mead

I'd like to have a go at this also. Based on what I've picked up from this thread and others Steve has contributed to, here is what I'd say: first off, it is important to remember Steve has never suggested a person place a trade based solely on supply/demand nodes. To follow his example, we need to be looking for confluence of: 1) supply/demand nodes, 2) volume profile levels, 3) time based pivots, and 4) tape reading. There may be other things he incorporates, but these have been mentioned several times. Now, to look at this morning, last week's high was 1314.50, so we came up and tested that high (a time based pivot). Yesterday's value area high was 1313.50, so we tested it and took it out by a couple points (something institutions like to do) (a volume profile level). And on my 60 min. chart, there was a node of supply around 1313.50 to 1312.50 (from 3/25). So we have all that confluence going for us. I cannot speak to tape reading, that is something I just have not yet been able to wrap my brain around. As to where one might find support, remember - it is confluence we are looking for, not just a support node. As I type, the Globex is forming a base right now. As I look at my different timeframe charts, I see on my 30 min. chart a possible area of prior support from 3/24 in the 1302.50 - 1301 area. I am not aware of a time-based pivot corresponding to this level, but I may be missing it. Right now we have 1301.75 as the current weekly low, so we could use that if it is tested. And as to why today's opening price wasn't defended? Ahhhh, if only it were that easy!

Thanks so much for these posts. They have been incredibly helpful, and I really appreciate all the time you've taken to post and answer questions. .....and I hope your employer will change their mind and let you post some more! Happy holidays.

Hi steve46: I've attached a chart below and am interpreting it with the "price/time pivots" I've learned from your posts. Would you please give me an idea of I am on the right track, or totally off base? Starting out the week, I've identified the weekly open of 1240.50 and the weekly low made Sunday. I considered it a concern when on 12/14 @ 11:30 pacific time we tested the weekly high from the 13th (which also became the monthly high), but were unable to take it out. From there we came down to test the weekly low from Sunday, making a slightly lower low on 12/15 (which would have been a fine place to buy); however on 12/15, once again we were unable to even get as high as the weekly and monthly high. And we ended up coming down the the weekly low, testing it, and again....so far, it looks like a fine place to buy - although the fact that tomorrow is Thursday, we've already tried to establish a new weekly high on Tuesday and Wed and were unable is concerning to me. I checked volume, and it looks pretty decent compared to recent days. I thought perhaps if today's action were on low volume, it might explain why we're just staying in this range - but as I said, I thought volume looked pretty good. I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions you might have regarding my analysis. Thank you.

Yes, thanks, that helps a lot.

Thanks for your reply Steve46. For some reason, my data shows price for the test of the weekly open on the 9th much higher than 1221.25 - but again, possibly due to the contract change. Anyway, I have a couple more questions, if you don't mind. First, I noticed that price went through (below) the weekly open several times prior to the 9th - in the overnight session on the 7th - 8th, and once during the morning on the 8th. My question is, doesn't having price go through the weekly open several times make it less significant when it tests it on the 9th? And second: When you start the week on Monday, do you still reference the past week's open, high, and low? If so, at what point in the week would you shift from looking at the past week's #'s, to the current week's #'s? Thanks - I am enjoying your posts very much!

steve46: What are you using as the weekly open? I am trying to reproduce your chart, using the weekly open starting Sunday afternoon and starting Monday morning. Either way, my weekly open is not what you're showing. There was a contract change last week, and perhaps that is why? But anyway, what do you consider the "weekly open" - Sunday afternoon, or Monday morning. Thanks for your posts.

I thought so too - so I googled commercial data vendors (as opposed to retail, which is what I figure I am), and went to the companies websites which appeared to cater to the upper end. What I found was that most of them talked about being low latency, but I didn't find them saying that they provided different types of information.

Right - that is what I was thinking, and that is why I asked the question (and I'm thinking I asked it of the wrong person when I asked it of TradeStation) "if all the data is coming from the CME, wouldn't all these different data vendors be providing the same inputs....which can be found in the time and sales window?" I was told yes, that is true - they are all giving time of trade, price, contracts traded (size), and whether it is at the ask or at the bid. But based on what you are saying, it is just not true - different feeds provide different input values. Any further clarification you could provide or to point me in the right direction would be most appreciated. Thank you.

I was curious about this second data feed and called TradeStation as the CME is now reporting trades down to the millisecond. I asked them if they were now reporting trades to the millisecond as their data comes from the CME. I was told that indeed, that is the case - their data comes from the CME so their data is now reporting down to the millisecond. I understand that there is no "millisecond chart", so the data needs to be compiled and made into an indicator which can then be put on a volume chart - but if this is the case, I don't understand the need for a 2nd datafeed. I followed up with one more question to TS, and that is - if all the data from the different vendors (CQG, DTN, E-Signal, TS, etc) comes from the same CME feed - isn't it all the same data and what's the difference? I was told that there would be no difference, it's all the same data, and the raw data is shown in the time & sales window. I must be missing something or am told wrong if you say there is a need for a 2nd datafeed. Could you please enlighten me a bit on this? Thanks so much.

Thanks for the additional info MtnDog regarding MarketDelta. I've been watching the spikes on the VB indicator, using tick momentum for total trades/ticks on a 1000 volume chart. Today, for example, there were spikes at 5:30 and 7:00 pacific time. My overall impression is that this is just not that close to Urmablume's indicator - unfortunately.

Tooker used MarketDelta, specifically the volume breakdown indicator to mimick the programming.