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thalestrader

Reading Charts in Real Time

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... but this is still 4x as good as it was in late September (this is on a 100 trade moving average - a trade could be a partial exit of a position).

 

Another thing that I a paying attention to is the size of my trade.

 

No more (or atleast I am trying). When in doubt I reduce my position size to a minimum. I have doubled up only twice in recent days. Once when I was profitable and once when I was not but I was convinced that my setup was valid but I may have entered too early. Both cases worked out in my favour.

 

The difference now is that I have a trading plan and I am fully devoted to my success in this field.

 

Gabe

 

Way to go, Gabe! :thumbs up:

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Way to go, Gabe! :thumbs up:

 

Thanks hb but - It's a Long Way to Tipperary - As you have seen yesterday and my overnight trade were not in the direction I want to go but it is just a little bump.

 

Gabe

 

BTW I was stopped out on my UJ trade for a 10 pip loss.

 

another BTW. My chart looks fuzzy but I don't know why. It is not a compressed image and it looks OK when view from the original on my computer.

Any ideas?

 

Actually I found that PAINT (the program I use to put the lines on the chart IS optimizing the picture to reduce it's size and thus the fuzzy picture, so I am switching to another program.

UJ_Oct_19_2009_1H_lines.thumb.JPG.5678458bcbb368b7154446eab5fc5eab.JPG

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another BTW. My chart looks fuzzy but I don't know why. It is not a compressed image and it looks OK when view from the original on my computer.

Any ideas?

 

If you use Vista, there is a snip tool you can use to just save a selected part of the screen as a jpeg file. If you don't have vista, there is probably a "snag it" program you can download for free on the internet that will do the same thing.

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:o:oOne of my longest trades ever closed at a loss.

8 pips only.

 

I am sure the Mr/Mrs Market are ganging up on me :o

 

Gabe

 

I had my worst loosing FX trade EVAAAAR last night. I entered short the G/J last night at 147.85. Target was 147.25. After entry it rallied unfomfortably high above my entry. No problem, just waiting for a pull back to adjust stop.

 

I planned on moving stop to BE once it crossed my entry which it did as the trade wasn't working out. Was goign to get it at BE and head to sleep.

 

Instead of setting my stop to 147.85, I set it to 148.85 like a retard. What a stupid error. Went all the way to my stop while I was sleep.

 

Then I woke up late and missed my early am trade. So shitty day all round for me.:cool:

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I have posted a question in the chart.

Thank you in advance for an explanation

Gabe

 

I know you didn't ask me but here is what I would answer (since I asked myself this same question when he posted the trade).

 

At the time frame he is charting, the swing sizes are larger than the levels you noted. Notice that the "H swing" you noted is similar in size compared to the oscilations the stayed in the channel during the last large swing down. My guess is Thales would say that the levels you noted are minor high/lows but the scale he is looking for the entry would be based on intermediate high/lows.

 

attachment.php?attachmentid=14409&stc=1&d=1256076979

usdcad.thumb.png.fd0c94f5b3164ecb5383ba436eb1019d.png

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I know you didn't ask me but here is what I would answer (since I asked myself this same question when he posted the trade).

 

 

Thank you for your input and I think that even if we ask a specific person a question, others could and should chip in just to see different points of view.

 

Gabe

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Thank you for your input and I think that even if we ask a specific person a question, others could and should chip in just to see different points of view.

 

Gabe

 

I second Dino's thoughts. I think the swing you pointed out was just a minor inflection on the scale Thales was viewing.

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Thank you for your input and I think that even if we ask a specific person a question, others could and should chip in just to see different points of view.

 

Gabe

 

 

 

 

Also, price had not pulled back or tested the low sufficiantly for a significant run.

 

Steve

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I'd second the point wrt time scales.

 

In my own experience, scanning charts until you find the timescale where moves are meaningful for the type of trade you want is very important. Some would claim that there is too much noise on shorter timeframes - but I think thats too strong, its more a question of right timescale for the type of move you are trying to trade.

 

Steve's point is also interesting. It might or might not be useful though. You need, once you know the timescale and type of move you are looking for to study prior examples and find out if the pullback must be deep for sufficient liquidity to have been generated for a good move to follow. This will vary from contract to contract and may also be something that changes over time (markets both evolve and cycle as "simple" things are eroded and then sometimes become simple again - if it was static then it would just be too easy, right?)

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I know you didn't ask me but here is what I would answer (since I asked myself this same question when he posted the trade).

 

At the time frame he is charting, the swing sizes are larger than the levels you noted. Notice that the "H swing" you noted is similar in size compared to the oscilations the stayed in the channel during the last large swing down. My guess is Thales would say that the levels you noted are minor high/lows but the scale he is looking for the entry would be based on intermediate high/lows.

 

attachment.php?attachmentid=14409&stc=1&d=1256076979

 

I think Dinero answered this very well, and I especially like the manner in which he identified the relevant swings.

 

In addition to his comments, I would add that I was actually expecting one further push lower before the reversal, and as such, I would not have been looking to enter long at the level you noted. That may very well have been a good long opportunity on the 15 minute (or not), though I did not look at that time frame.

 

I've taken another shot showing what I saw as a potential resistance zone (red) and a support zone (blue). You can see how price behaved between the two to create distinct and proportionate swings that define the long entry.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

5aa70f400a404_10-20-2009USDCAD3.thumb.jpg.613311cda0aeaade07147e8b4e6a7f46.jpg

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It was such a good example I thought I'd annotate it. Not taking anything away from Thales' zones of S&R - more that if you see a situation like this then it adds another layer of momentum to the long opportunity.

 

attachment.php?attachmentid=14414&stc=1&d=1256083913

usdcad.thumb.png.563949383c6c5f3ba070058bcab1b0fa.png

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Hi Folks,

 

This USDCAD could, of course, go either way. But right now price action is leading me to anticipate higher prices. New buy point would be approx 1.0530, with targets at +100, +190, and +325 ticks.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

5aa70f40177a4_10-20-2009USDCAD4.thumb.jpg.a9e4421cbcadb4a4cd4c0da4eec5841a.jpg

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another BTW. My chart looks fuzzy but I don't know why. It is not a compressed image and it looks OK when view from the original on my computer.

Any ideas?

 

Actually I found that PAINT (the program I use to put the lines on the chart IS optimizing the picture to reduce it's size and thus the fuzzy picture, so I am switching to another program.

 

Gabe - the best screen capture program I have found is SnagIt. It's 50 bucks and does so much stuff - much more than just screen capture. Very useful tool I use in my trading.

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