Entries, Exits, TA and Trade Management - A Quest To Becoming A Refined Trader

Alpha Trader

Alpha Trader

(For those that want to skip my trading history, jump down to the <b>BOLD</b> paragraph below and start there)

My trading journey started in 2008/9. Looking back at some of my strategies/trades from then, I can only shake my head and have a nervous smile of utter disbelieve as to some of the disastrous trades that I had made. Some worked out, some didn't. The point was that it taught me my lessons to advance as a trader.

By 2012, I was consistently profitable and was on track to dealing with increasing size. I was sharp, fast and had a pretty good handle on psychologically manipulating my mind in order to perform optimally. This included my diet and workouts too.

Unfortunately, life had it's own plans and I had to get away from the screen and trading altogether. However, I was able to come back and carry on from where I had left off. And so I thought. In short, I could not trade! My initial confidence was slowly starting to convert into mild panic as I know how much work I had put in to get to where I was.

Fast forward to today. I have a methodology (which is what I had created over the years), which allows me to trade. My results are erratic; some days I do very well and some I don't. I have to put this down to the lack of being able to process information faster, so as to make those decisions in good time. Second guessing is also an issue.

The positive in this is that I have always had a pretty good and tight grip on my risk management and so on my losing days I'm not deep in the hole, so as to come the next day with a negative mentality.

<b>So what I really want from this thread is try and improve myself on all fronts to get back to par and beyond. The goal: consistency. This is NOT a journal and so I will not be posting my trades everyday, nor does it hold any relevance to any sort of P/L balances. Here we will discuss core trading issues (see title) and linked components (psychology etc). </b>

I hope this thread can take ground and we can all grow from the graceful input of those better than us.

Thanks in advance,

Alpha
 
SODA:

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The above trade was a decent trade going long on various factors. As the SPY took a dive for the first 5 minutes, SODA held. The was upward momentum from Friday with a bull flag formation (15 min). Also, the first 2 bars, displayed a rejection to the down side. The 43 level showed resistance and a break of that would make a good entry. An entry could also be had at the 42.90 level breach (4th candle above) as it would have breached the triangle and would go up to test 43.



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I take most of my entries on a 1-min. I will usually wait for a breakout pullback (esp for the test of previous resistance, now support) to breach the high to get in a comfortable entry and have a tight R:R. Most times it works well. However, this time, the pullback did not come until the 43.49 level, which initially happened to be my first target to take 1/2 off. Entering at these levels, is simply chasing and the R:R it gives is not the best.

So my question is, how can this be played better. Here, Plan A failed (no instant b/o pullback); what would Plan B be?
 
Alpha Trader said:
I take most of my entries on a 1-min. I will usually wait for a breakout pullback (esp for the test of previous resistance, now support) to breach the high to get in a comfortable entry and have a tight R:R. Most times it works well. However, this time, the pullback did not come until the 43.49 level, which initially happened to be my first target to take 1/2 off. Entering at these levels, is simply chasing and the R:R it gives is not the best.

So my question is, how can this be played better. Here, Plan A failed (no instant b/o pullback); what would Plan B be?
More...

ND hasn't been around for a while, but the first pullback comes at 0951, at the 42.9 level. It even drops below the low of the preceding bar. If you're watching this in real time, you should have no trouble seeing it.
 
Hey DB, I noticed that. However, at that point the triangle hadn't been breached. Most times I allow the breach to take place and hold to avoid fakeouts/breaks. For this reason, The pullback at 0951 is not something I could consider. Also. most times, I will look for a pullback of more than 1 bar; this here was a one bar pullback and these tend to have a higher chance of another imminent pullback. Small as they may be, they have a tendency to to hit stops.

Looking at the chart, a break of the candle at 0951, would take out 3 of the last 4 candles (1 min) and that should help with the push up. Where would you put your stop? If it's below that candle, we are talking about a good $0.20 which on a $40ish stock is beyond my range.

Looking forward to your response.

Btw, how is ND? Hope she is well.
 
Alpha Trader said:
Hey DB, I noticed that. However, at that point the triangle hadn't been breached. Most times I allow the breach to take place and hold to avoid fakeouts/breaks. For this reason, The pullback at 0951 is not something I could consider. Also. most times, I will look for a pullback of more than 1 bar; this here was a one bar pullback and these tend to have a higher chance of another imminent pullback. Small as they may be, they have a tendency to to hit stops.

Looking at the chart, a break of the candle at 0951, would take out 3 of the last 4 candles (1 min) and that should help with the push up. Where would you put your stop? If it's below that candle, we are talking about a good $0.20 which on a $40ish stock is beyond my range.

Looking forward to your response.

Btw, how is ND? Hope she is well.
More...

It isn't about bars and candles and lines. It's a market. Traders couldn't find trades below 42.90 so the only other options are either sideways or up. Place your stoplimit entry above this level and let the market stop you in. If it doesn't, there's no trade.

Don't know about ND. Haven't heard from her.
 
The bars and lines and charts themselves are only a means of illustration. What matters is the auction market and where traders are looking for trades.
 
dbphoenix said:
The bars and lines and charts themselves are only a means of illustration. What matters is the auction market and where traders are looking for trades.
More...

That is true. Is there a PDF file on this by Wycoff that you had posted? Does it get into details of auction market? If so, it might be a worthwhile read.
 
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