EminiTradingCoach

I actually attended an Options Animal Seminar last week (Dont hit the back button yet - LOL) and the presenter made an interesting point. Most of the training that's out there, especially paid training) focuses on ways to get into a trade.: Technical Indicators Chart Patterns Price Action Trading Setups/Strategies Yet, they tend to not address what to do while in a trade. We all know that emotions can cause us to do things that destroy our trades. Exiting trades too soon or Holding on to losers way to long. So, I wanted to ask the forum what strategies you use to manage a trade For me, I control emotions by clearly identifying my risk / reward before entering the trade. I manage my expectations. I know we are supposed to be unbiased, but when you put on a trade, you do have an expectation. In addition, I ask the following question to try and identify why the criteria that I set and followed to enter the trade may have changed: What has changed about the trade? Is it fundamental? - The company has been cooking the books Is it Technical? We broke a key price level Is it Sentimental - typically fast move in one direction and then returns Is it Macro Economics - Economic Calendar Events

I agree totally. If nothing else, at least know if you are trading with or against the trend. Marcel Link in High Probability Trading talked about most high probability trading setups are in the direction of the trend.

I totally agree. The first step to profitability is to design a high probability trading system that fits who you are. Too many traders buy systems meant or designed for someone. thus, they are scared to take all of the trades and lose money. It's not just enough to know any proven setup, it has to be a setup that you're comfortable with. Secondly, cleaning my charts and designing simple if, then scenarios for my trades made life so much easier. I dont fall into analysis paralysis. I recognize that price is our first and actual indicator. If I was to add a third, it would piggy back off the first step. Understand Position Sizing and Trade Management. Being able to manage a trade is half the battle to being profitable at the end of the day.

This was a great response. From your original post, you've stated that you've taken the steps to backtest a system to over 70% profitability. That's great. It also puts you ahead of the majority of traders since many dont have a system to even backtest. So as the above poster stated, you now have to address the fear. fear of losing fear of the unknown fear of being wrong and yes, even the fear of being right Find out what your true fear is and address. Trading is not for the faint of heart. Until you have discipline and control of your emotions, you're doomed to fail. Sounds like you have the discipline in your system. Next up - your emotions.

As a big fan of watching poker on TV, I appreciate that last power with Howard. One of things you'll often see on ESPN or Fox Sports when they show Poker is the percentages after a flop. When two or more players see the flop, they'll show the percentages underneath player showing their odds of winning the hand. Similarly in trading, you need level the playing and field and know the odds on your trades. This requires time and effort backtesting each strategy. Yet, understanding the odds will help you build the psychological capital to pull the trigger on the trade.

Two of my favorites are: Traders, just like athletes, face tremendous pressure, stress, and expectations that would crush the ordinary, unprepared individual. The best traders in the world know that being mentally prepared is absolutely essential to compete in today's markets. and It Doesnt Matter: If You Purchase a New Trading System If You Learn a New Indicator If You Subscribe to a Newsletter If You Enter a Trading Guru's Room If you Dont Pull the Trigger

I attended your free webinar last week. It was very informative. I really liked your 9 phases of Fear based trading.

Trading is simple, but it is not easy. This kinds of reminds me of how Marcel Link in High Probability Trading said Anybody can place a trade, but making money is an entirely different task. Great Article - thanks for sharing.

Think or Swim's On Demand is an awesome backtesting application. I highly recommend it. There's also Stock Reflex.

If I were to list two things that struggling or new traders to master, the first would be who they are as a trader. You will not be able to effectively utilize external trading factors like indicators, trading systems or trading setups if you dont know who you are as a trader. These external factors may ask you to do things that make you uncomfortable, like to big of a stop or too many traders in a day. The second thing is have a firm understanding of the type of day it is. Now this is probably more for day traders than investors, but most ES traders are day traders. Understanding if it's a Narrow Range day or an Expanding Trend day will help filter out certain types of trades.

I totally agree. Dont forget that it's not always what the news is, but how people interpret the news. Good news to you and I may not be so for the market. What would be your strategy for trading the news? A bracket around the price? I've seen on multiple occasions where a trader was filled on both bracketed orders in a split second taking a big loss. I think there is a reason you see your DOM or Trading Think out prior to news releases. The pros are telling you to get out and trade the reaction.

I've used Global Futures and Open E-cry. I like GF for their excellent customer service and low intraday emini margins. I like Open Ecry for the commission rates. Not so good on customer service.

I am going to agree with those who say they use TOS on their MACS. I also believe there are several web clients like Turbo trader that you could consider, but of course, web clients are not as good. I use a netbook for my DOM. For me it's perfect.

I trade very similar. On my platform, I have it plot swing high and lows. I also like to combine the observations of swing high and lows with volume. Typically, you'll see a little volume spike when breaking through those points. Since you talked about looking at the points premarket, I also thought about Tony Crabel's Opening Range. Some use 5 minutes, Others use 15, 30 or even 60 minutes to identify this key price level. At the end of your post, you started to mentioned other key price levels. I am a fan of watching price action at all of those Key Price Levels: Previous Day Close Previous Day High and Low Globex High and Low Open Intraday High and Low Open Range (as you define it) Pivots

You did an excellent job building a foundation for what the opening gap is. I was hoping you might actually share some of the rules you've developed over the years. I've attended several Master the Gap webinars on the topic. They've always been very informative. The main rule I took aware from their presentation is that the best gap plays are ones that fit in between the previous day's close and the previous day high or low depending on the close. Gap Up: In between Close and Previous Day's High Gap Down: In between the Close and the Previous Day's Low Does anybody else have any other rules they would like to share regarding the Opening Gap?

I think there is a big difference between being aware of the risk and actually accepting the risk.