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The series was very bizarre and perplexing to me. I can't relate relate to their trading style and strategies (which are governed by the gut, primarily). In addition to that, it's typical reality trash at times, which some people quite enjoy. I'm sure the producers were eating up all the drama. I got a chuckle on the results, especially since they were mostly in cash, so it's expected that they couldn't win or lose all that much. Trading doesn't have to be like that. And a lot of the "wisdom" they impart makes for good TV, and that's about it.

I've yet to find an instrument that doesn't yield well to Wyckoff analysis. In its core, it's simply a study of supply and demand to analyze trends, congestion (or simply, lack of a trend), support, and resistance. These dynamics exist in all liquid, free (as in market), and tradeable instruments. As for the reason, I've found that ES tends to mess around for a while. I used to trade it exclusively, but found I like the personality of NQ better. Tick size is also smaller, so I can use smaller stops (my average initial stop loss is around 1.25 NQ). I would be able to go back without any problems, though.

Yep. Price gave several scaleout opportunities for the short. And on the long, there were several decent spots to add or initiate a position if you didn't catch the bottom real time (I didn't). I got in at the springboard shortly after the bottom. Volume spiked as price broke the 08 area again (longer term zone), and then entered a period of sideways congestion as volume tailed off. On top of that, you have the bounce off of S to the lows, and a series of hh's and hl's (a trend up). The circled areas are places that I'd enter. Logical stops on both are at 07.00-07.25.

Sure thing. Cows, no one besides us who have access to Chat Junkies can see that attachment, I believe. Might want to reupload them.

Yep. Price gave several scaleout opportunities for the short. And on the long, there were several decent spots to add or initiate a position if you didn't catch the bottom real time (I didn't). I got in at the springboard shortly after the bottom. Volume spiked as price broke the 08 area again (longer term zone), and then entered a period of sideways congestion as volume tailed off. On top of that, you have the bounce off of S to the lows, and a series of hh's and hl's (a trend up). The circled areas are places that I'd enter. Logical stops on both are at 07.00-07.25.

I'd stay away from extremely elementary books (For Dummies, etc), but that's just me. I think Dbphoenix's book gives a wonderful intro to markets, personally. No, but that's a good place to start. Anything you can find by Wyckoff is good (and we have our very own Wyckoff Forum here devoted to his original stuff).

Here are the five that had the most impact on the way I trade today: The Richard D. Wyckoff Method of Trading and Investing in Stocks. This is incredibly difficult to find, so if you cannot, read Studies in Tape Reading by Richard Wyckoff, along with the available material in the Wyckoff Forum. (Inexpensive, or free) Wyckoff lays a strong foundation for an understanding of market action, supply and demand, and support and resistance. My Feeble Attempt to Understand the Market by Dbphoenix. ($30, and is worth quite more) Dbphoenix, well known here, relays much of his market wisdom and approach. This book is non-linear, and is comprised of sections dealing with different aspects of market analysis. Phantom of the Pits by Art Simpson (Free) The Phantom, an anonymous successful pit trader, and Art Simpson converse about the Phantom's rules in trading. These rules build the foundation to solid trade management. When to Sell by Justin Mamis (~$20) Mamis details his method for managing risk and protecting against losses. His texts are slower reads, and full of trading gems. For a most philosophical continuation on risk, pick up The Nature of Risk as well. Zen and the Art of Poker by Larry Phillips (~$6 used) Phillips focuses on the inner game of Poker, which applies directly to the inner game of trading. Before you can master the markets, you must master yourself. This isn't a book on poker rules or style, but rather about risk management. Note that none of these hold any secret keys to the markets. None contain secret setups that can be effortlessly and easily traded. However, the knowledge inside was absolutely invaluable to my own trading success.

Hot damn, you have a trading prodigy on your hands. Question, out of curiosity: why did she scale up size already? Isn't she quite leveraged as is? While it looks like she's had some mighty fine instruction, she's on an amazing run. Congrats man.

Thanks for sharing this. I know several people wanted a more in-depth description of what you do. Perhaps you might be able to show some real-time analysis of these concepts this coming week? As you know full well, annotating a chart in hindsight is very different from being able to do the same thing real time (which is very different from being able to act on observations).

What about something like this, which happens more often: A R area is discovered, and is later tested and becomes S, and then breaks. Do you trade the flip, even though it may have been a while since test? For purposes of this exercise, pretend this chart represents an hour, one day, and one week. How do you trade it?

Neither of these terms (or direct concepts) were used by Wyckoff, but rather were added later in the Stock Market Institute course. You'll likely have to poke around elsewhere to get that answered.

It's a colored moving average (based on slope), nothing special. Save your money. Notice all the hindsight trades it shows are on trendy days. Not a surprise, because you'll get chopped to death following it almost every other time.

From your previous post, I thought you came to the conclusion that indicators aren't needed, that one could simply follow price. Did this change, or do you just enjoy making new indicators?

I have the 1937 version. In addition to your list, there is an addenda that talks about Wyckoff's Coaching, mistakes a client made, a daily procedure, and quick conclusion. Material wise, you aren't missing anything. In addition to this, there is also a (followup?) course called "The Richard D. Wyckoff Method of Trading in Stocks: A Course of Introduction in Tape Reading and Active Trading". It is nearly 100 pages. Not sure if the LOC has this too, or what the copyright status is. I can look into this if you wish. If it is public domain, I will have this digitally restored as well.

According to the Library of Congress, it's all public domain. If someone has additional evidence contradicting that, let us know. A possibility is that the copyright could have been handed to the public domain when Alma Wyckoff died. Interestingly, it appears all the copyrights that were renewed were from 1924-1934. The 1937 version was never renewed.

Trading hinges isn't that hard, but there's a few things you can pick up that'll increase your chance of success. I had already quit for the day, so you're about to see some class A hindsight. I've plotted price (15s bars, but it doesn't matter how you view it), and volume (with a MA - gasp! - so it's a little easier to see the average volume). It's sometimes difficult to get a picture of what volume is doing when it's so spiky. I highlighted the first time "hinge?" would enter my mind. From then on, I want to see volume dying off, and price coiling. Volatility sure drops off, but volume sicks around. The original lines I would have drawn are broken at 11:52, but volume was trash. Let's say, however, I was jonesing for a trade, and I took it. I'd be stopped in at 72.00 or 72.25. Initial stop is 71.00. Price waddles around the entry for 3-4 minutes, which would probably be enough to get me out for a couple ticks in the red. However, if I was stubborn, the push down at 11:56 would get me. A stop out isn't the end of it, so I might be inclined to keep watching. Unfortunately, I'd scrap the idea at 11:59 or 12:05 due to the range it's holding and the volume spikes (which are fine... if price actually moves). Otherwise, you have both sides blowing their loads before any movement. It's lunch, what do you expect? The reason I get particular about hinges is because the difference between a setup that almost always works (and works very well) and one that "often" or "sometimes" works is the small things. Another tip is that I like the midpoint to get some reaction. In this case, no one cared. So no, I wouldn't have taken it for that shakeout (or after). If I ended up short in that shakeout down, it would be because the congestion broke out. And firewalker brings up an excellent point about support being so close.

That was for people who don't have it. For myself, I'd just like to see it in book form for those who want it. It's condition is pretty bad (especially the charts), so before that happens, it would need to be restored.

I have a half decent OCR, and it gets most of the text. A few spots need to be corrected, and if the job's worth doing, I'd also want to redo the layout, fitting the text on a normal size page (and moving the footnotes around accordingly). That might take a little time, in addition to the charts (which will take a while).

Interesting, that's great news. What kind of interest do you think there is for this? I'd be willing to pay someone $10/hr to retype this (along with restoring the charts) if enough people wanted it. I'd love to see this thing in book form. edit: Tentatively found someone willing. This might be a longer term thing, though, so if you want it soon/now, Flojomojo's your best bet.

I've forwarded this information to Fraser Publishing, which has done an excellent job keeping older works in print (by Mamis, Wyckoff, Neill, Schabacker, etc). I'd absolutely love to see this in book form. Thanks for the tip!

Something to play with.. I started writing a PnF implementation for NinjaTrader, and am not sure how to allow someone to set box size (since the period is only one variable, which I made the reversal size). However, I actually like what came out. Not sure if I'll ever use it, but you guys can mess around with it. It's similar to a Range chart, but a new bar is not drawn if the direction is the same. Wave 2 tick Wave 10 tick Wave 20 tick WaveBarType.zip

You are absolutely correct. A change in volume signifies a change in interest. Volume is simply the number of contracts exchanges, each with a buyer and seller. Price is moved by an inequality between buying pressure and selling pressure, which may happen on little (or a lot) of volume.

The problem isn't finding a strategy that works every day. Successful trading is simply the exploitation of an edge. Therefore, if it is profitable or not is only the outcome. Most of my losing trades were great trades, and I'd take the exact same setup again. If being green every day is a must for you, you probably will need to make many trades in a day to put the statistical odds in your favor. Finding a strategy (with an edge) that will allow this isn't all that hard. There are a couple methodologies on these forums that I know for a fact can be very profitable. However, a trader is usually his own worst enemy. The time spent and length of your journey becoming proficient is largely up to you.

Lied about the whole tomorrow thing. Whoops. Has anyone else noticed any problems? I think I'll post it for TL tonight or tomorrow. By the way, if any of you guys need monitors, Dell's running an excellent deal. 23" full HD Samsung for $180. I'm switching out my 19" for this one.. Dell : Samsung Samsung 2333SW 23-inch Widescreen Black Flat Panel LCD Monitor : Displays : Small & Medium Business

Makes sense. Please don't interpret my critique as knocking the idea behind it. Sometimes it helps to pay attention to the surrounding area and avoid tunnel vision. Yeah, the traverse down was a down trend, but we're also in a larger congestion area, so your pullback, which normally would have been a good idea, was right into S. As for the stop... As you probably know, I don't follow ORL or ORH (though they might be wonderful, wouldn't know). My argument is that if ORL/ORH was decent S/R, I'd notice it anyways (as a perfect example, I got the 910 from weeks before, with a test today). Next, you placed your stop assuming the trade would work. But stops are for when they don't . Especially on flips, you want it tested before you could bank on it helping you out. Right when it's being broken (or "fought for"), the whole area is fair game. As for "acceptance", price wasn't rejected (look at the highs and other lows). Sure, they were fighting, but bulls weren't rolling over so quick (which is exactly what you want to see for a breakout). There's no need to over complicate things, so if none of this resonates with you, save it for a rainy day.