Classic. First, you praise how rational his book is. Next, you state that you haven't made any money with it
..and this guy is a Guru because?.....
Al Brooks Trading Best Pice Action
- Thread starter Ares
- Start date
Classic. First, you praise how rational his book is. Next, you state that you haven't made any money with it
..and this guy is a Guru because?.....
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He has released TWO new books.
The one on trends--his first one--is excellent. 5 out of 5 stars.
The second one, which I received last Friday, is awful. 2 out of 5 stars. Many typos, missing words, muddled thinking--a real rush job. Sloppier than his original book, which was panned for being a case study in obfuscation.
Some parts that should been updated--"MER over the last year has been respectful of break-even stops"--have not even been changed.
On one chart, the bar-by-bar commentary is about intraday trading (...into the close) and the chart is a DAILY EUR/USD chart!
The section on gaps is just a mess. The writing, the thinking, the confusing use of the word "gap".
The third book is coming out in a month. I do not have high hopes. But if I find one idea to squeeze more money out of the market, then it will be well, well worth it.
After reading Brooks the first time I embarked on a months-long research and development journey to create a well-defined trading plan. As a 1-lot trader, I too had to work through the strategies to fit them to my comfort level.
Moving stops to BE too soon is a habit that can ruin you.
Consider accepting your initial stop loss and locking in a minimum target on each trade, or consider taking 2nd entries only.
Second entries are when you "bookmark" the entry price in your head but wait for price to react and come back to the entry zone. If the reaction to initial price trigger set no traps, use a limit order to get in at the initial entry price (where your BE stop would be taken out). If price doesn't come back all the way to let you in, then you may have to use a smaller time frame (1-min) for a micro-setup entry at a slightly worst price. I'd only chase deep in a strong trend that's breaking out; otherwise watch patiently for the next setup.
If the reaction to the initial price trigger appears to have set a trap, watch for a reversal setup. If no reversal setup appears, look to enter in the same direction as the initial setup at the initial price trigger or a better price if possible. I often wait for reaction, see if the integrity of the setup holds, and enter with a limit order at a better price.
ES is especially notorious for coming back to take out stops moved to BE after 5-6 ticks, then running nicely in your favor.
Keep detailed spreadsheet logs of how many valid ES setups do this and also note the max adverse excursion on setups that remain valid and eventually reach your minimum target. This will help you sit comfortably through normal price wiggles and retraces without moving your stop too early.
Hope that helps!
That's all true... and so is this fact: choosing to trade the ES as a 1-lot trader is the worst possible choice someone can make. The ES is by far most sideways, congestive and choppy tape relative to all other markets.
Any given trader of whatever skill level and whatever method or system with an edge that works will make more money on fewer trades turned in 6E or EURUSD than ES over time. Probably twice as much profit with half the trades in euro spot or futures versus ES futures.
Has nothing to do with said trader: the FX tapes are straighter swings, greater price value distance covered and much more technically structured than emini tapes are. Purely a matter of market behavior, nothing else.
Too many 1-lot traders feel obligated to trade ES because it's popular, they read about it everywhere, they see others pretending to trade it in public message boards, etc. But unless someone is an experienced trader AND they need to turn big contract size, ES is a poor choice when trading purely for money and no other ego-driven reasons.
Would you say the same about NQ and YM ?
Is it all the same?
FoN
At IB, you'll notice there's a slight catch with trading the 6E. IB will charge 50 cents to modify/cancel a contract but will apply a $2.50 credit upon execution. This gives you a 5:1 ratio on moving/canceling your orders before extra money gets pulled from your account for being "too fidgity".
You don't have these restrictions on the CL, e-minis, etc. but...going past a 10:1 ratio will have IB fire off an e-mail to you saying that if you don't drop below that ratio pronto, you're going to be privvy to some new transaction charges coming your way.
I think this has more of an effect on auto-traders than discretionary traders since 10:1 is very generous. However, the 5:1 for the 6E could catch you from time to time.
The reason I personally don't trade the 6E is because, on average, you'll get only 10-12 pips before a price reaction that you'll have to survive before reaching your target. And you may have to survive two. This is too choppy (for me) in comparison to the CL where you can get 15-30 tick moves while risking only 10 ticks...before you get a significant price action you'll need to survive in order to get more. This, and there's just flat-out way more opportunities per day on the CL risking $100 per contract to make $200+.
[The HSI futures contract is probably the wildest in the world but, as a U.S. Citizen, I have zero interest in non-Dollar denominated futures contracts and the grief they impose on filing taxes. Same goes for the DAX]
You don't have these restrictions on the CL, e-minis, etc. but...going past a 10:1 ratio will have IB fire off an e-mail to you saying that if you don't drop below that ratio pronto, you're going to be privvy to some new transaction charges coming your way.
I think this has more of an effect on auto-traders than discretionary traders since 10:1 is very generous. However, the 5:1 for the 6E could catch you from time to time.
The reason I personally don't trade the 6E is because, on average, you'll get only 10-12 pips before a price reaction that you'll have to survive before reaching your target. And you may have to survive two. This is too choppy (for me) in comparison to the CL where you can get 15-30 tick moves while risking only 10 ticks...before you get a significant price action you'll need to survive in order to get more. This, and there's just flat-out way more opportunities per day on the CL risking $100 per contract to make $200+.
[The HSI futures contract is probably the wildest in the world but, as a U.S. Citizen, I have zero interest in non-Dollar denominated futures contracts and the grief they impose on filing taxes. Same goes for the DAX]