SlaPa

Or just observe or be much more selective in taking trades, and wait for the next extreme. Which is a kind of relaxing way to trade in and of it's self.

I guess you could look for extremes on smaller time intervals? How far would you go with that?

...I would think at some point it would just get to busy.
And you can make judgements where the herd is going, but not so much what an individual will do. There is some point where the market isn't fractal, at least, I don't think so.

 

You can, of course. But then you get into micro channels and micro trends and micro ranges. Yes, technically, they can be traded. But the profit potential is limited and is largely eaten up by commissions.

The profits, again, come from trading size, and no one who is trading his own money is likely to trade size on micro movements. And of course trading micros pretty much eliminates the possibility of pyramiding. Remember how many opportunities there were to increase the trade size on Friday and Monday? Even Tuesday. If full use is made of those opportunities, it isn't even necessary to trade every day.

Actually the market isn't fractal at all, so that needn't enter into it.

 

I have not been posting much because I’ve had a flu bug. The Dr said it would bounce back multiple times, and it appears to be doing so.

But this is cool. It’s clarified a long standing issue for me. I have never been good to stop trading soon enough when I’m not up to par. Life has dealt me a handful of long term health issues, any one of which can affect my ability to focus on any given day.

When I was in my first class on trading, the teacher said that she knew traders who only traded economic reports. I thought that was kind of odd at the time. But you know, this is a good strategy if you have focus issues.

I look back at the end of the year and my most consistently profitable trades have been around economic reports (ones that resolve them selves quickly, like weekly CL and NG reports). They are at a fixed point in time so I can rally my attention better.

My initial interest in Db’s trading approach was that it seemed clear, simple and direct enough to compensate for days when it’s harder to pull it together. Maybe I can become a more consistent trader?
Heaven help me if I try to track stochastic divergences aligned with fibs above 5 EMA’s in the middle of the noise of Bollinger marching bands – all the above moving on different time interval charts also… which is only part of what I’d been taught to do.


What is new as I deal with the flu... is that somehow I’m ranking my trade routines better by how much attention and thought they take: the simplicity and cleanness of them.

Ranking things came out of thinking about AMT. Perhaps it’s not AMT it’s self, but just the process of thinking about when to trade (no matter how simple what you are doing is). At any rate, you never know when life may bring you some focus issues. If they are long term you may have to figure out some way to deal with them other than just stop trading.
How are you going to improve your ability to focus if you stop?

My track record says I can do econ reports well even on days when not up to par.
Next in rank could be mechanically doing SLA. (soon I hope it is first in rank!)
The next in rank: adding more AMT awareness.

Ranking things is just a concept. Make adjustments for the day, makes sense. It really has helped me relax by thinking that I have a plan that gives me flexibility: I’m not stuck with all or nothing as my trading approach.

Of course, today I had my most profitable trading day of the year so far. I certainly didn’t feel on top of things, and just traded SLA mechanically. Go figure.
This is cool.

 

I think I'm glad that I don't know what any of that means.

Yes - that IS cool. Good for you.

 

We all have challenges in life. If you don’t, you will.
It’s a little like being in an old western with someone shooting at your feet.

You can get real good at dancing and focus on that, or focus on the bullets. Your choice.

Trading can be considered a challenge in and of itself. Db is teaching us a dance step… I wonder if it is more cross step waltz where I used to be doing a jig of sorts? Hummmm, Db helps us dodge the bullets, either way.

 

It’s odd. I’ve spent most of my trading career seeking consistency: do the process of developing rules for positive expectancy, and then wash rinse repeat. Find a routine and diligently repeat it over and over. “If you are not doing the exact correct things over and over… you are moving further away from success.”

Totally logical, however I realize my life circumstances create inconsistency as a given. So I find that my consistency needs to be tempered with flexibility. This seemed like, whoa, a whole different concept. I’m still working this one out.

My trading has improved as I’ve adjusted my Trading-Playbook-for-the-day by how much attention and judgment is required. A flexibility based, of course, on thoroughly understanding the process, not skimping on it. Also at whatever level I’m trading, to do it correctly over and over.

A part of this is somehow connected to… Db often talks about seeing posts of trades that are based on no obvious plan, or based on concepts that he has not seen to be viable, to not give consistent results. He often says the results are so inconsistent -- and that is so obvious -- that ‘you know they are not trading real money… it’s has to be sim!’ …and I am sitting in the virtual classroom in my head raising my hand and saying, ahhh… I’ve traded real money like that.

I recognize a peer pressure here that shames me for having been so dumb. But it also has pushed me toward thinking about what a professional is, and what I want to be.

What we are doing here works, and it is working for many of us. This is a real positive motivator.

On April 16th last year Db made a post in the ‘making of a method’ thread. I didn’t know who he was, and it took me a little while to start thinking about what he was saying. Now it is a year later. I may still be a little bit between student and professional, i.e., being consistent and smartly able to do this. But it is getting there. The journey has been good, and a great bunch of people helping. Thanks.

 

This resonates with me. In my experience, trading thus far has been about imposing structure on the vast expanse that is the market. There is this tug of war between structure and freedom. And by freedom I don't mean the impulse to take a trade based on some sort of gambling instinct, but rather a feeling that comes from knowing that the core premise of the trading plan is true and sound - that faith fosters so much creativity.

Thanks for your thoughtful posts Hooti. I really appreciate your journal.

 

Keep the core of what you do consistent

Identify the direction

Identify / wait on an entry (which includes a low risk stop loss)

Enter

Wait till it time to exit

Exit – for a profit.., or a loss

WRR


No matter.., this never changes

===============

The flexible – how and when you apply above

==============

Think this next sentence through;

I apply my mythology – to identify an edge – appropriate for the current PA conditions


The edge this sentence refers to;

An indication one thing is more likely to occur over another (the one thing being = price moving up / down or sideways)


RN

 

Thought about this last sentence after I posted it – maybe sounding a little ambiguous – soooooo

The how

Horizontally…, diagonally…, even a combination of the two (price does not act on only one plane)

Any signal(s) we use – work on both

Utilize time

The when (think of all the reoccurring events)

The entire session (just realize one must adjust as a session progresses through its various stages)

A specific segment or segments within a session

Around announcements/ fomc meeting minute releases/ etc

Certain times

Certain conditions (such as volatile / non volatile)

The when possibilities are pretty much endless

RN

 

Thanks Game and RN for your observations. I think we are on the same page.

In my private journal I have been using the word 'freedom' also. A very different sensibility for me while trading. At the same time, as RN says, keeping the core of what I do consistent... with the how and the when.