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DbPhoenix
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Everything posted by DbPhoenix
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We could drag this out, but, as I've said elsewhere, this isn't therapy, so let's skip over all that. It seems to me that your core problem is that you view an exit as a completion, i.e., once you've exited, that's it. If the trade goes on without you, you feel that you've mismanaged the whole thing, you feel cheated, you feel inadequate to the demands that the task is making. No wonder that all sorts of emotions come into play, usually at the wrong moment. You then have to struggle with them at the same time you're struggling with the market. So, short-circuit all that. Controlling your emotions should not be an issue because there shouldn't be any emotions to control. If there are, then change whatever behavior is eliciting the emotions in the first place. Change your attitude toward the movement of price. Or perhaps I should say the trajectory of price. First, make your exits so simple that they're simple-minded. Exit at the break of the SL or DL. Don't agonize over it or question your manhood. Just do it. Then paper-trade the same trade thereafter. If a short op presents itself, take it. On paper. If a continuation op presents itself, take it. On paper. The world, in other words, does not grind to a halt just because you've exited. It goes on, with you or without you. Make it go on with you. Take control. Eventually, when you see momentum lessening, you won't feel depressed or helpless. You will instead view this change in momentum as a phenomenon of interest. You'll focus on what traders are doing and where they're doing it and how they're doing it, and, in the process, look for either reversal or continuation ops. If either present themselves, you'll be back in the trade and will have lost nothing, except perhaps your fear. As for the testing, it should not be viewed as a punishment or a penance. It ought to be fascinating, assuming you're using replay, for this is where you learn how traders behave. Once you understand that, you pretty much have it. Db
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Keeping charts clean makes trading simpler than cluttering them up. And, yes, trading can be simple even for a beginner, assuming he can tell up from down (not everyone can). This is not to equate "simple" with "easy". It's still work. But it's not a root canal. Db
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I was looking at this stuff the other day. So far, the only leaders that are showing genuine weakness are QCOM and IBM. Everything else appears to be holding its own. And, of course, volume is subdued. And it is September. Db
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There are a great many terrible professional money managers. Most of them can't even match the S&P. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that one is going to do better managing his own simply because it's his. And there's nothing wrong with asking questions. But at some point, one has to move on to the plan, and in the nearly five months since I've returned, I've seen only one person post what even begins to look like a plan. Even if one discounts the alleged 78,000+ members number, there are well more than a hundred members logging into the site every day. How many of them have posted a plan*? As far as I know, none. So when someone complains about how difficult and complicated it all is, ask about his plan. Odds will be high that he has none. * And by "plan", I don't mean some computerized backtest that has only a marginal -- if that -- connection with reality. I mean a well-thought-out, thoroughly-tested, consistently profitable plan. Db
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Likewise, if one isn't prepared to do the necessary work to manage his own money, hire someone else to do it, e.g., funds. Db
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I'm reminded of this because of the renovation I'm in the middle of, though it may not even apply. I'm truly astonished -- though I shouldn't be -- at how few people are willing to do the scraping and the sanding and the washing and the priming and the first and second coats. The vast majority would rather just slap on a topcoat, without even cleaning the surface, then bitch about how it doesn't cover in one coat. How different is this from the whining about how whateveritis "doesn't work"? Db
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That's largely it: the work. An extraordinarily small number of people want to do the work. They are not dissimilar from those who think they can become big winners at poker just by sitting down at the poker table, even though they know nothing about the game. They think that making trade after trade after trade constitutes "work", but it is no more so than playing hand after hand after hand. What is learned from the experience, if anything, is negligible. There's nothing new about any of this, of course. Wyckoff and Livermore complained about the same thing a hundred years ago, only then it was wannabes who hung around brokers' offices and clubs and so forth looking for tips and inside information. Not much different than fiddling with stochastic settings. Db
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Since this thread -- a vendor's thread -- has been billboarded on our homepage, I suppose it's okay to refer interested readers to the Pristine homepage. The hucksterism of the site will turn many people off, and even those who think they can get past it will at some point most likely find themselves gagging. However, the Pristine folks have provided an enormous library of articles over the years which I found helpful and enlightening at a time when nobody else was trading at this level of simplicity. (Actually, even today I can't think of anybody else offhand who trades at this level of simplicity.) I've never attended a Pristine seminar or spent any time in one of their rooms. In fact, I've never spent a dime there. But I have to assume that providing all this material for free pays off for them, so I don't feel guilty about it. If anybody from Pristine reads these comments, which I doubt, perhaps I can use this as an opportunity to say "thanks". And, incidentally, anyone who signs up for one of these rooms looking for real-time "calls" is missing the point. Db
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Before we stray too far from the subject, I should remind those interested that "support" and "resistance" are as fuzzy as truth and beauty. Many people define S&R in very peculiar ways. The definitions used in this Forum are specific and have very little application to, for example, four-year-old highs, unless perhaps one is trading something that's been in a trading range for four years. I say this here because this thread has reached the point where nobody is going to read it, except possibly for the first post or two. Under those conditions, threads can get WAY off track, and the primary purpose of this thread is to keep it all simple. Thank you. Db
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Well, first, it's good to see you beginning again. Second, what have you learned over the past four years (understanding that you took a time out) that might help you answer these questions? Third, with regard to the bar interval, it doesn't make any difference. If you post a chart without any indication of time or price, it would be difficult -- within reason -- to tell what bar interval is being used. As to the setups in general, there's little to consider. There are two general contexts: ranges and trends. Within those contexts, there are three strategies: breakouts, reversals, and retracements. And that, essentially, is it. One must test all this (a) to find out if all of this is true, (b) to learn a new way of thinking and seeing, © to reconcile what the trader wants with what the market wants, to "zipper" the self and the market. Few can accomplish the last, which is why so many fail. Db
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Decide for yourself. Put up both. If the SPX is helpful, fine. If it isn't, don't bother with it. Db
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I used InteractiveBrokers. Never had any problems. Db
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BTW, would you mind copying and pasting your post to the Journal thread at the WF? It'll be too easy for me to miss your posts if you make them here. Db
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When you used the phrase, I'm sure you had something in mind. But that's okay. Db
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So which sense would be common? Db
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Well, first, it's good to see you beginning again. Second, what have you learned over the past four years (understanding that you took a time out) that might help you answer these questions? Third, with regard to the bar interval, it doesn't make any difference. If you post a chart without any indication of time or price, it would be difficult -- within reason -- to tell what bar interval is being used. As to the setups in general, there's little to consider. There are two general contexts: ranges and trends. Within those contexts, there are three strategies: breakouts, reversals, and retracements. And that, essentially, is it. One must test all this (a) to find out if all of this is true, (b) to learn a new way of thinking and seeing, © to reconcile what the trader wants with what the market wants, to "zipper" the self and the market. Few can accomplish the last, which is why so many fail. Db
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Or one can learn quickly through the rearview mirror or slowly out the windshield. Db
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For those who are interested, the entries are here:
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One can learn to fish without reading anything. Or consulting anyone. Or making any attempt to benefit from the experiences of others. Takes a while though. Unless one is a bear. Db
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FWIW, this is what you're trying to trade:
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Your desire to trade is interfering with your judgement. I won't suggest again that you -- and others -- stop trading until you understand what it is you're trying to do, but I won't intentionally enable the behavior, either. " don't wanna miss it" is a red flag, but this isn't therapy. If you've gone through the Journal process and have created a detailed list of goals and objectives and a thoroughly-tested trading plan, I'd love to see it. If you haven't, anything I say will be nothing more than guru-speak, and there's plenty of that floating around as it is. Db
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You say you were hesitant about entering but that you took the BO. What BO? Db
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What would Wyckoff do? Db
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Speaking of silver, think about this the next time somebody claims that volume always precedes price:
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If you're going to trade EOD and expect to make money at it, you're going to have to do more preparation. Buying this now, at the midpoint, will most likely achieve the same result as doing the same thing intraday: lots of small profits, lots of small losses, lots of breakevens, lots of commissions, ending up in very little for all the time involved. If you don't want to focus on one instrument, avoid the opposite course of skipping from one thing to another according to what appears to look good but which is actually far past the best entry, i.e., the Greener Grass Syndrome. Otherwise, you will always be late and resigned to picking up crumbs. The buypoint here was last September, though the test of S in June was an acceptable entry. Now you're in the middle, which is the least attractive entry. Similarly, the entry on gold was July 26 (I posted a heads-up the day before). On silver, August 20th. In order to succeed at EOD trading, one has to be ahead of the curve, not behind it. Survey a variety of instruments and select those which meet your requirements for range, volatility, # of shares/contracts traded, or whatever. Then select ten to track. When one or more of them reaches a point where interest is likely to increase, you'll know ahead of time and will be in a position to take the best advantage of it. Otherwise, you're just playing catch-up and picking up bad habits. Db
