KT, You definitely called that one right. Volume on the breakout was a little weak and I threw two losing trades at it. I need to figure out if I'm going to reenter trades if an initial breakout suffers a throw back. One trade isn't close to enough info to make a decision on. Definitely learned more today though!! How's the paper trading going. What platform do you use for that. I would love to be able to do that but Tradestation doesn't support simulation or replay. I have heard that Ninja trader has a free demo which will use tradestation data. I will be checking that out. twink
Looks like Gary's S/R trade just got another entry. Too bad I'm sidelined for the day. Could be a good thing though time will tell. twink
Hey guys and gals, I know some of you use Quote Tracker and wanted to let you know TDAmeritrade bought them. There is a fact sheet on the QT site. Things will be changing. Dean
Thanks dj! OK. I tell you a secret: I know, me being a "noobie" at these things, I will hardly ever get them correct. But for me that is not the point anyway. I begin to like patterns because they allow me to play out scenarios, to say for example: if it breaks this level, I will be short, or I will be long. I like to plan my trades ahead of time, and be prepared when it comes to the level where I'm supposed to act. For me patterns make an easy job at this. There are probably other ways, for sure, but at the moment the simplicity of patterns is the main attraction for me. I really like to keep things simple, because I noticed when I use complicated ways to get into the market, I will always come up with tons of reasons not to get in . My stupid mind just works that way! I also like patterns from a risk management viewpoint: you will soon find out if they have failed or not (e.g. if volume does not confirm a breakout), so you can probably get out with a scratch and try again another time.
Gary's S/R trade pays again!! Of course I missed it I was out with two losses doing ",my own thing". Maybe there's some truth to the notion that someone could show you their system and you probably still wouldn't be able to trade it. The S/R resulted in a conservative 3 pts of profit today and I lost. Looks like I still have a long way to go! twink
Hi Twink, To me trading is the only job I know where I will surely learn something new every day! . Let's say I had something of a "hunch": I was looking at volume, a bit at market depth, watching a few trades done at that breakout level and concluded that there was no continuation of the move. But that is easy to say now with the benefit of hindsight. I could have been totally wrong, and believe me I often am. I use a simple frontend for Interactivebrokers, called TSimPlus. It's free and has just what I need to quickly enter buy and sell stops, protective stops, etc. It writes a nice log with time and everything, so I can review it at the end of the day together with the charts. I also use the free Simulator account with Interactivebrokers. Comes with a "virtual" USD 100,000, and the fills are pretty realistic. KT
Here's my numbers for tomorrow. I put them up for discussion purposes only!!! I am NOT a profitable trader so following my numbers is not smart Long: 1351.25 Short1: 1337.25 Short2: 1334.50 I attached a detailed explanation of how I came up with these levels (too long and boring) if anyone's interested or has the time to point out my noobie mistakes. pura vida