Micro E-mini Madness (2% per day)

[volpri]

Sure man, when my trading machine is up next, I'll post the charts. But you did not answer the question on your end...How many contracts did it take you to get into profit today?

Not sure what you mean. That trade was profit and it was 8 contracts averaged into 2 at a time. Exited all 8 around 25 minutes where the green triangle is. At that point profit was 205.50 before deducting comm. no trades were done before this 8 contract position or they would show on the chart as my platform puts them on there. My platform only lets me show all trades or none. I can’t show just winning trades if that is what you are getting at???

Did you look at my post # 361 with two charts showing the progression of the trade? It is all there.

 

[sstheo]

Funny, but I lost a bit yesterday and today I gained it back... My balance is essentially unchanged. What a crazy Pelosi Trump Impeachment ride! There are lots of unhappy bears today. And lots of unhappy bulls from yesterday who exited at the bottom to nurse their wounds. Indeed the markets job is to scare everyone out at the worst possible time. Can I hang on and FADE the retail guys at the right time (most of the time)? I think so.

 

[volpri]

I took some trades today in MES using another approach. I could post the charts in sequence as I took the trades and give some explanations but it is about 5 or 6 charts and I am hesitant about posting in SSTHEO’s thread as this thread is about his trading some micros with other strategies and from all I’ve seen he is doing a great job. He started with a very small account.

If I could figure out how to start a journal I could I suppose make my posts there but then probably not many would visit as most seem to think I am an antique using outdated methods. They may be right. All I can say is it works. And I ain’t no spring rooster, I admit.

Should I start another thread and if so how do I do it and where do I put the darn thing?

 

[sstheo]

I took some trades today in MES using another approach. I could post the charts in sequence as I took the trades and give some explanations but it is about 5 or 6 charts and I am hesitant about posting in SSTHEO’s thread as this thread is about his trading some micros with other strategies and from all I’ve seen he is doing a great job. He started with a very small account.

If I could figure out how to start a journal I could I suppose make my posts there but then probably not many would visit as most seem to think I am an antique using outdated methods. They may be right. All I can say is it works. And I ain’t no spring rooster, I admit.

Should I start another thread and if so how do I do it and where do I put the darn thing?

I think your many charts and techniques are perfect for a journal. You can call it something like "Scaling with the Micros" and you will get lots of views I think.

 

[Overnight]

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Should I start another thread and if so how do I do it and where do I put the darn thing?

Yes. See sstheo's reply.

 

[Overnight]

All I can tell you is you need to pick when to average in. Not every trade is conducive. If you will post a chart marking your entries I will see about taking a look at it to see the “why” it didn’t work. If you like..

Here's the chart I said I would post. Why do these look like bad spots to average in?

Note the timestamps at the bottom.

An important note here. I know you work with time-based charts. I am sure you recognize the unirenkos here. But this is a huge chart. A 20,10. Each bar is 20 ticks in length, each step to a new bar 10 ticks. A bar with a full wick or tail is 40 ticks. That's 10 points. Each new bar gap is 2.5 points

 

[volpri]

Here's the chart I said I would post. Why do these look like bad spots to average in?

Note the timestamps at the bottom.

View attachment 209888

An important note here. I know you work with time-based charts. I am sure you recognize the unirenkos here. But this is a huge chart. A 20,10. Each bar is 20 ticks in length, each step to a new bar 10 ticks. A bar with a full wick or tail is 40 ticks. That's 10 points. Each new bar gap is 2.5 points

Overnight the type of chart doesn’t matter. The process is the same. This chart is not the best type of PA for averaging down. It is a chart for scaling in. This is what I call a SMALL PULLBACK BEAR TREND. It is a tight channel down. All the PB’s or reversal attempts are minor. I would be shorting this all the way down adding more shorts on pb’s. This channel is too tight for averaging down. This type of PA is for scaling in as it moves in your favor.

There is no sign of bull pressure. To average down long in a bear trend you have to see some buying pressure. Eventually, it will swing back, most likely, as bear channels function as bull flags. Look at a higher TF and this channel is a bull flag if the previous trend was up. But I can’t see the previous trend to the far left so I don’t know. The BO of the bear channel (aka bull flag on a higher TF) will likely be to the upside but it may go down and sideways for some time first.

I took some trades today using the technique but in a SMALL PULLBACK BULL TREND. I will be posting those charts if I can get a journal up and running.

For averaging down the context has to fit for the technique. It can be done in a channel but it is best to do so a broad channel and avoid doing it in tight channels.

 

[sstheo]

Here's the chart I said I would post. Why do these look like bad spots to average in?

Note the timestamps at the bottom.

View attachment 209888

An important note here. I know you work with time-based charts. I am sure you recognize the unirenkos here. But this is a huge chart. A 20,10. Each bar is 20 ticks in length, each step to a new bar 10 ticks. A bar with a full wick or tail is 40 ticks. That's 10 points. Each new bar gap is 2.5 points

7844.25 was the high this afternoon. Were you able to get out with a profit?

Here are my comments on the scaling in. Volpri will have thoughts too, I am sure.

1) Most people say "Never add to a loser." I think this is good advice, but I don't think most people follow it. But consider this going forward. In this case you would have only had 1 micro taking some (big) heat, and your heart would have fluttered a bit less.

2) Assuming you don't subscribe to #1, when do you add??? I have been having success recently because I have learned a very important lesson: Don't catch short falling knives and don't stand in front of long freight trains. Of course you might get lucky, but the move may just keep going! So when is it "safe" to try to enter? When the move reverses "convincingly." And what is my definition of convincingly? I figured it out on my own a couple years ago, but now have heard several successful traders tell me the exact same thing: WAIT FOR THE BREAK OF 2 LEVELS THE OTHER WAY. And to make it even more effective, WAIT FOR A SMALL PULLBACK after that.

The 7834 long entry: Consider waiting until the red #2 resistance is broken IF it breaks. (Then wait for a pullback.)
The 7789 long etnry: consider waiting until the yellow #2 resistance is broken IF it breaks.
(Then wait for a pullback.)
In this case, neither entry would have been triggered at those levels.

So when would it have been "safe" to enter??

Even though you still would have taken some heat, if you had waited until about 7736 and seen the break of 1 and 2, and then waited for the pullback, you would have had a great entry.

Yes, it went down again later, but it went up strongly in 3 legs from the low right after 2 levels of resistance were broken.

The exact same principals apply to shorting from a new high. Wait for two levels of support to be broken.

This is the exact method I use now, and it works MOST of the time - for at least a good scalp.

Related to this, I love to watch a 50 SMA. Until that 50 sma is flat, don't fight it...

Success to you.

 

[Overnight]

...

For averaging down the context has to fit for the technique. It can be done in a channel but it is best to do so a broad channel and avoid doing it in tight channels.

What I am trying to convey here, because you asked what kind of chart I was using, is that averaging down on a loser trade does not always work in your favor. That chart, in hindsight, shows that the trend was down. You see how I was averaging in on a loser, yes?

So at what point in that chart would you start going nuts with multiple contracts trying to mitigate a loss, and hope to get to green? You can see I stopped at 3 contracts, because I have no idea how far down this will go. It could be 20% down. Keeping on with the averaging to try to get to BE would have me so overexposed that there's no point.

You and I see things differently is all.

 

[Overnight]

...
Even though you still would have taken some heat, if you had waited until about 7736 and seen the break of 1 and 2, and then waited for the pullback, you would have had a great entry...

You are forgetting the scale of this chart. This is a big-ass chart. Averaging into a loser on such a huge day has it's problems. Hindsight can draw the lines, but only the mind can make a guess as to what is going to happen in realtime, before the chart prints for the rest of the day.