The First Day of My New Trading Business

[Xiao si 10]

It appears you've got a full plate of indices you're wanting to chase after. Is that your intent? Given your location, it obviously makes sense to be looking at Asia products. But then I saw the DAX listed in your screen shot. So now you're on to Europe. And I suspect you want a piece of US action, too? When I hear that, the term "work ethic" doesn't come to mind. Care to take a guess what does?

 

Go ahead, the suspence is killing me.

 

XS:confused:

[jackb 10]

Go ahead, the suspence is killing me.

 

XS:confused:

 

The gentler terms that come to mind are over-commitment and dilution of psychological capital.

 

I was hoping you'd correct my observation. Is your intent, in fact, to intraday trade in each of the 3 major trade sessions?

[Xiao si 10]

The gentler terms that come to mind are over-commitment and dilution of psychological capital.

 

I was hoping you'd correct my observation. Is your intent, in fact, to intraday trade in each of the 3 major trade sessions?

 

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

[MrMomentum 10]

Hi Xiao si,

 

You mentioned that you want to concentrate on the opening session.

 

What sort of strategy do you have in mind on the open?

 

All the best,

[Xiao si 10]

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

[poortorich 10]

share your other success. how you overcome those challenges in your life to be a profitable trader.i can share mine also if everyone is interested to our story..

 

and also other traders can share their experience.

 

keep it up man

[Tradewinds 12]

So far i know enough to leave the market open alone for about 30 minutes until it settles down. XS

 

There is a down side to waiting to long. If the market becomes choppy, directionless and slow, that situation can be a very, very difficult one to make any money in. I would never wait 30 minutes after the open, 5 minutes maybe. That's just my personal preference.

 

There are often very small windows of time for making the best money. You miss those windows of time, and they are gone. Of course, there is at least 2 perspectives to everything. I'm not trying to encourage anyone to become inpatient or enter orders without a good reason.

[davidjohnhall 10]

share your other success. how you overcome those challenges in your life to be a profitable trader.i can share mine also if everyone is interested to our story..

 

and also other traders can share their experience.

 

keep it up man

 

This has to be my favorite topic -- how did you go from consistently losing to being profitable -- and/or anywhere in between. I think we can all benefit from our shared experience and collective wisdom and/or lack thereof.

 

I went from a three year losing streak (it was probably the most painful/frustrating thing I have ever experienced) to a three year winning streak by doing the following:

 

1. Stopping trading. Seriously, you just have to cap it off at some point. If you are not profitable and you haven't been for awhile, then put an end to the misery, take some time off and get a fresh perspective.

 

2. Listed all of my trades. Wow -- talk about reliving the pain. I remember at one point I was listing the trades and they were going down like this: loser, loser, loser, loser, loser, loser... I was freaking out.

 

3. Printed charts of all my trades. I know, I know, I should have been doing this from the beginning. But it was another sobering exercise. I remember one trade I was in and closed with a 5% gain for NO REASON AT ALL. Trend was still up. Technicals looked healthy. No reversal patterns anywhere in sight. And two days later it gapped up 40%! LOL. That's life when you don't know what the heck you're doing.

 

4. Saw what was not working for me (almost everything) and what was working for me (almost nothing). Resolved to never do what didn't work (buying new lows, adding to losers, counter trend trading with 80% of my account in a single position), trading on partial completion bars) and only do what did work (continuation patterns after first thrust of the bottom) W bottoms, trend following, risk smaller percent of total equity.

 

5. Resolved not to start trading again until I could at minimum create and backtest a system based on what was working for me in the market and know going in all of my stats.

 

I remember that first trade back. It was in AAPL. It was a winner. But it could have been a loser and I was fine. I was trading with the right position size. I was trading the right kind of method for me -- swing trading continuation patterns -- and I was trading in the right market -- up trending.

 

It made all the difference. And I mean ALL the difference. These days trading is fun for me. Oh, I'm not rich or anything and the struggles still show up, but I am trading on a ten year plan now (not looking at to get rich over night) and feel very positive about the future prospects of my trading and my goals.

 

What a journey!

 

Wow. I applaud anyone making a go at the market, putting in the time and the work, and helping others on forums like this by sharing and offering helpful tips. As far as I am concerned there IS a holy grail in the market and that holy grail is called experience.

 

Good luck all.

[Xiao si 10]

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

[poortorich 10]

great post mr.david

 

i will make simplify my experience. ive been trading for almost 14years of existance. i started reading books, searching about market.etc..i learned quickly not because of my background of my education..this 14 years of experience..i am now a coach..teaching new trader..

[Xiao si 10]

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

[Xiao si 10]

Tonights DAX trades compared to when i started...making progres, learning from mistakes.

 

Baby steps...all on the sim of course.

 

Cheers,

 

 

XS

[Tradewinds 12]

Tick charts are a must for futures.

 

I see that is a 400 tick. Is that your shortest aggregation period? What do you use for your longer aggregation period? I've decided that whatever I'm using for my shortest aggregation period, the next step up is 3 times that. So 1 minute and 3 minute; or 5 minute and 15 minute. I'm just curious what you compare the 400 tick to.

[Xiao si 10]

TWs, I've actually just changed over to NT and eSignal as my primary charting platform from IB, so I've only just started using the tick chart in the last two weeks. When i started using the tick chart i ended up settling in on a 400 tick for the DAX and i left a 15min chart open as well. Since then i left the both as is and I'm quite comfortable with that. I like to be able to glance at the volume trend of a time based chart to know when the activity is trending down, hard to do on the tick chart.

 

I use an NT bid/ask type ratio indicator for divergence and it works well on both setups so I'm not fussed yet.

 

Do you think i should rather be looking a longer term tick chart instead of the time based chart? Or do you see any advantages in using both?

 

I do agree on the step intervals though, 3x makes sense to me, although with a time based series i would go 5 min, 15 min, hourly.

 

By the way, love your quote on your signature...who said that?

 

Cheers,

 

 

XS

[Tradewinds 12]

 

By the way, love your quote on your signature...who said that?

 

That's my goal. :rofl: It's how I want to trade. My own quote.

[Tams 20]

Sounds like a Thai girl i knew once........

 

Xiao Si

 

none of the pretty thai girls I met sound like pretty girls elsewhere...

 

they seem to have a deeper voice.

[Xiao si 10]

none of the pretty thai girls I met sound like pretty girls elsewhere...

 

they seem to have a deeper voice.

 

, must have had your beer goggles on! They always wait until late at night before coming out in force!

 

XS

[nakachalet 10]

great post mr.david

 

i will make simplify my experience. ive been trading for almost 14years of existance. i started reading books, searching about market.etc..i learned quickly not because of my background of my education..this 14 years of experience..i am now a coach..teaching new trader..

 

would love to hear your sale pitch and

 

what exactly would you teach xs, pls? (without having to reveal your secrets to all eager to learn traders here)

 

thx coach.

[nakachalet 10]

Yes, all of these are great points....my fiancee keeps me busy organizing our wedding and I've got Chinese to learn as well.

 

I have used multiple screens for 3 years now, I'm down to three from 4....no room in my new study for the 4th.

 

Here's an old photo of my setup. Much neater now in our new place in Suzhou, bigger desk and no cables hanging around.

 

Cheers,

 

 

XS

 

great looking trading office setups.

 

are those your indicators setup for day trading also?

[nakachalet 10]

Xiao Si is the nickname that my Chinese friends gave me based on my real first name...its means little...and then my name.

 

I'm lucky that in my current situation we can afford for me to take the time and confidently develop my plans and strategies. My previous career is still in demand here in Asia so i can always go back if i ever needed to but i am sure i'll be fine.

 

Cheers,

 

XS

 

thx much for your reply which showed it was done on sept 1, 2011.

 

but somehow i just got to read it today on sept 23, 2011.... :rofl:

 

and i subscribe to a 10M interest connection speed with i7 to assist, boy, is the email slow nowadays.

 

if your chinese name xiao si is pronouned in hong kong by cantonese standard,

 

XIAO SI could have also meant--little master (xiao si-foo)

 

which i hope that you would become in the near future. cheers, XIAO SI-FOO.

 

you are also a very lucky fellow. congrats on the upcoming matrimony with abundant blessings.

 

by the way, are there many coaching candidates offering their services yet?

 

also i came across your current post some place else as depicted in the attached pix. strange indeed. the very last post was yours.

Edited September 22, 2011 by nakachalet

[Xiao si 10]

by the way, are there many coaching candidates offering their services yet?

 

also i came across your current post some place else as depicted in the attached pix. strange indeed. the very last post was yours.

 

Thanks for the blessings mate...

 

No offers on the mentor yet no....

 

Where was that post from?

 

Cheers,

 

 

XS

[Xiao si 10]

Well after a couple of weeks of practice and screen time to develop setups, we had a live test again on the sim. We started early this morning on the SPI and MHI, then moved onto the DAX. Overall my best day so far.

 

Also finished my trading strategy document.

 

We will be ready to go live in two weeks. I'll start out on the MHI where its only 10 HKD per point!

 

Cheers,

 

 

XS

[SpearPointTrader 10]

Hello!

My first post here.

I have been day trading using multiple time frames, which allows me to get a better feel for what is going on. I choose my market using the weekly and daily markets, then I focus on the 30, 10 and 3 minute charts for my actual execution.

 

The thing I think is very important is having definit exit strategies, and the ability to see if a trade is going bad quickly before they become losers and hit stop loss orders.

[Xiao si 10]

Hello!

My first post here.

I have been day trading using multiple time frames, which allows me to get a better feel for what is going on. I choose my market using the weekly and daily markets, then I focus on the 30, 10 and 3 minute charts for my actual execution.

 

The thing I think is very important is having definit exit strategies, and the ability to see if a trade is going bad quickly before they become losers and hit stop loss orders.

 

I'm also using a triple screen system that i've developed. For example, on the DAX i'm using a 68 tick, 168 tick, and a 5 minutes chart.

 

I'm going to attach my strategy for comment so please feel free to have a look.

 

Cheers,

 

 

XS

Pattern Based Index Trading System v011.pdf

Edited October 6, 2011 by Xiao si

[Xiao si 10]

Hiya folks, just dropping by to give everyone New Years greetings and wish all the best for the year of the Dragon.

 

I will have a detailed update on my trading business very soon but here are some highlights:

 

1.) this is very difficult:(

2.) this is impossible:crap:

3.) i feel like i'm starting to get somewhere....

4.) repeat from step 2.):doh:

5.) still have a long ways to go:roll eyes:

6.) thank God for simulators!

7.) I hate myself.......

8.) i am my own worst enemy:bang head:

9.) there is hope, i found a coach!.......

 

Some things that i realized are understated in this game:

1.) Be patient

2.) You must have a plan for every trade

3.) You must stick to your plan

4.) You cannot do this by yourself, you will need help.

5.) You will try many indicators, systems, theories...but yet the answer lies within more than you think.

 

Cheers for now.

 

 

XS