Ingot54

Awesome stuff, Trendup - thanks heaps! It was hard act to follow, because so much of this stuff is unique - you can't put one category above another. We can try though, and as always: kids - DTTAH (don't try this at home!) [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4U6T_BB1N8]‪Wingsuit Base Jumping‬‏ - YouTube[/ame]

Thanks for clearing that up. best wishes Ingot

Kids - don't try this at home! So... you think you can park a car? These are only about 15 to 30 seconds each. Men - do you know how your wife gets the shopping done so quickly? [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ov3NyMimj8]‪So You Think You Can Park A Car? (Via Saphwing)‬‏ - YouTube[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRXQ_96CAbI]‪So You Think You Can Park A Car? (Via Saphwing)‬‏ - YouTube[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gMezTzzWr4]‪So You Think You Can Park A Car? (Via Saphwing)‬‏ - YouTube[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D9zw0M0YCk&feature=related]‪Police pursuit-LMAO‬‏ - YouTube[/ame] Makes you feel kind of safe, doesn't it?

That is a rational approach, Wyckoff Trader, and one that seems well-justified, going by the activity in both of my positions. Both have suffered draw-down over the past 22 hours. I am not annoyed about being in loss, but I AM open to learn. I will wait until Optiontimer comments. I didn't have much hesitation to enter those trades signaled because although there may "only be 3 hours data", traders who are strong enough to move the markets have also had 48 hours of thinking and meetings since the close of the Friday candle to make decisions at the opening of the week. So, in effect, market movements may or may not still be the result of what has transpired fundamentally over the weekend. I don't know - no one does, and I don't really need to know. I, as a trader of a mechanical strategy, only need rules, not Fundamental or Technical Analysis. But there is nothing wrong with with a trader making his decision to ignore that candle and wait for a "full day" of trading, before acting. At time of writing, my USDCAD is minus 53 pips, and my EURUSD is down 130 pips. Both have been quite a lot worse than this overnight (it is 0856hrs Tuesday morning where I live) so we will wait and see. Nice to have your feedback on this issue - and useful learning can be the only result of that. Thank you Ingot

Hi Wyckoff Trader That may be a good strategy, and I accept it is more conservative. Why do you choose not to use that Sunday candle? Optiontimer's strategy does not call for us to differentiate (as far as I am aware). Unless Optiontimer or Kroll are in agreement, I see the issue as a distraction. I have read elsewhere that the Sunday candle does not contain enough data to be classed as a "true" daily candle. I haven't done research on it, but it is possible that "you win some- you lose some" and that providing you are consistent - either taking / ignoring that candle - the result over many months may be the same for an account. If it could be demonstrated that the results are skewed heavily in favour of ignoring the Sunday candle, then I would certainly be foolish to ignore the research. Introducing new rules means we no longer have Optiontimer's strategy, but a new strategy. As my charts have that Sunday candle, I use it. I don't think you are violating anything by not having that candle, or by ignoring it. Best wishes Ingot

EURUSD also fits the entry criteria: Long from 1.4386 I am taking these on sim (demo) this week. When trading live I will not be taking as many trades, based on (because of) my a/c size and money management. My purpose in posting these this morning is two-fold: 1) To get feedback on what I am seeing 2) To alert others that there may be tradeable setups occurring if they agree with the rules I can see some other potential trades setting up this week, but not yet. I will be watching closely for GBPJPY and GBPCHF and (perhaps) GBPAUD, USDCHF, USDJPY (looking promising for a few days hence perhaps), and finally Gold and Silver. Depending on the size of the account I trade, I will most likely be limiting the live action to 2 open trades at a time. But as I mentioned, I will be opening ANY setups in sim purely for the practice and experience Don't be too hard on me Below I post my EURUSD trade, as well as a couple of potentials for later this week. I hope the info is helpful.

I have just found the USDCAD and it lookes like a setup to me. I will be going short from 0.9507 immediately. The new candle has been open for 37 minutes at time of posting. Best wishes Ingot

MM - you will be given 1000 virgins, and you will expire at #7

Thank you again Optiontimer. I can see that by my moving to limit losses, I may have had a reason to be thankful that I didn't give profits back to the market. This was wrong thinking, and ultimately would be defeating my goals of staying in for those very large trends that deliver water-falls of pips. I do not want that. I do not want to be stuck on the treadmill of grabbing 80 pips here and there, but missing the 600's here and there. Further, I do not want the anxiety of watching trades through the day, while a simple EOD perusal of the situation would calm the nerves and deliver the goods. I am not saying I will get it right straight away, but trust me, I WILL get it right. I have not learned nothing over my years in this business, but in some respects I still have quite a lot to learn. And I will. Kind regards Ingot

Thanks Optiontimer -You may have misunderstood my post - I really meant to highlight the negatives I have found through my taking "too-early" positions, when the rules say to "wait until the indicator has closed in the correct position ... AND ... the price has moved PAST the previous high / low." The "after an hour-or-two" bit was to highlight what can happen when jumping in early. In any case, I deserve the dunce's cap for not following the rules, and my posts of my experiences may serve as a record of how not to apply your strategy. I have always been a bit unorthodox, and you can substitute the word "rebellious" for that with probably a similar meaning. This might take one some distance in life, or not, but it gets you little advantage in trading. I am fast becoming a conformist - at least to your strategy - it is unparalleled. I do not mind exposing my activities (trading only, for the voyeurs!) if it means advancing the positive outcome of this thread. I am hopeful my self-disclosure will help others who struggle with their approach too. We have a new week, and a new attitude. I am certain my trading will tighten up - and I will continue to post my experiences. Best wishes Ingot PS - I am off to buy some post-its in the morning! I am truly grateful for your advice Optiontimer (and Siuya and others) - and I take away nothing negative at all from any chastisement. I am not in this for brownie-points, but to develop a serious and mature trading approach that can help me to achieve my goals of more than 7 years persistence now. That goal is almost there - but I accept there is still a little more pain to be endured, to smooth-out the rough spots that linger!

Thank you for that very constructive feedback Siuya. I take it all on board - including the bit about early exit. Had I simply been watching the trade at EOD, I may not have closed the trade at all - and at close of trading this week, the position - although losing about 160 pips from its "best gains", would still be about 50 pips to the better. I moved lock in profits, but violated the terms of the rules - "make decisions at the EOD candle." I am fast coming around to the conclusion that trading experience counts for little when mechanical trading. Had the trade reversed far above the point where I locked in my profits, I might have been congratulating myself for getting out at a great exit. Adhering to the rules in that case, may have turned the winning trade into a losing trade. Still - that's more a function of using a trailing SL judiciously, and at least getting the trade to break-even. At the end of the day, the trader needs to decide if he wants to be in for those 800-pip trades, or scalp the dailies! I prefer the former, so have to be prepared to take the loss of positive pips in order to achieve that. Some trades are diamonds ... some trades are stones! (With apologies to John Denver!) At the end of the day I need to conform to the rules of the mechanical system, and I can not defend closing that trade, other than to say that I was happy with the trade to that point, but mindful (anxious) of the risks of leaving the trade open over the weekend, when a decision by the US Congress was possible on their debt ceiling yada yada. To not assess that risk and act accordingly would, to my mind, have been foolish. It would have been less foolish to set a trailing stop! I have the pips in my pocket and will move to the next trade. Cheers - and thank you Siuya - always appreciative of your advice.

Hope you enjoy this flash-back to the past ... John Denver Gold! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEL-ucOsbgA]‪John Denver - Some Days Are Diamonds (Some Days Are Stones)‬‏ - YouTube[/ame]

What a beautiful and brilliant display of talent, passion and love for his chosen instrument. Thanks JEHs - That is one I will replay ... and replay.

It might be my declining T levels ... or it might be real ... but the One World Governmentalists are becoming bolder and more open than when GHBush, ex-US President, uttered his now-famous "New World Order" speech. In Australia, Bob brown, the Leader of "The Greens" and lynch-pin of the minority Labor Government (some say the de-facto Prime Minister of this nation) has come out openly now and said he supports One World Parliament. http://www.theage.com.au/national/brown-advocates-for-one-world-parliament-20110629-1gqz1.html How would that work? Would the Somalis and the Ethiopans and the DRCongo, and North Koreans or Iranians really get an equal "one-vote-one-value" deal alongside the populace of Texas, or Tennessee, USA? Don't think so. Brown is naive if he thinks so, and if not naive, then devilishly deceptive and has a sinister agenda. Which is it? Carbon Tax

Thanks for the heads-up Optiontimer. I can see that you can take trades that are not on the underside of the 21EMA - just so long as the trend is determined, and the pull-back is clear. And the 7sRSI is also clearly signalling the short entry. I was only looking for trades earlier that are actually now UNDER both EMA's for shorts, but now see the beauty of this strategy. It is not an "exact" science as much as it is an alignment of required factors, plus application of experience and common sense. I would like to post one of my "lucky" trades taken a week ago, and closed 2 days ago prematurely. The chart explains it mostly. I would like to point out the " W " pattern on the 7sRSI that developed after entry. many times when I take a short entry, the 7sRSI will be dropping, but after an hour or two, price will rally again, and the indicator will rise back up to be flat again. That's what happened in this case. But I stayed in, preferring to manage the draw-down and keep a SL tight. After a few days, you can see where the indicator developed the " W " shape, and this was beginning to bother me. When price spiked down on 27th July, I thought it had run too far - too quickly, and I closed the trade as price was rallying and clawing back pips! Again, that was too early, as I ended with +93 pips, when another 200+ might have been available in that trade. I have beeen successful using the premature entry (taking the first movement of the 7sRSI instead of waiting for the indicator to CLOSE in that position. But this has not only caused anxiety, it has also caused me to feel like exiting at the first opportunity too. I guess all trades are different, and had the EURAUD "behaved" differently at the time of that spike down, I might have remained with the trade. This is also another good reason to wait until the candle (bar) closes before making such decisions. Thanks for indulging me this example. Can anyone else see what happened here, and make a comment? I am thinking the better entry would have been to wait until things were clear, and take the entry at the break of the low of the previous day, on 26th July, short at 1.3245. Best wishes Ingot

Here are the Lyrics: On my way home by that lonesome graveyard On my way home by that lonesome graveyard A ghost jumps up and says "come on be my man" No ghost at all someone asking for a ride No ghost at all someone asking for a home She says "come here boy and take me to your room" That young ghost woman she keeps, she keeps me thin That young ghost woman she keeps, she keeps me thin She spends all the money I make on the L&N I ain't no lamp but my wick is burning low I ain't no lamp but my wick is burning low Better light me up another before I go On my way home by that lonesome graveyard On my way home by that lonesome graveyard A ghost jumps up and says "come on be my man"

I'm following along as best I can this week - will post when I have something to contribute. Enjoying the input from others ... thank you all. Next week should be better. Keep up the good work Ingot

Sorry Tams ... couldn't resist, but I think this is the picture of the day |:^) Soros to End Four-Decade Hedge-Fund Career - Bloomberg

Just discovered this group: The Low Anthem Obviously not everyone's style of music, so I hope you will indulge me: "Ghost Woman Blues" [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpadm5i_CKU]‪Ghost Woman Blues‬‏ - YouTube[/ame] and (their music grows on you) "Charlie Darwin" [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66SPUQEgEKk&feature=relmfu]‪The Low Anthem: Charlie Darwin‬‏ - YouTube[/ame] If you didn't like those ... stop here. But if you kind of like it, then this is also nice: "Sally Where'd You Get Your Liquor From?" [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpfEqf4-4Hc&feature=related]‪The Low Anthem - Sally Where'd You Get Your Liquor From?‬‏ - YouTube[/ame]

Norm, I once received one of your newsletter series' courtesy of another subscription I had. I found your ideas interesting and now, reading this post, I wish I had paid more attention to those, back then. I look forward to more of your writing - you have an ability to conjure a picture that makes sense, and boost one's self-image as easily as visualising that outcome. Cheers Ingot

Hi Russell How are you finding Barcharts for your charting? I have registered with Barcharts, but am not currently using them, because I haven't ventured into other futures, outside of Forex. Are you confident of the signals? Are the signals in line with, or consistent with Optiontimer's charts? If so, then I may broaden the "swing of my scythe" to take in a few of the better tradeable commodities. Kind regards Ingot

Hi Rebyte - and I forgot earlier - but a belated welcome to the forum. Yes, you are correct. But I didn't mean that these had already triggered - just to be on high alert because these are the closest pairs to possible pullback conditions. Of course nothing stops them from trending another 800 pips ... but that is less probable than a reversal ... we await! I'd like to draw your attention to this post from Optiontimer (to my great relief I can tell you) See post #104 ... and I quote: Now I know you will take the emphasised and underlined bits in good spirit, Rebyte, because I highlighted those bits with the utmost respect for your comments. Part of my reply is to remind new readers of the thread, that consistency in operating the strategy is always tempered with common sense, and rational and disciplined focus on the rules. And part of my response is to allow traders some flexibility in their own decision-making process, so that they "own" this strategy for themselves. I hope Optiontimer doesn't take me to task too hard for saying that, but I am not meaning, by any stretch, that we should rewrite the strategy to suit our own whims. The rules are clear, but we have uncovered some grey areas, and Optiontimer has helped us to find a way through these, by pointing out the real issue - trading against the minor trend, and in line with the major trend. There are fairly strict guidelines to adhere to, to accomplish that condition, but there are also opportunities for bold traders and more conservative traders, to put their brand on the way they trade the strategy. My way, up until the closing of the markets last week, was to enter with a very tight stop (30 to 40 pips) as soon as the candle opened with a tick up/down from the 100 / 0 levels respectively. That was the "bold trader", who was prepared to risk 40 pips or so to see if an earlier entry was viable. That was, by the way, also risky, and at least 24 hours before most of the signals were confirmed, as posted earlier. The next day, if the trade was proven to be "right" then the stop could be widened to .1ATR10 and proceed as per rule-book. But I got "trembly-knee syndrome" from that, and decided to trade by the book going forward - at least a lot more than I have up until now. It is a process of finding what works for me, while at the same time not violating the intent of the strategy. I am pleased you are contributing, Rebyte, because I find that people like yourself are very observant and alert enough to spot inconsistencies, and therefore provide stability for folks like myself, who tend to see things in concrete terms one day, and abstract the next. Thanks for your post - I hope to to see you continue to make 10 times the pips you have so far ... this week! Kind regards Ingot PS: How DO you people write short and to-the-point posts?

The latest Mac Airbook laptops have an inbuilt capability to run several monitors and "up to 6 external devices." I run windows on an iMac 24, but only for MT4 charting (going to Parallels desktop software soon to integrate these with the Mac goodies). The latest email contained news of the above laptop/multi-monitor ability, but sadly I have deleted it now. The upshot is that this capability now comes as standard, and I think it might be possible to run even more monitors from just one laptop. Cheers Ingot EDIT: This is in line with what Mr_You is saying in post #11 above. The issue would be the cost - do you want to spend that much?

I like this concept and explanation, Siuya. Again you have nailed a key tenet of trading. Being right is no more cause for elation, than being wrong is cause for depression. Being right / wrong are just a part of trading, and not to be seen as a personal kudo ... or a demerit ... if the outcome is one way or the other. Traders can get over this need to be right by seeing trading as it is - the enactment of a very long course of events, in which they have an opportunity to use a strategy to uncover both the positive and negative outcomes of a certain series of actions. Why should a trader take it personally if the outcome is one way or the other? If the strategy is not going to produce a positive expectation (flawed) then change the strategy. No need to take it personally, as if the trader is the one with the flaw. (Notwithstanding that inexperience is certainly a factor in negative trading outcomes too, even with a good strategy.) Taking the negative results personally is certainly going to create anxiety over time. For lack of knowledge the people perish. It is the same with a trading strategy - the inability to master one decent strategy is destroying trading accounts, and thus the trader is hurt. Mastery of the strategy builds confidence, and confidence in turn delivers love and deeper belief in, and for, the strategy. And love casts out fear. Maybe that is too simple? EDIT: This focus on fear and ego might be a good study, but is probably a very bad topic to become pre-occupied with. It does not serve a trader to be worried that they are worried that they are worried. This neurotic navel gazing has its place - but surely then it is time to take action. The trader needs to simply take responsibility for the outcome, and there has been enough written on forums - good ones like this - to assist traders to deal with flawed approaches.

With respect, Rande, if ak14987 does not deal with the things that are causing him stress in the first place, all the emotional regulation in the world is not going to do anything to change this situation. For example (and as someone who has not experienced the stress of trading, you can't be expected to understand this) if ak14987 is trying to start with an account that is too small for the market he is attempting to trade, he will immediately become stressed about that. Further, he will be risking larger percentages of his account than he should be, in order to speed up the growth. Experienced traders know that the rules of money management can not be altered too much if a trader wants to survive for long. Some traders risk 5% and some even 10% ... but I have not heard of many who survive doing that. None. This is something a trading coach would have ascertained first. Again, Rande, with respect, your solution contains too many hypotheticals. You assume too much. ak14987 is annoyed at losing money - that is as natural as eating. No one trades in order to get rid of money. I think the Trading in the Zone cliche has been a bit over-worked. Working the mind into some kind of Zen state is great for some traders, and even better for psychologists who are so glad the concept came along, in time to give them something abstract to further complicate a trader's miserable state, to which they alone will provide the therapeutic solution. Look - the way to deal with the anxiety of losses is to turn off the computer, walk away and cool off. Give the mind a break - go for a walk ... anything. It is hopeless telling a struggling trader to "get in the NOW" or "get away from the THEN or THE WHAT IF ... " Your advice might be very much different if you had actually attempted to trade the markets yourself, and experienced some of the frustrations associated with learning, losses, and a failing account. I can tell you that regulating my emotional nature had nothing to do with any breakthroughs that I have experienced. And your over-complicating the issues at every opportunity doesn't help anyone here, and I am unsure it ever has elsewhere. I hope someone can straighten me out on this, but I fail to see where asking one's-self: "Who do I need to become to produce effective trading?" is pretty left field stuff for a trader who is simply not using money management principles, or who is trying to squeeze too much out of a small account. Simple enough?