Spydertrader's Jack Hershey Futures Trading Journal

Yes. I draw them because they show me what's happening.

 

I look at volume bar-to-bar, and volume spanning over several bars up to half a day or more. I also look at trendlines, and at the max and min of the previous bar, sometimes a few more bars. I draw trendlines and gaussians on es 5 min, es 15 min, ym 2 min. I keep visible a sliver (10-15 bars) of the es 1 min chart, but I don't draw anything on it. The es 5 min chart is my main chart, and I do it most carefully. I don't draw obvious things, as I draw it for myself, not for showing. Sometimes I mark on my chart my trades in real time, but not always. After the market closes I draw my trades on the chart, and I also draw the better trade points, then analyze why I didn't do so in real time. Sometimes I do this analysis a few bars later, during trading hours. I think it's useful to critically compare your current skill level with your goal.

I'm posting all these here hoping to instigate some discussions from which I could learn, or at least to help others currently at a lower level of expertise.

I'm a little confused that this thread's discussions slowed down lately. I hope it's only temporary.

 

cnms, that is very impressive! You must be a wiz with the charting software to quickly draw in all those channels on several fractals quickly and still be able to enter orders, cover/reverse and all that jazz. I still have trouble live trading AND keeping all the channels up to date and adjusted when needed. Most of the time I make less than 3 trades a day.

Those bid/asks move lightening fast, any suggestions on the actual placing of trades? Thank you

 

With a little practice its quite easy to keep everything up to date. I still spend most of the day twiddling my thumbs.

 

<img src=http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=1643800>

 

My suggestion is to try to relax and look at the bigger picture too. Draw only what helps you, not to look good. Although trading should have priority over drawing, it should also be based on what you've drawn. You should be able to do 1-2 trades per 5 min bar pretty easily.

 

Daily Range = 10 pts
Yellow Arrows = 33 pts


Although I didnt make near that, I wouldnt be surprised if quite a few people did. It's not even near the finest resolution level

 

Here is my work for the day

 

What a mess.

1 trade today, short at 10:10. Everything else was too choppy for me.

 

Now you just have to figure out what could've made you trade each one of those turn points you've drawn, in the right direction, and only those. In my opinion, at this stage this is a goal so high that could be discouraging and not helpful.

I'd suggest a different path...