8/02/07 General Trade Log / Idea Sharing

[notouch 10]

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.

[AbeSmith 10]

A good morning to everyone, and good evening to our international traders. This morning is a foggy day in the Dallas area. We have had rain and thunderstorms for as long as I can remember. I don't remember it ever raining this long. Don't know if it is just my perception or if it is really something out of the ordinary.

 

Anyways, today I would like to trade more setups. I noticed yesterday after I had a good trade I didn't want to confront the market anymore because I think I was scared of losing my gains. So I lost some good trading opportunities due to that.

 

Also today I would like to go long right before the open. I've noticed that the market tends to spike up on the open, even on bearish days. Again, this may just be my perception and not a fact, but I will go with that today.

 

Good luck everyone.

[btrader2 10]

GM AbeSmith and All

 

We are now backing off yesterday's high and a report (Factory Orders) is due @ 7:00 PDT

[nosast 10]

Good Morning Everyone and good luck trading

[AbeSmith 10]

The opening spike plan didn't work. Bought at 13419. Stopped at 13409. -10 points.

[btrader2 10]

Took a short here @ 13422, Stopped @ BE+1

[AbeSmith 10]

Missed this nice short right there. Still finding myself to be very timid and not executing trades I should be executing because I guess I'm too afraid of losing.

[AbeSmith 10]

Trade 2: -11.

[AbeSmith 10]

Trade 3: -1. Got out before being stopped out.

[TinGull 10]

Missed my first long opp on the range breakdown failure. Had a limit order sitting right above the low at 403 and it hit 404 and cranked higher. Ah well. Nabbed a quickie at 436 on a higher volume up bar during a consolidation and took it off right before the thrice tested high.

 

+20

[AbeSmith 10]

  TinGull said:

Missed my first long opp on the range breakdown failure. Had a limit order sitting right above the low at 403 and it hit 404 and cranked higher. Ah well. Nabbed a quickie at 436 on a higher volume up bar during a consolidation and took it off right before the thrice tested high.

 

+20

 

Nicely done.

[AbeSmith 10]

Trade 4: -10.

[notouch 10]

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.

[AbeSmith 10]

  notouch said:

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.

 

You're right Notouch. I will do that from now on.

[AbeSmith 10]

  AbeSmith said:

Trade 4: -10.

 

On this trade my stop was a 17 points originally because I though it could bounce back a bit. But later I changed my mind to a 10 point stop when I saw the price move up fast and so I did that to try to reduce risk. But if I would have kept my original stop I would have weathered the pullback and now I see that my 13410 target was just reached.

[TinGull 10]

Abe,

 

Do you ever think you wait too long to get into the trade? While the location of the trade was *near* a trade I would've taken if I hadn't been out to lunch, notice the HUGE volume on a hammer candle. Now I dont know if shorted before that candle formed or not, but seeing that candle would make me think that there is either A) lack of supply to drive the market down further or B) some demand starting to enter the market. On a bar like I wouldn't enter a short as I know the probabilities stand in the way of it going down further at that moment. Chances are higher that there will be either a pullback or a full on reversal. Looking at the bar and what happened after, there was a teeeeny pop up before a short lived move down and now the market just recovered all those losses in 5minutes.

 

I think that you should let us know what sort of setup you're using, and why you put your stops where you do. Saying you put a stop 17 ticks away because you think it might move a little bit against you isn't a valid reason.

 

So, what setups are you using besides saying this candle is red so I should go short, which is what I'm gathering out of your trades?

[AbeSmith 10]

  TinGull said:

Abe,

 

Do you ever think you wait too long to get into the trade? While the location of the trade was *near* a trade I would've taken if I hadn't been out to lunch, notice the HUGE volume on a hammer candle. Now I dont know if shorted before that candle formed or not, but seeing that candle would make me think that there is either A) lack of supply to drive the market down further or B) some demand starting to enter the market. On a bar like I wouldn't enter a short as I know the probabilities stand in the way of it going down further at that moment. Chances are higher that there will be either a pullback or a full on reversal. Looking at the bar and what happened after, there was a teeeeny pop up before a short lived move down and now the market just recovered all those losses in 5minutes.

 

I think that you should let us know what sort of setup you're using, and why you put your stops where you do. Saying you put a stop 17 ticks away because you think it might move a little bit against you isn't a valid reason.

 

So, what setups are you using besides saying this candle is red so I should go short, which is what I'm gathering out of your trades?

 

Hey Tin. Sometimes I feel I wait too long to enter a trade. But it is a balance for me because on the one had I feel that I need some confirmation, so by the time I get confirmation I miss a big chunk of the move. Not sure which hammer candle you're taking about. But on the same candle that I entered the trade there was the biggest volume of that move, and then when it started pulling back I though, hey, maybe I should get out now, play it safe and walk away with something rather than turn a profitable trade into a loss. But I decided to stay, and maybe wait until it goes back to the low of that candle around 13420, and then I would move my stop there. But that didn't happen and was showing signs of a pullback. Then I thought, what if my stop gets hit. It is too high. So I decided to lower the stop and I got stopped out. I also considered pulling out of the trade to brake even.

 

I think I'm having some difficulties finding a balance in my trading. One the one hand I don't want to make too many trades and bail out of trades constantly like I used to do. So I want to capture longer and bigger gains. But in the process of trying to do that I'm having difficulty, because now I feel maybe I should have at least come out even from that trade or walked away with some profit. Yeah, my target wasn't hit as quickly as I hoped, but things don't always work out perfectly, and so I think maybe I should have been a bit tighter with my points, and less fundamentalist with my trading plan, which by that I mean maybe I should have been a bit less rigid when I saw that the trade was not going well and my entry was probably flawed with such a high stop, maybe I should have bailed out.

[TinGull 10]

If you're wanting to take more points out of a trade, then you must move to a bigger time frame. When people trade for small points, the entire purpose of their trades is to trade INSIDE the noise. When you're playing for bigger points on less trades, then you must move to a higher time frame in order to not have to play inside that noise. the only thing that truly filters out noise in the markets is time.

 

And my questions about your setups still aren't answered. What are you watching for to get into a trade?

[AbeSmith 10]

  TinGull said:

If you're wanting to take more points out of a trade, then you must move to a bigger time frame. When people trade for small points, the entire purpose of their trades is to trade INSIDE the noise. When you're playing for bigger points on less trades, then you must move to a higher time frame in order to not have to play inside that noise. the only thing that truly filters out noise in the markets is time.

 

And my questions about your setups still aren't answered. What are you watching for to get into a trade?

 

Well Tin, today I've been watching the 200sma on a 5 minute chart and like yesterday it seems to be a strong area of support. So I'm looking to go long there. I also tend to look for reversals, so I like to pay attention to the point where a trend seems to turn by looking for areas of support and resistance and then I tend to wait for one opposite color candle print to indicate a reversal. On trending days where there is higher highs and higher lows, or vice versa, I tend to go in the direction of the trend on the dips, using a similar strategy of waiting for the dip, then waiting for an opposite color candle to indicate an change in momentum.

[AbeSmith 10]

  AbeSmith said:

Well Tin, today I've been watching the 200sma on a 5 minute chart and like yesterday it seems to be a strong area of support. So I'm looking to go long there. I also tend to look for reversals, so I like to pay attention to the point where a trend seems to turn by looking for areas of support and resistance and then I tend to wait for one opposite color candle print to indicate a reversal. On trending days where there is higher highs and higher lows, or vice versa, I tend to go in the direction of the trend on the dips, using a similar strategy of waiting for the dip, then waiting for an opposite color candle to indicate an change in momentum.

 

Also, I like head and shoulders.

[TinGull 10]

Today's been a pretty nasty consolidation day where there hasn't been much of anything for me to trade except the morning breakout failure. So, you said you're watching the 200sma today. Will you watch it tomorrow and forever? Will it be part of your trading plan that you'll live by?

 

Also, with reversals, don't just watch price, be sure to watch volume. Volume will be a confirmation tool that I watch more than price. Volume = participants and when there are more participants that means price should move. At that point its your job to figure out the likely direction of that move.

 

As for now, I'm done for the day. Got my little sum of cash into the account and thats all I need.

 

Till tomorrow

[AbeSmith 10]

  TinGull said:

Today's been a pretty nasty consolidation day where there hasn't been much of anything for me to trade except the morning breakout failure. So, you said you're watching the 200sma today. Will you watch it tomorrow and forever? Will it be part of your trading plan that you'll live by?

 

Also, with reversals, don't just watch price, be sure to watch volume. Volume will be a confirmation tool that I watch more than price. Volume = participants and when there are more participants that means price should move. At that point its your job to figure out the likely direction of that move.

 

As for now, I'm done for the day. Got my little sum of cash into the account and thats all I need.

 

Till tomorrow

 

Ok Tin. See you later. Thanks for the help.

[brownsfan019 17]

Abe -

 

Check out this thread!!!

 

http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/f18/free-snagit-7-a-2170.html#post15814

 

I found that just for you! Enjoy!

[AbeSmith 10]

  brownsfan019 said:

Abe -

 

Check out this thread!!!

 

http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/f18/free-snagit-7-a-2170.html#post15814

 

I found that just for you! Enjoy!

 

Thanks Brownsfan. I'm downloading it now.

[Guest cooter]

That link will give you the registration key for version 7.2.5 of SnagIT.

 

Is there a download link as well?