OK, this post is somewhat bizzare. It's like asking a doctor what does he do when he is not in surgery. I get in every morning at 7:45 am central time in my office and leave at 5pm. That's 45 hours right there. I spend another 3 hours or so every evening reading everything. News, blogs, articles, books, etc. I spend another 5 to 10 hours every weekend. Reading EVERYTHING. Like Fisher, I want to know what's going on in the market and more importantly, how the market is reacting to it. This is not a hobby for me. I'm not doing this for fun. News is very important. Without it, you are trading in a vacuum. How the hell can anyone read the tape if you don't know what's moving the market. I watch stocks, currencies, commodities, debt, everything. Market is open 24/6. There is a lot of work to do. Does this answer your question?
A troll is someone who posts simply to agitate others. I'm not saying you are one, just hoping that you are not. I have no desire to argue with you. Nobody has argued on this thread for over 500 pages. Why start now? A lot of people including myself have posted trades. That is NOT the purpose of this thread. It's to discuss this method. The only reason I post "some" trades is to keep the thread active when no one else is posting. You are free to start your own thread on ET or start a whole other site. Just don't piss on this one.
the problem you are speaking about is present in all threads here. The es thread is one of the longest running threads on et. I used to participate on it but it got absurd with all the trolls and arguing. Its not in my nature to argue with people especially on an anonymous board. A lot of good traders have left et due to this issue. You can have something heavily policed vs totally free and the content will be affected. The pace of this thread has quickened. Personally I struggle with posting trades because I don't want someone new jumping in a volatile mkt without a stop. You don't really know where people are trading wise although you can spot newer traders after a while. Maybe you can explain your style of trading and add what you like. Everyone is different and sees the mkt differently. I don't necessarily agree with everything Mav posts but most of what he puts out is gold. New traders are always in danger of blowing up and I am aware that newer people may be lurking. I would stick up for Mav but he has a thick skin and can defend himself and the content. Lastly, Mav when people see constant posts in a long running thread they want to challenge it that is human nature I guess, good trading.
Okay, let's put a finer point on it. Does it take you all that time to determine the various confirmed A points in the markets you follow, where the breakout follows a relatively tight range? And, perhaps more to the point, under what conditions would you not act on such a clearly defined and confirmed breakout, in whatever manner that you do, on its face alone? Please understand, I'm just trying to conduct a little distillation here.
Hi. I am more interested in a method than just a particular trade of the day or week. Anyone can make a few calls here and there unless measured over time it's useless I think
IMO Half the battle for a developing trader like myself is developing a sound methodology/framework and then understanding how all the pieces fit. This takes a long time and I am still in the process of doing this. I put in 60+ hours a week into my trading and I can tell you there is always something to do. Whether it is testing out a new idea or plain idea generation. To working with your methodology and understanding the nuances. To reading news, blogs, books, academic papers etc. I personally love it... you end up spending a lot of time in front of a computer screen doing things that end up not making any difference. I don't know how much time I have spent on ideas that didn't end up working out as expected or not at all. Alot of time on news, reading through briefing for earnings, upgrades, breaking news. Its alot of info man! An old trading friend of mine used to tell me that trading is a journey within...it'll test you and push you. I don't if many people are willing to put in the hours and put up with all the shit that comes with the territory. That's why when I see a successful trader who has LONGEVITY in this business I truly appreciate learning from them. 98% of people that are successful in this business have put an awful amount of time and effort into their craft. the other 2% are naturals and it just comes easy. Unless you are the 2% you can't really expect to learn this shit overnight....believe me I know. This is of course all my opinion from observing people in this business and my own short experience.
then I would suggest working thru the book "the Logical Trader" and making the system your own or laying the aspects that are appealing on your own system. Some keys points would be that an A up/down etc is not the holy grail but a reference point, taken with price action/tape reading creates a powerful method. There has been quite a lot of discussion about reversion vs breakout, a major issue for trading intraday.
Yes, price action takes precedence over confirmed A levels. No way in hell would I just take a confirmed A trade blindly without price action. The best trades are the ones that confirm against the news. In other words, bad news in the financial sector but XLF confirms an A up. That is a solid trade.