In the event this is addressed to me, there are only three strategies: breakouts, retracements, and reversals. You should be adept in the latter two at minimum. If you don't know what they are, then you should stop until you do.
What do you trade anyways? Yes you will need multiple strategies if you want trade everyday unless your signals are based on a single candle stick like pin bars etc.. But you still have to know market behavior.. How about this.. Before you trade ask yourself is the market ranging or trending.. Backtest this idea.. Backtesing is your friend..
This is how I trade.. Any stock gone by 6%, I start monitoring, I let it run, once it retraces and reverses, I wait till it crosses the resistance and take a jump. Take my% profit and get out of the trade. This was working, off course I have indicators, stop loss in place. Now I see more ranging stocks, which are failing to cross the resistance. Sorry guys, I am not using the hifi trade terminology. It's new game to me and I have to go a long way before I go live.
A retracement and a reversal are two different things that occur in different contexts and are played differently. As to the "of course I have indicators", you may be better off without them.
The selection of "GOLDEN" signals are only implemented during a defined market condition, that in itself negates guessing about what "condition" the market is in. The best (bar none) quick glance to determine the mkt's condition is: What is the 20ema doing? Is it at a 45degree angle, if so your trades are ONLY with-trend, period. If the 20 is flattish, then there are no trades unless you want to be chopped liver. The TREND of the 20 is a look inside your head, the 20 is your guardian angel. Golden signals are "condition dependent". Non condition dependent trades placed are based on a bias, a guess, ego, etc, etc. You have arrived when you can come in and take nano seconds to look at the screen and decide to enter or not. Once you do get filled, then the fun begins.........that part comes from experience and experience only because it is all about YOU AND YOU ONLY. :eek: PS: Dump the stocks unless you are position trading. Grandma even knows futures are for MODERN day-traders.
Bighog- I know you've day traded ES primarily in the past. Is that still the case? Have you had to change any of your methods in since 2009 to extract the same amount of profits?
I have had periods since 2009 where I worked on trying to get more, such as using the 1min chart as an adjunct to the 5min. That did not work for me, so I reverted back to the 5m exclusively. I did trade other toys in combo, that has a ton of merits but has faults. The major fault was you in fact are not focused enough in the main squeeze which still is the ES. CL is like an attractive women, she draws you in, her cooking/sex appeal is not to my liking compared to how ES and Gold are "CLEANER in the TA dep't. CL for me fails to talk to me, I need conversation. ZB, I love the tick value but unless it is in a world of its own. It usually sits there and gets few trades, probably will drop it. Those that trade NQ and insist it trends better is beyond me, I fail to see where NQ is better, I think new cats think the smaller tick value is "SAFER", I disagree. Starting in 2014, after taking a break now, I will go back to the ES as number 1 and also keep Gold. Trading 8 cars of ES a trade is $100 a tick, 5 handles (20 ticks) is a grand a day. on an average day as a minimum average, that is not a big hurdle. So, in a nutshell, every time I try to get cute I end up taking a step or two back to what I know best and what works for me. There are a ton of easy ways to lose your ass in the trading game, we all know that, so I must stick to almost a single strategy to come out ahead. That strategy is momentum, anticipating it, being prepared for it and jumping all over it and milk it. OCO and or BRACKET orders more than anything changed the game for me, I did use the phone to the grains and SP pit, WHEW!!!, those guys had a license to steal as members of the exchanges. Glad those days are over, NOW, the small retail chaps have a shot at winning. My goal, for 2014 is to stick to the 5 handle minimum as a daily target and build to 20 cars a trade for $250 a tick, 5k a day. I do not need any new signals, strategies, what I do and know now will get the job done. Money is not the driver, the challenge is needed to keep me energized and focused. Without goals we get stale. I do not want to run out of time by putzing around with crap-shoot strats..........time to have a ton of fun in 2014-2015........... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqT59dDf8EU