Reading Charts in Real Time

[thalestrader 14]

The analogy I use when I'm teaching people goes like this ...

 

Perhaps one of the most valuable posts I've read if one accepts the truth contained within, not least of which is this:

 

People cannot be fully spoon-fed skills.

 

It takes practice, practice, practice.

 

A wonderful post, Richard. Thank you.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

[thalestrader 14]

Hi Folks,

 

Making some pre-open notes.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

[BlowFish 10]

You will short circuit your progress and short change yourself by continually looking for short cuts.

 

A summary of Plato written anonymously on a publically edited and editable web site is hardly a substitute for reading Plato for yourself.

 

 

My girlfriends grandmother learnt Russian to read war and peace "as it should be read" (to quote her).

[BlowFish 10]

For the record, my daughter was never under any threat of punishment, and she was free to give up at any time if she had found the activity boring, uninteresting, or burdensome in any way.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

 

I wonder whether having implicit trust is something to do with it? I think one of the reasons people have difficulty with trading (in general) is that whilst they acknowledge certain 'truths' they don't completely and unconditionally accept them.

[thalestrader 14]

I wonder whether having implicit trust is something to do with it? I think one of the reasons people have difficulty with trading (in general) is that whilst they acknowledge certain 'truths' they don't completely and unconditionally accept them.

 

I think that is true, and as you and I have both said early on, and others have more recently offered, she did not have a brainful of baggage to contend with as most of us do by the time we get to a place such as this.

 

And of course, another factor in her favor is that she was all about the ticks won vs. lost, and not concerned with making money or losing money. Not too long ago, MidK posted about his struggles and wondered about our weekly PnL. I thought after that that it does more harm and no good to post PnL figures in dollar terms, so any PnL I may mention going forward will be strictly in terms of ticks(pips) won/lost, and not dollar terms. After all, the focus should be on capturing more pips of price movement than one loses. The money will follow.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

[thalestrader 14]

My girlfriends grandmother learnt Russian to read war and peace "as it should be read" (to quote her).

 

There is much to be said for reading an author in his or her own language, though I do believe a careful and sensitive translator can convey the author's intent (I'm one of those old fashioned folks who think that a writer's intended meaning can be accessible to the reader, even across time and culture). At the same time, a careless translator, or worse, a translator with a certain ideological agenda, can destroy a text beyond recognition in the process of translating. If one were to read Jowett's Republic, and then the Allen Bloom translation, one might find come away feeling that one or the other got something wrong given the differences. By the way, I'd argue that Bloom got it right.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

[Kiwi 16]

Richard,

 

What were/are you teaching?

 

I ask because you seem to be talking about one style of teaching/learning and its not necessarily completely applicable to trading.

 

Years back I learned to ski. And over time I improved my skiing and like many applied the 1-2 lesson per year approach. Like traders, skiers arrived at instructors with their own baggage (the pain of large crashes, broken bones, the impact of previous styles of skiing and teaching).

 

When we started the Austrians held sway and teaching was as you described. Over time we went through french, american, and even zen influences. Over time, less intellectual and more effective techniques were developed and an important element was less talk and more modeling and shaping. Watch, do, "try pressing down a little with your big toe", wow. Very personal and very effective.

 

 

Discretionary trading is not unlike skiing. Good days truly flow down a slope of unending opportunity.

[BlowFish 10]

I............... I thought after that that it does more harm and no good to post PnL figures in dollar terms, so any PnL I may mention going forward will be strictly in terms of ticks(pips) won/lost, and not dollar terms................

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

 

I wonder if that is because your daughters account is larger than yours now

[thalestrader 14]

I wonder if that is because your daughters account is larger than yours now

 

I'll bet she's doing a bit better than many of the "elite traders" posting on that other forum.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

[thalestrader 14]

Hi Folks,

 

Making some pre-open notes.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

 

A quick look at the opening gambits ...

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

[Gabe2004 10]

My girlfriends grandmother learnt Russian to read war and peace "as it should be read" (to quote her).

 

Was the Russian version the first one she read?

 

Gabe

[Gabe2004 10]

A good start for the week.

44 pips on EJ with 1 unit only.

Reason was - potential closing of the gap which happens many times on Sunday.

For the rest of the week I will trade/annotate the EJ only as per the system of this thread.

 

Gabe

[MidKnight 12]

And of course, another factor in her favor is that she was all about the ticks won vs. lost, and not concerned with making money or losing money. Not too long ago, MidK posted about his struggles and wondered about our weekly PnL. I thought after that that it does more harm and no good to post PnL figures in dollar terms, so any PnL I may mention going forward will be strictly in terms of ticks(pips) won/lost, and not dollar terms. After all, the focus should be on capturing more pips of price movement than one loses. The money will follow.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

 

Hi,

 

I don't recall this exactly, but whatever....I think I've always posted any results from this exploration in average pips per trade (accounting for partial exits over the entire position). I may have commented on the Thales Family Trading Co % gains, but not dollars.

 

Anyways, it is with regret that I posted my struggles here and should have known better than to do so in public on the Internet. The exploration has been somewhat beneficial though, so maybe a case of no pain, no gain.

 

With kind regards,

MK

[BlowFish 10]

Was the Russian version the first one she read?

 

Gabe

 

She (my GF) believes that she (her Grandmother) first read it in German or possibly Rumanian but had a smattering of Russian already.

[Gabe2004 10]

it is with regret that I posted my struggles here and should have known better than to do so in public on the Internet

 

I don't understand the REGRET part.

No one knows who you are.

You were honest with yourself and that is what counts.

I don't know if you were around when I wiped out 1/3 of my account and I was hesitant to post that fact.

But I did.

I told myself that that is the honest thing to do.

For myself and for the rest of the people that saw me gain day after day only to give it back and then some.

 

I am sure that deep inside you feel better. Especcially after Thales commented on your trades (hopefully that was of some benefit)

 

Don't leave us because I will be left alone to call a spade a spade

 

Gabe

[BlowFish 10]

......Anyways, it is with regret that I posted my struggles here...

 

I'm sorry to hear that, I am not quite sure why you would feel that. I got something from your posts if that is any consolation.

[thalestrader 14]

Anyways, it is with regret that I posted my struggles here

 

I am sorry to hear that, MidK. It certainly has not been my intent to cause anyone regret, and if you feel I have been picking on you, I apologize. You were kind enough to offer us a most honest and comprehensive view of what you were experiencing, and thus I perhaps over used your example.

 

I hope we don't lose you, but I understand your feelings and I appreciate your contributions here.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

[Gabe2004 10]

She (my GF) believes that she (her Grandmother) first read it in German or possibly Rumanian but had a smattering of Russian already.

 

I thought so.

My father was 1st violin in a phylharmonic orchestra back in the country that I was born in.

When I was a child I really disliked classical music. Especially violin.

I thought it sounded harsh.

I prefered Elvis, The Shadows, Deep Purple and the likes - music which my father called BANGA BANGA because of the rhythm.

So one day I called him to listen to a guitar section of Highway Star.

I thought that my father will ridicule me again but he said that he is really impressed because the motive is classical.

Then Beethoven's 40th came out as Joy To the World and became a big hit and some others.

I LOVE classical music today. and eventhough it represnts only about 15% of my CD collection if I would have to take 10 cd to a deserted island, probably more than half would be classical and sound tracks (which in my case fall into the same category)

 

The point I am trying to make is that sometimes the way to the original is through the backdoor and thinking that the fake, the immitation, the proccessed version has not relevance is a mistake.

 

Be it music, litrature, furniture or other art forms.

 

If I cannot afford Dali in my house should I not hang a poster of a Dali or Rembrandt, or Escher just because they are not originals?

Should I look down on someone because they like a second class form of expression?

 

Gabe

 

So here is that famous piece

Highway Star.mp3

[thalestrader 14]

Could you post some losing trades? Thanks, Don

 

We'll give it a try ...

 

GU with a sell stop at 1.6469, go to break even at 1.6436, with PT's at 1.6420 and 1.6369;

 

or

 

GU with a buy stop at 1.6507, go to break even at 1.6526, with PT's at 1.6557 and 1.6607

 

This thing is really rattling around.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

[thalestrader 14]

GU with a buy stop at 1.6507, go to break even at 1.6526, with PT's at 1.6557 and 1.6607

 

The Gain data through Ninjatrader shows a 1.6525 high on that little pop, but our broker shows a high of 1.65262, so we are going to break even on this trade.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

[thalestrader 14]

we are going to break even on this trade.

 

A break even effort, and awaiting the next opportunity.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

[thalestrader 14]

... awaiting the next opportunity.

 

Hi folks,

 

My daughter and I were saying good night to her little brother and we missed the entry on this opportunity.

 

Buy stop 1.6528, go to break even at 1.6557, PT1 1.6590, PT2 1.6645.

 

We're in, but not at 1.6528. We bought at market 1.65429. It happens.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

[Cory2679 11]

A break even effort, and awaiting the next opportunity.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

 

I took this trade!

 

I handled it kinda funny, though...

 

I'm trading the 6B...My initial buy stop was @ 1.6513, with a S/L of 1.6470, with a PT of 1.6554...

 

Pulled out for BE (actually an average of 0.5 ticks of profit)..

 

BTW, got slipped 2 ticks on my entry...geez... EDIT: It was actually 1.5 ticks.

 

THEN, I actually placed a buy stop at 1.6534 (the "high", ie where Thales got BE, was 1.6530 on my chart), so a print of 1.6534 would mean a significant breakout of the high...

 

Then I got filled, put my S/L at 1.6513 (what would have been BE on my original trade), and my PT at the original 1.6554 (about a 1:1 R/R situation).

 

Got profit...ended up with 20.5 ticks of profit between both of the trades.

 

I guess I could have put my second trade buy stop @ 1.6531, but I picked 34 just because it was right in the middle between my original entry of 13 and my original PT of 54.

 

I normally wouldn't handle a trade this way but it seemed reasonable in the moment, and turned out well.

 

-Cory

 

EDIT: It would have probably been more prudent to take the trade Thales just mentioned, rather than doing what I did. Oh well...I think I was a little distracted because I was thinking about the trade I was just in, rather than looking for the next opportunity. Even though it worked just fine this time, and I think my handling of it was all right, I need to forget old trades and move on to new opportunities...

Edited November 30, 2009 by Cory2679

[thalestrader 14]

I handled it kinda funny, though... It would have probably been more prudent to take the trade Thales just mentioned, rather than doing what I did. Oh well...I think I was a little distracted because I was thinking about the trade I was just in, rather than looking for the next opportunity. Even though it worked just fine this time, and I think my handling of it was all right, I need to forget old trades and move on to new opportunities...

 

Here is how we managed our missed entry. As I said, we bought at market and the fill was 1.65429. We then added twice as price moved in our favor. We now have three positions with an average buy of 1.65494, with a stop on each at 1.6560. We have PT1 limits on the two "first-in" positions at 1.6590, with a limit on the third position at 1.6645.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

[Cory2679 11]

Does anyone on here that trades currency futures generally trade the Tokyo session with them?

 

This is my first time tonight, and it seems like overall, the volume, spreads, and slippage (all related, of course) are much less favorable.

 

That's not just based on my experience tonight...I've scrolled back through charts with volume plotted and Tokyo is substantially lower...London tooks all right and defintiely the first half of the NY session...

 

Not to mention, tonight seems like a relatively high volume night compared to some other Tokyo sessions...I could be mistaken though, I didn't do THAT much research.

 

Thanks,

Cory