notouch

One reason I prefer trading the longer term timeframes is that the stress of scalping doesn't put me in the right frame of mind for trading so looking at longer timeframes may help if you're under too much stress. Also exercise is a great way to relieve stress and after that something (or someone) that makes you laugh like a comedy programme on TV or a funny movie.

What timeframe do you trade momentum? I use a combination of daily and hourly but Crabel went for the 5 minute charts for his opening range breakout trades. I've never had much success with anything less than the hourly charts in forex.

Here's what Hubert has to say about it: Do you agree with that? When I took the TTM free trial I never saw him use it.

Nice post Cogniato. I've looked at TIKI before using recommendations by Hubert Senters from TTM who did a free CBOT webinar where that was included. I didn't find trading the extremes particularly reliable but that was a while back when I was less experienced trading YM. I'll give it another look. Do you have any other tips on its use?

Abe you seem to be just randomly buying and selling with a 10 point stop and then posting a chart on this forum. If you want feedback you have to explain why you entered the trade and why you used that particular stop and target.

Candlestick patterns on the daily charts are usually good for a swing trade. I think generally the longer the time frame the more reliable the candlestick. You have to research which candlesticks give the best signal in your chosen market. In forex, for example, the 4 hour candlesticks give great singals but I haven't found any use for them in stock index futures.

On a 24 hour daily YM chart we have a bullish engulfing pattern and on the DJIA chart we have a bullish piercing pattern so I'm starting with a bullish bias for the day. Futures have been calm overnight so we should see less volatility today. My forecast: a little test lower at some stage but then a rally up to close higher.

Any good charting package should have the ability to add notes and arrows and circles and whatever else. For other uses I prefer Adobe Photoshop.

What's wrong with using the save chart as image functionality built in to most charting apps?

I love this quote: ``At some point people finally decided unless everything in the world suddenly goes bad here, this is a good time to get in,'' Ernie Ankrim, who helps manage about $200 billion as chief investment strategist at Russell Investment Group Who needs a reason?

That's excellent Thoth, thanks. I trade a lot using daily charts (looking for a close above the high of the low or a close below the low of the high mainly) and I've also been reading Crabel to see how that may improve my win ratio. Your stats should come in useful.

The big move up at the end started with extreme versions of your jackhammer candles on the 5 and 15 minute charts. Keeping cool and waiting for your set ups works well in this environment I find.

Seeing how price reacts around these major reference points is a valuable tool for short term and long term traders.

I use an elliptical trainer. Aerobic exercise is what it's all about in terms of health. You can also put it in front of your computer and monitor you positions while you're exercising. Note: not recommended for scalping. :no:

HSI was down 1000 points (4%) at one stage overnight. The US futures seem to be making a good recovery though. YM is currently 100 points above its low. I have noticed that a massive long squeeze overnight followed by a largely unchanged open often leads to market strength. I think the reason is that there has been a massive 'cleansing' of weak longs so there are no more stops to run or margin calls to trigger. Instead all the stops are at higher level leading to a short covering. What really matters though is what happens at 0930 EST when the equity markets open. It's a traders' market right now and there are great opportunities long and short.

Opens normally for me in IE.

I also like using fib retracements but I prefer going "all in" to a trade once I get a signal. One reliable signal is the key reversal day following a pullback to a fib level. We have one forming today in the GBP/USD.

You definitely need at least 2 GB of RAM in your computer nowadays. I'm getting a laptop so I can trade when I travel. I'll probably get a Dell but I'm also looking at this one: http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?product_id=13927&category_id=265&manufacturer_id=0&tid=lx.awz0x.215

Basic moving average strategies on the hourly and 4 hourly charts and basic candlestick strategies on the daily charts work great for swing trading forex. You have to be patient though. I look forward to hearing your ideas Reaver.

I'm glad you bumped this thread. You can see from the chart how accurate it's been - giving excellent signals when used in combination with candlestick analysis. It looks like it's heading for the lower support line and will be interesting to see how it develops. As for books I can't remember any specifically. I think I just got my information from general technical analysis books and websites.

Chat rooms are definitely distracting. I remember seeing a 200 point or so profit disappear in the days after the February 27 slump because I was too busy chatting to monitor my position properly and make a timely decision. I'm glad I wasn't in any chat rooms this Friday. I like the idea of a daily chat thread where we can cheerlead the market up or down ET-style but without the abuse.

This is often used by signal providers to make their figures look better than they are. E.g. if they open with 3 contracts and take profit on one for +5 the second for +20 and the third for break even they will say the trade was +25. If on the other hand all 3 were stopped out for -20 they will say they made a loss of -20. In reality on YM the profit on the first trade would have been $125 while the loss on the second trade would have been been $300. I think trying to measure your success in terms of points is a nonsense. It's money that matters but no one wants to go into detail about their personal finances on a public forum.

I tripled and blew my first account within a month. :cry::help::support::lol::rofl::baffled::pissed: It was a spread betting account where you could trade as large a position as you like as long as your maximum loss on any one trade didn't exceed your declared assets. I was trading £100 a point on GBP/USD! I thought I'd be a millionaire within a month but it turned out to be the best (and most expensive) lesson I ever learned.

It's "higher than usual" if you mean higher than a month ago but it's all pretty much the same as the day after February 27. It seems some traders here have short memories. :p The volatility in Europe and Asia is the main reason. There's also usually a bit of futures activity when a big name releases it's earnings.

Ignore that last comment. I think the way this log forum is set up you're doing it the right way!