Help, I've been chopped!

austinp said:
I expect to flirt with the seven-figures mark this year across all accounts I trade for futures, and I'll tell you exactly how CL will play a big part in that...

Work two semi-correlated charts such as 500-volume and 100-tick (or any similar combination) in tandem. Mark the pertinent S/R zones on each, invariably the action zones will differ by 10 - 40 cents depending on price action.

Trade one position short or long at the first sequence confirmed, set stop and wait. If stopped out for loss, repeat the entry process. If price moves in favor thru next action zone, add a second trade and move stop on first to entry/par for no risk there. Two-position leverage in favor, one position risk on blended stops.

Eventually, way more often than not, you will be in a bigger move for two-contract entry than the smaller stops from one-contract entry. Right with twice the size for bigger distance in favor, wrong on half the size for smaller distance against.

Catch one move per day, shut down when acceptably profitable, ignore all else in the charts until next session. Losing days are infrequent, profitable days are equal size to greater size than infrequent net-loss days.

Trading is really that simple. Traders are the real problem that make trading seem so complex :)
More...

if you understand the principles behind what austinp is getting at, you will be wealthy beyond measure.
 
k p said:
Definitely the concepts I'm applying, and I do like the idea of the box that is used for over half of the setup, but the box is just so random. Look at my posted picture. Just a quick flip through the book. As the bars are forming, before we even get to his box, I see that this box could work as outlined in red. My box is just a little bigger so you can see the tops of the bars, but it looks like there are 6 touches of bars with the top of the box. Granted, the bars aren't exactly squeezed out by the 20EMA, but price certainly looks like its shooting out of the box. And who cares if this one trade doesn't work since we are trading from a higher statistical probability based on many trades with the same price action. But in this one example, the box that i drew looks just as good as his box.

I'm of course not saying Volman is wrong, just that the boxes can be drawn all over the place, at least from my humble opinion. I'm more used to looking at 5 min charts so these small time frame charts certainly are different, or maybe its the fact that its forex, although price action should of course apply to all financial instruments.

So in real time, I am afraid that I would be drawing boxes all over the place in my head and that would certainly lead to over trading.
More...

As was said earlier, CONTEXT is critical, notice prices in relation to MA from your box as compared to Volman's.
 
k p said:
dbPhoenix is the tough but loving parent. He doesn't give it away, but tells you how to find it. He makes you start a journal, take notes, test patterns... all hard work! LOL... Sure its more rewarding in the end cause now you know how to do it, but I prefer the platter approach (ie. trade this setup which has an 80% success rate and just take the trade each time you see it!!!) :p
More...
I must be the son he never wanted:p
 
I got chopped my butt off today. In the morning I was trading like a god but by afternoon I got a thousand cuts trading YM. I will be reading this thread to hopefully learn something new and stop trading after a series of losses in a row.
 
Last edited:
Redneck said:
You trade like this

I trade like a scared ass money (monkey see / monkey do)




Monkey does not like to get cut - hurt's too much (in many ways)

Monkey stops - pain stops



Simple..., but rather effective

RN
More...

hahaha funny yet so much wisdom!! thanks sir.

After looking back on some past threads regarding chop, I am going to incorporate DbPhoenix's rules into my trading plan.

"In my trading plan, it's very simple: if I'm "stopped out"* of both sides of a trade sequentially, I'm in chop, or at least the beginning of chop (this signals the very beginning, so the characteristic range that is coincident with chop is not yet obvious to one who has no plan). This may resolve itself in minutes or it may not resolve itself for hours. Friday was an excellent example."
Would have saved me $700 :p

I've also seen some using bollinger with 1 and 2 standard deviations or MA coiling around price, but......."Let's assume we both define chop in the same way, whatever that may be. If you limit yourself to clean setups, then you will not likely enter during obvious chop, as you define it. However, if you get stopped out, and assuming you used an "appropriate" protective stop (again, whatever that may be), then the market has either reversed or possibly gone into chop. And so you wait for the next clean setup that, ideally, doesn't occur in obvious chop. Waiting is good."
 
Last edited:
NoDoji, sorry to revive your thread but if I can get some opinions on what I could have done better, please let me know and share your wisdom!

nodoji2.png
dojidoji.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top