Chronicles of the NQ

I

Instynct

I’m back.

Its been a while since I’ve posted on ET. Some of you might remember me from my previous journal “Trading on Instynct”. I would like to start a new journal all about the NQ, for I believe it is a great market for scalpers as well as for intraday swing traders. I have always been one to believe that trading one market and developing an intuitive sense for its price action is a great way to become consistently successful. NQ is my home playing field.

My style of trading is very much discretionary, pretty much 100%. I have my own boundaries and rules of the game, but setups are always different from one degree to another. Price action unfolds differently every day, and the market is constantly evolving over time. So to me there is no “if price does x,y,z, then enter”. Instead I “listen” to what the market is saying by the footprints it leaves. Structure, how it trades around key levels, and the speed at which it moves is the emotion of the markets. That’s what I pay attention to. So the only thing on my charts is this: R1, R2, daily pivot, S1, S2, weekly pivot, monthly pivot, key levels from the daily/weekly charts, and Vwap. That’s it. I know that volume profile, trendlines, technical patterns, indicators, are popular, but I do not need to use them. Not because I don’t think they work, but because I have already developed a relationship (through years of watching price action) with price and the aforementioned levels I use. Less but effective information = clarity for me.

I trade anywhere from 1 to 3 lots. High probability setups I enter full position right away, whereas quick scalps within say a 10 point range I trade single lots. I am almost to the point where I do not scalp those single lots anymore. My focus lately has been cream of the crop, high probability setups where I enter 3 lots from the get go. That’s the direction my trading is going, only high probability setups with full positions.

I think I’ve rambled enough. I will start this journal either tomorrow, but no later then Monday 4/15. It is an open journal so feel free to post your comments, P/L, or anything you would like to discuss.
 
Fairly consistent and marginally profitable.

One thing I forgot to include from the last post are two of the most important levels: Previous high and low of day.
 
For months now I’ve been waiting for this kind of breakout to the upside. I would be lying if I did not admit how pissed off I am and I’m not sure if I should blame myself or the platform I use to place orders as I am still fuming. (obviously I am being facetious as the trader is always responsible for his actions)

Screenshot of the T4 Dom is attached to illustrate my point. I was long 3 lots at 2815.5 and scaled out the first 2 lots at predetermined price levels like I normally do, with the intention of riding the third lot with no stop on days such as today. As soon as I close my second lot, I quickly proceed to close my stop orders from below, but since the flatten button and the pull order button are so close together on the dom I ended up hitting the flatten button instead. A fat finger mistake that hopefully will never happen again as I changed the settings to have the buttons on opposite sides of dom.
 

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Quote from lcranston:

Interestingly the top of the trend channel intersects at just this level (+/-).
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Icranston, when you get a chance can you post a chart to see what you're looking at? Thanks
 
Incredible and somewhat predictive action so far. This why prev HOD and LOD of are so important. Lets say for example you were long a couple contracts at 2852 or so, at least take off one contract as we approach yesterday's high, and trail a stop on the second incase we don't break. You never know if buyers will back off at that level and allow sellers to take it down. They are clearly doing it now. At least the first contract will pay for your trade if it doesn't work out.

Sound trade management is key to long term success, never blindly believe S/R will break until it clearly does.
 
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