Hey great Baron.. did that and it works smashing now! Thanks again.. explorer is a pain sometimes but always glad to know something new about its inner workings.. Neil
Thanks for your explanation. QQQ is a beast, but at least TA works with it. I suppose that the computers which play it and the NQ's are programmed that way! Today's action offered a perfect example at the confluence of a round number (37), a Fibonacci retracement, and the 100dsma. I don't use physical stops on the QQQ. Many times immediately after taking a position you have to be willing to let it completely retrace to your entry. After that you can let the prior low (if long) or the prior high (if short) be your stop. Occasionally I'll let it go past my entry (maybe because I have no choice?) and exit on the almost inevitable retrace. - Mike
Neil et al., here's my QQQ trading screen. On the left are the daily candlesticks for QQQ and NDX. These have any relevant S/R like major highs/lows, trend lines, and Fibonacci retracements added. In the middle are T/S, the Island Book, and the one minute nominal price chart with volume and the ma's I use. The tabular listings from the current cursor help me identify ma turns. On the right are the ordinary price charts which show me what people watching other time frames see: 5, 15, 30, and 60 minutes. - Mike
Mike - thanks for posting your screenshot.. its really interesting to see others workspaces... so many ways to display so much info.. I keep on tinkering with my pages.. spreading out across my three monitors now and inserting IB TWS or my other broker in an explorer window within nextrend, thats quite a neat function I had not tried before. I am still struggling with system resource problems.. a pentium 3 seems too limited these days.. mad really.. have plenty of memory but as time goes by the resources just bleed away so have to be careful how many progs I have open at any one time.. I have noticed if after some time of running nextrend etc I then open lotus 123.. the system resources take a dive and hardly any is released when it is closed down.. playing with programs to try and improve the memory handling but it will only be answered by a new motherboard and upgrade to P4.. and so it goes on.. spend spend spend.. or reboot reboot reboot.. lol Mike - did you find out any more about the possibilty of linking windows across pages? I saw a ref to that on your thread at SI.. I too thought it might be pos.. but does not seem so.. would be good.. Neil
Just concentrating on one monitor absorbs all my attention. I can't imagine using multiple screens! I do switch occasionally to three other pages: one with charts of all the indices to get a feel for the day, a full day one minute chart of QQQ, and a full day five minute chart of QQQ, all to stay grounded in the bigger picture. Re using Internet windows, watch it if you have frequent Internet dropouts. The time it takes the Internet window to reload and for you to get it set up can drive you insane when you're desperately trying to find out where the market went while you were out. The only one I use is for the Island book, without which I'd get killed considering the latency in Time and Sales. I know what you mean about resources. Part of my daily routine is a reboot at 12 noon US time. Re linking between pages, I couldn't get it to work, and didn't call the help line, as it is not an issue for me. Hey, didn't I warn you about all those criminals your ancestors exported to the colonies. One of 'em just got even with Allied Irish! - Mike
... to mention that I keep a separate computer up for offline work (you mentioned Lotus). Since it doesn't have to be fast I use a five year old slow dog.
...I'm not an EliteTrader regular, so it escaped my attention until now that there is a software rating page here with NexTrend on it: http://www.elitetrader.com/so/ Get in there and post a review! Let me reiterate, or iterate, as the case may be, that I have no business or other relationship to NexTrend. The money flows only one way, from me to them. BTW, Neil, congrats on your thread showing up repeatedly as hot.
Mike- well you are becoming an elitetrader regular it seems.. Thanks for your posts. is nice to know someone cares.. lol To our regular readers may I suggest a visit from time to time to Mike's thread on siliconeinvestor.. http://www.siliconinvestor.com/stocktalk/subject.gsp?subjectid=52326 is very active thread and often has useful tips re nextrend.. latest of note was if you have a chart seem to freeze or go blank on you try just re-entering the symbol and reloading the chart again.. also if data delays cause everything to go slow or stop it is often best to just shut NT down and restart it.. that usually seems to clear any problems.. To exit or not to exit.. that is the question... Has anyone managed to figure a consistant strategy in such an inconsistant game? I am currently trying a partialing out method on gaining trades.. I don't scalp any more.. so am aiming for a 1% gain for the first exit and a flat stop or better on the balance... but as yesterday showed me.. in chaotic markets I would have benefited by partialing at 1/2 % on a klac and xlnx long trades.. instead I let them both turn against me.. what to do what to do... hmmm.. exits are def the hardest part of trading.. I keep copious notes (expletives not deleted) so at some point I shall figure this out on balance of probabilities... hopefully... Neil
I believe Mark Douglas recommended taking off half the position when you're afraid it has run its course, and the rest later, when you wish you had taken it all off! I have a simple rule: when the 5ma rolls over, whatever the time frame, I'm out. I don't wait to see if a consolidation and breakout will follow. Of course that assumes you get to a gentle rollover; that's what a trailing volatility stop is for, just in case you get a violet reversal. FWIW.
Those interested in pivot points may like to know that in the new release of NT due march, they are adding previous high and previous low to the market scan at least.. have yet to ask if these will also be available as parameters in the advanced charts and formulas as well.. but hopefully they will... Is a shame that NT does not automatically allow calculation of pivots to be added as an element in charts but at least this should enable formulas to calculate them maybe in charts but certainly in quote boards.. Neil