Thunderdog, I started trading the ER2 when it was fairly new. I guess the main attraction was the daily range compared to other eminis. I gravitated to the constant range bars because it helped cut down on the noise. I found the volatility stop was helpful because it has a constant ATR and thus draws a very smooth curve. Something that can be looked at over a period of time. I started off with minute charts, but it seems like the big moves were over before you had a chance to respond. They were just one big bar. I have never done well with support and resistance. I don't know what to look for other than prior highs and lows. I've never seen floor pivots to be very accurate plus I could never tell whether to fade the pivot or not.
i think your trading methodology is fundamentally flawed. my suggestion would be to read the AHG thread and digest.
I can certainly see the attraction of that. I don't know what the ideal smoothness/texture trade-off is, but I doubt that either extreme is very helpful. If that is a problem, then have you considered sub-one-minute bars? I don't use S/R for entries or exits either, but I have found prior highs and lows to be useful.
You'd think if you're truly interested in some success, you would simply start reading through the journal. You got something else to do? OldTrader
Well, there are close to 6000 pages in the ES Journal right now. I was just trying to narrow it down if that's OK with you.
Do you have something else you want to do? Maybe this is one of the reasons why you have yet to make any money after 8 years. You don't sound very desperate to me. I would be going fucking nuts if I have a losing month for example, and analyze to see where things went wrong and correct it. Perhaps you still haven't learned your lesson.
That's not a bad suggestion, and I've made it to other traders myself. But the truth is that knowledge is shared in the moment when something is happening ... that's when the point is made and it sticks home, for later retrieval, review and comparsion to situations when they arise again. That's why the concept of reading through a dead journal, though valuable, is limited ... and that is also why most people won't share their hardone knowledge, because it was gained on the battlefield elbow-to-elbow with their compadres. GL
so its decided then? you want to remain a trader? have you considered other contracts other than ER2? do you know what will be happening to the ER2 shortly? perhaps others can help you focus based on your replies to these 2 questions.... perhaps then the answers will be more like smiling faces instead of (everyone having one) comment... ok, let's say you're aware of what will be happening to ER2, have you researched other contracts that have the same risk / rewards as the ER2 and trade less or possibly more erratic or predictable (relative to your speed of scalping and comfort with quick trading and quick exit trading).... hope these hints help you in your quest..
I would never argue against experience. I've got plenty of it...the hard way. My point about the journal is that Buy1Sell2 shows his methology in there. All you gotta do is read the journal. This guy seems reluctant to put the time in to "discover" exactly where that is within all those pages in the journal. I simply made the point because you'd like to think that a guy having the type of difficulty the OP is having would have plenty of incentive to do some reading and study. Once you've read about the methodology, then of course you will have to end up implementing, and gaining experience with the method. What I would not want to do is try to get experience without a clue as to what I was attempting to do. That can be a very difficult type of experience. OldTrader