brownsfan019

I think that having to download another program on your computer is a pain if you just want to pop in occasionally. I understand that the new thing is better with all the features, but for those of us that just stop in occasionally I don't want to install another program on my trading computer for that purpose. I could install on another machine but by the time I would get to that computer no one would be in the chat!

Walter - are you initiating the trade on the first break or a close outside the keltner? The 'bands' out there - keltner, bollinger, etc - can work well in the example you gave assuming the bands do not break on false breaks. In other words, having looked at keltners myself, I found many times where price would peak it's head outside the band enough to initiate a trade and then quickly retreat back into the band. Needless to say, that was awhile ago and haven't gone back to any band indicator since.

Mal - the spinning top you have labeled as a shooting star does not necessarily signify the end of the up move. Your candle preceding this shooting star is also a high volume spinning top as well. So you have 2 back-to-back high volume spinning tops on a 60 min chart. One could argue that the spinning top, like a doji, symbolizes an equilibrium in the market, not signifying the end of the current trend. Had you shorted the initial high volume spinning top, there's a good chance your stop was taken out on the next high volume spinning top. And as of the time of your screen shot, you have a bullish hammer as well. Some food for thought.

Pivot - nice chart. Here's what I see - if you are short somewhere into that nice down move, you had about 2 WRB's that gave really nice exits. You guys are taking WRB's into a the next level and for those like me that like to keep it simple, exiting based on visual WRB's is a clean, simple way to go. It's not perfect as I've explained here, but in a move like you've provided here, there's some nice cash made.

When I said you are limiting your upside, that's what I meant - your profits (upside) are limited and your stops could run for awhile... That's bad odds even for a simple guy like me to figure out!

notouch - I do invest in a handful of ETF's, as well as stocks, as well as tax free bonds, as well as CD's, etc. etc. The point of the software would be to look for ideal entry points when adding to an existing position. I understand what you are saying though, that just dollar cost averaging may be the best option and to be honest, I'm not sure what is best.

notouch - great idea; however, some traders like myself are going to focus on our trading first and foremost, not worrying about posting to our TL space page in time so the trade is still considered legit. And if you are a scalper, good luck. There is an element of trust here in order for this to work. Will some fabricate in order to feel good? Sure. But it won't take long to filter them out. I like the idea of real-time posting, but unless James can hook his software into my DOM, I won't be participating in that part of the service. I suppose it's really all about how you trade. Some of my trades I literally have seconds to act. It's hard enough some times getting it into the dom in time, let alone making sure I post to TL. Now, if you are a S/R player, Pivot player, etc. yes, you have plenty of time to get your trades on. Scalpers and traders like myself that go with the current flow just don't have the luxury of doing our job and posting to TL in a way that we don't called liars or cheaters. I think the key here is simple - whatever James puts together must be quick and easy as far as I am concerned. No matter what is designed, we will all use it at the beginning. The true test will be to see how many actively use it 3, 6, 12 mo's down the road. And I'll be the first to admit - I'm great at doing things initially when it's fun and exciting. As soon as it becomes a chore, I'll stop. So this needs to be very user friendly while serving a purpose.

I couldn't agree more. Limiting your upside and knowing stops are going to happen is a recipe for an uphill battle in my opinion.

Walter - I strike while the iron is hot. Hence the reason for my posts supporting trading all day, esp on days when you are creating money out of thin air.

Great topic... I've gone back and forth over the years of taking 2 ES pts and walking away vs. taking everything on the day and my conclusion was that you need to take all your setups as some days are +10 pts and some are +1. This is what I found for my trading. Some days are a gift from the trading gods and other days they are punishing me is what it feels like. On the 'gift' days, I have to take the gifts all day, every day. For example, this morning thus far has been blah on the ES. Just not a ton of movement right now so my short at 8:10am EST hit one profit target and the remaining contracts were trailed out. Nothing exciting. Meanwhile Wed was a day that just kept on giving. And giving. Now if I had stopped at +2 on Wed, I would have literally left a few thousand dollars on the table. And today I am waiting patiently to try to make a few bucks. See the difference? Stopping at 2 just capped my upside and made days like today much more important, which is completely backwards in my opinion. I don't need chop days to become important and weigh heavy in my outcomes. I need days like Wed to be the most important!

EXCELLENT example Nick. Here's the direct link: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/ For example, let's take a look at Kate: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/Kate7hi/ As you can see, Kate has a great profile, with pic's, etc. Very well done. Here's another example - http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/kmberlymartin/ Well done kimberly! Ok, got sidetracked there... Point being that they have a 'body space' area. Maybe TL could have a 'Trader Space' area (along the myspace theme). What a great example Nick. Yes, some of the female pic's are nice, but it should give James a little idea of where this could go. This can turn into a pretty labor intensive project James, so make sure you are prepared (time and money) to do this. I personally don't do things half way, and I would suggest this is an all or nothing deal if you want to take it in this direction. Again, a simple thread or 2 could be started today. Something like a Trader Space area is a big task that would require time and money. At least we got some ideas flowing here!

I tried Worden awhile back and for whatever reasons, I just did not care for it. Maybe I'll take a look again. Stockfetcher was recommended at elitetrader as well and at first glance, it's pretty nice for $8.95/mo. Almost seems too good to be true!

Can anyone recommend a good software package for stocks/etf's that have built in screeners for end of day data? In particular I am looking for a screener for candle patterns. By day I am trading futures full-time, but for retirement accounts and other money, I mainly look at stocks/etf's. It would make that job easier if I had a screener that can go out and find candle patterns for me and bring them back. I just need EOD since these are mainly longer term plays. I'm not particular if the software is web based or installed on the computer, just the screener is important. I currently use MultiCharts for my futures trading. Not sure if it's best to stick with that and find a data provider for EOD stock data or not. Thanks for any suggestions!

James, My first suggestion is run a number of beta designs and get feedback here. This can be a great tool for TL and its' member base if done the right way. It's hard to give much feedback now until we start to see something and then I think the ideas will flow... My suggestions at this point would be: POSSIBLE ENTRY FIELDS: Date Number of trades Number of winning/losing trades Markets traded Gross P&L Net P&L Type of trading (day, swing, scalp, etc.) Blotter screenshot Notes section Misc uploads - charts, pdf's, etc. Now, what you have the programmer do with that info is infinite... It would be neat to be able to run your own custom queries and spit out a chart. For example, say I wanted to search mine and/or others that are trading the ES. Run a query and I could see who's trading the same market as me. Or maybe I want to run a query on my winning % on Tuesdays. You can see where this could go James. From a business perspective, this has the potential to create instant loyalty to TL vs. other forums. You could be providing a product that many traders do not have access to on their own. Something like this project has the potential to create some serious clicks and membership base, which is great for advertising, getting deals for members, etc. It could also justify a new member fee as well. Instead of using a new member fee to get rid of spammers, you can position the small fee as a way to access the software. One other idea James is to chat with the guy from TraderDNA that has posted on the forum somewhere. Perhaps they could provide a 'slimmed' down version of their software for use at TL and in return could place ads in the software that says 'click here for a full version of the software you are using'. Basically a free version with no expiration date. That might be outside the box for most co's, but you never know unless you ask, right? PS Should some of these ideas work for you James, feel free to include the 'revenue sharing' aspect of TL...

My guess is that most people end up at TL after at least viewing ET simply due to the popularity of ET. I'm not saying that means ET is better, but for now at least, ET is a well known forum. With that being said, I think a separate function/area does a number of things: 1) Sets TL apart from all the other trading forums out there. 2) Can provide a very constructive way of documenting your trades, trading progress and receive constructive criticism (which we know is not always present at ET). 3) Depending on how far James takes this, it could really be a major selling point of TL and increase his member base dramatically, which is good for advertising, getting member discounts, etc.

James - simply b/c the P&L thread already exists at et, I would love to see a completely separate area and display. If it's not feasible, the thread idea is a quick and easy option but if you want to make this stand out from the et thread, I would consider a separate area.

I'm sure some combo's of indicators may 'work' but they all will lag, which is what I was commenting on with Walter's initial post. There's no such thing as a leading indicator when it's based purely on past price action. Again, I'm not saying that ADX, RSI, etc can't work, just saying that you will see a lag purely based on what/how the indicator interrupts and presents information.

That's an idea as well coot. Depending on where James would like to take this, we could simply start a Journal section and you can do what I am talking about there. Only problem could be the amount of threads that would be going on at the same time (assuming many decided to do this). The other way to take it is have one area dedicated to this where we all post in one area/thread. I'm game for ideas and suggestions as long as there's an interest and others participate as well. The key in the end is that we keep it constructive. One other idea James - I know you have a blog area, not sure if that's used much or not to be honest, but perhaps this idea can be utilized there. The only problem I have with blogging is that it feels like a chore after awhile.

There aren't many indicators that are based on past prices that don't lag too much... By definition they are going to lag, some more than others I suppose, but lag nonetheless.

A blotter is just a screenshot of your P&L screen with sensitive account info blocked out. You can see some samples here. As for the template and how it spits the info back out, I am thinking where you go to the 'P&L' area or whatever you decide to call it and all the info you need to enter is already there (Date, P&L, etc.) and then the software takes that info and presents it in the exact same format each time for each person so that it's a simple, clean look vs. everyone just kinda typing whatever they want. An example of the output could be as simple as: DATE: # OF TRADES: GROSS P&L: NOTES: The areas that need filled out are hard coded and the user simple enters the info for each area, hits submit and the software takes the coding and presents the info the same way. This might not be feasible in a message board setting, it may need a separate area for this functionality to work. That's a question for your web designer.

James - I guess it comes down to how the actual program and software are designed. For me, it's gotta be quick and easy. I think that's why a simple thread like the one at et has survived for so long. You just post your stats for the day and a blotter if you want to. It's not much, but it's something. I would like to see a template where I can login, enter my info and then the software spits it back out in the same format each time and the same format for everyone else as well. This way you can train your eyes what to look for and scan thru the posts quickly. Ideas for what to include: Date, Number of trades, Number of winning/losing trades, Markets traded, Gross P&L, Net P&L, Blotter screenshot and a notes section. Just some ideas that come to mind this morning.

I think most of us here would agree that holding yourself accountable to someone, some website, etc. is a very valuable tool in your trading business. With that being said, I was thinking tonight about this topic and wondering if there would be an interest here at TL. I thought it best to discuss the idea in the premium area for now and we can decide if/when to open it up more. I guess the first question is - are there others here that would like to be held more accountable? If so, would you entertain the idea of using TL for this purpose? And the follow up if you like the idea - how exactly would we do this? I'm sure some of you have seen the P&L thread over at elitetrader and I personally think it's an alright idea. No matter what we do anyone could alter their numbers, but for those that take it seriously I think we could help each other out. I just remember the amount of accountability I had when I was a stockbroker. It was overwhelming at times actually - reporting your numbers, conf calls, etc. but in the end it was great. You KNEW that if you didn't do your job that day, week or month, not only would you feel terrible, but you would be put on the spot. Perhaps it's not the best 'feel good' method, but it will get your butt in gear, trust me. There's different ways we can take this from serious to casual. We could set up a reward system for those that are consistently reporting their results, regardless of the P&L #'s. We can reward for the greatest earning P&L. Etc. Etc. As we progress as traders, the basic forum functions here are not going to be much interest to any of us in my opinion. I can only talk about WRB's for so long. :p But something that provides an added value will keep me and others coming back even if the other areas of the forum get stale for us. What do you think?

Slider - welcome to the discussion. Give us some chart examples to look at. Pictures say a lot more than any of our words can. And it makes the analysis much easier! If you need a very user friendly screenshot program, I use this - http://www.techsmith.com/snagit.asp

Nice charts notouch. As a candle trader myself (although I don't use daily charts) there could be a very aggressive short based on your shooting star with high volume. Obviously this would be an aggressive counter-trend trade, but there is a potential setup there for sure. I prefer to see some more bearish conviction before taking a short into that uptrend, but for those willing to be aggressive, I could see a short entry with a stop above the double top. I guess I don't have the stomach or nerve to be shorting into this uptrend until there's some more bearish conviction. Of course, if the short works, getting in now is ideal, but I would not be willing to short just yet based purely on the candle pattern and volume.

I don't believe James does not allow you to specify if you are/will be long, short, flat. I posted a couple here recently explaining that I was long and what was going on with the trade. The point here is to share, like you have, but give us something concrete as well. I've posted some charts throughout (as have others such as PivotProfiler) that are very explicit with entries and/or exits. See Walter's new thread as well on the flip trade. There's exact setups and entries posted there. So, I think you can share your basis of trading based off these charts, unless of course you're not quite sure what all those lines mean. :p