BAR BY BAR -- Al Brooks

TheAngryHermit · Apr 11, 2010

Quote from GiantDog:

Actually Al does have some bars that are not setup bars. He calls them doji bars. He doesn't much like them. But everthing else goes. Or not. Or maybe. He doesn't know. I like his setup in his book where he says to sometimes trade the failure of a failed setup. That about covers his philosophy. Everything can be traded. Even failures of failed setups. LOL.

No wonder he wants to start a hedge fund. He is driving himself nuts by overcomplicating his trading. And with 5-min bars. I didn't think that was possible. But then again, he is a doctor. Highly scientific to the core. And to think he wanted to simplify his trading with using only the 5-min chart and a 20 ema. Not going to happen. His next book will be over 800 pages.
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What's the problem? Everyday I look for Breakouts, Breakout Pullbacks, Breakout Pullback Failures, Breakout Pullback Failed Failures and Failed Breakout Pullback Failed Failures. It couldn't be easier. ROFLMFAO!

BTW, Failed Breakout Failed Pullback Failed Failures that Fail are one of the most reliable trades you can take, unless it fails.

Optionpro007 · Apr 11, 2010

Quote from TheAngryHermit:

BTW, Failed Breakout Failed Pullback Failed Failures that Fail are one of the most reliable trades you can take, unless it fails. [/B]
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GiantDog · Apr 13, 2010

Quote from TheAngryHermit:

BTW, Failed Breakout Failed Pullback Failed Failures that Fail are one of the most reliable trades you can take, unless it fails.
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Sometimes failure is a good thing. Unless it fails too many times. Then it's considered the last failure. And those are not good.

lsubeano · Apr 14, 2010

read his book several times...
watched his webinars...
read his articles for futures mag....
listen to his trading room.....

what have I learned?

I have a long long way to go to understand as much as he does about price action.(just another 20 years)

best advice.
he suggests to print out daily charts and review it every day for years.

athlonmank8 · Apr 14, 2010

Good stuff. Intraday FX player another I'd recommend.

BrooksRimes · Jun 14, 2010

LOL !!!!

Are you serious? Are these actual quotes from the book?

Well, that just reversed my decision of trying to wade through it.

The comments about the writing style are even more brutal on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Price...?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar

Quote from smilingsynic:

A few of the worthwhile ideas from Brooks include the following:

"The single most reliable Countertrend trade is entering Countertrend to a pullback which is
a small trend in the opposite direction of a major trend.
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Swan Noir · Jun 14, 2010

I won't (can't) defend the writing. It is B_R_U_T_A_L!

But it is still worth wading through. The more for real a trader is the more it provokes you to come up with some great plays to add to your playbook.

Quote from BrooksRimes:

LOL !!!!

Are you serious? Are these actual quotes from the book?

Well, that just reversed my decision of trying to wade through it.

The comments about the writing style are even more brutal on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Price...?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar
More...

spd · Jun 14, 2010

The book is tough to get through, but if you are patient there is some great info in there.

The only trading book Ive come across that I would actually recommend. Just do a lot of flipping back from the charts to the explanation, you will have to read each section a few times.

rigel7 · Aug 21, 2010

Think the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
I also found the book a hard read but if you persist, you can dig up real gems.
Try reading Taylor's book , it is a nightmare but boy his methodology is something else, even Linda Raschke and G. Angell had difficulty in figuring it out in its original context and hence made modifications which bear no resemblence to the original.

With Al there is a simple way of gauging if he is a genuine trader or not, request for a free access to his trading room on

http://www.brookspriceaction.com/portal.php?sid=060ae1119b1d536402ce859450e54aa6

and sit with an open mind and observe.

Gabfly1 · Feb 21, 2011

Quote from smilingsynic:

A few of the worthwhile ideas from Brooks include the following:

"The single most reliable Countertrend trade is entering Countertrend to a pullback which is
a small trend in the opposite direction of a major trend.

If a trader is becoming agitated because he is not in the market during an extended trend
and he feels like he needs to trade aned he begins to look at 1-minute charts, 1-minute
reversals offer a very profitable way to make money. However, it is by doing the opposite
of the obvious. Wait for a 1-minute reversal to trigger a Countertrend entry, which you do
not take, and then determine where you would place a protective stop if you had taken the
trade. Then, place a With Trend entry stop at that price. You will be stopped into a With
Trend position just as the Countertrend traders are getting stopped out. No one will be
looking to enter Countertrend at that point and likely not until the trend has moved further
along and another Countertrend setup begins to form. This is a very high probability With
Trend scalp.

Although the best reversals have strong momentum and go a long way they are often very slow
to start and can have several small bars before the sharp moves begin.

Typically, entries in trend pullbacks look bad but are profitable, and entries in reversals
look good but are losers.

Trends end with a reversal and then a test of the final trend extreme.

Any series of strong trend bars (big bodies, small tails, and very little overlap) that
is followed by a pullback almost always has a test of its extreme.

If a market forms a Double Bottom after a selloff, but before the bull takes off, and it then
has a pullback that tests just above the Double Bottom low, this is a Double Bottom Pullback
long setup

Trends often end with a test of the extreme, and the test often has two legs, each reaching a
greater extreme (a Higher High in a bull, or a Lower Low in a bear). The first extreme and then
the two legs make Three Pushes, which is a well recognized reversal setup with many names.

The majority of Three Push patterns reverse after overshooting a trend channel line,
and that alone is reason to enter, even if the actual shape is not a Wedge.

The salient point is that an expanding triangle is a series of progressively higher Higher highs and lower
lower lows that continue to trap breakout traders, and at some point they capitulate, and then all of the traders
are on the same side, creating a trend

Failures are often excellent setups for trades in the opposite direction, since the traders who were just forced out
will be hesitant to reenter in the same direction, making the market one-sided.

A one-tick failure is a reliable sign that the market is going the other way

Most days are trending range days and offer many entries on failed swing high and swing low breakouts.
You can also fade new swing highs and swing lows on trend days after a minor trendline break and when there
is a strong reversal bar

When price goes above a prior swing high and the momentum is not too strong, place an order to short
the Higher High at one tick below of the prior bar on a stop. If the order is not filled by the time the
bar closes, move the order up to one tick below the low of the bar that just closed. Continue to do this
until the current leg gets so high and has so much momentum that you need more price action before shorting.

All patterns fail, no matter how good they look. When they do, there will be trapped traders who will have
to exit with a loss, usually at one tick beyond the entry or scalp bars, and this is an excellent
opportunity for smart traders to enter for a low risk scalp. Place your entry stop at exactly the same place
that these trapped traders are placing their protective stops, and you will get in where they get out. They won't
be eager to enter again in their original direction, and this makes the market one sided in your direction and
should lead to at least a scalp and usually a two-legged move."
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So what you are suggesting is that just about everything is a setup. Unless it isn't, in which case it wouldn't be.

Some people have opined that it is because Al Brooks is "so scientific" that they have difficulty following his text. I beg to differ. Not being able to herd the cats in one's head does not exactly make someone "scientific." In fact, I am more inclined to believe that if Brooks did indeed have a scientific predisposition, then he would be somewhat more systematized in either his approach or his presentation, and preferably both. Instead, he comes across as a misunderstood artiste.