I gotta agree with you. These huge ranges are just way too much to handle by my standard strategies. I lost 7k this week which is by far one of my largest for the year. I'm back to break even this December so I'm pretty much way behind my target for the year. I love the volatility in August but not the ones we're seeing in November-December. There just doesn't seem to be an intraday trend - as far as I can see.
That depends where price breaks out of ImO. If you refer to a certain congestion zone breakout buying Lo, then I agree, buying breakout near the Hi is a different matter and is probably worst r/r.
"I gotta agree with you. These huge ranges are just way too much to handle by my standard strategies. I lost 7k this week which is by far one of my largest for the year. I'm back to break even this December so I'm pretty much way behind my target for the year. I love the volatility in August but not the ones we're seeing in November-December. There just doesn't seem to be an intraday trend - as far as I can see." you are kidding me right? the problem isn't trend or lack of trend. if you can't make money in these markets (given sufficient trade sample size), your methodology lacks edge. this market is, at least for my methodology, a dream methodology. here's one hint. volatility has increased. decrease leverage and increase targets and stops. that's the primary change to make when volatility increases.
the problem this market presents to traders is the fierce whipsaw action. we could be breaking below significant support and then bamm! the market rallies 100 points in 15 minutes only to reverse course and then head back up again. ITS not just about reversing trend and then acclimating,its about the whip saw in my opinion. my strategy works best when i grab the quick money between 9:30 and 10:30 and then walk away. if i hang aroung longer i over trade and just contantly get stopped out of positions and i wind up getting killed on commissions. AGAIN,THATS JUST ME but there are others that are doing just fine. that said,a true trader does'nt dwell on this action,he just trades and does'nt think about it;another day in the office. perhaps we are reading to much between the lines and scaring ourselves into losing?
this market is a waste of time to trade intraday, it's been like this for months now I wasted my time this week making a tiny trade in SPY to catch what I saw as almost a sure-thing bottom only to see the market plunge 20 S&P points lower . Eventually I averaged down much lower and made money, but the size was so small it was ridiculous.
Funny, I for one cant make a freakin cent when the market goes into a persistant trend but can scalp these choppy markets with my eyes closed. Sometimes I really wish I could find a partner who could trade the account on days the market trends and I could trade it when it chops.
O Winded One, was there not supposed to be a video link of your always-in method being traded in real time for all to see? By December of 2007, i.e., now? Whatever became of that initiative? And to think I was so hopeful of finally seeing the light...
" my strategy works best when i grab the quick money between 9:30 and 10:30 and then walk away. if i hang aroung longer i over trade and just contantly get stopped out of positions and i wind up getting killed on commissions" i think thats your answer...for now just trade the first hour and turn off the computer...wait til this whipsaw action mellows out before trading full days...I know its very hard to walk away from the action but preservation is key. "There just doesn't seem to be an intraday trend - as far as I can see" there is a trend but your seeing it the opposite way and taking the wrong position...we all get screwed like this so you are not alone...i guess the key is just knowing when its a bad trade and when to exit...when i have a bad trade or day i reduce size from 1000 shares to 200-400 shares...Its just easier on the nerves,the loss potential is significantly reduced as is the anxiety..also dont overtrade. What i am trying to do now for example in stocks is to wait for a big intraday selloffs(an unexplained sudden 30cent+ down move ) in one of my stocks and then just go long...These big intraday selloffs happen usually once a day sometimes more than once.Some days they dont happen but thats not too common.Sometimes we need to be more choosy,patient and selective and then go for the gusto when we see a "sure thing".Overtrading sometimes just results in giving back everything.