. Exit at 0t. Took some quick heat right after entry. Here we go again! Proud that I held till it broke back up +6t then came back and stopped me out.
Trade 2 NG: move against 6t, move for 42t. Exited at 0t
Trade 3 NG: move against 3t, move for 39t. Exit at 0t. This trade was up 10t at one time. Again, proud that I held trying to get to target.
Trade 4 NG: move against 1t, move for 31t. Exit at 0t
Pleased that my trades generally moved in my favor. Progress. Hesitated on a couple super easy gainers late in CL. Would have been good for 80t. These moments can make a week.
Objectives recap:
-Prime directive: very good even while watching my trades work without me.
-Take a couple shots at potential trends: Very good. Identified 6E and NG as potential all day movers. Took 4 shots. Happy with that.
-Trends not over till they’re over: Not applicable today
-When ZN offers an obvious trade take it: Not applicable today. Didn’t see anything obvious today.
Tomorrow markets close early. Not sure if I’ll trade. Might be up to watch though. Need to make the wife her coffee!
Looking forward to Easter service celebration, the best day ever!
Thanks for the kind words about my dad. That is so cool that you knew who he was. A lot of people don't know that after he retired from the tour, he went to Wharton and got a Master's degree in finance. He was big in the markets in the 70's and 80s..and had his own trading firm on Wall Street.
I didn't get into trading until a few years ago..but I guess it's in the blood.
As far as my 2 range chart, I use that mainly to time in my entries. I find I can spot price action setups much faster and easier on it, but I also watch higher time frames as well. But with the two range, I can have very precise entries..which leads to having a smaller stop loss. I think on many trades, from what I see on other people's charts, that I am already often 15 to 20 ticks or more up on a trade before the others even get in. So that's why I use them.
I wish you all the best with your trading..and I'm looking forward to seeing your progress on here. After being very cautious and insuring I hit my weekly goal for many months consecutively, I now feel ready to start ramping up the contract size. I was particularly inspired by some of the recent posts of Big Mike on his thread and how much profit he is generating.
Anyhow, I like your systematic approach to your journal and I hope you have great results.
I imagine you play Seminole? I got a chance to play there once with Olin Browne's dad, Olin Sr. Cool place.
When I get to ramping up contracts it will be one at a time, and at each step I will trade as cautiously as if I was trading live for the first time. Getting a foothold is the key. Good luck
Yes! Played Seminole a few times in my younger days. Beautiful course and very exclusive.
As far as contracts, I look at it like weightlifting. You start small..and add weight (contracts) as you get stronger. In the case of trading.. being mentally ready and proficient enough to trade more. I once jumped from 1 contract to 10..and it was very stressful. Needless to say, I didn't do well. If you add gradually on to your contract size as you improve, the transition is much smoother.
Weekly Summary 3/30/15 to 4/3/15
Live Trades: 6: 6 losers
Starting balance for the week: $2941.94
Withdrawals for the week: $0
Deposits for the week: $0
Week’s P/L: -$291.00
Ending balance for the week: $2650.94
Beginning account balance from first live trade on 3/10/15: $3000.00
Total Withdrawals: $0
Total Deposits: $0
Total Gains/losses from 3/10/15: -$349.06
Of the 6 trades, 3 reached at least +2R before -1R. One more got to at least +1R. This is good, a 50% win rate at 2:1 reward/risk, and one more at BE is a recipe for success. As I see this type of result more consistently, and my account grows some cushion, I will be more inclined to hold through minor pull backs.
Takeaways from the week:
-I am getting more comfortable trading live. It’s a matter of acclimation. I really want to make it happen with this account so I need to remain vigilant in my discipline.
-There are plenty of trades every week that are obvious and high probability to make a successful week. There is no reason to “look” for trades or take iffy trades. Wait for the ones that bust you upside the head.
-Quote of the week regarding strong trends: “There is a mentality in play here that must be overcome. It will change my trading. I have all but eliminated the urge to counter trend trade so that’s not a problem anymore. However, the underlying mentality is still there. It goes something like this: ‘price has already made its best move. It is too late to get in now. You will be risking top or bottom ticking. It will turn around soon. Wait until a change in direction and start with a fresh move.’ 200 ticks later I am left wondering what might have been. I simply must take more risks in the direction of trend until it proves itself over. The trend direction will indeed change in my face at times, but I simply have to accept this risk. The payoff is just too big to ignore."
Monday’s objective:
-Continue with prime directive to let missed trades go emotionally
-Be alert to a trend developing and take a couple of shots. The risk is well worth it.
-If there is a strong all day trend be aware that it is not over till it’s over. Often there is one more push at the end of the day after a 1-1.5 hour consolidation.
-When ZN telegraphs an obvious move, take it. They usually work out. Examples include: high volume quick movements in one direction. Bounces off of strong S/R, or breaks/retests of clear symmetrical channels.
-The overarching mindset should be this: there are plenty of obvious, high probability trades each week to accomplish my objectives. Be content to wait for them. They will come.
No trades. Good movement in CL and NQ but didn’t find a set up that I wanted to put risk toward. The move in NQ was pretty straight up, but the two pull back possibilities had either too much risk or were sloppy.
The best trade opp on CL was a bit too close to the overnight high for my liking. Adding to the hesitation was the fact that my first 4 or 5 mark ups were failures so it was apparent I didn’t have a very good feel for market direction today. Best to wait for a clear entry or another day where there is follow through on my ideas.
Objectives recap:
-Prime directive to let missed trade go emotionally: OK. Still tough to watch so much movement and not be part of it, but I dealt with it reasonably well.
-Identify early trend moves: Good and not so good. The reversal early in NQ was hard to predict. It just reversed and never looked back. The one on CL was a little more predictable. I should have given more weight to the bounce off the major HVN at 6:55. After that it felt like a trend brewing but I couldn’t find a comfortable entry.
-In all day trends it’s not over till it’s over: In both CL and NQ it didn’t feel like the kind of huge all day movement where this principle would apply. Indeed there were only two entry locations in both instruments that I would have considered.
-When ZN telegraphs a move take it: not applicable. There were no obvious signs to telegraph the big move down.
-Was content today to let it go and wait for action that suits my fancy. Plenty of time left in the week with some good news events.
Tomorrow’s objectives:
-Continue with prime directive to let missed trades go emotionally
-Be alert to a trend developing and take a couple of shots. The risk is well worth it.
-If there is a strong all day trend be aware that it is not over till it’s over. Often there is one more push at the end of the day after a 1-1.5 hour consolidation.
-When ZN telegraphs an obvious move, take it. They usually work out. Examples include: high volume quick movements in one direction. Bounces off of strong S/R, or breaks/retests of clear symmetrical channels. They usually work out.
-The overarching mindset is this: there are plenty of obvious, high probability trades each week to accomplish my objectives. Be content to wait for them. They will come.
No live trades today, but did some nice work. Whereas yesterday my ideas did not carry through, today they did. A fully traded combination of yesterday and today would have nice positive results.
Interesting large orders filled on CL at the end of the day. Will be interesting to see how that plays out tomorrow. Were they exiting in anticipation of a move back down?
Pay more attention to retests of the opening swing, especially in CL, NG and NQ where market openings seem more significant. In GC, ZN and 6E it is less so but 5:30 news events can be treated as the opening swing.
Remember that QM can be a nice alternative to CL, especially as larger patterns emerge and the anticipated move has the potential to be longer.
Objectives recap:
-Prime directive to let missed trades go emotionally: Grade A. I think I have come a long ways here so I will be taking it off the objectives list for now. May revisit if it becomes a problem later.
-Identify trends and take shots: Good and not so good. Good that I was able to identify the moves in CL. Not so good in that I did not put risk towards my idea. Still not fully mentally ready to take on the market with real money. This is an acclimation process that I need to give time.
-strong daily trends are not over till they are over. See above.
-Take a shot on obvious ZN trades. Not applicable today.
-Plenty of opps to make my goals each week so be patient. Grade A. Days like today reiterate this idea. Could have easily made my weekly goal just on today’s action alone.
Tomorrow’s objective:
-Be alert to a trend developing and take a couple of shots. The risk is well worth it.
-If there is a strong all day trend be aware that it is not over till it’s over. Often there is one more push at the end of the day after a 1-1.5 hour consolidation.
-When ZN telegraphs an obvious move, take it. They usually work out. Examples include: high volume quick movements in one direction. Bounces off of strong S/R, or breaks/retests of clear symmetrical channels. They usually work out.
-Pay attention to retests of the opening swing
-Remember QM as an alternative to CL.
-There are plenty of obvious, high probability trades each week to accomplish my objectives. Be content to wait for them. They will come.
Two trades:
-Trade 1, QM: used CL as a proxy for price action. The movement is almost identical. Reached 20 ticks on CL, 9 ticks on QM and reversed. Exit +1t
-Trade 2, ZN: Clear move to upside. Exit on slow action and upcoming FOMC. +5t
Overall pleased again with my markups and pleased I put some risk out there.
Objectives recap:
-identify strong trends early and take a couple of shots: Nothing super clear at the beginning of the session. Took a couple shots in areas I thought might be the start of something on QM and ZN.
-In strong trends trades can be made all day: Could have taken some later shots in CL but it didn’t have that one way movement look I am referring to.
-When ZN shows an obvious trade take it. They usually work: 50% accomplished. Took one shot and passed on the other.
-Remember QM as an alternative to CL: used QM today with CL as a proxy for price action. Pleased with how it traded. I need to go back to see how the two correlate in flash type events.
-Be cognizant of retests of the opening swing: NQ had two nice moves off the opening swing today. Should have put some risk towards the second one. It was pretty clear and had lots of energy after FOMC.
-Patience: excellent.
Tomorrow’s objectives:
-Be alert to a trend developing and take a couple of shots. The risk is well worth it.
-If there is a strong all day trend be aware that it is not over till it’s over. Often there is one more push at the end of the day after a 1-1.5 hour consolidation.
-When ZN telegraphs an obvious move, take it. They usually work out. Examples include: high volume quick movements in one direction. Bounces off of strong S/R, or breaks/retests of clear symmetrical channels. They usually work out.
-Pay attention to retests of the opening swing
-Remember QM as an alternative to CL.
-The overarching mindset is this: there are plenty of obvious, high probability trades each week to accomplish my objectives. Be content to wait for them. They will come.