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Do you have a strictly defined trading plan? Are your setups easy enough to spot that you can say concretely "This is Setup A" when it appears? Do you know ahead of time (before you enter a trade) how you will enter, exit, and what your trade management plans will be? I didn't read...

Thanks! I took a break from the journal because I had to figure out what the f*** trading was all about lol. Now I have half a clue, and hopefully a bit of knowledge to share with others, so that's what I'm trying to do.

In continuing with my last post, I am refining the strategy. As I believe I've stated before, I use an EMA to easily see pull-backs. So a short time-frame with a larger-period EMA seems to make pull-backs easy to spot, and the price swings themselves are easy to see because of the smaller...

Trading is an incredible endeavor. Much respect goes to anyone who can trade successfully. A couple months ago I pieced together a solid trend strategy. When price has broken out of a trading range and S/R "flips", or when I see a "series of HH/HL's or LL/LH's" I know most likely a trend...

D0n, You described two methods for trading stocks. From my experience, the best way to figure out whether those methods will work or not is, as others have said, by testing them. Back-testing, forward-testing, simulated real-time trade testing. As 2steps said, if you are interested in...

Don't know if I'm reviving this journal, but I wanted to post in it as a way to continue this journey as both a trader and an ET member. I have learned quite a bit about myself and trading since I put this journal down, and who knows maybe I can help someone else, or maybe not. But...

Much agreed!

In case it helps any, one of my "ET Mentors" has provided me with a great description of discretion and how it applies to the trader. "In my book, discretionary trading by and large means trading from your experience/intuition. Therefore, for those who have limited to no market experience...

Braincell, do you mean the trader is eventually functioning as an algo? See this is also how I tend to view the whole process. Ideally, I'm attempting to trade a working and tested plan, and therefore eliminate the discretionary pieces. This is why I asked this question. What is the...

Hello all, I learned very early on that trading successfully requires a strategy and a plan so that the trader knows what he/she is doing at all times. The market is capable of doing anything, and so the trader must have a plan before going into battle. This got me thinking about what it...

According to a just-posted news article in the Wall Street Journal, a currency trader blew the whistle on BNY Mellon for over-charging major clients. Pretty interesting story. If anybody has a subscription to the WSJ, below is the link...

N54, Although it's fun watching everyone debate, I created this thread solely for the reassurance that I'm not the only one going down the path I'm on. I suspect that I'm on the right path, given that others I've talked to and respect happen to agree, but it just helps for motivational...

Was it hard or easy for you to find your edge?

Using what Bespoke said, let's define 'edge' as "repeatable with a positive expectancy." Semantics aside, and regardless of whether the newly defined 'edge' is illegal or legal, so far I can conclude that "finding an 'edge'" is tough. Or at least not as easy as a walk in the park. This is...

Scataphagos, If no edge, did your 'observation/deduction/discipline' come easy to you? Was it simple or complicated? Take a while or not?

Clearinghouse, I've been doing the second option. Sitting, staring at charts for months. Finding a pattern is not an issue, there's millions of them. The issue is the risk and money management portion, or how best to play the pattern. With what you said about your signal drying up...

This question is for anyone who has a viable, tested edge that allows them to consistently profit from the market. :) How easy was it? Or how hard? Was it simple or complicated for you? I don't have an edge yet, but I know that for me so far, it's been hard. Primarily because I...

Shan, Sounds like we've both been studying Al Brooks! I'll take what you say and simplify it even further. I think the market only moves sideways and up/down. When it's moving up or down, it's trending, and the trend can show up in several variations. When price is moving sideways, it's...

Been a while since I updated this thing... I've learned two major things since I last wrote this: 1. I don't know as much as I think I do. :D and 2. Candles and bars are just a way of providing the information to the trader. They mean nothing else (at least to me), and they don't...

I'm up in Philly, and I happened to be in a basement so although I didn't actually feel any movement, it sounded as if a stampede of people were running up stairs above me.