Before I begin - one thing I've respect about your from your very first post..., on - is your insightful honesty Yesterday..., you kept a cool head Those 2 characteristics are vital - never lose em ================= Your responses..., to the questions I pose..., can either be rhetorical.., or not Entirely Your choice Why (feeling you were forcing) Aside If you feel even a smidgen of pressure from me - let's kick that crap to the curb This will take as long as it takes - you could for the foreseeable - simply say you were observing - no trades today Good control (but this is exact opposite of forcing trades - why the two extremes) Good that you have access to your personal mentor - are friends with him..., and especially listen to him Be sure to tell him Thank You..., and how much you appreciate him being there (and I'm dead nuts serious about this) Mkt is a place created to facilitate trading (yeah there is a bit more to it - but for argument's sake - let's stick to what concerns us) Other that than - the mkt can be whatever one decides - friend / foe / nemesis / piggy bank / identity / gambler's nirvana - what ever Ultimately - a trader must disassociate (let go) - and see the PA as data - to be acted upon (enter / exit / stand pat) You make some very insightful remarks btw With the benefit of hindsight - go back and review the chart...., determine the optimal # of trades required to achieve - what you were trying to achieve today Let's see how that number stacks up against 14 RN
First - I'm not critiquing your trades in any way - rather making an observation (my focus is on you getting into a routine right now) Yes they (your trades) are on the 5 min chart..., but I'm not sensing you were really trading off the 5 min..., rather - albeit consciously..., or unconsciously - off a lesser TF Am I wrong - I hope? I also sense jitteryness / un-clarity ( I know you said you were forcing - I wonder if the forcing due to the un-clarity) Granted I could be wrong here.., and if I am..., please say so RN
Thanks RN on the compliments. I'm trying to be brutally honest so that I succeed. Without honesty I'm only kidding myself and don't need to be here. Today's trades show such a lack of understanding PA and honestly it's quite shameful..but that will change. I'm no feeling any pressure from you in the forcing trades. I can assure you. I force them for many reasons and many apply to the previous conversation with my "mentor". Needing a new career, no success with college degree, not wealthy, no future, etc... Blah Blah. I force them because this has to work NOW. Mkt doesn't care about that. It doesn't care about my current state. It's simply price. Good question on the two extremes. ON one hand I'm forcing. On the other, I'm walking away from it. I'd imagine I made the change because the forcing hurt too much. I'll be sure to tell my mentor how much I appreciate him...good idea. I'd like the market to simply be the market, an arena in which I work/play. Not even a friend. More like a leader as I follow. I'd like to follow the market instead of "outguessing" it. Silly to do that really. To see the PA as DATA...I like that. I'm going to remember that. Chart is attached, in hindsight of coarse, with what trades should have been taken.
I hope you are wrong too. Nope. I often watched that right ticker to see a pullback intra-bar. I wonder if it's from watching the 1 minute so often. All I had was the 5 m up. 60 reviewed for key levels occasionally. None of which came into play today...so much for that. Forcing could be due to un-clarity? I'm going to have to think about that one...
Journal "should" contain the definitive answer 6 vs 14 = Yup too many (~ 135% over optimal) Get some rest.., clear the head..., make some appropriate changes..., it'll all be here Wednesday RN
I think you know..., so no sense me beleaguering it This is dead nuts true..., but it will use it against you - (rather your subconscious will) to fail... and fail miserably at that RN
Thanks. I'm keeping a specific eye on that one and the deception my sub can have on me. What's most interesting, is finding these "issues" inside me I never knew existed. Douglas mentions these things in the 1st chapter of trading in the zone. Painful...well worth realizing they're there though... I'll prep tomorrow night and trade Wednesday morning session. Same plan, some adjustments made in the meantime. Also can trade thursday morning session. Friday is out, but I'll replay at days end. When the day comes and I'm consistent, I can change my schedule at work to be available most mornings, and at least one or two full days a week. Why am I talking about this now? See you all tomorrow night. -J
For Wednesday, sometimes it's good just to watch, don't Sim so casually watch the market get a feel for it, remove the stress of having to make calls. You'll find yourself making good calls after a while, then work on what your doing and how you can do it, with trading.
I'm out of my league here-and also no experience here- but- regardless- foot in mouth- I will simply add some hindsight learning commentary- is easier for us all when we have a picture of what HAS already occurred ! There are different ways of viewing charts- and even PA- Trending? sideways? Prevailing trend? Ultimately, it's about gaining a small advantage in how the method benefits you. I prefer to take "With Trend" trades and try to hold on as long as the trend momentum keeps going- In your fast time frame - perhaps that might be 4-5 bars in a good trending period? I cannot bring up NQ apparently on stockcharts- which is the charting site i use. If I could, i would try to add some ' training wheels' (no offense- I use them ) -or graphical representations of a slowed average of momentum.-of Just as a point of outside reference- and see if anything I say has any application- it can be useful (JUst my Opinion guys-Not a PA purist myself-never acquired the ability). I would clear my past chart of trend lines for starters, add a fast ema- play around with it- 3-4-5- and perhaps A slower ema may also coincide with the direction of the next higher time frame-say 20 or 30 ,50 As a small reaction in a fast time frame will be just a fart in the wind on a higher time frame. But it gives a sense whether price is trending on the higher time frame or is sideways. A follow up- I agree with TD as to having value aiding in the assessment. A simple guide line graphic is price is trending as long as it is making higher highs and higher lows- many of your NQ bars are indecisive- a fast ema may be penetrated by a wick- but notice that a 'trend" can continue- more is important on the open and close and whether it holds above the trend line /ema- EMA's are lagging indicators themselves- but they give a visual- idea- It seems the trend reversals are pretty sharp and fast on the minor trends- Once a bar fails to exceed a prior bar- get ready to swing around-. A slower ema - also gives- a reference- if your best trades are taking With Trend and try to hold for 2-3-4 bars? or with limit sells higher in the order? My best trades are those I occasionally catch that i allow to run longer- If the trade is choppy, I tighten the stop closer- always try to keep a profitable trade a winning trade and not allow it to lose- Tough on the entry to do that though- got to give it some room. As an exercise- try going back and determine- by the ema- if you were taking trades with the new trend or were getting in wrong- just a suggestion- change the emas-or smas and see if that would have changed your decisions to enter- or to sell and get the larger gain- Another -"different"way of viewing what is really occurring in the major way is using RENKO bars- They are interesting Because of the wide bar volatility- you would choose the HI-LO setting vs the Close setting- and a 1 minute bar period for the higher 5 minute time frame- http://stockcharts.com/school/doku.php?id=chart_school:chart_analysis:renko- Hmm -'lost' some of this stuff when I posted-"too many characters"-maybe it showed up as a partial post- Out of time- quit rambling -summarize- Your longer term trendline really had some nice pullbacks to it -5 of 6 -If you find these trend lines are valid, a buy-stop order waiting as price moves back to the trend line would give a nice early-low risk entry. Tried to be constructive & objective- a different perspective of viewing the same chart may be instructional- Sorry if repetitive- SD