Thanks for the comments all. @Gringo , thanks for the link to the video. Good stuff re: automaticity by way of small steps. Will have a look at the book you recommended. BTW - I have been doing the exercise as a part of my SIM trading as well. Not saying I've perfected it yet mind you! But I do feel that I am at that point where the big question is how I react when real money is on the line. I will only be trading live with 1 contract. So the damage - if any - will be minimal. I have a lot of confidence in what I am looking for these days and my ability to execute when I see that signal without hesitation. But I am thinking that live trading will give me a better gauge of my development.
Agree 100 percent. You've mentioned in the past about entries and wanting to be in the trade only if you see the buying / selling pressure coming back. Why would you want to be in the trade if you are not seeing the behaviour you want...? That is the trigger I look for with my entries. The way I got over issues I'd had with trending days and entries was essentially to treat trending entries the same as my reversal entries. After all an SLA / trend continuation entry is basically a reversal at its a core. BTW - The new trending entries are just as much based on the "trendlines 102" chapter in "Trading by Price" as the Metal thread. Not that there are entries within that chapter, but same as with Metals' thread It provided the spark.... My key takeaway from Wyckoff regarding entries are to enter long on the down waves and to go short on the upswings. No?
Thanks again for this - there is some great advice here. Mark Douglas says something along the lines that great traders don't have to try to be consistent, consistency is at the core of what they do. In other words, akin to an ingrained habit?
The SLA/AMT, however, is very much a simplification of the "TBP" material. Sometimes one can explain too much. Trading is after all visual, at least that which is based on tape reading. For example, here's one of Metal's charts (interesting that he made only a few posts and disappeared, while his thread went on. And on. And on.). Lots of trades here. But the SLAyer would have only one, at least until the climax: Not that I intend to criticize Metal. This is a great beginning. I hope that his understanding of PA has deepened since. If you mean after the trend has broken or off a climax, yes. Otherwise one is engaging in the worst sort of countertrend trading.
Understood. I clearly lack the ability to convey what I am thinking in my writing these days I am seriously regretting the reference to that thread! One thing I should reiterate is that my Profit targets in this trade plan are all 5pts. So whereas a true 'SLAyer' would have only 1 entry. I am looking for additional opportunities - hence why my trades per day has increased. To my mind it is an obvious route to increase returns by leaving the trades on. However at the start of this process what I needed most was a trade plan suited to my personality. By taking profit targets and exit criterias (as found in the TL Wyckoff forum threads and TBP) for trending days out of the equation I reduced the stress levels that I personally experienced.
NP I added to the post above BTW. When you say you agree with Gringo that is in reference to delaying going live?
Now you're talking! You'll find that your trading and thought process will be much different once there is real money on the line. This is where you will learn to trade. More than a day or two of sim is a waste of time and leads to poor habits and curve fitting. Nice job!