Xiao si

After two weeks of IB Time and Sales on my simulator, I'll be switching to eSignal on NT in order to get a better Time and Sales picture. Although they call their data 'true tick' it is indeed 250 ms snapshots..... IB are a great broker, but useless otherwise. XS

Actually Bob, the time and sales is quite easy to INTERPRET and only takes a couple weeks of screen time to start to get a feel for the order flow...you should try it sometime. XS

Yes, that was my point with the T&S, i thought you seemed confused. I know what it is. You were the one that said you could read the B/A off the T&S, not me. IB now has 'true tick' volume. XS

Interesting, i use the DOM for the B/A. I only use the T&S for the prints, the size and occasionally the time. I don't think you are a trader that really uses the tape as most index scalpers that I'm familiar with do. I think you are a chartist, and have little interest in the order flow. XS

Oh, they're very creative, they can hold a bid or ask to dump or scoop up contracts. Mostly though they just buy gradually at certain levels, from what I've noticed so far. If you check out the tick volume on a chart you can see where the big players are accumulating or distributing. The average volume per tick candle is huge compared to what us little guys are doing. Cheers, XS

Tonights DAX trades compared to when i started...making progres, learning from mistakes. Baby steps...all on the sim of course. Cheers, XS

Now that IB has calculated volume we can use a real tick chart, you can see the advantages in seeing what the big guns are up to...had to use my Amibroker software to plot the chart though as IB does not support tick charts yet. Tick charts are a must for futures. Cheers, XS

My recommendation to focus solely on the tape, was for someone learning how to read tape, not trade off it. I use the tape for confirmation, i use the charts to identify the setups, levels etc. I don't think one can learn to read tape with the distraction of a chart. That's why i suggested writing the levels down. To each their own, whatever works for ya mate! XS

Cool, take note that i edited another post on the time and sales thread and included the adjustment that can be made for IB to use calculated volume or 'true tick' volume. You cannot see the true size traded but you can see each time the price changes. This can be better for intra-day futures trading because it eliminates some of the noise that roll over creates. Cheers, XS

That's a great post David and it shows what going from virtually no plan to a methodical approach can do to your positive mental attitude...i hope it does wonders for your account balance too. You mention finding a strategy that fits your personality and i agree this is important too. Swing trading is just too monotonous for me, that's why i now outsource the picks. I don't mind placing the orders and managing the trades but i just can stand scanning the market for the setups. I like to be involved RT, and the intra-day trading suits me better. Well said mate, XS

Great idea, this could be a good substitute for my IB time and sales window, can that be done? Can excel take streaming data from IB and display it? XS

IBs Time and Sales window seems to work fine now for streaming the prints live. I have only a few 'beefs' with it now... 1.) when printing in between the bid and ask it goes to like 3 decimal places...why? Not needed, just make it another color. 2.)Its difficult to configure so its one solid color, like blue. Very difficult to get zoned into the price action and just focus on the prints. 3.) I'm still not sure i the data is shown as aggregated or not, can anyone tell me? Cheers, XS EDIT: from IB's release notes....Choose Between Calculated and Native Volume You can now configure the Volume field to show Calculated “true tick” volume data. The current snapshot Native volume data does not update every tick. Please note that if you elect Calculated volume data, it may not include delayed transactions, busts, late-reported trades or combos. To configure the Volume field, right-click on the field and choose from Prefer Native Volume or Prefer Calculated Volume.

That's a great exercise and something I should have been specific about. Whe you observe the market on the tape be sure to take note of the low and high realized. They will change as the market swings. Also take note how sometimes the price will "pop" up or "drop" down as the bid and ask are swept at various levels. Other things to watch that I learned from Wyckoff, watch the big numbers and the effect they have on the supply, do they change the price or it's business as usual for the order flow? As well, where are the small orders? Are they on the bid or offer and when? Cheers, XS

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts Carlton. We can keep a discussion going on this topic for a while. Next week I would be happy to record some SCREEN video and then try to upload something useful to see around some big numbers on the Asian market opens. XS

The MHI is the mini heng sent that you were looking for....something like 2 aud per tick...The initial margin is like 15k hk dollars and the maintenance margin is another 12k hk dollars. So a 10k account should handle it. Still a bit under capitalized if you asked me personally though. Cheers, XS

So far i know enough to leave the market open alone for about 30 minutes until it settles down. I know that good scalpers love the pace and spreads in this chaos. After that though i think the open is the best time to trade given the volume and the pace of the prints. I like the the close on some markets like the DAX. My strategies are focusing on levels and how the markets reacts to those levels as i interpret that on the time and sales. These levels include pivots, S&R, round numbers, prior close, opening range, etc. I can either fade a move into a level (not comfy with this yet), sell a failure or buy a breakout, buy a bounce or pullback or sell a break or a retest....all of these though with a preference for staying with the broader market trend. I also have a divergence setup using OBV if the entry provides a low risk setup. I am already feel comfortable selling a retest of a break in a weak market. This setup seems to appear as true as the sun comes up. I also like to sell a bounce in the middle of a range, depending on the time of day. So there a few setups that i am becoming more comfortable with in terms of recognition, and my reaction to it. I have allot of work left to do though in forward testing and recording of all of these setups on my sim. I have weeks of work left in establishing proven setups. By the time i have done that, the volatility will have changed and i will need to adapt to a quieter range bound or up trending market. Any advice? Cheers, XS

Sort of like Time magazine covers, or shoe shine boys ya reckon?:rofl: Anyway, bring on the volatility. XS

My developing intra-day strategy is also based around confirmation by the tape. Its very difficult to find good information on this topic. I have spent the money and I'm taking an online course developed by a NY prop desk for its traders on tape reading. I've also read the book by one of the partners, an excellent read and unlike anything I've read to date. The course is based around intra-day equity trading however its still applicable to index futures, or any liquid issue. In fact i would almost argue that index futs may be easier for a trained tape reader. By the way, for index futures generally the tape is only the time and sales. For equities you need to also use the depth of market. The DOM is pretty much useless on its own for the index futures. PM me and I'll give you details. Read the old stuff for sure, Edwin Lefèvre, Wyckoff, and anyone else that is known for reading tape. Indicators will come and go, but the tape doesn't lie. The markets might have changed in how the handle the orders but they still need to 'print' the them. Whether you are buying a breakout or selling a failure, the tape can tell you if the market has the momentum to do what you need it to do to be profitable in your plan. If you want to learn how to read the tape, open up the time and sales window on a front month futures contract, put on your favorite music, turn it up really loud, or even better use headphones and watch. Don't use a chart. Write down numbers where you think the market stalls, slows down, reverses, speeds up...whatever. Calculate the pivot points and watch what happens around those numbers. Write down the prior close, the current open. Get zoned in so all you can do is focus on the numbers. Keep a daily diary of your thoughts and observations. Do this for two months and if you can't see the order flow you never will. Cheers, XS

It was an article from this site here: XS

Would love to see the prints for the period...that would tell if it was a period where no prints were made, unlikely, or prints went through in between the bid and offer, in which case it would be a hold. Cheers, XS

LOL.! no, not at all. what i would like though is to watch as much tape as i can while training and learning. Then i would like to concentrate on the Asian sessions, mostly the opens, and maybe the open on the US equities. For now, I just want to watch as much tape i can to get a feel for order flow at important levels. So far i ca say that the more you watch the more you see bids and offers hold or lift/drop. have i worked out how to trade this? No, not yet. Cheers, XS

Go ahead, the suspence is killing me. XS:confused:

Bad news seems to always follow the technicals....looks like a big bearish flag to me. Should be some volatility tomorrow night anyway. Cheers, XS

My first day on the IB SIM trading the SPI/MHI/DAX with Time and Sales, the Book Trader and a small intraday chart: Trades 25 Losing trades 15 for -111 points Winning trades 10 for 124 points Net 13 points Goal is 60-70% win rate with an R:R of 1:5 (got a ways to go!):doh: Several key things learned about the order flow on these markets today. Once you start to see the order flow you can tell when to hit the offer or bid and you can almost 'feel' the sense of selling (or buying) pressure, or lack of it. You need some good trending markets and some volume to learn this. I can see how the likes of Tudor Jones, Livermore etc., made and lost a fortune by the tape. Anyway, I'm up for another two months of this before i can go live, so this is just the start. With the end of day analysis you can start and look for areas to improve upon. For example i was way too slow getting out of losing trades. Some of this was platform setup, now fixed and some of the late exits were not sticking to my committed stop, this is a particular worry that i need to work on.:crap: The experience will help me pick the right setups, and discipline will help me get out of losing positions earlier. Cheers, XS

Today's has been a burner of a day on the K200, missed the open but after lunch the Koreans really got off to selling, after some news about Samsung hit the market it tanked. Lots of offers hit the tape and bids stepped up at key levels giving one lots of time to cover. Offers again outweighed the Bids and the selling continued. I find this much easier than watching US stocks intra-day. Cheers, XS