t_a, I'm new to watching T&S (just added it to my setup today). What, exactly, am I looking for on T&S? If shorting, do I want to see decent size going at the Bid? By the same token, do I want some good size hitting the Ask to go Long? -Fast
I use T&S mainly at S/R levels. If the the NQ is trending up just under a resistance level and the T&S starts getting quick and also i'm seeing some of my highlighted ask's going off, i'll start thinking that a break up through resistance might happen. Opposite for shorting through support.
October 16th (Thursday) Followed Trading Plan: Total trades: 5 (2 Longs, 3 Shorts) 1 Winner, 4 Losers 9:31 AM - Long 1 NQ 1415.00 9:36 AM - Exit 1 NQ 1414.00 Result: -1 9:39 AM - Long 1 NQ 1414.50 9:43 AM - Exit 1 NQ 1416.50 Result: +2 9:58 AM - Short 1 NQ 1414.00 10:02 AM - Cover 1 NQ 1416.50 (Stop-loss hit) Result: -2.5 Notes: I watch both ES and NQ, and at times if one drops quickly, I will short the other anticipating the same move since they both move together. ES had dropped about 1.5 pts while NQ hadn't so I took a short in NQ anticipating the same, but this never happened. 10:06 AM - Short 1 ES 1046.00 10:15 AM - Cover 1 ES 1047.25 (Stop-loss hit) Result: -1.25 Notes: I had a chance to bail with a 1-2 tick profit on this one but I was pretty sure ES was gonna fall more than just a few ticks seeing how the DOW was down over 50 pts. Stop-loss was too tight. One more tick on the Stop would have kept me this trade. 10:22 AM - Short 1 NQ 1421.00 10:28 AM - Cover 1 NQ 1423.50 Result: -2.5 Notes: Again, one extra tick on the stop would have kept me in. Overall: ES: -1.25 NQ: -4 Was the market totally messed up this morning or what? The indices were completely out of sync. Now, here's why all my NQ trades sucked today. I normally watch a 100Tick chart for NQ but we were having quick moves so I switched to a 75Tick chart...but I guess I forgot to type in the 'T' so in reality I was watching a 75 Minute chart! Doh! On almost all of my trades today, I had the opportunity to bail with a profit but I was trying to get more than just a few ticks out of my trades so I stayed in. Tomorrow, I think I will have to switch back to scalping and try to get some points in off the 100T chart.
On the T & S note: Watch what the pace and size looks like on a breakout. Of course you'll know in hindsight if the instrument took off for a successful break out, but if it did, remember what the T & S pace/size looked like as it was getting through a resistance level (or down through a support). I only learned after seeing it live about 500 times.
The problem with this is that NQ was the leader today and not ES. You should be very careful with these kind of trades, especially when you don't have all day to follow whats going on. TM Trader
TM, I completely agree and will not be taking any trades using this method in the future. I have a limited time for trading, and I should just stick to scalping for a point here and a point there. Today I wasn't doing what I normally do; i.e. scalp for quick hits. I was trying to get more out of each trade and ended up taking losses. -Fast
OK, I've changed my time-frames a bit tonight. I've replaced the 10 min. charts with a 5 min. chart. From studying the 5 min. chart for today, I think this will help. We'll see. -Fast
Well, I like the 5 min. chart better for my style, but I did not put on any trades this AM. I love shorting and saw it, but was too hesitant to get in. Yesterday's bad trading had me down a bit so no real$ trades this AM. -Fast
What a crappy day! Only put on one trade for half a point. My entry was decent (shorted ES at 1041 this morning), but exited too early. I only had 30 minutes to trade today so that's the only trade for today. Will post the details (time/price/etc) tonight. -Fast