I always look at how much the trade went into negative territory compared to how much it went into positive territory. The one with only a 1 tick intra-trade drawdown and closed with 8 ticks of profit is exactly the type of trade I am wanting to consistently find and if I could get more than 8 ticks out of those trades, that would be even better!
Here's another chart. The red and green lines represent possible entries with the intent to hold on and move to BE quickly. When price comes back to the BE point then the line stops. However, if the entries were made at the very tip of the turning point, then when it is trending price doesn't usually come back to that point. So, on either the MES or the M6E the best locations to enter are the white ellipse areas. I have never been able to find those white ellipse areas while trading. I enter after the retracement begins to return to the trend and my BE stop losses get hit a lot. So, why even move the stop loss to BE? I suppose I don't have to, but the question for me is why would I want to get into a trade to hold onto it, knowing that price is going to come back to that same level? You'd think it would be as easy as putting in a limit order at that level, but for whatever reason, those don't seem to work either. The M6E seems easier to read than the MES, but part of that is because of the trend it is in. Non-trending areas can be very difficult to trade on the M6E. The M6E and MES moved in step for part of today.
I've decided to try the M6E for a little longer and see how it goes. My rules are very straightforward for it so I don't think it will be an issue to follow my rules....but I will find out soon enough! Not sure if I will be needing this journal anymore. I'll come back to it if I need to. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread!
If you're not sure if you can follow your rules on game day, why not continue to test & drill them into reflex in practice? You can accomplish a lot/answer a lot of your own questions trading playback on fast forward.
I have done this, though it's been a while. Now that I'm trying the M6E and not as familiar with it I really should spend some time on replay. Thanks!
Learn a simple setup while you cast about... https://elitetrader.com/et/threads/charts-for-no-reason.344272/page-25#post-5609680
Thanks! That #4 set up is one to remember and use for sure. The reaction to the reaction to the reaction to the news reaction. I love it!
Move #4 is not a setup, it is a part of what developed into a setup. A difference worth making note of in your memory and your sidebook. Early entries are also known as Made up Trades - MUT's STM, What step(s) would you say that move #4 is when expressed in terms of the setup that is linked below? If you don't care, pls say so. https://elitetrader.com/et/threads/...t-right-here-baby.335635/page-18#post-5309309
The way I see it is that the #4 move on the 30 second chart shows some similarities with the 4 hr chart on the bottom as the 2nd top. Both charts had a third attempt to try for the top. The 4 hr chart shows a much stronger attempt, nearly making it a triple top, than the 30 second chart's weak attempt. It's easy to see in hindsight that the safest trade would be to get in at the 3rd attempt's weakness, which can be see with trendlines, but waiting for a 3rd attempt could result in missing out if price decides to take off and not look back. Also, there's no guarantee that the 3rd attempt won't just keep going up, which is why I'd probably want to see it coming down a little before getting in. I think waiting for the break of the neckline is probably best for confirming that price is likely to continue down further but maybe waiting for a pullback after the break is better. It's hard to know which is best. There are so many different ways price can move!