brownsfan019

One suggestion Abe - I realize many would say that multiple timeframes is a good idea. And the idea behind it sounds good; however, when trading on a VBC (esp a low setting) it's VERY, VERY difficult to monitor multiple VBC's and/or minute charts. It's just difficult for one person. You are going to miss plenty of setups b/c you were watching the 3 minute, meanwhile the VBC fired off a signal. And vice versa. I am going to suggest that if you like the VBC, JUST use that for now. And just one setting. The lower the number, the quicker, so adjust from there. The key here Abe is develop a 2nd sense for your market and your chart timeframe. In other words, if you have a 1250 VBC on the YM up, you should be able to tell w/o looking if the volume is light or heavy and if the day is typical or not. You should find yourself saying 'Wow, look at this action' or 'this is dead'. You can add multiple timeframes and charts later. Right now, get a feel for the VBC or 1,3 minute chart as that seems to be where you gravitate to. And that's fine! Run with it! You may like more action like me. Trading 13 times a day may seem like a lot now, but if you can create a profitable strategy trading 50 times a day, do it! With the recent volatility, I am in the 50-100 trades per day arena currently. And to be perfectly honest, it's fun for me. Granted this is not about fun, but if you can have fun AND make money, I'm all for it. Taking 1-5 trades per day just does not interest me. And that's part of the game - finding what interests you and then making money at it.

That's part of the problem - there is SO MUCH stuff out there!! Books, google, dvd's, etc.... it's a lot, we've all been there. That's why I suggest finding one thing that you can just play with consistently for a few days and see if you like it. For example, on your lower VBC charts, I remember seeing quite a few candlestick trades. Now, if you want a high volume amount of trades, there could be something there. I have no idea if it will be profitable, but it's a building block. You've also looked at when there's 2 red candles, go short. Again, something to possibly build on. I could see a VBC possibly working here b/c you will catch the monster moves, it's just a matter of how choppy it gets during slow periods. In the end, it's about finding an 'edge' or probability so that you know over time, you will make money. We all lose, it's a matter of do you recoup your losses and then some or not.

I agree. There is no rhyme or reason here Abe, and while I understand you are still testing stuff, starting to develop some sort of pattern is the only way you are going to see if you can make money. If you like candles, oscillators, buying on new highs, selling on new lows, etc. - just try to do the same thing over and over for at least a full day or two to see if you like it. Right now, I'm not sure what you could say has worked or not worked. It's more a coin toss in my opinion. Just find something and play with that one thing, whether it be candles (which the candlestick corner here on TL can help), oscillators (just search on Google for the thousands out there), price and volume, moving averages... Something to focus on and see what you think.

Abe, Many traders utilize volume in their trading and I would recommend you watch it more closely. Tin gave you a great example. That's part of the reason why I love VBC's since that volume is already represented in the candle itself - in terms of size AND how quickly/long the candle takes to print.

As I've posted before, I am a big fan of MultiCharts... up until Monday. I am using Open ECry for my data source and as another thread stated, OEC did a fairly substantial upgrade that became mandatory last Friday. Apparently vendors, such as Multi and Sierra, were given plenty of notice and MC is now telling me maybe next week it will be compatible. Well, I obviously can't wait to see when MC might get around to it. The short story is this upgrade required charting co's to change their dll's to work better with the new OEC upgrade. So, if you are using Sierra, I'd love to hear the good and bad. I am demo'ing it now, but you can only tell so much at first glance. My charts are basic, I just need a reliable and stable platform that does not lag in real-time. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Sierra!

If you are interested in checking out some of the hedge funds and CTA's out there, click this link to register @ Barclays for free access - https://www.barclayhedge.com/cgi-bin/site/new_user.cgi?btg_trk=IEB-DATAFINDER-LAUNCH07&uri=/cgi-bin/baid/login.cgi The catch is that you will only see a small snippet of the full reports, but I found it interesting to view some of the funds and CTA's out there to see what kind of numbers are being reported.

Blu, The speed of the chart is a consideration, so it really depends on how well you pick up on seeing the patterns in real-time. As Mark said, focusing on a small number is a good way to start. As you read Nison's materials, you'll see other patterns by default. Don't ignore them, but focus your energies on a small handful for now and learn them inside and out. And remember - recognizing the pattern is the first part. You still have to define stop placement, entry placement and profit target(s). We'll talk about this in another thread when I have some more time to put it together. For example, in your 3rd chart, there were 3 very profitable trades there. The question then becomes, what profit did you extract and why? Did you take the first hammer and then just let it ride or were you able to trade all 3 hammers and make 3 profitable trades as a result?

Blu, That is a great book. It will require you to re-read it a few times before it starts to come together. You'll get out of it, what you put into it in my opinion. And then recognizing patterns in real-time is key, even if you don't trade them live. Who knows, you may just end up liking those hammers after all!

blu, Thanks for sharing your charts. I've highlighted in yellow all possible candle patterns that I see on your chart, not looking at anything else. Couple questions: 1) What market is this? 2) What tick setting is this? Analysis: first 2 signals worked well, choppier after that. Analysis: 5 trades, 5 winners. Analysis: 5 trades, 4 winners. 3 beautiful green hammers on what some may call pullbacks or retracements.

FYI - you can 'trade from the chart' with Open ECry as well.

I would suggest that when trading on a ONE minute chart, you can afford to wait for the close.

Abe, Looks like that time, the red hammer was a good long signal there. Just an observation.

Well, there you go. Enough said.

Here's what you need to understand Abe - the current price already reflects any information CNBC could possibly be trying to explain. They are not sharing anything with you that the market has not already priced in. If you think it's helping your trading, so be it, but I'm having trouble seeing how it helped with 2 losing trades this morning. As James said, not quite sure why there were 2 attempts to go long, outside of CNBC giving you a feeling the market was going up.

James, So what are you up to lately? I pieced together a few things, but not sure if you clearly explained what you are trading, where, for who, etc. Just curious what you are up to since you were a die hard YM trader and now you are not trading it.

Abe, Maybe one day you will take our advice here and TURN THE TV OFF.

AB or ER2 are the common symbols.

Nick - do you actually like the music or the chick singing? ... hmmmm... Right now Korn is my top band. Some Korn for your listening pleasure COMING UNDONE (MY FAVE) Y'ALL WANT A SINGLE FREAK ON A LEASH ALONE I BREAK MAKE ME BAD KORN AND THE CURE, UNPLUGGED. I THINK THIS IS SWEET!

James, Don't let the big bad ES intimidate you. I think it's just like the others, but with more volume. As you want to trade more and more volume, the ES is the most liquid so I think it's a good market to trade.

I highlighted in white possible trade setups looking just at candles and nothing else.

Nvesta - what has your backtesting shown? Is today going according to plan or did you stray? Taking one losing day (and it's not nearly over yet) and quitting is going to get you nowhere fast, except a smaller account each day.

Do me a favor- give me the screenshot again w/o your circles so I can see it a little clearer. Thanks.

Abe, I am going to strongly suggest you get a book or two on trading with candlesticks. Just looking at a few of these charts, I think there's some great trading opportunities in front of you if given the right tools.

James_gsx, It looks like to me that you lack the motivation at times to be serious about your trading. And that's fine at your age. I don't recall your exact age, but I believe you are a teenager or thereabouts. It's ok to jump around from things at your age. That's part of growing up. The markets are not going anywhere. Right now you should try a few different things and see what you like the best. If it ends up the market is where you want to be here, she'll be here with open arms waiting for your return. With that being said, it looks like when you are dedicated to your trading that you have your stuff together. If you find that trading is what you want to do seriously, you have plenty to build off of. In my opinion, you are light years ahead of kids your age. I wish I had learned of TA and all that when I was in high school or college. Don't stress to much about this James, just enjoy your time as a young adult. It goes by WAY too fast. Before you know it, you'll have a mortgage, wife and kids to feed.

Good trading Abe. Decent movements already in the first 6 min's. That's the beauty of a VBC - I am in trade #4 already this morning and so far, so good. With a 3 minute chart, I'd be staring at 2 candles. I have 19 candles on my VBC. :woah: