Switching to longer timeframes....

i put this in the psychology section because i think my problem is mostly psychological. I started out trading 1min charts for the first 3-4 months, and just recently switched to using 5min charts. however, i'm having serious discipline issues keeping my eyes off of the 1min chart, and ignoring it for the most part (until my entry comes up). did anyone else ever have this problem? how did you solve it? i guess it will just take some time to get used to it.

 

ET has a lot of members who have short fuses. This is an observation.

The actual best thing to do vis a vis where you monitor, it to pick the place thatmakes the most money for you for your skill level.

You are basically doing a tradeoff. Of the seven most common market operating points, the shortest duration ones have the higher yields in wealth building potential.

People, on the other hand, are skilled in ways that preclude them from realizing what the market has to offer.

Prop trading is a classic example of inefficiency and a waste of talents.

To optimize, you need become very very skilled in choosing your operating point.

as an example, I, at my age and skill level, have chosen two markets and I limit my activity in each. I just admit that I cannot make an effort that is any more efficient than it is and I leave stuff on the table.

Categorically, I do stuff when the market is closed and when it is running. Off market hours I am limited by my systemmic apporach. During market hours, I am limited by my ability to observe, track, and play.

I stick to dailies and 30 min on equities. The consequence is a 10% return about every 6 to 8 days and 50 trades per 3 years for each stream of money I run. I do not run over 100,000 shares per stream so i am capital limited in this market.

I stick to 5 min and 1 min on futures indexes except when the pace is slow; then i migrate my pair to slower sets.. The consequence is a 50x return on capital re equities. I trade intraday an average of 3 to 5 trades. I abide by NFA reporting requirements of 208 (E) part a. Per account. I am capital limited as well. I avoid partials fills.

All of this is a yellow brick road question for me. It is the trade off of market potential against acquired skills. People see what they see as what the market has to be extracted; they use skills to do it. The fractal you operate on is usually determined by your skill level.

You can assess anyone's juice here by how they post. TM says he has it. He is kidding himself. lol

 

Funky, why not look at the 5 min. and 1 min. at the same time? I use the 10, 5, and 1 min. while trading.

-FastTrader

 

thanks jack. i appreciate your time and wisdom that you bring to ET. wow, 10% every 8 days would be nice! maybe i can drop by and learn a few things? i think it will just take time for me to learn the 5min charts, since i've been used to the 1min noise for so long. i trade SPY, and will prob trade ES in the future once i ramp up my shares. so i think i'm on the right track with the 5min, reading your post. thanks alot and i can only hope to 'extract' that kind of money in the future!

 

i do, but my setups are the 5min chart ones. i use the 1min for timing, but my problem is that i 'see' too many other setups on the 1min, that just don't jive with the 5min chart, and i get burned....

 

Hmm, I would just use the 5min for the main entry/exit signal, and then look over at the 1min to fine-tune the entry. For example, if you get a signal to go Long on the 5min, use the 1min. for entry, then just watch the cycles of the 1min. Is the 1min. cycling up? That's all I would look for.

-FastTrader

 

Best thing is, have a daily system that runs by itself. Do your trades in the morning, or in the afternoon, and spend the rest of the day with your family, or playing golf, or reading a book.

Panther

www.pantherproject.com

 

how does this have ANYTHING to do with my topic?

 

I personally found that I was cutting my account to ribbons trading on a one minute chart.
Now I use a 15 minute chart and am making a profit again.
I use a 3 minute to pinpoint the entries and try to stay in every trade for at least 15 minutes, if not the whole day.
Much easier to trade ES and NQ this way. Otherwise you will get cut up on all the noise.

 

i am definitely seeing that. i'd go with the 15min charts, but i don't want to hold overnight, and alot of the movements on the 15 are spaced across the sessions. but you are absolutely right....i'm not doubting that many traders can make $$ off of the 1min as their setup, but its a different ball game.

i'm really having a hard time getting used to it though!! its much less stressful but i seem to make more money