no never had IB. I have used sierra charts before (they have good charting capabilities almost overkill) I and liked them but then they went up on the platform fee so i didn’t want to keep using them. You might check out infinity futures. They have a new platform called Infinity AT. It is a web based platform. That has its advantages as you can trade via Ipad..phone...any computer that has access without having to download a platform and install a platform. I think that might become the wave of the future for a smaller retail traders like us. Why don’t you give their demo a try? Infinity AT is free with 12 RT trades in a 30 day period. Otherwise, it is 12 dollars a month, Their commissions are a little higher for the micros but you might like their platform and service. Also they offer Sierra chart: Web Based Sierra (something new) AND the regular download platform based Sierra.I think there is a monthly cost with either of the Sierra Versions. The cheapest broker for the micros that I have seen is AMP. They do offer a version of Sierra. Not sure if there is a monthly charge or not. Not sure how the service is with Amp as I have never had an AMP account but a person could save quite abit on commissions trading the micros. I like schwab but I don’t need all the info they offer. I just need basic charting. I don’t listen to news.,etc and don’t use alot of indicators. I think you will see gaps and a tick or two difference ..lagging...etc between Es and Mes. One solution is watch ES chart but place trades on a MES dom. .
I would wait until this volatility dies down before going live. This volatility can wipe out a small account in minutes. A trader has to use large stoplosses to trade it and moves against one's position can happen very fast resulting in thousands lost in minutes. Just think about it. It doesn’t hurt to sim practice some more until the market settles down.
This is why I don’t care to listen to, trade off from, or try to correlate market action with news. There is always a bearish and bullish interpretation of the news. I don't know which side will win until the market clearly shows it via the chart. I cannot anticipate it. But I can observe what price does. Trading decisions or rather making them prior to forthcoming news events is not my cup of of tea. I want the market to tip it’s hand and not bet upon some pundit’s interpretation of a news event. Here a rate cut and market falls 100’s of points. https://www.usnews.com/news/economy...reserves-coronavirus-fueled-interest-rate-cut https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...es-us-that-everything-is-fine-with-cv.341125/
March 19,2020 Haven't posted anything for a while in this journal. However, I thought it might be interesting to some of you concerning the technique of averaging down in such volatility we have been having. First I would like to make clear that it works the same as in lower volatility situations. The principles are the same. Yes a wider SL has to be used and wider entry points. But that is offset by bigger profits. The instrument was MES. So 7 contracts was not even equivalent to one ES contract. The gross profit before commissions was $1480.00. The total trade duration from entries to exit covered about 70 minutes or a little less. I am going to post two charts on the trade I took today (it was my only trade as I started late and then had to take the wife to town for groceries). The first chart will be from an overnight globex chart perspective. The second chart will be the same trade but seen for a RTH's chart perspective. In both cases, the tactic was a MTR (Major Trend Reversal) intraday trade. And "averaging down" (or scaling in if that is more tasteful to you) was used for my entries as I built my position. I averaged down 1 contract at a time spaced out as the price moved against my position. Then I exited all seven contracts at one blow. The charts are pretty self explanatory so I won't say much more other than give a brief overview of the MTR tactic. Overview: With a MTR first you want to see a trend. This is shown by my trendlines in both charts. Then you want to see price break ABOVE the bear trendline (below if it is a bull trendline). Then you want to see that BO of the trendline very close to or thru the 20 EMA. That is, in a bear trend I prefer to see price trade above the 20EMA after it breaks above the bear trendline. Why? That shows some strength and not just a PB of the original bear trend and is a hint of a coming MTR. The good thing about MTR is you have plenty of time to observe them forming. Then I want to see price trade back down to test the low. It may reach the low or it may not before reversing. Or is may go past the low. The important thing is there is a test. Next I want to see a reversal with a good signal bar in this case a bull bar. Then I would enter on a bar that has a high above that signal bar. In MTR's I like to hold for 2 legs. Now look at the first chart. I crawled by carcass out of bed too late to get in on the first leg after that test of the low. So, by the time I got the computer going the PB from the first leg was starting to happen. However, the pattern was clearly visible. Bear trendline BO thru and above 20 EMA then a test back down and then the reversal back up, that ended up being a LL MTR (Lower low Major Trend Reversal). The first leg up of the MTR was a good strong leg so by the time I got the computer fired up and some coffee in my system I reason...good leg on the first leg. Since it is a MTR probability is high that a second leg will be forthcoming after any PB. Therefore, I started averaging down on the PB. Spacing my averaging down entry points out as price moved against me. The green triangles are my entries long. The last one was near the end of the PB. Then I just waited for the second leg to resume up. Once it went thru, and above my first entry after the PB I then started thinking of exiting with a profit on all seven contracts. But since that second leg up was pretty strong I held for more profit and finally had to just take it as I needed to go to town. Besides Trump was talking live around that time and since news can have a bullish or bearish response by the market I just decided to get out and call it a day. Subsequent price action shows it was the correct decision. The next chart is the same action and trades but shown on a RTH's chart. It was still MTR trade but in this case a HL MTR (higher low major trend reversal). However, in this case I would be found to have been averaging down on the test of the previous low. In times of volatility that can work out pretty good some of the time because the test itself becomes good entries points IF THE BO OF THE TRENDLINE WAS STRONG as it was in this case. So the test back down before the HL MTR was actually made could just be traded as a PB from the trendline BO. In lower volatility I would probably wait for a good signal bar and entry as the test finished and the HL MTR reversal started. But this volatility afforded and opportunity to average down on a strong PB after the bear trendline STRONG (key point here) BO. Anyway two different ways of looking at this, first from an overnight chart and second from a RTH's chart. IN both cases it is basically trading a MTR. In the former entries are made on the PB after the FIRST leg of the MTR was completed. In the latter the entries were made on the PB that was the actually test of the former low BEFORE the HL MTR actually happened. And that trade as seen on the RTH chart could have been traded without too much risk concern because of the strong trendline BO. That BO would likely have another leg up. And it did and became the first leg of the HL MTR on this RTH's chart. I added volume to the RTH's chart for those of you who like to watch volume. Here is a chart showing the full 7 contracts position (green horizontal line) before 7 contract exit took place.
Here is another trade taken this morning averaging down. Got to go clean some fish and till the garden. Will explain later. Profit $1626.25 before comm.
Usually there is more than one way to interpret and trade PA. All can be valid ways. Below is one way to trade Friday’s March 20th’s PA based upon looking at it as a bear channel on a 5 min overnight chart. Maybe tomm I can show some ways to read this price action and place trades. Based upon a bear channel the trades taken can be profitable because I am averaging down based on the probabilities of PA patterns PANNING OUT AND on the general context. And positioning myself for either scenario happening. Look at my journal on yesterday’s trade and you may want to look at the trade the day before, that is March 19th. But for now lets look at yesterday’s Friday’s trade 20th March. The trade was averaging down 1 contract at a time up to 6 contracts. My last two entries near the top of the channel were 2 contracts each one. So, at my max position size I had 10 contracts (the red triangles are my entries). Then it was a matter of waiting for price to trade back into the channel. I started averaging in short at the bottom of a bear channel. I have not explained yet the thinking behind this trade as I had to till and work in my garden yesterday but maybe over the weekend I can give a more complete explanation. A a multi view of the PA and various ways to interpret it. But here is a partial explanation based on a bear channel tactics. Normally, I would not start averaging in short on a bear channel until price is in the upper half of the channel. That puts odds in my favor. However, in this case just prior to the bar, where I began to build my position, we had two big bear bars heading to the bottom of the channel. And by my entry bar we are 62 bars deep in the channel. Most of these 62 bars were bear bars and all the larger bars were bear bars. There were many more bear bars that were in series than bull bars in series. Most all the bull bars were overlapping bars..even those that were in series. Many of the bear bars had gaps between their close and the close of the previous bar. Gaps between the low of the present bar and the low of the previous bar. Gaps in several cases between the high of a bar and the low of a bar two bars back. All this taken together indicates weakness. However, bear channels on a smaller time frame (in this case 5 min TF function as bull flags on a larger TF.) Bull flags odds favor a SUCCESSFUL BREAKOUT WILL BE TO THE upside. BY SUCCESSFUL I mean a BO with follow-thru. Nevertheless, most BO’s of a bear channel on the top side WILL FAIL (75% of the times attempted) and price goes back into the channel until one BO does succeed. So, given all this why would I short and do so at the bottom of a bear channel? And average down too? Three reasons: 1) since the channel formed we have had no real BO attempt out of the top of the channel and by the time of my entry we are 62 bars deep (with weakness described above in those 62 bars). The odds are high if price trades back up to the top of the channel (as it in fact did) while I am averaging down ...the odds favor that any real first BO attempt will fail and as you can see it did. So, I just kept adding and adding to my short 1 contract at a time except in the last two entries I added two contracts short each time (as that would give me more gas in the tank at the top end (that is, at the probable failure point) when BO price likely will fail and price will go back into the channel. So, I am playing the odds that the first actual BO attempt will fail. And it did. 2) Those two large bear bars at the bottom of the channel just before I started shorting were strong bearish. All previous PA was weak. I reason this COULD even be a successful BO south of the channel that would be forthcoming. But less odds it will happen. If it is successful breaking out the bottom , then it would be a case of the unexpected event (for remember bear channels function as bull flags). If the unexpected happens then I should look for a measured move down because the flag is failing. So, I need to position myself for an unexpected event also. If it happens I will be in the market off the bat and will simply “scale in”not down as price moves in my favor. So, because, of all the weakness mentioned above, and visible on the chart, and especially those two bigger bear bars just before my entry bar I am willing to short at the bottom of a bear channel. If the unexpected happens and the successful BO south happens well...I am in the market for a measured move down and don’t miss out. If however, price trades back up to the top (as it did) I am building my short position betting a BO attempt at the top will fail. Either way I am positioning myself for WHATEVER. 3) Price is trading below all three MA’s giving good possibility that the successful BO COULD be south. BUT also giving the good possibility that any BO attempt north of the channel will fail. As you can see the scenario of the FAILED BO attempt out of the top was the one that unfolded and so I used the tactic of averaging down short and adding to my short position as price traded against me. Then when it traded back into the channel I held until it reached just past my first entry short. Profit before commissions $1626.25 and that was was trading MES. And only 10 contracts. The same thing could be done trading ES but many small traders would not want to lay that much money on the line and keep adding. Especially, with the volatility we have been experiencing. There are other PA ways to look at this trade but here is one using a bear channel. If the BO south would have happened then on any initial PB I would be adding short AND on any good move in my favor I would be pressing the trade by adding shorts ...even more, expecting a measure move down. My exit is at one wack all 10 contracts at the green triangle. Around 2.5 hours later. There are other ways to explain this price action and how to trade it. Maybe over the weekend I can show sone more examples of different ways to look at this and trade it. And they are all valid ways. The chart below is a 5 min overnight chart. Opening bar for RTH was 5 bars back from my first multiple entry bar. The opening bar RTH’s is that doji bar.
Any TF, obviously SL needs to be bigger but so is profit potential, M1 guy myself. Just use these setting, either play the BB range or just on direction, tight SL and letting it run obviously a must. 12sma BB 8sma 2.5Dev KISS!!!!
There are many ways to trade. BTW do you have a journal showing charts and entries exits that you make with explanations why you made them? Some folks might be interested in seeing that.
I have a journal " Think out Loud! " but only recently moved to that, only Demo trades, markets been too nuts, can't afford a 100pt SL on NQ most of the time, waiting to get back below 20pts, used to trade with 10. It takes a while to master, when market turning and when to play BB range, most of the time I'll play the range via BB then when the 8 and 12sma's look like a change in direction I'll take a small profit and flip sides, very few losers. Back on next week hopefully as it's starting to calm down.