Did I miss something?

[james_gsx 16]

So I was looking over IBD and searching for some potential new investments since today has been slow for me. I looked up just in time to see the YM (most likely ES too) tank, and the tape sped up very very quickly. The YM dropped about 50 points in 3 minutes. I saw a ton of green on the tape at 13500 so I went long for a few quick points, but I still don't know what triggered that?

 

I went over to review the tape and don't see a whole lot of big selling, maybe something happened in the pits that I missed out on? Maybe some program selling?

[TinGull 10]

I shorted 1000 cars at the market...that'll do it every time. Now Im a gazzillionaire!!!!!

 

 

Of course, Im only kidding...

[james_gsx 16]

lol

 

I had CNBC on in the background and I heard them ask someone why the market just tanked. I knew it was going to tank again so I got ready this time. Sure enough it did and all my alerts went crazy, TRIN shot up to 1.70 and I went long again, good for a few more points

[TinGull 10]

haha! Yea...I got long at 461 to 482 for my final trade on the day. Felt nice.

[james_gsx 16]

Nice catch. I got out pretty fast since I hit my daily goal in the middle of the trade. I didn't want to risk anything so I just locked in the gain and now I'm sitting on the sidelines watching and picking up a few stocks.

 

I do need to work on my discipline though. I can't seem to sit still long enough for bigger 20 point gains. I tend to take the 5-10 point gains quickly, it's okay for now since my daily goals are low but I'll eventually want to move higher. Maybe I should wait for a trending day and see how I do?

[TinGull 10]

A lot will depend on the timeframe you monitor, as well. What time frames are you watching currently?

[james_gsx 16]

3 minute chart, then on the side I watch an 89 tick, 50 tick, and two minute chart. I've thought of trying out 5 minute time frames.

 

When I used to watch the 1 minute chart I noticed I was pretty emotional, I would sit on the edge of my seat in every trade. Maybe this is spilling over to the 3 minute chart?

[torero 10]

Between 2pm and 2:15pm, volume tends to increase. I've noticed in the past at 2pm sharp, there is program buy/sell (right on the hour). Sometime it's enough for the market to take that cue and push it and sometimes it doesn't do anything. Watching that from the tape and charts should be sufficient to cue you on the possible activity of what's coming ahead. On ER2, it broke down from a range made during the morning, so it would have been a short there. CNBC and pit noise may or may not help but charts do it just as good.

[TinGull 10]

3 minute chart, then on the side I watch an 89 tick, 50 tick, and two minute chart. I've thought of trying out 5 minute time frames.

 

When I used to watch the 1 minute chart I noticed I was pretty emotional, I would sit on the edge of my seat in every trade. Maybe this is spilling over to the 3 minute chart?

 

I used to use a 144/89tick chart, a 233t chart, and a 2min chart. Those are scalper time frames, so the points that you're taking are good for those time frames. If you're wanting to take bigger moves, then you want to not play inside the noise and look at 5min at the smallest, and up to a 15min for direction. This is how I play it now, and its sooo much more comfortable than it was before. Using a larger time frame you'll be able to not get shaken out of the market by the noise.

[james_gsx 16]

Today was much better for me, I was much more relaxed using the 5 minute chart. Again, none of my trades really popped up and thats starting to get irritating. A couple scalps here and there, but nothing fancy. I did see a clearly defined down trend in the 5 minute and 1 minute chart, so I did take note of that.

[Nick1984 10]

Ive usually found that a 5 min chart sends me off to sleep if thats my main chart cause its reallly boring. I love the 233t for my main and the 5 min for my long term with a 89 and 55 tick for timing the entry.

[TinGull 10]

a 5min used to put me to sleep too...then I realized that my trading style wasn't conducive to the small time frames I was watching, and changed things up a bit. Now a 5min seems quick to me and a 15min is nice.

 

and james...great to hear you liked the 5min. Taking larger profits really needs a larger time frame IMO.