Welcome to NexusFi: the best trading community on the planet, with over 150,000 members Sign Up Now for Free
Genuine reviews from real traders, not fake reviews from stealth vendors
Quality education from leading professional traders
We are a friendly, helpful, and positive community
We do not tolerate rude behavior, trolling, or vendors advertising in posts
We are here to help, just let us know what you need
You'll need to register in order to view the content of the threads and start contributing to our community. It's free for basic access, or support us by becoming an Elite Member -- see if you qualify for a discount below.
-- Big Mike, Site Administrator
(If you already have an account, login at the top of the page)
My "stretching" fell into a pattern of habit, and the first few weeks of March saw me continue to force size. To the edge of being reckless. That is enough. Q1, over, a few days early.
I am starting my "Forex Challenge" and this will be the first real campaign of 2014. I chose 8 pair, with a lot of thought into why, and am trading starting at 1 unit, and doubling each day after a win, retreating one each day after a loss. The catch here, these will be swing trades, with a trade per market running at any given time.
I have one watch screen setup with each market, linked so that the timeframes will all switch with one click, but the 8 pair remain the same. My quickload watchlist is organized in the same order as the charts. Chart "#1" is in position #1, etc. Every i dotted and every t crossed.
below is the management zone, on a separate computer, with the same quick watchlist, but this allows me to see into each market in detail, I can scroll through them. I go as tight as 2 range, and as high as daily.
The indicators on the upper are all the same, looking for major patterns. The indicators below are all the same, but different than those above.
I will enter, set the week goal, then manage for a few days. I have a list of very specific setups I am looking for. The swing trade allows me time to consider my trade from many angles.
I fine-tuned the dragon's lair layout; rotated the sofa, adjusted the sound, customized the lighting, organized all cords, spare monitors and laptop and cords and mice.
I invited my wife in a few nights ago, we watched The Voice in here. last night I watched a movie in here and fell asleep on the couch. This IS my comfortable place.
2 of the 8 pair I chose, I have never traded before. After watching forex for about 6 months, I realized what I want to see. And it has nothing to do with the name at the top.
My mind, when not occupied by outside thing, is 85% of the time maybe, in trade related conversation. Today as I got into my groove, I went to the kitchen to get a sandwich. And as I was walking I aslked myself internally, "So what do i need to stay in this trade?" And the answer came back, "Mayonnaise". And I laughed so hard at myself, finished making the sandwich, and went back to check my trade.
But, that is what it has come down to, emotionally. It's like there is no emotion. There is up, or down. There is no thought, other than, expand or contract.
But in the other timeframe, where my mind is occupied by anything other than trading, it is just about simple things. I threw discs with my neighbor's 6 year old yesterday, that was fun. Another neighbor brought a stunt kite, and I just happened to be one of the few here who knew how to teach it. That was fun too. And I like mayonnaise.
Hi Gary,
I am new to this thread...great information and an excellent thread. Thanks a ton for the infomation you've shared in this thread...
Question... its been a while since you started this thread and shared your methodlogy on crude, I wonder if it is still valid from charts/timeframe/indicator's standpoint or things have changed quite a bit since you've started this thread ? Appreciate your input... Learning a lot
Right now my view is a bit distorted. I have been focusing on something new that is for the most part not working for me. I have had a fear of sizing up and a perpetual drive to do so for years. What I did this year different is divy up my trading capital, allowing myself to play with one pile as if it were a purging ground. That is not something I would recommend to anyone unless they came up with that themselves, but it is causing an interesting change in me. That one is a long story, but I am happy overall. A bit frustrated with myself still at times, but less as time progresses.
As far as indicators;
the polynomial regression channel (PRC) bands have finally been replaced with something that does not repaint and still does a good job. I took a chart of what I wanted to see and literally spent weeks going down the list of every indicator combination that might apply until I started to dial it in better. But the idea is the same.
The T3 moving averages have turned into exponentials, and the times are different, but still the same function as always.
Whatever I used to use as an oscillator back when (I can't even recall what I used) is now built completely differently, but, still does the same thing I was trying to achieve before. That one is very complex and the mechanics of it was a gift from a friend.
I still watch some retracements/projections/expansions/DPTLs, but no longer spend hours and days constructing support and resistance zones. And I am less interested in retracements than the other two.
The 1m VSA lives in the same place on my screens as it always has, and is still one of my favorite things to see. I will sometimes push my chair back, watch a video, and wait for that thing to fire. High Volume + Low Motion is step one. A low volume retest is a gift from heaven...
I use TPOs and volume profile some, but less than before. Right now, the TPO chart is not on my workspace. I am trying something different but similar.
What is new?
I watch the various session times and how the interact with each other. I use fib expansions 10x more than retracements. I am starting to watch fib pivots but cannot say I know much about them yet. I have a different expectation of exhaustions. But overall, if I did not say what the indicators were, the charts might look similar.
I do not care what the chart symbol is for the most part, but still mostly hate equity indices. My 3 biggest losing days this year have been in equity futures, and those account for roughly 50% of my total losses.
I trade in extremes. Yesterday I made 47 cents in a micro forex trade, and logged it as a "win". And lost maybe $2000 in the big game, and logged it as a "loss". My mind does not see much distance between them anymore. That is probably the biggest change of the year. And I talk with my wife about it as if I was playing disc golf and hit a tree, which is something I do alot as I try to get more power to my drive. Scaling (or in disc golf, force) is the only thing different, but the motion is the same.
On the wife topic, I said to her last night, "I guess I'll go in my lair, lay on the couch and watch the market move, and feel sorry for myself..." and smiled. And she laughed. That is new. She asked, "were you scared?", and I said, "no". And she smiled. No pressure. I keep paying the bills, and she is working full time just in case. But, still the same wife I had back when. She is more confident and relaxed, and skinnier, but looks basically the same as she did 20 years ago.
Not my best trading performance so far this year. I am shifting into a simpler direction, talking with guys who share that direction, and being the runt of the litter currently. I see what can be done, and I realize I cannot do it, because I care too much about it. And that thought in itself is interesting, like diving headfirst into the unknown interesting.
My disc golf is getting better daily. My FX challenge stands a 3/0. Could not even say what I traded or which direction.
I saw piglet as I went out to the Jeep. She has been a unique dog in intellect, in strength, in loyalty. Pit Bull, go figure.
And I had been saying to Melissa that piglet was not that smart. She would not lie down as easily as the other 3 dogs we have had, as an example. When she eats, I got the aggression out of her quickly, without any force BTW, but she still will crawl over anything in her way to keep her head in that food dish.
So anyway, as I was headed out I looked back at her, and thought to myself, "she is not stupid, she is operating out of a place that we are so civilized that we do not often speak the same language anymore. maybe that is how they got the bad rap to start with.
I saw that she was more primal. And I saw that primal, is not all bad. There is purity, and innocence/naivety, and bonds between us. but if you are not willing, but oblivious to that fact that you are pushing the other dogs out of the food bowl... and not feeling anything about it. I say "piglet, no", and she just turns her head.
Primal is a skill that we, for the most part, have lost. I saw that the Market is primal. 99.9% keep wanting it to be boxed in. It, is oblivious.
I trade forex almost flawlessly. I trade CL like a deer in headlights, trading the same way.
I see similarity between my disc golf and my trading. Muscle memory. I correct my throwing from the top down, walk through the steps over and over in slow motion before I throw. aka forex.
Dogs are funny creatures because their clan like behavior coincides with their easy integration as domesticated animals and I often forget that when it comes down to it they'll act according to their instincts by default in stressful situations. I personally see this even in myself that I revert to primitive behaviors under stress. For instance, when I'm mad about something my girlfriend or family did it's very hard for me to just switch back to being nice even though it's what I want to act like. It's very hard for me to control my emotions but the more I simply become aware of them the easier it is for me to change them. I can't fight the market, my emotions, or many things in my life but I can acknowledge them and let it sink into my subconscious because my subconscious is exponentially more powerful than my conscious mind.
R.I.P. Joseph Bach (Itchymoku), 1987-2018.
Please visit this thread for more information.