I recommend starting at the beginning. By reading through everything from beginning to end, you see the iterative refinement process at work. In addition, by time you have read through all the posts, you cannot help but have internalized the system. You'll know when you 'get it' as you start to notice yourself answering the questions before you see the answers. It isn't just reading through material no longer used which provides the benefits. The process itself (due to how the Journals have unfolded over time) which assists you to 'know' the system rather than, simply follow it. Making one's way through the mountain of material seems like a daunting task at first, but to understand the value of doing so, ask some of the people that have posted numerous profitable trades how they feel. One can use any method in order to create a Universe of 'High Quality Equities' for trading. Many still use the 'Gallas2' MSN Deluxe Screener Criteria instead of the Stocktables.com web site. Using the stocktables.com web site simply makes it easier for a new trader to follow along when learning the methods. The two week Free Trial makes it easy to learn, while not having to incur any additional cost to do so. - Spydertrader
If you look under 'Tab Settings' at this web site, you can locate the 'old' settings from the USENET Days. I apologize for not having the ability to provide you greater assistance, but I have never used the TC2000 Software. - Spydertrader
I am still holding my ATHR because my stop offset price was not hit. I don't like the fact that stock closed near the low on just about the 65 day avg. volume. The stock also closed back inside the old down trend channel. If volume is increasing then price will continue the trend. It looks like we had some 'unusual volume' while price was dropping in the morning and near the end of the day. I am planning to hold this bad boy for 8 days or if my stop offset price is hit; the loss will still be within 2% of the total equity of this stream, which is acceptable to me. On the positive side, the price appears to have found support at around $18.66 and tested it two times today. Spydertrader, do you have any insight you would like to share?
Just a note about the importance of following the plan.... TFSM triggered for me at 10:18 AM @ $8.30 but did not take the trade as it had stalled and I was expecting a reversal... it continued going higher the rest of the day. CAS triggered at 10:41 AM @ $28.80 and took this trade, which failed to go higher and closed it out at $28.41 on continuing weakness. Allowed my own thoughts and emotions to override the plan, and resulted in a missed profitable trade... Not concerned about CAS as this trade was also following the plan. Must not allow my own discretionary selection of trades to override the trade plan.
Unfortunately, ATHR has fallen back into the dominant trend down channel. As you already surmised, this does not bode well for the future. However, since you already mentioned price has not yet hit your stop offset, and assuming you risked very little of your total account size on this trade, I see no reason not to let things progress to fruition. Anything can (and often does) happen in the market, and although I think it unlikely we see a rebound, one never really (truly) does know in advance. If one plans to trade these traverses in a down channel, you have to remain ever watchful for the quick reversal (back to the dominant trend). I have often traded these in the past for nice gains, but I really shorten up the expected hold time and gains. The neat thing about trading these traverses is, the one you are in might end up being the turn in the trend. The downside, well, you already experienced. Personally, I don't think you went 'off the reservation' here in your thinking. While the risks on these trades play out higher than most people prefer, occasionally, they do pay off for a nice home run shot. If I could recommend one thing to do differently next time you play these possible trend reversals: tighten up the stop. No need to let price run down so far on a higher risk entry. I also recommend continuing scaling down (as you have already done this time) your lot size. You can always add on later if the market tells you to do so. - Spydertrader
Thanks for the answers Spydertrader. I am currently reading the first journal but its harder for me because english is not my language. I understand a whole lot of the process now. All criteria for stock selection and why they come in to the final universe are clear. The only thing I dont understand is the scoring process (0-7). I understand what the scores mean and where the stock is in its cycle(0-7 transition up and 4-3 transition down). But what do you do with these scores and do you update them every day for the stocks in the final universe. Whats the role they play in your decision to buy or take profits? I downloaded for example the master list with scoring v0.17 and I saw a lot of stocks had a score of 5 do you skip these stocks if they reach dry up because you ideally want to buy stocks that make the transition from 0 to 7 and 5 is already to high in the cycle. I am really a little confused about this part of the system so I hope you are somebody else can help me out with this so I can continue my "journey". Thanks in advance
I know it's tempting to be Harry Hindsight, but I did not understand his entry for ATHR. It seemed to be made before any indication of increasing volume - or am I mistaken? Don't you want higher volume at the opening AND evidence of price increase AND confirmation before entering? The stochs were very low also. Attached is my take on the chart. Comments welcome, I'm a complete novice. JY
As you move further along in your reading, how scoring relates to the overall process becomes much clearer to you. Use scoring as a 'big picture' focus, rather than, a criteria for entry or exit. Jack uses score to teach a concept of how the PVAD relationship works. In addition, when you run across updates to the tools you are using now, you'll see how score is automatically calculated, and you will no longer need the same tools you are using now. For now, keep a mental note of score and how it relates to how your Final universe performs. - Spydertrader