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Tough to say where a good point to start would be, I first came across the straight line threads in December 2013 and what I was observing up to that point is the reason why those threads made so much sense to me.
Beyond that, I took a break from journaling over the summer and studied the material and charts in more detail and tried to reason with myself as to why I respond to certain emotions live that don't crop up in sim. Over the last couple of months I tweaked how I approach ranges as I was heavily reliant on SLA in range and I have struggled to adapt hence the reason I feel the need to go back a few steps and start again.
Not a whole lot to report since my last post but thought I would make an update to track successes and failures.
My first week at home was a write off as my body clock refused to adjust to a more civilised schedule coming off nights and as a result I …
It might save time to skim over the charts as some of the posts waffle on for a while, but, for the sake of posterity I try to record anything that might be of interest, the post above was leading onto the change and it might be evident on the charts and the reasoning behind the trades I took.
DbP, I spent some time this weekend reading your writings on SLA. While I didn't know it was called SLA, I was please to see someone with your experience reading the market in much the same way I do. You have eloquently put into words what I have been doing since last October when it suddenly dawned on me, after years of watching the markets, that all moves begin with a break of a line. Ever since, I have been drawing straight lines in almost the exact way that you advocate. I have not seen this type of analysis in many other places. While this has not yet translated to huge profits (due to a fundamental lack of confidence lost over many years of failure), I feel I am close to making it happen.
I assume you want participation in this thread? What would you like to see in terms of participation? Charts posted with trades? Questions asked?
If you are at all interested, I have a journal here:
Purpose of this journal: To improve my trading by collating my trades, charts, trade ideas, and trade thoughts into a one-stop-shop for easy review and recording of progress.
Instruments: Various and evolving. Currently CL, GC, NG, ES, NQ
The …
You can start anywhere since nothing much has changed from the beginning.
The SLA was originally "If You Can Draw A Straight Line (You Can Become A Successful Trader)". But all that was too much of a PITA to type over and over again, so I abbreviated it to the Straight Line Approach, which was the result of years of effort trying to explain Wyckoff and having little luck as so few wanted to read Wyckoff's course.
All that aside, what do you think I can do for you? I look at only a fraction of what you look at, and any advice I might be able to give wouldn't have much effect given the elephants in the room. But of course you're welcome to ask any questions you like.
MAE stands for Maximum Adverse Excursion, though technically it ought to be Maximum Adverse Incursion since it refers to price's coming back toward your entry. What it means in terms of your trade management is how far can price come back to you and …
). I don't know whether or not what I'll be posting there will be of any use to you, but it will save repetition.
I was part of a discussion a couple of days ago regarding various "price action" approaches, including the SLA. It's always interesting to hear about what people are doing to modify it and make it their own. Those modifications require testing, of course, and sometimes the modifications are so severe that one must pretty much start over.
I like playing with these modifications to determine whether or not someone has come up with something better, but so far I've had the best results by just following the rules. Perhaps the greatest advantage of that approach is that I don't have to think about it. Today was a perfect example.
To begin with, the "zone":
Then the situation prior to the open. Price found some resistance just above 56, and the drop at 0845 held at the previous swing low. Then price marches upward to the open. The demand line is broken, which is no surprise, but price begins making lower highs. Depending on one's risk tolerance, he can enter at either (red) 1 or 2.
The supply line is then broken at 0953, and the long is taken at the first retracement thereafter. If one misreads this, he might try another short at 0958 or even 1001, but price recoils against this hard and fast, signaling that a long may be in order. If one follows the rules rather than cling to a bias, entering at (green) 1 should present no problem.
Hi @DbPhoenix, thank you for putting together those two PDFs...
Maybe it wasn't the most salient bit, but I really enjoyed "the dog that didn't bark". Everyone stresses the importance of HH/LL/LH/HL but flipping the concept on its head and paying attention to what price doesn't do, that made it more relevant and memorable.
I'm glad you got something out of it. I'm in the process of updating it and expanding it. I hope to be done with it this weekend. When it's done, and if it's not too large, I'll upload it to this thread.