DAY 10 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – More Testing and Learning … Another day in a market that didn’t give many valid trades. But still a good day! Actions I took: Listened to more training webinars and refined my notes Watched the live market and the commentary during the first 60 mins of the market open Reviewed the potential trades for Thursday Live Trade Room and Commentary I find that listening to the Live Room when the two moderators are in the room highlight and reinforce the trading nuances necessary to be successful. Thursday Potential Trades Thursday was another slow day but full of lessons. After I went through the daily process of bar by bar static chart review, I looked at the trades I didn’t take and asked myself what would have happened in the live market. There was one trade I am sure I would have taken and lost. This one was not on my sheet as I had sufficient time to analyze it on the static chart. This part of deliberate practice is proving to be critical for building my skills. The major lessons are around … When not to take a trade. The other important process is having someone else check your practice of identifying valid trades. Feedback is critical to my growth. I added a second setup column so I could record if there were 2 setups on the same signal The following is the legend for the trades sheet: I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn Disclaimer I am not affiliated with any of these companies.
DAY 11 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – More Testing and Learning … Another day in a market that was slow and didn’t give many setups … but still enough! Actions I took: Watched another live webinar Watched the live market and the commentary during the first 150 mins of the market open Reviewed the potential trades for Friday Live Trade Room and Commentary With the speed of the market being slower, more time was spent on questions, reinforcing lessons from the market and the webinars along with trade calls. Friday Potential Trades Friday was another slow day but full of lessons. The slow days test your discipline. Again, on review on the day’s trades, I identified some trades that I may have taken live which were not valid. This highlights that I need more practice on both a static chart and with Market Replay using a fast speed to help my decision making reflections. Identifying the trade is easy but seeing the reasons not to enter can sometimes be harder. The following is the legend for the trades sheet: I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn Disclaimer I am not affiliated with any of these companies.
DAY 12 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Review Day … Time to review where I am currently at, in the challenge. Actions I took: Reviewed my current status with the course to see if I am on track to meeting my goals Reviewed the 6:3 Apex Rule Current Status I am happy with my progress, having gone through: all the online videos updating with the weekly webinars learning the setups and rules around entering and not entering daily review of possible trades peer to peer review of my daily review sim trading for 1 day to check that the process works Apex Investing Generally, I am very happy with the course and Apex Investing. Best Features: The sniper setups appear to work (still to test in the live market) There are plenty of people in the community who will answer any questions or give you advice or how to find out the answer Apex team are very knowledgeable and want to help and make the information more understandable Possible Improvements: The Bootcamp Sniper Training page has all the information and links for the course. It could be simplified and reordered to make it easier to follow. The course is evolving due to the market and Apex trying to simplify it for new people. This comes across as Apex changing things too often. They are only small changes but it can put you off. I find that they are just clarifying things to help the students When the moderators are in the trade room it can get confusing for the new people, as some of the trades are not sniper trades. If you miss the moderated room time then you will often miss great nuances to help you trade. I record the sessions so I don’t miss these gold nuggets. What has held my progress up? The biggest area that I have been slow to learn has been around when not to enter a trade especially around some types of chop. I have completed several other courses, but I find that in this course it is more important than in the others. Am I on Track to my Goal? At this time I see that I am on track to profitability within 90 days. Review of the 6:3 Money Management Rule The 6:3 ratio means that on any given day you can only lose 6 net trades and win 3 net trades before you stop trading. Apex state that is highly improbable to lose 6 net trades. Too many people keep trading and don’t know when to stop. Net 3 winners This idea is based on wanting you to be profitable for 3 months before you start increasing your contracts. They also suggest that you withdraw 50% of your profit weekly. If you trade ES with an 8 tick target the that means: 3 net winners = $12.50 x 8 = $100 x 3 trades = $300 per day minus commission. Weekly = $300 x 5 = $1,500 – commission Monthly = $1,500 x 4 = $6,000 – commission Net 6 Losers Again, If you trade ES with an 8 tick target the that means: 6 net losers= $12.50 x 8 = -$100 x 6 trades = -$600 per day plus commission. Comment based on my Backtesting Results: I like the idea of having the rule to stop trading. I have not seen any loss of 3 trades which resulted in 3 net losses. The only time this would occur would be if mistakes were made. So based on these results I will stop trading if 3 net trades occur on any 1 day. This will then allow me to identify and fix any problem before I lose too much financial or mental capital. The idea of stopping when I make 3 net winners means that I will achieve my original goal and limit the risk of overtrading. I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn Disclaimer I am not affiliated with any of these companies.
Couple of questions: 1. Curious when you say 6 net losers or 3 net winners are you thinking consecutively or cumulatively? I presume cumulatively. 2. The modifications you mention are they constantly “tweaking” the system or are they clarifying?
Be cautions of confirmation bias as you go live - https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerdooley/2013/05/07/buffett-confirmation-bias/#10f5feda1616
Hi Ouch1963, 1. Yes, you are correct about the net being cumulative. An example: If Profit = $100 and Loss = $200. Then you would stop when profit = 3 x profit ($300) or stop if you lose a total of 6 trades ($600) for the day. If you had a good day you might only trade 2 times but if you had a bad day then you could have quite a few trades. That would kill my psychology and after looking at the backtesting results I don't believe that the 6:3 is best for me. My preference is 3:3. 2. Mostly clarifying. An example would be they grouped chop as chop and later clarified a specific type of chop to avoid. 3. Thanks for the link to the article. Confirmation and Recency Bias are both important to keep an eye on. I am a firm believer in letting the results speak to me. The old Plan-Do-Review-Improve process. The problem with some analysis is that people don't look at the root cause of the issues. No company is perfect, and it is very important to identify potential issues so I can work around those issues. Awareness is the first step. Cheers Garry
Hi Ouch1963 I totally agree Is there something in my posts that you see I might need to focus on? Thanks Garry
I think you are being very methodical, much more than I ever was, which is good, and I encourage you in that. I may not understand all the terms you are referring to (PAW,NX, etc), but that really isn't important too me at this point. However, there always comes a time when you stop reading about swimming and you have to start swimming, as I am sure you know are very different experiences. As trading is a cognitive exercise, I encourage you to learn to meditate, which will help you to bring a level of consciousness, of being in the moment, which will help you when you actually start to trade. Also, think through the emotional structure of your trade routine. I know this seems so esoteric at this point, however, when you start to trade you will know why I am mentioning these ideas. Trading is a bit like an athletic event. Keep the posts coming. All the best.