Care to explain? I usually built a profit cushion before I tried to let profits run. Why is that revenge trading? More like hunting big game after bagging a few small rabbits.
Market movement as a dynamic process. This process evolves and comes about by the collective actions all the market participants. However it is primarily the large institutions that drive price and move it. Among these are banks..hedge funds..other big trading firms...HFT firms and so forth. In the end they cannot hide. The chart shows what they are doing and where they are trying to take price. Bullish institutions want bullish BOs. Bearish institutions want bearish BOs. Their attempts can be deciphered by analyzing price action patterns on charts to identify trends and other potential trading opportunities. Trading Ranges occur when both bulls and bears are in balance. It is a fair value area. Markets search out and probe for fair value. Like an auction. Then one side pushes harder and wins resulting in a BO. Once there is a BO the other side will attempt to make it fail. Eventually one side capitulates and price seeks a new level of fair value. Markets are always in constant fluctuations as areas of fair value are sought out. The thing is multi-bar sustainable ad successful BOs occur about 10% of the time in a trading session. Really strong nulti-bar BOs occurs maybe 5% of the time. Most of the time in a session markets are moving in sideways movement. This is what makes learning to trade TRs lucrative. First, you have to define what a TR is. Not all sideways behavior is a TR. Some are just PBs. Next, you have to develop TR techniques and strategies. Finally, you have to have in mind what to do when a successful BO of a TR happens. Unfortunately many traders consider TRs as "noise" or chop. So they will not trade them but instead wait for BOs. That means they are losing out on the majority of profit making opportunities in a trading session and it means they have to sit and wait for a successful BO. Markets are in some sort of sideways movement in about 70% of a sessions time. What does that tell you? There are other BOs that happen all session long even within larger TR contexts. These are not TR BOs but they are individual bar BOs. To simplify the assertion; all bull bars and all bear bars are BOs. BOs of something. Some are smaller range bars that BO and some are big bar BOs. You can prove this to yourself by looking a bull bar on a larger TF (time frame) and then keep drilling down to smaller TFs until you see the BO. Therefore, it is helpful on the TF that one is trading to "see" and interpret all bull bars and all bear bars as BO's. Now the market has to "probe" to make BOs happen. That is why I say that money can be made on most any 5m bar in a session. There are 81 5m bars in the ES. When there is a dojo bar that is simply a one bar TR. Dial down to smaller TFs and you will see an establish TR on that smaller TF. This means we have to define what a TR is. An established TR is 20 bars or more of sideways movement on any TF. To employ TR techniques it needs to be done in established TRs on the time frame one is trading. For instance, on a 5m TF chart the market may simply in a PB of a bullish trend with subsequent continuation of the trend. However, that PB if dialed down to say a 1m or 30 second chart that PB shows up as an established TR where trading range techniques can be used. Back to the 5m chart. When the PB ends and the bullish trend resumes that is simply a BO of the TR on that 1m or 30second chart. On the 5m chart if the resumption of the previous bullish trend is successful after the PB ends then on the 1m or 30s chart these becomes a SUCCESSFUL BO of the TR. Think about these things. And how they can be capitalized on and remember Hurst says: "Profit optimization REQUIRES short-term trading." Compounding profits. How short of short-term trading can you go? That depends on you. Your ability to jump in and jump out, to reverse, to double up, to get back losses quickly, to use FOT to your advantage. It also depends on your ability to make quick decisions and execute quickly. It also depends on your ability to interpret PA correctly. And to some degree it depends on your age. Overall it also depends on what suits your personality. Trading has to be fun and with passion to be be sustainable over the long all. We are all different.
Just got back from Iowa. Went with my son to buy a camper. Wore out but good to be back. Here is a joke my son showed me.
Ok I am back and rested a little. I want to do something. I will take a SIM account. Lets start the account a balance with $2876.31 The Objective is to show how FOT can be more profitable than buy and hold or sell short ..hold...and cover. It of course assumes that the trader (me) is good at scalping and at PA reading. The goals are over a 12 day period or 12 month period (either one but I will use 12 day period) to: 1) Make a base 5% gross profit (before commissions on the previous days ending balance and do this for 12 days. If done monthly (i.e. 5% on previous months ending bal) would be the same. 2) Multiply the base 5% by an additional 40% of the 5% and add that together with the 5% to come up with a daily or monthly gross profit goal before deducting commission. So, starting with 2876.31 by the end of 12 days of trading I should have at least a SIM account balance of 5,165.44 (gross figures) If done and calculated monthly i.e. making 5% plus 40% of the 5% added together then at the end of 12 months it would still be at least 5,165.44. If a trader can trade most everyday a lot more can be made by calculating this daily. This exercise should show the powerful compounding effect. And also speaks to FOT (frequency of trades) and to grabbing what the market gives when it gives it. I already took the first day's trades, and I made a video on replay with comments. So, for today March the 4th 2025 the goal was to gross 5% of 2876.31. That comes to $143.82. Then 143.82 x an additional 40% of the 143.82 (to make up each day for any losses) means adding $57.53 to 143.82 thus making the gross goal to be $201.35 for day one. So, I should have a GROSS ending balance for day1 of $3077.66 (2876.31+ 201.35). Then assuming commissions of 1.09 RT and depending on the amount of trades to achieve the 3077.66 the net would be lower than the gross profit. So how did the first day go? You will see from the video: 102.50 points captured 7 trades all winners 102.50 x $2.00 pt =$205.00 (gross) Commissions 1.09 RT x 7 = 7.63 NET $197.37 Aprox 45 min trading Ending gross account balance Day 1 = $3081.31 Ending net bal Day 1 = $3073.68 Tomorrow if I have time to trade, I will try to trade live on the SIM without any replay. I will log 12 days of trading (may not be consecutive days) and we will see where I stand on gross account balance at end of 12 days. We will see if I have a gross balance of at least 5165.44 by the end of the 12th day. Started day 1 with $2876.31 Ended Day NET balance: 2876.32+197.37 = $3073.68 In summary, I want to show: The power of compounding The power of FOT How I can use this on a small accounts (of course it works same for large accounts) The power of grabbing "what" the market gives "when" it gives it. How I can use this on a micro account trading "only small size." Never more than 4 contracts at any one time and most trades should be 1 or 2 contract trades. How I use Stop losses. While I place an initial price action SL (as opposed to a set point or set dollar SL) for protection that doesn't mean I will allow the initial SL to be hit. I may exit with a smaller SL than the initial SL if I deem that that my premise for taking the trade is no longer valid. So, keep that into account because I use a dynamic SL. I am betting on what I "think" the market will do before it would hit my SL but if the market's actual evolving behavior indicates my premise is wrong then I likely will not wait for my initial SL to be hit but will just take it then subsequently look at getting it back quickly. NOTE: THIS WAS A REPLAY WITH COMMENTS MADE AND I SEE I MISPOKE ON THE SL OF THE 4TH TRADE WHICH WAS A SHORT TRADE. THE CORRECT STATEMENT FOR THE SL SHOULD HAVE BEEN "OUTSIDE THE TOP OF THE TR." ALSO, I MISPOKE ON THE 5TH AND 6TH TRADE. THOSE WERE LONG TRADES BASED ON BO'S NOT SHORT TRADES BASED ON FADING THE TOP OF THE TR. JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT AS THE REPLAY AND MY COMMENTS WERE MADE ON REPLAY.
I traded live today. It was a rough day. I did make my goal but not in my preferred way of scalping. On top of that the live recording I made of today's trades showing entries, exits, PTs, and SLs would not save. Some kind of memory error, I think. All of my original live comments are thus lost. So, I now have to resort to doing a replay of today's live price action with new comments all over again. The replay will show my entries and exits as they were taken live but it will not show my SLs as my platform won't show the SLs on replay so I have to now point them out as best as I can remember. The replay will show my points gained...etc. I will, within an hour or so post the replay after I re-record my comments.
Here is day 2 of the 12-day trading series. It was not a good day for me as a scalper in terms of being in sync with the market. My mind was not working clearly. Unfortunately, I had trouble saving the video. I traded live but could not save the live video. I had to replay the video about 2 or three times to even get it to save as a re-play and that only happened once I turned the computer completely off and re-booted it. So here is the replay with some comments. Yesterday's Gross balance in the account was 3081.31 I figure the next day's goal off the gross balance. So, 3081.31 X 5% = 154.07. The $154.07 x 40% = $61.63 + 154.07 = $215.70 goal for today. Results for trading today: 13 trades: 7 winners 6 losers Win rate 54% Goal for day 2: $215.70 Day 1 Ending Gross: $3081.31 Net 3073.68 Account ending Day 2 Gross 3081.31 + $315.00 = $3396.31 Account ending Day 2 after commissions NET: 3073.68 + 284.48 = $3358.16 56 contracts traded RT 28, comm $30.52 Time spent trading aprox: 1 hour and 12 minutes It was a rough day for me as a scalper. Terrible win rate. I made mistakes reading the PA and had to mitigate the losses. I ended up more than meeting the goal, but it was not a pleasant trading day. My mind was not working clearly. I am a diabetic so sometimes that happens to me. Anyway, here is the video below: Disclaimer: The following video is on a SIM account and is a replay. All of these videos on this YouTube channel including this video are for entertainment and information purpose only that show how I like to scalp. Actual results can be different than real or even than the SIM results shown here so I am not advising anyone to use these techniques. You may not get the same results as shown in all these videos and you can even lose all your money - SIM money or real money, plus more.
March 6 2024 MNQ DAY 3 Goal: $237.75 (aprox 119 points) Trades taken: 8 all winners 100%-win rate Points gained 130pts in dollars $260.00 Day 2 gross bal $3396.31 x 5% =$169.82 + $67.93 (40% of 169.82) 169.82+ 67.93 = 237.75 basis of goal for Day 3 Gross bal ending Day3 $3396.31 + $260.00 = $3656.31 18 contracts trade (9RT) Commissions RT 9.81 NET GAIN after comm. = 260-9.81 $250.19 Time: aprox 1 hour of trading GROSS BALANCE END DAY 3 = 3,396.31 +260.00 = $3.656.31 I am having trouble with my recording software. Not sure what the problem is. I did try recording live DAY3 then it cut out and I lost it all. However, my trading platform saves the trades. If I can get my recording software up again, I will record a replay of the trades and post the video here.
Here is day 3 video I did type the wrong date on the video annotation. It is March 6 2025 not March 6 2024 March 6 2025 MNQ DAY 3 Goal: $237.75 (aprox 119 points) Trades taken: 8 all winners 100%-win rate Points gained 130pts in dollars $260.00 Day 2 gross bal $3396.31 x 5% =$169.82 + $67.93 (40% of 169.82) 169.82+ 67.93 = 237.75 basis of goal for Day 3 Gross bal ending Day3 $3396.31 + $260.00 = $3656.31 18 contracts trade (9RT) Commissions RT 9.81 NET GAIN after comm. = 260-9.81 $250.19 Time: aprox 1 hour of trading GROSS BALANCE END DAY 3 = 3,396.31 +260.00 = $3.656.31 I finally got a re-recording to work so here is the video. The trades were traded live on a SIM even though this is a replay. Small account. Small but steady profits. Taking what the market gives. Trading small size not more than 4 contracts. Done for the day. My brother has surgery so going to hospital. He is a bad diabetic and veins and arteries in legs have to be cleaned out. Disclaimer: The following video is on a SIM account and is a replay. All of these videos on this YouTube channel including this video are for entertainment and information purpose only that show how I like to scalp. Actual results can be different than real or even than the SIM results shown here so I am not advising anyone to use these techniques. You may not get the same results as shown in all these videos and you can even lose all your money - SIM money or real money, plus more.
The SIM account could be any size. I just chose that as the figure. I am trying to show how that I would scalp a small account using small size. I am not getting into proving anything with real money accounts. People are never satisfied no matter what one shows as proof. Besides it really doesn't matter. I could have a 50,000-dollar account and any number of additional accounts smaller or larger and make money in one or say even in 3 of them and lose way more in a fourth account than I made in all three accounts. Showing profitability in one account really doesn't mean a lot. And doing so certainly should not be the factor that encourages another trader to scalp this way. It takes years to learn price action trading. It takes a lot of practice. It is not fair to lead anyone to believe they can look at a few videos and then try to copy that in their real money account. I hope the videos do show it MAY be possible to trade a small account if one will take the time to learn price action through study and develop the skills through practice. It is extremely harder to do this with a small account than with a large account. Think about that! So, I have decided that I will show how I like to scalp and do those examples in SIM accounts. I have nothing to defend or prove when using SIM accounts! If someone wants to watch them then that fine. If not, then that too is fine. This is a JOURNAL showing how I see scalping and how I like to do scalping. If someone wants to try the techniques in SIM that they have then great. If they choose on their own to try the techniques in a real money account, then that is 100% on them. I will not and do not recommend anyone to trade this way in a real account. I try to be quite clear about this in most all the videos I post and am also very clear that it is SIM. If one day in the future I should decide to show some videos in real money accounts I will disclose that but I simply will not get into proving anything...third party audits..statements..etc...I am just not going to waste my time doing that or defending that it is a real money account. It is my belief that price action trading is the best way to do discretionary trading. And I believe that Al Brooks is the most thorough and detailed teacher out there on price action. And his materials are very reasonable economically if you compare them to these gurus that charge 5000.00, 10,000.00 even 30,000.00 dollars for their seminars and trainings. I have been studying Brooks for probably over 14 years (I have the date I started with his Trilogy Nov 27, 2011 written in one of the books). Prior to that I studied his very first book before his trilogy came out. I have also bought and studied much of his video courses to assimilate the concepts into my mind. Then I practiced them. I finally adapted what I learned into a way that I like to scalp. But understand I was scalping WAY before I ever heard of Brooks or his methods. I already had ideas about scalping. I just find that Brooks took me to another level. Many traders don't like him. They talk bad about him. Call him names even here on ET. I KNOW they are just ignorant of his methodologies and concepts when I see them doing that. I am not a shill for Brooks but I don't hesitate to recommend his works for study and practice if a trader has a mind to learn price action trading. Over the many years I have bought and have in my library a lot of books on trading. If a fire hit my library I would hope that four works would survive the fire: 1) All of Al Brooks works 2) The Taylor Trading Technique by George Douglas Taylor (owned and studied and traded his methodologies way before I ever heard of Brooks) 3) Some books by George Angel (years before Brooks) 4) Some articles by Linda Bradford Raschke (years before brooks) If I had to chose only one authors work surviving the fire it would be the works of Al Brooks. I believe Price Action discretionary trading, to be really successful, must be multifaceted to cover the many scenarios that appear in trading and absolutely no one else that I KNOW of covers that better than Brooks. But what he teaches simply cannot be learned and practiced in a few days or a few months. Not even in a few years. Not if a trader wants to be a well-rounded PA trader ready for any scenario he may encounter in the markets. Learning Price Action Trading...REALLY LEARNING IT.....takes a lot of study and assimilation of the concepts in conjunction with practicing then to develop the skills. For scalping they have to be second nature. There is no time to look up in a textbook what should I do when I have a trade on or am looking to take a trade. I have to KNOW this beforehand. For instance, when using Trading Range techniques, I know that sooner or later a successful BO of that TR will occur and when it does if I have a position on that is contrary to the BO I MUST know what I must do beforehand and will do. If I don't know the market will leave me in the dust. Sorry for such a long explanation but other traders looking at this journal need to read this post. Then decide if they are interested in reading it and watching the videos or not and may decide it isn't worth their time. We are all different and have different passions and different approaches to trading. Some things are fundamental and basic but there is room for modification. Usually when I fail it is because I left or skirted around one or more fundamental principles that underlie trading and scalping. Like in basketball the basics and fundamentals must be practiced until one is proficient then one can work on techniques, plays, moves or strategies. I know of no really good professional basketball player that hasn't spent 100's of hours and years learning and practicing their craft. Why do we trader's think we can learn a setup or two and make a killing in the market. And to add insult to injury some of what we learn and that has become engraved in our mind is not necessarily true, often is erroneous, and may not be conducive to the way we are comfortable trading.