Soultrader

Very interesting that you mention that since the pop was also a stop run as well. With pivot point plays most of my entry is based on tape. Although candlestick patterns (entry after the close) produces strong signals, price may runaway from an ideal entry. I like to see sellers stepping in on tape... multiple 10+ lots on the sell side. I interesting pattern is when the tape tries a certain price level 2-3 times just to see sellers step in... in other words you will see alot of prints on the same level but without any price advancement. That information tells me that sellers are not wanting price to lift beyond it. Once the buy side disappears, reversals are often quick. Also look for who is supporting the buy side on tape. Is it small lots? Big lots? Rallies caused by small lots are often rejected swiftly leading to a swift reversal.

Well... whatever works. I am pretty familiar with what gets traded actively and what doesnt on the SSF's. I am able to spot any changes instantly premarket.

The chart below shows a fakeout at the R1 pivot line. Notice the long wick... price lifted because of the few bulls that held their mark at the 12470 level. As sellers stepped off the ask, price popped for a quick 20 points and then REVERSED. The last bulls became trapped in a false breakout move. Notice the lower volume on that test of high/new high. A complete rejection in price and lack of demand. These patterns are extremely powerful to trade in the opposite direction.

I personally pay close atention to the following SSF's: KLAC, AMAT, NVLS, and MXIM. Some SSF's are traded more actively premarket than the others. I keep an eye of the SSF's that are never active premarket but shows significant increases in volume.

Welcome aboard Pippy

Short video on one of my favorite trading setups. A new low on less volume indicates less supply. Follow that by a test of the low on lower volume and you have a nice setup. CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO Charts created by TradeStation

Please check the webinar page on the left hand column. Thanks

Im just posting some of the criteria that I personally use. Each trader should have their own criteria. By premarket SSF, look for any sign of unusual volume. Do you keep track of the average volume of several SSF's? Would you be able to recognize any sign of increase in average volume? If not, you might want to pay attention to it. I also do not understand why you want to look at ES premarket volume to play a gap trade on the YM. Maybe you have other methods that I do not use.

For alot of traders the opening gap is one of the favorite setups to take. Gaps will usually close in the same day, if not they do not remain opened for long. I also like to play the gap fade setups ONLY if market internals and tape support it. Lately the morning gaps on the index futures have been runaway gaps only to rally in the afternoon and fill the gap. Here are my criteria for gap plays: 1. If a market gaps down, in order to fade the gap the TICK's must open up positive. 2. The tape must show strength and the majority of the sectors must not be red. 3. Premarket volume on SSF must not be high. 4. I always note the closest line of resistance. For example, if price gaps down right below a daily pivot it must break above it to initiate a long. This can be a VAH or VAL pivot as well. For fading gap ups. 1. If a market gap ups, I prefer TICK's to open below zero. However, this is not always the case even on down days. Therefore, TICK's may not open above +600. In the first 5 minutes, the TICK must mark a short term high and trend down. 2. The tape must show weakness. 3. Premarket volume on SSF must not be high. 4. Look for any significant area of support before shorting. Criteria on runaway gaps: Gap downs - 1. If the market gaps down and the majority of the sectors are red, I will pass on the gap fade. Instead if price gaps down below a key pivot with TICK's opening below zero, I will go in the direction of the gap. 2. Premarket SSF volume is something to keep in mind but not as important. 3. This is not to say the gap will remain unfilled. This is just an opening play and the markets may in fact rally in the afternoon to fill the gap. Gap ups - 1. If the markets gap up and the majority of the sectors are green, I will pass on the gap fade. 2. When the markets gap up, I keep a careful eye on premarket SSF volume and any premarket price action. 3. Tape must confirm this gap. 4. I like to wait for a test on tape. In other words, I wait for the pop down. Usually price will run down by around 10 ticks then pop back up. Stops & Targets Every trader has their risk tolerance per trade. I personally use a fairly tight stop on this setup from 10-15pts. My targets are usually +10, half a gap fill, and final target being a few ticks before the gap fill. Half a gap fill is usually a good target to book a portion of your profits. If the opening run can not go and fill the gap, this half way line can act as a temporary pivot. Gap fills will also act as an pivot at times forcing price to stop dead in its track and reverse.

Looks amazing keymoo. A very nice upgrade to the current pivot indicator on the boards. I will wait to install until some of the bugs clear up. Great job!

Added a poll

Are you a pure discretionary trader or use an automated system?

Here is an interesting setup I took on the YM today. The doji appears right at R1 (green line). The next bar closes below the doji hence the trigger. The risk:reward is excellent. I was risking 10 points with a stop above the high of the doji. Price then declines to VAH (red line). This was a premarket setup using a 15 minute timeframe.

I use IE7 also.. but it sucks. Pages load slow and when opening multiple tabs the browser will just crash. The previous version was just fine. I like firefox but the only problem is the time it takes to load that browser. IE7 pops up quickly and its a little easier to use than Firefox.

Bill, can you try viewing it again to see if there is still problems? I am viewing it fine from here. Thanks

Its because of the videos. When members are viewing the vidoes it takes up the server load causing delay. I am trying to figure out how to speed things up. I may use a different host just for the videos in the future. Sorry for this.

Without further explanation, this thread is not helpful to members of the trading community. I have closed this thread temporarily. If you like to post personal thoughts on your trades, please use the blog system. Thanks

Yep... update the weekly pivot before every Monday and the monthly before the trading session on the 1st of every month. Clusters are just price levels that line up with each other whether they be pivots, market profile levels, fibs, previous day high/low, overnight S&R, etc....

Your adsense ads are pulling up though Btw... you have to be the thread starter, this is how the system pulls up ads. Until I can get this a little more complex the thread starter receives all the credit.

You can use stops based on technical analysis. If price moves in your favor and breaks a resistance level, move your stop below it, etc... Identify S&R levels, fib retracements, trendlines, channels, etc... and move your stop accordingly. I personally use target points and do not trail. Or I will move stops as price breaches a pivot.

Hi gojun, This might be a little off-topic and I apologize. I see you are located in South Korea which triggered my interest. How is the day trading population in Korea? Has it always been big or is this a recent trend? In Japan, day trading took off in 2006. What markets do most day traders in Korea trade? Thanks James

After identifying that there is lower volume on the test and is right at the S1 pivot, I will enter strictly off tape. I want to see tape prints disappearing off the lows and will try to enter when price comes back 5 ticks or so from the lows. Its pretty impossible to explain in words... I wil try to record this next time. One thing.. I posted a 15minute chart. I trade off the 5min which also showed lower volume on the test.

Heres a chart for YM for 3/27/07. Exact same action as 3/26 with a volume spike and a lower low on less supply. The first, second, and third test are all at the S1 pivot (green line). Volume is alot lower on the second test and even lower on the third. LESS SUPPLY. Took a long at the second and third test at 467 & 469. Im my opinion a safe high probability trade with minimal risk.

Sounds interesting Torero. I had the TL! Groups (similar to yahoo groups) on the forums but took it off because of lack of interest. With the wikipedia, there is a similar function for it on this system that I can install. The only problem is I am not familiar with wikipedia. I noticed TS had it recently (still havent looked into it)... how does wikipedia and a forum fit together? Is wikipedia just a linking system?

Hi Pivot, That is exactly what I had in mind My current question is whether to use the premium member forum viewable by all or only my premium members? I do not want to restrict content to traders. But I do think having an area where contributing members can benefit is helpful. This will in fact keep that specific area clean since the users will already have knowledge of the content on the board. (avoids repetitive questions, etc..) Any thoughts? Thanks