AHG - Profitable Strategy for Struggling Traders

[cirekindob]

Thought I would post a chart for once instead of lurking. Things I need to work on are,

1. Overtrading.
2. Letting winners run.

The thing I did best today was absolutely no big losers. My accuracy was 50%, but my winners were more than 3 times bigger than my losers. So a nice 8 point/contract NQ profit after commish. I am on a simulator still so I make my commish 1.5 times actual, to make up for any advantages I may gain on the simulator. My average loser was 0.93, my average winner was 3.43 after commish.

I guess I just wanted to point out the single most important thing I have learned since starting, and this thread has helped the most, is that if you keep the losses small, it is much easier to make money, because you will and should have some big winners. I have no problem exiting if a trade doesn't seem to be acting how I think it should act. I agree with Anek, you can always get back in.

 

[tommi]

cirekindob, what is the difference between the green and the lime green candles?

ahh, I see...high+close higher than last candle...

 

[Cxinvest]

ES Today ==>

~Cx

 

[gfmchina]

CX - Anek will be proud of that I think, nice trading on ES.... How many net points today?

 

[mwald]

Quote from Cxinvest:

ES Today ==>

~Cx

Cx, Nice chart. I notice that there looks like DT at 14:05 relating to the 11:00 high. Is there a specific rule to omit it, such as too much time expired? I only ask because I`m learning.

 

[bluedemon77]

Did you guys do anything different today because of the FOMC minutes at 2? Choppy this AM, did a couple of break even trades and decided to stay out until a solid trend developed. Looked like one started right before the minutes came out, but I thought better wait, my first mistake. Saw another opportunity about 2:15, but waited for a retracement that didn't come, my next mistake, so I missed the big move. Could have got in again after it retraced and then broke back above major resistance, but wimped out because I thought "this can't go much higher." WRONG--I'm afraid to look where it is now.

Sometimes I think I'd be better off not paying attention to the economic calendar at all, but then again sometimes trading on these FOMC event days is like carting around old dynamite. What do you think? Does the news impact your decisions or do you just go by the chart and tune everything else out?

 

[jack411]

Quote from Cxinvest:

ES Today ==>

~Cx

Is this in hindsight, or are these the trades you made today?

If these were your trades great job! You nailed it today man!

 

[Cxinvest]

Quote from mwald:

Cx, Nice chart. I notice that there looks like DT at 14:05 relating to the 11:00 high. Is there a specific rule to omit it, such as too much time expired? I only ask because I`m learning.

Perhaps on a larger time frame chart it could be feasible to play the DT you are referring to with a close under that middle swing low at LOD, or early perhaps right near the top willing a bigger downtrend had preceeded this large DT. Since I was trading based more on smaller time frames, that DT you are referring to is huge and would require a beastly stop had it ever made it back down to close below that LOD swing. Does that make sense to what you are asking??

~Cx

 

[Avgdownking]

Anek,

My money management of choice is averaging down although not necessarily on direction how can I implement this with AHG ?Thank you, great thread.

Avg Down King

 

[Cxinvest]

Quote from bluedemon77:

Did you guys do anything different today because of the FOMC minutes at 2? Choppy this AM, did a couple of break even trades and decided to stay out until a solid trend developed. Looked like one started right before the minutes came out, but I thought better wait, my first mistake. Saw another opportunity about 2:15, but waited for a retracement that didn't come, my next mistake, so I missed the big move. Could have got in again after it retraced and then broke back above major resistance, but wimped out because I thought "this can't go much higher." WRONG--I'm afraid to look where it is now.

Sometimes I think I'd be better off not paying attention to the economic calendar at all, but then again sometimes trading on these FOMC event days is like carting around old dynamite. What do you think? Does the news impact your decisions or do you just go by the chart and tune everything else out?

You are better off just sticking with the charts and ignoring the news. Exceptions to me would be important news directly correlated with the Feds (policy statements more so than the other meetings). The Feds are very capable of sending the market down or up in a hurry. Sometimes other economic news will cause short volatility bursts. If it troubles you it may be worth sitting out on these briefly until volatility curbs. When you get more experienced you'll start to realize that a chart is a chart is a chart regardless of what happens, and that the smaller time data actually holds little to no substance to your trades. This is what I've determined through my personal experiences anyway.

~Cx