The chart on the left was posted Friday. The chart on the right is today's chart. Does everybody see how this works?
Today's 1m. Chat started breaking up at 1100 and we hit the lower limit of the TC posted above, so I exited at the brk of the SL and quit since I had other things to do. Anyone who wants to draw the lines after 1100 for practice is welcome to do so. As to the hindsight thing, if 2+ days notice isn't enough, then best of luck to you. As a side note, I did find it interesting that those who were trading entered at pretty much the same places. And if those ETers who tried to go long today are any indication, we may just enter the next lower trend channel since that sort of thing fuels the decline.
Trying to think of how to ask this question. First I'll say I had interest in 60, 40, 00 and 2580 today. I know I didn't posted it beforehand and 2580 was obvious from the TC but anyway...with regards to AMT at what point during the day do you begin to feel more and more confident that a particular price level may be reached? I guess what I am trying to ask are there any sort of guidelines as to what would make 2580 a strong possibility for the day today? For me I was waiting for a short signal under 40 which I got at 25ish. Lets say the movement of price was different today and the swings were maybe moving greater than 50% on each move back up but still made lower highs, could one still be confident that lower channel would have been hit today? I know the future is unknown, but is there something that would encourage one to just hold on? After asking that I bet the answer is in the price. Or does one just trade the SLA and be grateful for the profit that is made without trying to predict?
Once we dropped below 50, my only interest was in 3600. Whatever happened between 50 and there was of no particular interest. I exited at the brk of the SL bec I had to, but I had no hesitation at re-entering the short. When we passed through 3600, 3580 seemed like a foregone conclusion. But that's how it works. I wasn't confident or encouraged. I just didn't care. If we got to 3600, fine. If we didn't, also fine. Ditto tomorrow. Either we'll continue dropping to the lower limit of the longer-term TC or we won't. If we don't, we'll either consolidate for a while or we'll make a trip back to the upper limit of the March trend channel. Not likely, but possible. But if we do, I'll be long. You can't properly assess what's going on with price if your head is filled with hopes and wishes and dreams and fears and biases, much less anger, bitterness, frustration, and hostility. Just follow the price and follow the rules. The chief reason why beginners have so little trouble with this is that they take it for what it is. The experienced traders bring so much baggage that they can't even see the price movement, much less be relaxed and objective about what they do see. They're so conditioned to expect non-existent tricks and traps that they can barely transmit the order, much less hold onto it for more than a few minutes. As I've said before, anyone who can tell time and tie his own shoes can follow this approach, key word being "can". Most, however, are so immobilized by the nonsense that's been crammed into their heads that they truly cannot see. No "method" is going to fix that all by itself. But this is as close as I've been able to get in a dozen years.
So dropping below 50 were you SLAing into a short? When you say whatever happened between 50 and 3600 was of no particular interest, do you mean that it's basically follow the SLA rules under 50? If a long opp was available so be it or would a long to you been more justified closer to 3600? When price did get to 3600 what were you thinking? If you observed something different did you have a plan for some sort of reversal or again if say we bounced from 3600 is the approach to follow price and if there was a sl break and retracement above 3600 we could go long with more confidence? OR...do you have some type of reversal setup that maybe would have gotten you in closer to 3600 if the movement of price dictated it like some sort of rejection then break of a SL? I know it is not about what one trader does but I'm just highly curious on your thought process.
The two shorts I took are posted in the chart above. As for what I'm thinking, I'm not really. I follow the rules because they tell me when there's been a shift in the demand/supply balance. If I'm going to question it, I may as well stop using it altogether. I suggest you read the Zen thread, at least the first 200 posts. In the meantime: Rule#22: You cannot apply the principles of Zen until you know the game perfectly -- inside and out. Having the proper attitude of Zen calm and confidence does no good if you do not know the game. Zen will not make up for, or offset, incorrect . . . play. As a result, there is a certain amount of ordinary, old-fashioned work involved in mastering the game -- a certain amount of sweating the white beads before the days of tranquility come along. The most important thing to know, above all things, is exactly how to play the game. No outlook, attitude, or philosophy is as important as this. Good [trading] is not a "mood", it is a series of individual decisions. It does not occur by "Buddhistically" meditating ourselves into some dreamlike mental state, but rather by knowing the game well and being in synch with it -- by inserting ourselves correctly into the flow of what is going on in front of us. No Zen attitude will make up for this lack. You may be quite Zen-like and have all the attributes of Zen calm, but if you play incorrectly, the result is that you will get destroyed. Practice, and long hours at the table, are indispensable.
Having a bit of trouble finding the "Zen" thread. Do you have a link or which category it is located in? Thanks, b
This is a biggie: POKER RULE#39: When you take your emotions out of the game, other players' emotions become visible. When we are focused exclusively on our own emotions (as we often are), the emotions of others tend to be obscured. When we make ourselves neutral, however, we find that the canvas suddenly becomes blank and the emotions of others begin to appear.