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Big mikes comments about indicators inspired me to start a journal here for a few reasons . The biggest of which being that it seems many of you are like me , traders searching for a way to survive out there in the cruel trading world .
Lets face it , this is a business in which you make money by taking away what others are risking and then learn to keep it . That doesnt mean you cant work together with , learn from and help others though .
What I'll do is post my charts and ideas and share them with everyone here . What I hope to accomplish is to get a deeper understanding of myself and my abilities .
As you may know I dont use indicators . Just support and resistance levels such as important highs and lows determined from a longer timeframe chart and fibonacci retracement levels from such .
I've attached my longer timeframe chart for this week and a 2500 volume chart for the NQ . I establish S/R on a 300 min. chart , monitor these levels on a 2500 volume chart and enter on a 500 volume chart .
Questions , comments and insight always welcome .
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
I take continuation or reversal trades depending upon what the conditions dictate . My observation is that prices spend most of their time in consolidation , chop and congestion so being able to identify the present conditions is most of our battle .
This trade was just after the bell and I saw price in consolidation on the longer and shorter timeframe .
What I struggle with MOST is DO I WAIT FOR PRICE TO HIT MY TARGETS OR GRAB THE PROFIT AVAILABLE NOW ?
This trade hits my 1st objective ( 2 lot trade ) then double tops and stops out the 2nd contract 1 tick below support . I moved the 2nd contracts stop to that level after price continued in my favor .
I'm working on how to identify when to get out with a profit when a reversal is present and when to stay patient and let the trade unfold .
Question..
Get out + 4 pts or so at the double top or stay in and let the trade unfold ?
I found that there is nothing worse than letting a winner turn into a loser.
In your case the one contract that you took a 1 tick loss on, the trade was up 4 points, so you should lock in the gain (even if its b/e + 1 tick) - no loss no commish.
Now I dont know your trading style, but for me, the 1st doji after your entry (about 9:43) is where a would take profit. At least on 1/2 and move stop up to b/e + 1 tick on other 1/2.
Set your targets to a reasonable level. Move your stops up to prevent losses. Once you have done that then hold on for the top target.
You should know the answer to this prior to entering the trade. It should be in your rules, in your money management. If it is unclear, then you should work on those.
I struggle with the same thing even after alot of time and energy in this area. One point of advice, you can't lose money if every trade is a winner. So, don't beat yourself up too much if you take a few ticks less than your target. But, you've GOT to maintain a 1:1 risk reward ratio or that will not work, you can't cut the winners short and have huge losers.
Thanks Mike and Laserdan , dojis are a clear sign of stalling momentum . Oftentimes I've entered and took profits when it looked like the moves shot only to watch it keep going .
I'll post todays trades and that occured once today . I like the doji warning sign or maybe pull one contract off if a bar closes below the prior bars low ( CLPL ) in a long ?
This is todays longer timeframe charts for the NQ , one showing more data and the other a closer look at the same timeframe .
The way I use these is to identify important levels I should be aware of .
I dont have any bias as to which way I trade so this leaves me free to watch what is happening right now and then do what makes sense .
I am a believer in the philosophy described in the book " Trading in the zone " by Mark Douglas . I especially believe in the 5 fundamental truths with " anything can happen " really hitting home . How many times I've passed on a signal when I was sure it cant work then it goes on to produce big time I cant even count .
These are the trades I took today . I stopped after 4 trades - 2 winners 2 losers . The winners are about twice the size of the losers . The 1st trade should read - 4 pts .