Al Brooks Trading Best Pice Action
- Thread starter Ares
- Start date
I'm almost through the first 100 pages of the new "Trend" book. Al, the editor and the reviewers have done a great job so far in describing the material much more clearly than the first book.
I think the beginners trying to follow his bar-by-bar entry methods are making one big mistake: trading the ES just because he shows all of his examples with it. What they're missing is that it's a better contract for size traders, not small traders. They should be focusing on a nice, volatile contract with less retracing on the breakouts like the CL (Crude futures).
I appreciate the time and care Brooks has taken to describe his way of looking at the market. IMO, he succeeds in helping to guide others to find where the better edges are in reading price action.
I think the beginners trying to follow his bar-by-bar entry methods are making one big mistake: trading the ES just because he shows all of his examples with it. What they're missing is that it's a better contract for size traders, not small traders. They should be focusing on a nice, volatile contract with less retracing on the breakouts like the CL (Crude futures).
I appreciate the time and care Brooks has taken to describe his way of looking at the market. IMO, he succeeds in helping to guide others to find where the better edges are in reading price action.
A very good choice of words RN
Hi all,
About his book
I'm a struggling trader.. now at the breakeven stage.
My personal opinion is that out of about 15 serious trading books I've read, his contains the most 'rational' explanations of why price moves like they do. VS oscillators / trend indicators written in many others.. pink line cross blue line = buy cos oversold.. but doesn't entail any explanation why?
The best stuff in his book are those trades which essentially trade trapped traders. Also the golden advice.. trade with the trend. Although I must say that his book is a TERRIBLE read.. he talks about H2/L3 without explaining this personal terms from the start. Took me 3 re-reads of the first 3 chaps to get his meaning.
Please advise!
Can you successful traders who have crossed over to the profitable stage give a noob some advice?
I find that I have enough money to trade just 1 lot of ES.. I find that ES is full of barb wires & I more often that not find myself entering a "self perceived with trend H1 or L1", only to enter at the prev bar's high or low & then watch my tight 1 tick stop beyond the prev bar's low or high.. get taken out.
I trade 2-3% of my capital per trade. I go a 1-1 risk-reward ratio, but noticed that Al Brooks talks abt a 6 tick scalp. How can this be profitable if most stop-losses for with trend entries are beyond 6 ticks?
I also have the problem of moving my stop-loss to BE too soon after being in-the-money for 5 ticks.. and often get taken out of the trend. When is a good time to raise my stop to BE? Al Brooks mentions that "you will get stopped out at BE in most of your with trend trades, but in the LR you will catch enough of those". Yet he doesn't talk abt trade management.. when to raise your stop to BE. I find that one important aspect of trading "MONEY MANAGEMENT" is NOT INCLUDED in his book. Personally.. after struggling for half a year eating & breathing trading.. I find that this is the CORE ASPECT that makes a trader able to trade for a living.
Any advice for a 1 lot ES trader, who can't swing a portion of his trade?
About his book
I'm a struggling trader.. now at the breakeven stage.
My personal opinion is that out of about 15 serious trading books I've read, his contains the most 'rational' explanations of why price moves like they do. VS oscillators / trend indicators written in many others.. pink line cross blue line = buy cos oversold.. but doesn't entail any explanation why?
The best stuff in his book are those trades which essentially trade trapped traders. Also the golden advice.. trade with the trend. Although I must say that his book is a TERRIBLE read.. he talks about H2/L3 without explaining this personal terms from the start. Took me 3 re-reads of the first 3 chaps to get his meaning.
Please advise!
Can you successful traders who have crossed over to the profitable stage give a noob some advice?
I find that I have enough money to trade just 1 lot of ES.. I find that ES is full of barb wires & I more often that not find myself entering a "self perceived with trend H1 or L1", only to enter at the prev bar's high or low & then watch my tight 1 tick stop beyond the prev bar's low or high.. get taken out.
I trade 2-3% of my capital per trade. I go a 1-1 risk-reward ratio, but noticed that Al Brooks talks abt a 6 tick scalp. How can this be profitable if most stop-losses for with trend entries are beyond 6 ticks?
I also have the problem of moving my stop-loss to BE too soon after being in-the-money for 5 ticks.. and often get taken out of the trend. When is a good time to raise my stop to BE? Al Brooks mentions that "you will get stopped out at BE in most of your with trend trades, but in the LR you will catch enough of those". Yet he doesn't talk abt trade management.. when to raise your stop to BE. I find that one important aspect of trading "MONEY MANAGEMENT" is NOT INCLUDED in his book. Personally.. after struggling for half a year eating & breathing trading.. I find that this is the CORE ASPECT that makes a trader able to trade for a living.
Any advice for a 1 lot ES trader, who can't swing a portion of his trade?
Hi StevenH.. good advice on what most of us are missing.. It's better for size traders. My personal experience is that this applies to fx n many other instruments. Though I have no exp in CL or similar instruments, so have no idea how trading those with PA bar by bar will be better.
I find that if I had a 50-50 odds of each trades, in the long run, I need money mgmt, stops to control losses, and also be able to swing portions of a few trades that are 'on the house'. W/o the swing portions, it's tough to live on trading.
Look first at the equation and not just the W/L component of it. As hard as it is to do take only with trend swing setups, move stop to BE or thereabouts when you are 2pts in-the-money and exit +4pts when you can.
I am not suggesting this is easy but probably a better bottom line for the new guy than scalping. If you do scalp consider only doing so during spikes. And be sure to alert the wife or girlfriend that you may awake screaming in the middle of the night.
I am not suggesting this is easy but probably a better bottom line for the new guy than scalping. If you do scalp consider only doing so during spikes. And be sure to alert the wife or girlfriend that you may awake screaming in the middle of the night.