Well done, Jessop! You prove the point that right now NQ is a good place to trade. But that comes and it goes. When you say "pivots", do you mean "pivot points" or simple S/R? I ask because I don't use any long term price references (stupid, maybe). I just trust what is happening without any preconceived notions. I take a micro view and do what it tells me to for the ten minutes or so that that lasts.
NQ-E, I use daily, weekly, monthly pivot point levels. Weekly & Monthly ones I find are particularly good R/S levels IMHO. Daily ones are not too shabby either. However, I won't take a trade based purely on NQ bouncing off Weekly S1 etc UNLESS there is a market internals signal. I like to see how NQ reacts around these zones. My best trades are usually around monthly/weekly pivot levels. I know these are self fulfilling levels but that is not a concern for me. It also really helped yesterday when taking the 1537 trade - because my stop was under the monthly 1535 level and I got a monster long signal..... Cheers
Thanks for sharing. People I've corresponded with here who trade NQ use an amazing variety of methods: intraday pivots, Bollinger bands, Keltner bands, Jacking, classical (1930's) TA...I can't remember it all going back over five years. The funny thing IMO is that we are all true believers in what works for US. If you handed me your Holy Grail with connect-the-dots instructions, I would probably say "No thanks! Voodoo! Superstition!". The truth IMO is that it is ALL voodoo and superstion, and that success lies in being ecumenical. As Mark Douglas said, price is all about belief. What the crowd believes in the aggregate. Gotta go prep for the open. Purge. Take an enema. Wash a trank down with Gloria. Then chant my mantra: "I am serene. Tranquil. Composed. Self-possessed. Calm. And ready to kill!"
Exactly - whatever floats your boat..... Personally I don't get along with any indicators - even BBs or MAs. I know my fears hold me back (particularly taking money off the table too early) - but that's the challenge pushing those boundaries back little by little. I'm a big Mark D fan too - I'm on my 11th re-read of Trading in the Zone. Have a good one. Cheers
John No-Middle-Initial Merchant, if you are reading this, I BELIEVE. See the impact of the 10:30 ET crude inventories report. Apparently they were crude.
Jessop, you expressed my own central psych issue perfectly: fear. I assume you're re-reading BOTH Douglas books. But today is a grand day for reversals, so I must get back to that addictive dominatrix bitch I can't live without.
I managed to lose my copy of TDT on a skiing holiday in April.....TITZ was my favourite of the two - but both top reads.
I don't trade every day. Not all daytraders do. Some days even in NQ lack direction and simply chop, chop, chop. On those days, I don't trade. NQ TENDS to have cleaner trends, but not always.