sep34

Hi Dinerotrader, Because I use seperate computer for internet browsing and trading or trading platform, I didnt look at more of the data i.e left edge and sometimes that fact can change things....that said. now thats a good looking clear chart.. Thats a good looking chart... and if it can succesfully breakout it has a lot of room to potentialy run, making it a good trade from a business stand point. Since Im not a breakout trader and its because Im not used to buying rallies and nothing more. I would have gotten positioned on and near the trendline touch you have on your chart. last of all, thales brings up an old but vital consideration, no matter how great a stock looks the index futures will influence its movement. When I used to daytrade stocks, a long time ago, I had one eye on the stock and one eye on its index. one of the main reasons why I decided to daytrade futures exclusively.

By the way, I took a few minuts and went through the 4 pages and peeked at all the charts. post #27 has to be my favorit chart (RAIL), probably because its the easiest chart for me to understand.

On the TLAB chart, on previous page last post by Dineortrader, posted I could not see enough of the left edge so i decided to undertake the hard task of opening anew chart and typing TLAB... The key levels on the charts are the locations that I would monitor. obviously, when I looked at more of the left edge the landscape changed.

Hi Dinortrader, Yes regarding TALB(FYI not at al familiar with this stock, but a chart is a chart) I looked at that chart for at most 5min....because I was in a rush to meet someone. Had I had more time I would have added, dont take anything I mentioned too seriously, becuase it was at a glance analysis. Infact at second look I would say, even if we broke below your S and price reached 5.00. I would not be interested in buying, but thats my prefernece. The S you are showing is good solid S (I would have drawn it a little higher but thts not a big deal) the problem that I see is that buyers will have two very near R to push through(the range of apprx. a little below 6.00-6.25) and that would not give me enough wiggle room, thus those type of trades.... although they can be sucessful, I prefer to let them go. Just my prefernce from experience and how much I like to get as my min profit per trade. Now back to your chart I see that big dark candle just barely kissed your S, that big candle should have punched trough the S but it didnt even my S being slightly higher the big dark candle was not able to close below it. There is still no confirmation to take the long trade for me, thus even if i wanted to be long I would need to wait for a confirmation. A few things can happen , regardless if I get a confirmation, price a starts to move up. Price gaps below the S. Price starts to contract creating small candle lines and then another Big dark candle slices right through the S and moves down to fill that gap around 5.25 and possibly testing 5.00. That gap is infact another reason I dont want to be long. at the moment. Different views are what make the markets, dont take my wrtting as direct disagreement. Keep on posting.... For me when I have the time, which is rare, its always fun to do this type of analysis.

Just for the heck of it.... support was at 6.00 and it didnt hold(notice the longshadows that formed trying to hold 6.00). 6.00 is now Resistance and there is another R between 6.00 and 6.25. If I buyt here which I wouldnt, I would keep and eye on 6.00 and a little above that because thats seller will come in again. A turn at 5.00 may be in the cards. Also that recent top looks very majore, but i would have to see more of the left edge.

Lonwolf, Usually if you want to paint the bar it self then a Paintbar study/format is used. You can take a look at existing paintbar studies to get an idea. That said... you can use, for example, a showme to place a market on the bar it self...You would just need to specify which part of the bar to place the marker. Below is a your doji code in paintabr study....I bracketed the codes related to the text plots because you dont need it for the paint bar. //Input: My_TEXT ("Doji"); //Input: Txt_below_bar (15); //Input: Long_Clr (white); //Input: Horizdown (3); //Input: Vertdown (2); inputs: Percent (5); //variables: Text_ID2(0),onetick(0); //onetick = minmove/pricescale; if C_Doji( Percent ) = 1 then begin {Text_ID2 = Text_New( Date, Time, low-Txt_below_bar*onetick, My_TEXT ); text_setcolor( Text_ID2,long_clr) ; Text_SetStyle(Text_ID2, horizdown, vertdown); end;} PlotPaintBar( High,Low ) ; Alert ; end else NoPlot( 1 ) ; { remove the marker }

Agree, infact thats how I learned what little EL I know, however I have several CandleStick patterns that fill up two pages of code, on the other hand, If I knew how to use loops at the time of coding it would have reduce the length of the could to somthing much smaller.

Lonewolf, If I understand you correctly then yes, you can use the same code above and below the code for the doji, in concert with another code that describes another candle pattern and just name them engulfing or what ever via an input. In the past I have coded apprx 30+ candle patterns and use the same text code and inputs (inputs/variables related to plotting the text)that I posted above. By the way,...Im sure you are already aware of this, just in case, the definitions for candlesstick pattern in TS Indicator Library or most books e.g. Nison are very....hmm how to say this....lets just say that they are very humble and thats being kind, an introduction at most.

This is how its done in TS, it should work in MC too. //------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Input: My_TEXT ("Doji"); Input: Txt_below_bar (2); Input: Long_Clr (magenta); Input: Horizdown (3); Input: Vertdown (2); inputs: Percent( 5 ) ; variables:Text_ID2(0),onetick(0); onetick = minmove/pricescale; if C_Doji( Percent ) = 1 then begin Text_ID2 = Text_New( Date, Time, low-Txt_below_bar*onetick, My_TEXT ); text_setcolor( Text_ID2,long_clr) ; Text_SetStyle(Text_ID2, horizdown, vertdown); end; //--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Try Euro EC or Euro stoxx50 (you will find this to be very similar to ES ). If you want more voaltiltiy try the DAX stock index. or if you want to go Asian try the HSI stock index. Worth while to look at the Grains Corn, Soy, Wheat. The grains work really well for US index trader because one can potentially get positioned within the 1st hour of trading (RTH) and then look for potential trades in the Grains as they open a little later then the index futures. The word volatiltiy is used in so many different ways that im not sure exactly in what context you ar eusing it, however the above instruments I find to be good trading vehicles.

1. Have/find a solid edge...They do exist... 2. Have enough screentime monitoring/trading your edge so you know it like the back of you hand and you have good understanding of the markets. 3. Be well capitalized, to not burden your self with unnecessary pressure, which will cause mistakes. 4. sincerely(believe), be able to convince yourself that you will make money from trading. If 1-4 are true then I dont see why not..... yes...most that trade full-time by default had to quit their jobs . That said, if you have 1-3 but you dont have 4, dont quit your job. 4 is the most important ingridient--not just for Trading but in anything. Best Regards

Providing trading education via in-house seminars, invited guest etc. would motivate the new and intermediate , or those that need hand holding traders. providing an atmosphere for networking would be atractive to the seasond trader that suffers from isolation i.e. those traders that are profitable yet they work from home all by themself. From my perspective the only motivation I can see for a seasoned trader to abandon the convenience of his home office is..... 1. To network. 2. To solve the isolation. Which can become a serious problem if its not nipped in the butt sorta speak. From your standpoint as the business owner. you would need to figure out how many clients(traders) you would need to make your business profitable....and figure out if you can get that many clients in your region. For example I live in the DC metro area....not an infamous place for Traders, however the closer to the center of the metro area there is a higher population of traders per capita then there is the farther one moves from that center. My point is that your office space location and how far a client would need to tradvel may be an important consideration. Most seseaond trader are set in their ways and they most likly would want to use their own Hardware/favorit brand of hardware. some would require dual monitor while others would want 8monitors and one Desktopsand one Laptop or multiple desktops etc.. therefor you would need to be flexiable in this area. Regards

Mxcay, Im with zdo, I enjoy Ashraf's material (Ashraf Laidi), good place to start. As for his realtime work on his website....well I will let you decide on your own. Regards

Im on east coast--I make sure to get a good breakfast...for me thats 2 eggs and whole wheat pitta bread..tea or coffee. Lunch is usually some kind of sandwich, however since I dont know when lunch wil be and I trade the entire US session.... I keep a jar of rasins (without any addatives) and another jar of almonds next to me and plenty of water. This will hold me until I find some free time to get a real lunch. Dried fruits sounds good too, as long as its not coated with refined sugars and oils.

These are relatively cheap contracts, in comparision to Stock index futures-min tick is $12.50. If the concern is daytrading margins it really depends on your broker if they will provide daytrading margin or not. Corn is the cheapest contract. price 340's Wheat 2nd cheapest contract. price in 450's Soybean most expensive of the three contracts.. price in the 920's You can get more inforamtion on them at the CME.com, I think they are listed under Agricultural commodities, its been a while since I have visited CME/cbot so im not sure--

One approach, with the general idea that you have described, is to use options-- a straddle or spread option etc.. something you might want to look into if your interested. notably, not exclusively, these strategies are used durring the earning season as volatility is an important factor in the option strategies mentioned. Not to mention that volatility is important to any viable breakout, low volatility periods and chances of being whipsawed are higher.

BF Trades that you think you have got a chance for a home run, trail them by the reaction points they build, either by the interval you used to enter or a higher interval. Off-course you cant manage all trades like that, because not all trades form a trend. Therfeore I dont think the challange is the trade mangment, but being able to distinguish between trades that have a chance of being a home run and trades that should be treated as scalps. This is where what "ant" said becomes relevant and I couldnt agree more with him. Unfortunatley there is no real easy, simple.... one size fits all answer, at least not that I know of. Takecare

Jonbig4, you make a good point....most people are not comfortable with saying they are wrong nor do they like losing Money. Im of the opinon and experience that Trading is not more difficult then other professions, if you look at its challenges as an average rather in isolation or as a whole rather then in isoaltion. Consider the challenge and work that it takes to be accepted in an ivey league law school, e.g. like Georgetwon. While at the same tme balancing a social life and a job. not many are able to a hndle that. But it does not a mke it something out of reach. Consider being a Fighter piolet, its again a very challenging job. in combat you have to make real fast decisions and mistakes can and will cost you your life...at least a mistake in trading you live to trade a another day. Consider a medical surgeon, 1st the have to have incredible endurance to go through many years of school. 2nd they have to have to be very precise, mistake can have grave consequences. 3rd they have to have incredible ability to focus for many hours without a break. many operstions can take 7-8 hours. (this is something many people can not do , focus for that many hours. Lets talk about professional athletes. Do you think the pressure to perform and the psychological barriers that they have to over come are easier then what a pro Trader has to deal with? I dont think so. The examples I gave above are more relevant to profesional Trader that is managing money. Retailers, traders although they have some similar challanges I really dont think they have the same pressure. A 1-20 lot retail trader that that has... 1- A proven edge and has been consistently profitable. 2- Well capitalized. 3- 3-5 years of experience being profitable. ...will have the similar degrees of work based challenge/stress every work day... that an average Attorney, Real State Agent, or Auto Mechanic will face each day in his work enviornment. Note, what I mean by degree of challenge / stress is this... If you measure it on a scalof 1-10 the level of stress and performance output needed and then compare the readings from one job to the next. The only way to believe what I said above is to experience it for your self or ask others that are at that stage. off course many will not want to realize this, because its the alure of something that is out of reach that attracts many to this arena in the first place.

not a personal attack, but, Thats ridiculous. Lets assume that the 95% statistic is real, but that 95% failure rate does not discount all the ignorant reasons why many dont make it. Most of the reasons why some dont achieve the results they like could be avoided if they just used some common sense. When any person allows themself to think that trading successfuly can be accomplished by reading a few books. Then your on your way to easy money, off course they will fail. On the other hand if a person takes the right steps, then their results will be much better. I have never seen a guy read a couple law books and then be allowed to be an attorney. I have never seen a guy read a couple medical journals and then walk into a hospital and say , "ok Im ready to operate on some folks", It willl not be allowed. If they didnt allow folks to trade after a couple of books and with the use of some vien indicators then the success curve would rise. Until that time, for any person that is interested in trading, if you do your home work, put in the time and effort needed well before you ever place your first trade. If you find that you really like trading for the right reasons, not just because you want ot live like the rich & famous. Then I really cant see any reason why you should fail. Another option... If you want to learn to be carpenter then find a solid carpenter that is willing to take you under wing and train you. The same thing can be accomplished with trading. So please, any person that is interested in trading, stop listening to these ridiculous statistics on failure rate, its non sense. Is this a challanging field? Absolutley. Can you fail? if you dont take the right steps, Absolutely. Can you make it as Trader? If you take the right steps, Absolutely. By the way just for some prespective: The National Realstate Association posts a 90+ % Ffailure rate for newbes that want to be a Real State Agent. Many ohter business have simlar failure rates posted by their associations. Lets assume that the failure rate of 95% is true, then being a trader or real state agent is very similar. Thus being a trader is no more difficult then being a realstate agent. I just wanted to make an argument that trading is no different then any other field. All fields have their unique challanges. They all require time and effort. Dont make the mistake of making trading a big deal in your minds.

I wanted to mention some-thing about my last post, particularly regarding short trades in Fridays enviornment. Obviously at some point, be it for each individual it occured at different time, it was obvious that the we broke of a contraction base (consolidation,value, not important what its called) and formed a strong directional price move up. As far as the magnitude of the up move, well, that really depends on each traders analysis. if the traders analysis is telling him that this a trend and should not be faded until xyz occurs then thats what the trader should do, provided that he has confidence in his approach. On a day like today if I was lucky to get positioned long early in the day and later at some point in the day I have good solid reason that we may reverse I will...... A. Dump all my longs once confirmed and look for short reversal trades only. B. Dump some of my long position while at same time scalp the long and short side. C. Hold all my long position while at the same time scalp the short side. For me personally todays price move up which occurred on high volatility, that is something that I only fade if there is a strong reason to do so and only after I have confirmation, some of the reasoning is because of what occured early this week, but the key point is to have a solid reason, else one is functioning from the hip and that does not have a happy ending. That said, timing and good understanding of reversal is key for these type of trades. Therefor if ones timing is not percise the risk is much higher. I tend to test these potential reversal with low risk and at worst make a scalp out of it and at best hit a homerun. In short a little after 1300 est I had enough reason to start consider short trades. After 1300 est, I didnt get the reversal and break, yet I gave it a shot and settled for some modest scalps.

What one should have not done today is...... Take the day off, for it was a nice trading day ( yes I did short today just fine, but the long side obviously was more fun ). When we contract for several days then the best trade opps usually appear. I dont use MP and have little MP knowledge. However, from what little I now about MP, I find it very interesting how much MP principles and my own methods overlap. Even though some of the lingo i.e terms are alien to me the concepts behind the term are not. It takes a long time to learn to trade the way I do, and I could see how benificial it is for new traders to use MP to help them understand markets i.e price action is trying to do. By the way in the MP world what is meant by, acceptance?? All those in the US enjoy the long weekend.

It seems that you are refering to the "Three White Soldier " pattern that is involved with a change of direction i.e. Three consecutive white lines with higher close then the previous line. Simple EL Example -------------------------------------------------------------- value1= c[2]>o[2] and c[1]>o[1] and c>o and c[1]>c[2] and c>c[1]; -------------------------------------------------------------- You can also add " c[2]>c[3] " or other code if you want the 3 white lines to be located at a swing point.

Although, I like listening and being open to methods different then my own, Trading at its simplest form is about shifts in supply/demand. Just dont be surprised, if a simple old school trader was able to consistantly catch these key shifts, without any fancy equipment.

Wow…The indicator discussion. Until a standard definition is adopted there will be no closure on this subject, yet I will bite. Some folks don’t think that a price chart (OHLC bar or candle etc…) is an indicator Some folks don’t think that NYSE tick is an indicator. By my definition…The above are indicators, so too is a market profile; Time based price charts are indicators of Price and Time. Tick, NYSE is an indicator showing the difference of Issues on a up/down tick within a user determined period of time. Therefore, anyone that uses a price chart to trade is using an indicator in my book. I suppose you can have sub-categories for indicators. For example there are a host of indicators that are based on another indicator. For example a Moving average placed on a time based chart is an indicator of another indicator--"the price chart". So when I say I’m a price action trader and use no indicators, what I really mean is that I don’t use any secondary indicators based on my main indicator, e.g. MA’s , oscillators etc., which is a Time based price chart displayed in Japanese Candle Stick. As for the opening post and its author, although detailed information is not given and I cant fault him for such. Everyone that posts on these boards is in one way or another fulfilling some kind of need, and I dont expect him to be an exception. UB offers a unique view and to me that by itself is a contribution and at the very least gets me to think outside my normal Frame of thinking.

Zodo...Great video, thanks BF, although I have never seen the full px90 workouts, from what I have seen they look like a well rounded workout. I have tried everytype of sport and workout.....My favorit is crossfit. You get the same pump as lifting wieghts with the benifit of substance to back it up, sort of speak