I'm on ZenFire, but I have a friend on IB. I wrote a custom indicator that sums up trade volume at the bid and at the ask, and I sent it to him. He was reporting back to me spikes that I did not see at all, so I got him to send me his market replay files, and I compared them to mine for the same time period. The DOM often had gaps in the levels that I wasn't getting, and the T&S showed many trades going off between the bid and ask, which I know didn't happen. I found out he was also streaming 200 stock quotes, so I told him to get rid of those, and he reported only a slight improvement.
Very similar. I think with tick charts it matters where the data starts. SC is using OEC's data tho so the raw data should be the same.
Not sure I entirely followed your fortune cookie logic there. Are you saying I need to define price action? I was asking that in the first post of this thread.
Not sure if he was trying to be helpful or not. If not, it's another useless contribution to a thread that could be helpful to those who read it by someone that "Might" know what they are talking about. We will never know because they will speak in riddles and mystery and tell you that one day the clouds will part and heavens will open and you too will know "Price Action" but you will need to spend exactly two years before the Gods will hear your prayers and appease you.
I am going to share what seems to work for me most consistently. It is very simple and although I am constantly trying to learn more I always end up coming back to this because it is simple and seems to work. I will say that I also use SPM discussed elsewhere on this board but this is a thread not using any indicators. I draw lines where there is obvious support and resistance. Look and find where price has stalled and consolidated. Once these lines are broken I go long or short in the direction of the trade. I also watch the momentum of the bars to get an idea of how the trade will move. I have been using 10K volume bars on the ES. I can't tell you how long to hold on that is your call but this almost always gets me in the green and usually 2+ points. I am sure this is small cakes to most but if you do this 4 or 5 times a day w/4 contracts it's not that hard. You can usually tell when momentum is slowing and its time to get out. I will also say some of these lines end up being floor pivots etc.. and there are threads posted on this board in other threads each day that show what levels should be for the day. I find the way I do it just as easy because the levels form before you eyes. What I don't see are where the price is headed as far as S/R goes but I don't really need to see it because it either stalls or moves through at that point anyway. Paul
hey.... i thought wow this would be a great time for me to try out some mystical sayings, confusa says, and other pointless things(self affirmation tapes). Price Action in itself is a mysterious joining of words.. to say i trade price action. when of course you trade PRICE ACTION everyone trades price action if your not trading price action what are you trading... well i think i can be more direct rather than to say i trade price action ... i can say i trade price action statistically... no indicators. no pitchforks. no japanese candlesticks. no tick charts. no support or resistance lines. just pure statistical trading. instead of reading "if a tea leaf floats down a stream and approaches a rock in its path it doesnt push through or over, but gently floats around." read http://www.cbot.com/cbot/docs/handbook.pdf one you understand why the market moves the way it does then you see patterns. simply enough sellers move in to cut off buying buyer move in to cut off selling. so maybe you should ask well when is enough buying happened to bring in sellers or maybe you should ask well when is enough selling happened to bring in the buyers. why does price consolidate. and why does price extend out of consolidation in a direction either expected or not. which brings you to the point- what does the market do that makes it predictable...
OK, I will bite - When has enough buying happened to bring in sellers? How do you know? The only way I can tell is by watching the momentum of price on the chart. The bars can tell you also but I also look at how fast they print. I am sure you could take it back to them DOM but my mind is just not quick enough to keep w/the DOM Price consolidates because there is indecision by both buyers and sellers. These are things I think we can all agree on (Possibly ) but what I have trouble deciding is what is likely to happen next? If we are in an uptrend and I see HH and HL and then consolidation how do I know we are continuing to go up or going to go down? This is where I draw my S/R lines and say the hell w/it I don't care if we go up or down I am just going where the price goes whether its up or down and jump on once the price breaks one line or the other. I would love to hear how others determine the future direction of price once it enters a consolidation patter. I know that some patterns like flag patterns usually end up in a continuation of the trend but how do you know? Is it just your playing the odds once you spot a certain patter? Paul