jonbig04

took a stop today for -1.5 too lazy to post the chart, unless someone wants it. had a little s/r trouble.

Finished with +0.25. I loved my stop to BE to early and didn't allow the DB to form. Looks like it cost me 3ES or so. My target was 950 and we never got there, so at least it didn't cost me 10ES lol. It's nice to see a level from 6 months ago hold so well. It's been S for a while, but price makes little progress above it. I keep expecting to wake up and find that we have broken down below it and are heading to 926, but it hasn't happened.

I will probably go live soon. As soon as I get used to the new entry technique. I think SIM has played its part. Worst case scenario now is that I don't reach my goal...I doubt I'm going to melt down or anything. I'll give it 2 weeks from today.

notes in chart..............

I personally do not. Of course one cannot say scaling or all in/out is better because it depends on the scales. However I will say that I think a beginner should focus on the entry and the exit. To me, that is challenging enough. If those are taken care of properly, scaling in/out will be a natural progression and matter of preference. I don't think scaling or not scaling should make or break your trading, and I think a lot of beginners assume it does. IMO scaling/trade management should be seen as the fine tuning of a plan that is already anchored solidly in the basics. I think worrying too much about it the beginning is like an aspiring baseball player worrying about who his agent is going to be. Get the basics dialed in and then worried about the good problems: e.g. profit management. I do think the vast majority of scaling is inferior behavior because it is assumed that it will make or break your trading. I think that most people scale out because they are afraid of what they may feel like if they watch the +20 go to BE. That IS inferior. Having said that, many are so skilled that they scale out of losing positions and hold on to the winners. I suppose it all depends on how good you are. I don't scale, because I'm just trying to get my entries and exits right every time. That is enough to worry about, let alone adding 4 more exit points.

I too am an Express fanatic, but it looks like I will make an exception. Thanks BF.

What the hell happened at Friday's close? I just wish it happened during RTH as there was a bounce off of my R level from a few weeks ago. I see that my journal got 1 rating, for 1 star lol. Ouch, that cuts me deep. Anyways I'm working on figuring out these new entries software-wise. I have the chase function figured out, now I just have to figure out the stop limit stuff. I actually had to go out and buy a new mouse as my apple mouse didn't have a clickable-scroll wheel lol.

I know, I've been journal slack. I've had to take care of a few things in the last few days and missed a bit of trading. Luckily it was only a few hours worth and the system is so easy (limit at levels) that its easy to test the data when the level are already in there. Net for the month is +8.75ES, and I was lucky to get that. I thought things were going to get ugly until yesterday morning when we had a reversal right off of that 886.25 level I've been bitching about ( see 5/22 chart). Funny how when I think a level sucks it ends up coming through. Anyways, obviously I'm short of the 20-30 goal and we all know why. All of you have been right all along, despite my wishful thinking. While I don't enter in random place, my stops are too small and the entry itself on the 5-sec isn't PA based. It's more luck of the draw. That's why I missed so many good trades by ticks, I was relying on luck. I'm happy with the zones of S/R that I've been identifying for the most part, though I hope to get better and better at it. Really I should be happy, what if I had that level 2 ticks lower? My net would have improved by +18 and it would have taken me longer to realize the crappyness of my entries. :crap: A TL friend of mine has been kind enough to help me with my entries. Using his suggestions I've managed to create a set of rules that works much better. My stop will now be PA based from 1-2 points. I will waiting and letting the market stop me in. This isn't a magic fix, but it does look like it will perform much better than my crappy entries of this month. In using this technique, I manage to nail 2 of those 5 trades that I missed while only costing me a few points. The exact net difference for this month is +16 which would have put me where I need to be. However I'm not putting much faith in that number, and will rely on next months number to really tell the story. Thanks a million to all those who help me on a continuous basis. Now, I go drink. Tomorrow, more charts haha.

By fractal I mean the patterns and behaviors of the market are equally relevant, and traded the same, regardless of the time frame...more or less.

Here at TL it seems to me that most of us rely on PA to make our trading decisions in one way or the other. Something I am curious about is whether you think the market is fractal in its patterns and general behavior. I have always been taught that it was. However when someone asks me if the economy, or the S&P has more upside or more downside I always tell them I simply don't know. I tell them that I'm a speculator, and there are too many factors going into whether or not the S&P has bottomed for me to make a sound guess. Of course if the market is truly fractal, I would be able to perform the same analysis (right or wrong hehe) on the macro picture of the S&P as I during the day or week. But I can't. DB mentioned in another thread that he didn't think the market was fractal. Is the market fractal? Can we perform the same analysis on 60 minutes of data as we can for 60 years of data? Just looking for thoughts and opinions.

Well said, that's what I'm planning on doing today. I still doubt I'm going to be waiting for all that much confirmation, but I'm being shown some new strategies that hopefully will help me not be at the the mercy of luck so much.

I'm not upset about the charge, its you prerogative. Like I said, I would have paid 10x as much for it. I was simply telling you how I felt and my thought process, wrong or right. I'm not attacking you, my comment about your attitude sometimes is something I've been meaning to say. You can write it off, maybe I'm wrong. Whatever floats your boat. About the money, I still do want to make boatloads and fast, that's why I'm here. I'm not here to wax philosophical about the market and all its complexities. I'm here to work my ass off for however long it takes. Make no mistake I will get to exactly where I want to be, that much I can promise you. I realized than how long it may take, and I realize now how much work there is still to do. You can say what you want about me (others have ), but I work hard and I'm disciplined in my pursuit. All I did was tell you that I think your attitude sometimes stinks, you can't take the criticism and then attack my trading (not saying my trading doesn't need it). Doesn't that prove my point? Judging by your reaction, I would expect that this isn't the first time something like this has come up. Anyways I've spoke my piece, its obvious you don't want to hear what I have to say and that's fine. I don't wish to feud with you and be combative in all the threads that we both are in etc. It was not my intention to offend, but obviously I did. However i will say that I've shown nothing but gratitude (except for our disagreement in that one thread) ever since I've bought your book and have been here. Regarding my journal I appreciate all the comments that are added, even the ones that don't make sense to me. I don't see eye to eye (trading wise) with a lot of people here, so some things I take with a grain of salt, but its appreciated nonetheless.

Nice, thanks for that. I do hope it made you feel better.

I'll keep this somewhat short as to not jack the thread completely lol. I don't think we hold different views on trading, at least that I'm aware of. The thread that you mention, I will be completely honest about it now, as I really wasn't then. I was really trying to figure out what seperated the traders that make a little from the traders that make a killing. I don't know how much you make, nor is it any of my business, but what I learned and what the point of that thread was is this: if you are well capitalized and have and edge and have been trading for years, there is no reason you shouldn't be making millions all the time, daily weekly etc. The the fact that you charged me for your e-book led me to believe, rightly or wrongly, that you weren't. I'm speculating here, but I would venture a guess that maybe, just maybe, the reason you didn't take kindly to that thread is because you still have some mental barriers to overcome yourself. I could be dead wrong, you could make $10mil a week, but thats my guess. I don't say that to be an ass, but it was the conclusion I came to. It is my honest opinion that the departure you mentioned was me brining up a valid point that perhaps you didn't want to hear. I could be wrong though, thats just the feeling I got. So many great traders with so much knowledge, yet they only take a pittance of what is available to them if they really have an edge. Why? Because its mentally difficult. That is why I started that thread. Now, trading with Anek I've been able to see first hand just how much money people can and do make on a consistent basis. Not just because of how much they know, but because they are disciplined and fearless too. I am not a cash profitable trader. My setups are easily defined, I could do it in just a couple lines. I have changed a few things over time. The biggest (and best) change I made was to look for the same setups in a larger time frame. As far as backtesting, man oh man have I done my share. However just to illustrate a point I will explain why I'm not raking in the cash haha. I've been SIM profitable for a while, so why not live? Easy, the answer is confidence. Not to get too personal, but since I delved into your mental arena its only fair that I explain mine. I used to be the most confident person around. I graduated high school and spent some time as a broker, learned the finance ropes and then got involved in real estate. Anyways because I was tenacious, knew finance and lived in a bubble area I was able to leverage the hell out of what money I had and make large gains. Blah, who cares right. anyways, long story short when everything melted down I lost a $700,000 house, a car, ruined relationships with family members, and was left by a girl I thought I was going to marry. now I have to spend quite a bit of time convincing myself that I'm not a complete failure lol. I'm only 21, but understand I was used to a 6 figure income now I'm down to 0 lol. Anyways, worse things have happened to better people but my point is that the reason I'm not making money this second is because I lost confidence in myself. It's mental. I knew, from that thread, that the market would sniff out any weakness I had. I had one. Obviously this is not the kind of thing I put in a log, and may perhaps answer a lot of questions for the people who have been reading it wondering what the hell I'm doing SIM lol. Now I have been live a few times for fun, and I was fine. But when I'm 100% sure of my edge and I have been doing it live for a month or so, I consider the journey almost complete. I may have lacked confidence before, and it may not be so great now, but I know myself. I know that when I have the advantage and am sure of myself there will be no limits to how much I can make. Just as I did as a teenager. Now I won't be a millionaire overnight, or within the first year-but it won't be long after that. Because I'm conquering my mental demons now. The last few months have been about me gaining the confidence I once had, because as you always say sometimes trading involves mental therapy. I had to sort out issues with myself. This has set me back quite a bit. I'm pretty sure I started a year ago, but it could be slightly more. But as I said before, besides my pysche problems, I'm pretty sure I have followed your steps. Our main departure is that I believe (based on what I learned and saw with Anek) that one only needs a simple edge, a simple advantage and the confidence and discipline to trade it. Does that make us so different? I do wish you would follow my journal, at least the last few pages. I'm not killing it yet like I'm sure you do, but I think I'm darn close (damn entries). I would love your feedback on how to improve my entries. Whew its late and I've rambled for long enough.

OK I am moving my stop to BE after +2ES. I hope you all are happy at this weakness lol. It's less profitable, but in interest of a smoother curve (while in cash), its worth it.

No I haven't tried that exactly, but I have tried re-entering when I think a stop run has occured. Its helped. As far as reducing targets, I wouldn't dream of it. There are consistent 10-13 point ES moves to play with.

Well I would like to think so lol. I'm trying to fine tune my entries, so its part of that process.

Grr, one thing that keeps annoying me is whether I'm trying to nail the price or the time. I would like to get it at the top with the short, not wait for it to start falling and get fill in some random spot. If you wait for 3 bar or something don't you end up in the middle of nowhere with bad fill? For example, in the attached pic I would like to be in at the first blue arrow, not the second. Because the first one is where R really was, entering below it just because you see price falling mean means your stop is either really big (not acceptable) or your stop is in the middle of nowhere and can easily be wiped out. however, the second arrow provides more confirmation. Anyways for me personally, I want in at the first one.

I've been ignoring this tussle for a while now, but IMO You all have valid points. DB has been very helpful and informative, but one can never be too careful when taking advice from someone on the internet. How long it takes to "make it" as a trader probably has a lot to do with whose advice you take and whose advice you leave. One of the very first things I ever read on trading was DB's E book, and God knows how much time it took off of my learning curve. I was skeptical at first because I did have to pay for it. I believed then, and still do, that if you are a great trader the few dollars for an E book really won't mean much. I've been tutored for free, and I see now that I was right. Great traders make so much damn money that one should be skeptical when it comes to buying something. Yet I knew there was a lot of BS to sort through and I really wanted to get to what mattered. DB helped me do that, and if I had to do it again I would spend 10 times as much. However, I don't care for the particular sanctimonious way in which he often addresses many others. I think his teaching would be more effective if he was a little less dismissive in the way he answers questions and speaks to us noobs. We realize it took you a long time to get to the place you are at DB and we respect that, but that doesn't mean it will take us that long-thanks in large part to people like you. So give us a break, cut us some slack and remember you are never to old to learn. Also, IMHO ( and I do mean humble) a lot of the information you give, while great stuff, isn't immediately necessary for becoming a profitable trader. it would be nice if you prioritized it so noobs could focus on the most important stuff first.

Yea, yea nobody knows, every one is different etc etc I figured it would take me a year to get from not knowing what a future was, to trading cash profitably (notice I didn't say getting rich). I'm coming up on that mark, and I think I should be pretty close. A year from that point and, well lets just say the expecs are high lol

yea thats true, Im through adjusting for the most part, its simply not going to make that big of a difference (though I may do some profit curve stuff). entries are what im gonna work on now, and like I said I dont think its a matter of stop size, just screen time on the 5 sec

Usually the results do match, with the possible exception of this month (remains to be seen). So far, I am off track by one of those 3 trades I missed by 2 ticks each. If any one of them had worked I would be right where I want to be, so hopefully I can pull it together next week. You're right though, back testing PA is too difficult, takes too long. The real test is in real time. So lets consider this month my first forward test. So far, results suck, I think I'm up +5ES or so. but I'm not keeping track that much yet. Anyways my goal is 20-30. Cool thing about r/r is that's basically 2 good trades. We'll see how next week goes. If I don't pull it off, well I know where the weak point is: entries. With 40 something ES points lost to entries that were off by 2-4 ticks, I think I can safely say I'm close. Agree?

Also, it may have more to do with S/R than it does the 5 sec chart.

I will be exploring various options this weekend about my entries and will post my results. As I said before though, I have a suspicion there isn't going to be an easy way to do this. It may just take a lot of screen time.

Price action is about the action of price, it doesn't really have anything to do with whether you wait for entry confirmation or not. There's nothing wrong with entering without confirmation, that's how you get the best fill. If you want to wait for X to happen at S/R than that's cool too, but it has nothing to do with whether you used P/A to determine the S/R in the first place.