Quote from maggandre:
Not true - this journal is great. And, I get a lot from your consistent posting. I am sure others do also, so don't take a lack of posts as otherwise. We just read and take it in.
One suggestion - maybe you could pick a few charts per week and post them. It would be good to see what you are looking at when you trade. Maybe one that worked well, and one that didn't.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks...
I use TC2000 for my swingtrades.
I use a 5 month window. So, if you look at my open positions, you will notice that they are in extreme uptrends(for the longs) and extreme downtrends(for the shorts).
Basically, moving averages are above moving averages.
After my scan, I come up with about 500-700 charts. Then I go through each one manually and use complete discretion.
(I also observe and learn as I go)
I look to buy the strong ones when they pullback to supports. And short the weak one's when they rally to resistance.
But, I need the stock to show some strength before I go long, cuz I don't want to get in the way of a falling knife. If it shows some intra-day strength, I'll go long.
And on the short side, I need the stock to show some weakness cuz I don't want to get in front of a freight train.
I feel safe with my long position, because I'm not buying garbage, and it has proven that it can rally, cuz it's a strong stock.
The next question is, "will it rally"?
Well, I don't have any control over that, but I do have control over what I'll do if the stock doesn't act according to plan. I'll sell it. I'll close the position.
I would rather close the position early, and have a relatively small loss than close it after the weakness is obvious to everyone and the stock free falls, which will give me a large loss.
I'm just trying to go with the flow.
But I believe if I buy the strong ones close to supports, short the weak ones close to resistance, cut my losses short, and scale out of my winning trades.....that should give me an edge.
I'm just trying to be very patient. I also don't want to think that I am smarter than the market. If the stock goes against me and proves that it's not cooperating to my plan, well I gotta get out, cuz my plan will never override the market's plan.
The market is gonna do what the market's gonna do. I have no say. The market ain't gonna listen to me, so I have to listen to the market.
Again, I'm new to swingtrading. I'm not new to daytrading. There are many similarities and many differences. But discipline is the one common denominator. You gotta have the right perspective.
I take my time going through my daily charts, I'm trying to learn as I go along. I am making minor adjustments to my strategy as I go along. I don't want to make major changes all at once. I hope to slowly develop into a profitable swingtrader.
If it seems that it's not working out. I'll put on the brakes, reevaluate my strategy and continue in the future.
These are just some of my thoughts. Hope they make a difference in your trading perspective??
gotta_trade
Regarding your request to post some charts.
I have no idea on how to do that. If someone knows how I can copy a chart from TC2000 to my Elitetrader journal, let me know. I'll give it a try. Then I'll post some charts of my winning and losing trades.
