The best software I've found for the price and functionality is SierraChart. Works great with IB and several other brokers and blows away QuoteTracker (imho) in terms of customization and features (great trade from the chart functionality!). Costs around around $20-30/mo depending on the service level you choose but it is a bargain based on what you can do with it. I started using it to do an ATS back in January and I still haven't even scratched the surface yet of what it will really do. If you don't mind paying a small fee per month you get a lot more power than going with QT or especially trying to work with IB's crappy charts.
Yes, had the symbol but couldn't pull data through QuoteTracker. Turns out QT was on a separate PC from IB; once I opened IB on that PC, QT displayed ESU9 charts just fine. And I like the QT charts, they have all the info I need on them. Thanks everyone for the info!
ES Tradersâ Question: Whatâs the best charting? I find IBâs chart dismal, but maybe I just need to explore the chart setup more. I wanted to use QuoteTracker but have no idea how to display the ES chart. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GO to the top of QT tool bar click on help then help fot interactive brokers then Setup and symbol formats. I use QT
Nod, You are CONDITIONED from your previous trading to think in terms of smaller moves and thats why you do not follow the trend though its full potential. This will change with time, slowly but surely you will start thinking just about the intraday trend itself and condition yourself to not set a new sail until a change in the wind that has been pushing your boat. You will start to think about the trend itself and not where it will end. Let the mkt tell you when to set a new sail by means of a reversal signal. Physics say a force in motion will stay in motion until an opposit greater force causes a change in the direction. Let the force be with you by thinking CONTINUATIONS until a greater force (reversal signal) shows up. That young lady is the essense of trend following. Your swing trading is helping you understand this basic truism of technical analysis. Be willing to adjust your previous learnings and all will with time and more experience get the job done. Do not be in a hurry because conditioning ones mind in this game is not done in a flash. I see you making progress, tell yourself everyday is a learning process and like making JELLO, it will gel when you have put the right ingredients in the bowl and stirred enough. Soon you will be baking some fine cakes as you open the oven door and the cake has not fallen, smells great, looks great.............you will be putting frosting on some masterpieces by this winter. PS: A little joke: michael jacksons bones have been sold to LEGO"S toy company to make building blocks so the little boys can play with Michael.
- $84 Short CL @ 73.48 pullback from HOD, very tight stop because this was top-picking off an established uptrend, trailed tightly at the trend line, out for +$4 Short CL @ 73.38 off lower high and reversal signal based on MAs. Stop @ 73.51 above previous resistance, hit for -$66. Short VRTX @ 33.80 pullback off lower high, stop @ 33.90 above previous resistance, moved to b/e as price stalled @ the trend line/MA. Trailed the stop tightly because VRTX is actually quite oversold on the daily and could have buyers coming in on any dip. Covered @ 33.69 for +$49. Short CL @ 73.40 breakdown through trend line on heavy selling volume, stop above HOD. Trailed a limit as price fell off a cliff, then tightened the stop as it approached previous support in a very oversold state, hit @ 73.18 for +$105, just .10 cents from the bottom of the move. Fantastic trade catching nice meat of the move. Short ORLY @ 39.09 pullback from overbought lower high, stop @ 39.25 above lower high, moved to b/e when the breakdown stalled at the 10-period MA, hit for -$5. Good decision, it took out the lower high on the bounce. Tried to pick a top with ROST today and wasted money with that idiotic strategy, then finally shorted on a couple lower highs and had two nice trades, but the top-picking left me net -$170.81 on ROST. ES paper trading: No signals at the opening range, but about 40 minutes in it appeared that the dayâs resistance was a firm ceiling, short @ 882.00, stop at the HOD. Covered @ 879.00. Short again @ 877.75 breakdown through LOD, cover @ 871.25 pivot off new low. End of day long signal @ 871.25, higher low off the LOD, sold @ 876.50, pullback from overbought. OK thatâs 14.75 points today. Why am I trading stocks?
check the charts of what you did today, I still feel you are not there yet, sorry to discourage you. if you just long those stocks, will yield nice return. maybe you paid too much attention to ES paper trading. your ES short at 882 is not good entry, at that time, ES is strong. I know you like picking top. do not try to predict what will happen, you will find you most time you are wrong. the key is let the market tell you what you should do, not let yourself. anyway, welcome to ES trading. do not do any paper trading, it is a waste of time and emotion
I only decided it was a "possible" top after several failures to break out. Those dojis on the 5-min chart no longer reflected strength (to me). At that point, the downside probability was strong enough for me to risk a tight stop for a likely move down. I agree paper trading sucks and after two weeks of doing it I detected no big scary moves that would've wiped out my account (unlike stocks which can pull a MTXX while you're not looking).
Nod, Good work. Today was a whipsaw start day, BUT "remember" Ed Sekota song. ha I read your days results and got nervous at first when i saw you were trading CL.........i was thinking "why is she trading crude oil? " Todays bottom reversal was like ringing a bell on the long side. Gave it some room to prove it was more than a fluke and was proven right. ( i give signals room to work these days, the days of trying to catch every tick are over and indeed that is a fruitless way to trade). It was not easy to hold as after hitting 873.00 it went back down to 868.75 then it was "Katy, bar the door" as the shorts scrambled and new longs jumped in. Thats a guess actually but it sounds good. There are no black and white signals in trading, never have been never will be, but sometimes after a lot of screen time watching the same instrument helps to get us past the gray areas which are always there. You play a couple musical instruments, thats good.............but like trading, you can not play all of the instruments without getting evicted to the garage by your husband and son. Keep progressing, thats key. The TA worked great again today, truth be told, TA works almost all of the time just some days are better than others. Mets and dodgers ball game on. Later.