My Trading Quest - Can I be Profitable in 90 Days?

Hi Everyone,

I have had computer and internet issues for the last week so I haven't posted.

Today is Day 1 in putting the Apex Investing to the test. I have 90 days to reach profitability so I have to get moving.

DAY 1 – Walkthrough the Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp …

I was pleasantly surprised that no credit card was required for the sign up to the free first month.

Day 1: I will walk through everything so I can see what I have to do and I can get organized.

So what do I get for the free first month? Surprisingly a lot!

  • All of the Sniper Bootcamp training and recommended fast track path
  • Access to the live trading room, forum, Facebook page, private Facebook group, and help desk
  • Access to all weekly webinars
  • Access to all Sniper Ninjatrader 7 indicators, tools and help to install if required
You have responsibilities as well:
  • Watch all the videos in order
  • Only learn Setup 2 and leave the rest until you have mastered it
  • Post your charts in the room and ask questions, questions and more questions
  • Focus on one market
  • The daily goal is to have 3 net positive trades then stop
  • Record all your trades with a marked-up chart to the spreadsheet which is provided
  • Practice
  • Be in the trading room from 930 am EST to 11 am if you can
  • Attend the weekly webinars if you can, otherwise watch the recording and do any homework
  • Participate
Everything can be accessed from the login page.


The Bootcamp page appears to cover everything that is needed. Topics include:

  • New fast start and welcome which includes video, checklist, and links to setting up Ninjatrader
  • Account Funding videos
  • Weekly webinar information and sign up
  • First Basic Trade Setup training Setup 2
  • Cheat sheets and Summary files
  • Access to the trading room – and tools for capturing the charts
  • Access to the forum, Facebook group page, and competitions (They regularly run competitions where you can win membership prizes and even a lifetime membership)
  • Setting up NT, placing trades, etc ( if you have a problem setting it up then they will help)
  • How to install the Apex Tool Kit which gives you access to all the data and indicators
  • How to set up the charts, levels, and templates
  • Setting up ATM, take profit and placing orders
  • Tutorials on how to master Ninjatrader
  • What’s next section
  • Basics on sniper charts
  • Next Trading setup which is a slight variation of Setup 2
  • Link to more information on the Semi-Automation (not included in the trial)
  • What to buy if you need a trading computer
  • Trading Psychology videos
  • How to master the first setups
  • Market review videos – Bar by bar playback and education
  • How to do Market Replays with NT7
  • Trader Tax tips
  • At this point, it is suggested that the rest of the setups are not looked at until you master the first Setup 2.
  • The rest of the setups are available to view anyway.
  • A section on the Basics of futures and money management
After skimming through all these sections I was very impressed with the information available.

The page just didn’t flow as I would like. Some sections are definitely not in the right sequence. This shouldn’t make any difference as I will just follow each and if I don’t need that section at present I will mark it to come back to it. An example would be the account funding is section 2 but that will not be required until later.

I listened to this week’s webinar and they have started a series on how to get the most out of the trial and they suggested that some of the sections can be left until later. They are running three webinars this week.

So what is next?

I will start going through the videos and take the actions to get started

I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.
. What instruments do they teach you to trade?
 
DAY 4 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp Setup 2 and Testing …

Today, I will share more on the chart setup called the Enhanced Trapped X Box and identify all the setup’s on a static chart, just for one day.

I need to be able to identify the setup, see that the trade occurs a reasonable amount of times and see if it shows any signs of being profitable

Actions I took:

  • Watched more videos
  • Identified the rules for the first setup including Initial Stop and Profit Target
  • Reviewed one day of trading on a static chart, to see the availability and results of the setup
  • Continued to learn about the first setup and what it looked like on the chart
Videos:

It is important to take good notes and watch the videos in sequence as it makes it easier to understand.

Enhanced Trapped X Box

Yesterday, I introduced the basic requirements for Setup #2. Now I am going to explain the first setup which I called Multi-directional.

This trade is called the Enhanced Trade or the Enhanced Trapped X Box. The multi-directional refers that it can be taken in both directions – with the trend or against the trend.

Rules:

The first 2 rules are as explained yesterday.
  • Setup must be a Reversal bar
  • An exhaustion box with a trapped order must appear on the end of the bar
The additional rules are:
  • A new print of either a MM or a Paw must occur on the setup bar.
  • An existing level (OP Level) must be within 2 ticks of the new MM or Paw on the setup bar.
I won’t go into a lot of detail about what these lines and levels are.

  • OP Levels are either:
    • MM is a beige line which represents lines where price has strong rejection or attraction
    • Paw is an orange line formed at weak price levels
    • ZOI is a Zone of Interest where the market has a lot of participation in this area
    • I-Blocks – are where large orders are placed
The next important rules are based on Reasons Not to Enter:
  • Not within 5 minutes of Market Open, Close or Government News
  • Not directly into a stack of 3 or more OP Levels
  • Not enter when 2 clusters appear within 3 bars of the and including the entry bar
  • Not against a strong trend
Stop and Target
  • The initial Stop is 1 tick above/below the setup bar (17 ticks)
  • The Target is 9 ticks
The following image will give you an idea of how simple it is to identify the trade.


2020-04-07_0142.png

So, now I have a basic understanding of this setup I need to see if the setup is easy to identify on first a static chart and then on a moving chart. On the static chart, I also want to see that the setup happens regularly and looks like it can be profitable.

I was talking to one trader and he said that recently the number of Enhanced Trades have reduced recently.

Because of the Risk: Reward of the rules it is important to have a minimum of approximately 72% wins.

Please note this test is not suggesting anything more than that this setup has or has not sufficient potential to keep investigating. This is a TEST nothing more!

For the test I will use the following criteria:

  • The test is on a static ES chart (I will go bar by bar to test the day)
  • The day will be the Friday 17th April session which starts at the open on the 16th April at 18:05 and Ends at 15:50 on the 17th.
  • No commission is included
  • I will follow the rules the best I can
  • I may miss trades
  • The test is for the 24 hours and this would not be possible

The following image shows my results:


Comments on Results:

The results look positive and justify’s further backtesting.


EH_04172020.png



I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.
 
DAY 5 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp Setup 2 more Backtesting …

Today, I backtested more and check that my observations are correct.

I need to be able to identify the setup, see that the trade occurs a reasonable amount of times and see if it shows any signs of being profitable

Actions I took:

  • Watched more videos – 2 new webinars from this week
  • Backtested 2 more days
  • Another Apex trader checked to see if my trades were valid
Videos:

Apex Investing held two more webinars on how to make the most of the Bootcamp. I found them very helpful.

Backtested:

I continued to backtest on a static chart, bar by bar to help me identify the setup.

The results are below.

I used the same criteria as yesterday.

Please note this test is not suggesting anything more than that this setup has or has not sufficient potential to keep investigating. This is a TEST nothing more!

Comments on Results:

The results still look positive.

Day5-BT.png



Traders helping Traders

I find that if you ask a question or post a chart on the Facebook page or in the trading room, traders are willing to help.

One of the traders was willing to check my trades as I backtested each day.

On the day that I reviewed yesterday, I had recorded one winning trade that was not valid.

It helps when someone reviews your charts and results.



I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn


Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.
 
First Live Sim Trade - 1 contract +$95 Net

The following image shows my first live sim trade.

As you can see It was A ETX (Red Box and Blue inside) and had a new MM on an Existing ZOI.

So it was a valid short.

The negatives of the trade were that the market was in a range but it just had sufficient room for target to be hit before the 2nd MM.

I had left my target at 8 ticks and the target was hit.

2020-04-19_1815.png
 
Second Live Sim Trade - 1 contract +$95 Net

The following image shows my 2nd live sim trade.

As you can see It was A ETX (Red Box and Blue inside) and had a new Paw on an Existing Paw (within 2 ticks).

So it was a valid Long.

I had left my target at 8 ticks and the target was hit.

Sim2.png
 
Third Live Sim Trade - 1 contract +$95 Net

The following image shows my 3rd live sim trade.

As you can see It was A ETX (Red Box and Blue inside) and had a new Paw on an MM (within 2 ticks).

So it was a valid Short.

I had left my target at 8 ticks and the target was hit.

2020-04-20_0302.png
 
DAY 7 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Plan, Do, Review & Improve …

Today, is a review today to ensure that I am on my path to profitability within 90 days.

I believe, I have started well, but after reviewing a few things I need to make a couple of changes.

Actions I took:

  • Yesterday, I tested sim trading by entering 3 trades
  • Reviewed another traders record of trades
  • Reviewed the effectiveness of the ETX trade to meet my goal
  • Studied some extra setups
  • Reviewed the valid trades for the day
Sim Trading:
It is one thing to identify a trade, but it is important to ensure that the trade flows from entry to exit. The three trades performed as expected.

Valid Trades Review

I was testing outside of the US open and the trades were few and far between them. I know each day is different, so I asked another trade if I could look at his record of valid trades for the last few weeks.

The results identified that the ETX trades currently have reduced in frequency. So it supported my decision to include a couple of other setups from the TX series. The results showed that the TX trend and Divergence setups achieved great results and occurred frequently.

Naked TX Trend Trade

This is a very simple trade to identify.

The first 2 rules are as per all TX trades

  • Setup must be a Reversal bar
  • An exhaustion box with a trapped order must appear on the end of the bar
The additional rules are:

  • That the current bar DR (trend indicator) and the prior bar DR must be the same color
  • An existing level (OP Level) must be within 2 ticks of the new MM or Paw on the setup bar.
The next important rules are based on Reasons Not to Enter:
  • Not within 5 minutes of Market Open, Close or Government News
  • Not directly into a stack of 3 or more OP Levels
  • Not enter when 2 clusters appear within 3 bars of the and including the entry bar
  • Not against a strong trend or into strong levels
  • Not into chop
Stop and Target

  • The initial Stop is 1 tick above/below the setup bar (17 ticks)
  • The Target is 7 ticks
The following image will give you an idea of how simple it is to identify the trade.
Naked_TX.png

Naked TX OD Divergence Trade

This is a very simple trade to identify.

The first 2 rules are as per all TX trades

  • Setup must be a Reversal bar
  • An exhaustion box with a trapped order must appear on the end of the bar
The additional rules are:

  • Long – When Price makes a HH with the OD Divergence number making a substantially reduced number then we have OD Divergence
OD.png


The image below, shows my results identifying all 3 setups for the Sun- – Mon ES trading session :

Comments on Results:

The results look positive and justify’s further backtesting.

It is interesting that for the day:

  • ETX – 13 trades, 1 maybe 2 lost, Total Gross $537.50
  • NTX (trend) – 3 trades, Nil Lost, Total Gross $262.50
  • NTX – OD -2 trades, Nil Lost, Total Gross $175.00
This did not match the frequency ratio of the trades from the sample I looked at.
I need to do more daily recording and analyze the trades to see how they fit my requirements.

3_setups.png



I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.
 
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