OK, a very classical approach of looking across the past and observing what happened without worrying about the reasons why. That goes all the way back to Schabacker and as I recall Farley had lots of good examples. A bit too empirical for me. I want things that I can quantify on a quasi-verified theoretical basis. I quantify everything and do everything by the numbers. The curse of a technical education. And of an irrational belief that everything is rational. Best you stick with Joisy if you like hand cannons that much. Can't shoot 50 cals and Casulls indoors here. Something about maybe going through the walls. I was semi-seriously thinking of buying the FN Herstal Five-Seven immortalized by the raghead shrink, but you can't shoot that indoors, either. So for my next foray, after two more mouseguns, I'm gonna get a .44.
BTW, I need to Hersheyize you. "No (big) losses." If an index future trade goes against you by more than three ticks, you are either dead wrong on the direction or a better entry awaits near where you are taking your loss now. Three ticks is my rule. No exceptions.
mouseguns - funny term. i think i need a bigger gun now. that FN is awesome and pricey. the bullets are like a 223 in a handgun. that is on my wish list for sure. my buddy and i were contemplating that gun just last weekend. he has the FN tac shotgun and loves it. in regards to understanding the context of a move at an s/r level can you give an example that would validate a play for you? as for an example retail sales come out lower than expected and price jumps up to an s/r level. are you shorting that because you expect it to fall back?
Mr. XBurbx, you need to know that my literary and philosopical hero is Socrates. If you keep dialogueing with me you are likely to get confused. I don't watch news. Because the price is the news. Paul Simon said it best: "I get all the news I need on the weather report." I never form an opinion about what might happen at potential S or R or take positions at S or R. I enter when price and volume confirm that indeed it was likely to have been S or R. In that sense I have factored in a little momentum thinking. Let me make up a fanciful example. Suppose price drops to touch the 50 ema on the daily chart. And that happens to coincide with yesterday's low. And to a Dow retrace on the daily chart. And it is at a round number. And the volume is 99th percentile. And the dog next door howled. And a particular lady friend who always calls me at the worst possible time in the market calls. Then I would do nothing and wait for a test of that low on pitiful volume and enter.
Mr. Money, I hate to lose. So I go for the sure thing scalp. I would need major tranks to stay in a trade longer than 30 minutes. I am an adrenaline junkie. "I feel the need. The need for speed." Have you ever had a mental orgasm? That's what I want when I trade. A trade that lasts no longer than a good orgasm. I am not averse to taking a trade for tens of seconds inside a screamer bar. Similarly, I like women who scream.
You still didn't answer my question.. What time frame chart do you use? 15 min, 5 min, 2 min? If you hate to lose then maybe trading isn't for you... Because a 3 tick stop is telling me that you are trading scared..
One day. One minute. One second. Is a kid who has ADHD necessarily a scaredy cat? What if I had a short term memory problem and couldn't remember why I was in a trade five minutes in? What if I have incontinence issues and spend more time on the pot than in front of the screen? It's just a personal preference. Would you play pinball if the ball took hours to get to the first bumper? To me trading is pinball, or more properly, Pachinko. I stay in investment positions for months, and may not look at them for days. If daytrading isn't fun there is no reason for me to do it.
I could not sleep knowing my money was out of my hands and subject to the whims of others, without my very-awake fingers on the buttons. I don't know how long-term and buy-and-hold traders do it. There is enough excitement in one hour of trading to last me all week away from the trading platform. I relate. Low market exposure is one thing I really like about my systems. The screaming spinners are fun, too...
It also helps if you really don't need the money that badly. If eating depended on trading I'd get a job. I like monitoring and making decisions on a one second chart because I have mine rigged to sound like a pit. "Buy when they cry and sell when they yell."