Thanks! I'd like to say that this is getting easier and "automatic," but I find I must remain intensely focused on what's going on. I have visions of myself, calmly leaning back in my chair, hands behind my head, waiting ... watching ... watching ... waiting ... and then slowly, deliberately, leaning forward and <click> I'm in the market. But instead, reality finds me leaning forward setting entry orders, canceling them when unfilled, setting entry orders ... Thankfully DbPhoenix's 90-120 minute/day suggestion has worked for me, otherwise I'd likely have had a stroke by now. I have missed your daily journal entries.
Fortydraws, I am beginning to believe that it's far easier to start well than to unlearn all the garbage. About a year or so ago when you started this journey it was evident you had extreme focus. Something I had not seen to that extent before. Yes there have been dedicated people around but none so single minded and unflinching as you have been. It's been a pleasure you see your development. There aren't very many of us pure price/volume followers around it seems anymore. Almost everyone is using some kind of an indicator to help with the decision making. It is still baffling to realize there's a treasure trove of precise information given by Db and not that many takers. Life is strange as it is or perhaps I don't understand humans well. Maybe it is all random as to who gets it and who doesn't. It would be nice to have a test of some sort to screen out those who'll falter and those who won't. All in all it's been so rare to get a new keeper in the fold who sticks with the basics. Most recruits either fade away or give up. Keep it up my friend. Best Wishes Gringo p.s. Good to have you back Niko.
Hi yertleturtle, Db trades for the first 90 - 120 mins of the trading hours when the activity is the greatest. Most major moves (although not always) occur earlier in the day. This allows him to intensely focus on for a relatively shorter period of time and fulfills his profit criteria for the effort spent. A lot of times after 11:00 EST the markets just go to sleep. For learning purposes as far as I can recall Db had suggested this to be a better time frame as price is moving and boredom is lowest and focus greatest. A person gets more and more opportunities to focus on price and learn from it than staring at a screen when price isn't moving sufficiently enough to warrant much. When there are slower movements of price then unexpected and unpredictable moves are also likely which are harder to read and may even hinder skill development of the ability to notice demand and supply pressures. I hope it is what fortydraws meant when wrote the comment. My thesis is way longer than his statement! Gringo
That is exactly what I meant. I start watching the market between 8:15 -8:30 AM Eastern time. During that time, I check out this thread, check for and note overnight price action, eat my breakfast, etc. Except for what has so far been a rare exceptoion, I do not trade, until the 9:30 AM Eastern NY open. Depending upon how the day goes, I am usually finished trading sometime between 10:30 AM and 11:30 AM eastern. After that, I still have a day job that I must get to, so that is what I do. My intent since I started this last year was to retire from my trade once I was able to support myself from day trading. I am now very close to that point. Starting in September, I am cutting my day job hours to four per day, three days per week. That will produce, from my day job, a little more than the minimum income I require to pay the bills and feed the kids. If my 2 hours of day trading per day goes as well for the remainder of August and all of September as it has gone since I changed over from individual stock issues to the NQ futures in June, I will begin winding down my regular business with a goal rto retire from it fully just before Christmas of this year. I'm not a youngster, but I'm young enough to appreciate the difference a two hour work day versus an 8-12 hour work day will mean for the quality of my life.
The willingness to open up and maintain a journal and log. Those who aren't will most likely fail. Those who are usually succeed (those who don't will have determined that this just isn't for them). Unfortunately, the number of people who are willing is almost infinitesimally small. People continue to ask me for help, but I began insisting about a year or so ago that they maintain journals. After that, I rarely hear from them again. That saves me a lot of time and effort. I'm not sure what it saves them, except perhaps a postponement of the inevitable reckoning. Why someone would "trade" for five or ten or fifteen years and barely cover expenses is a mystery to me, but it fortunately is not my problem, though it does account for the rage one finds on trading forums. Successful traders don't rage.
I was lucky to have found out about Wyckoff and then DbPhoenix and his teachings very early on (I cannot remember anymore whether I found him or if it were he who found me ) From the beginning this approach made sense to me, and from the beginning it has worked for me. I still remeber that first time I turned that hand drawn picture of Wyckoff's hinge in Studies in Tape Reading on its side and then saw then recognized that behavior on a 5 minute chart of Sandisk! Don't get me wrong, I have had and continue to have losing trades. But I manage to keep my losses to between 3/4 to 1 1/2 NQ points, depending upon volatility and my own mental and physical abilities, while my winning trades are clustered in the 3 to 7 point range, with a number of them recently reaching 20 - 30 points. I know that tthose big moves are not the norm. But I've backtested enough to know that given the way I enter and manage trades, I should be able to enjoy a steady diet of 3 and 5 and 7 point profits, all while keeping my losses to 1 1/2 points or less. Thanks for your compliments, gringo, and yes, it is very good to see Niko back!
Actually both. Or neither. It was a thread on successful new traders where I said that if one didn't have this in six months, he ought to find some other means of occupying his time. The reaction was of course predictable.
After reading some of your posts dbphoenix, the following mangled quote comes to mind: "I was amazed at how much my parents learned while I was away at college."