one more NQ SLA...

Y

yertleturtle

Its time I finally got down to business and started a journal. I've been mostly lurking around these forums and studying on my own but I've hit the usual walls and need some refocusing.

I've cleared my charts of all indicators. I'll be posting and looking at only weekly, daily, hourly and 1 minute charts of the NQ.

My understanding of the process is first comes observation then comes creating a plan so for the time being I will be observing and doing some drawing work. Anyone who has at least attempted the observational phase is welcome to post in this tread.

I know myself pretty well and my tendency is to try to rush to the end. I know this is a process and I will keep reminding myself of this.

I'm posting my hourly and my daily chart. I'm trying not to study anyone else's current charts of the NQ so as to not cloud my judgment too much. On my hourly chart you will see a downward sloping channel. This is just a "what if" channel that might come into play. The daily chart should be self explanatory.

All constructive input is welcome.
 
Doing it oneself provides a unique sense of accomplishment. However, there are quite a few people maintaining journals here -- as opposed to TL -- who are in much the same position as you are. When you think you are ready to do so, look them over and see if they are helpful. Trading may not be a team sport, but group efforts generally grease the wheels.
 
So I tried watching the market without entries or stops or anything else in mind but supply and demand and I found it quite hard. Even though I wasn't trading I noticed my heart picked up a few beats after the open.

I also found it disorienting going from low volatility premarket to a few quick swings up and down. Had I been trading I would have lost all confidence which may be a sign that I don't have a plan at the open (my current plan is not to trade the open). This of course is an even bigger sign that I'm not neutrally observing price at all.

After my first trend line break I kind of reoriented myself to what was actually happening in front of me and I felt a little more on track for the rest of the day. I felt like I was in tune. Some stuff obviously there to work on.
 
yertleturtle said:
So I tried watching the market without entries or stops or anything else in mind but supply and demand and I found it quite hard. Even though I wasn't trading I noticed my heart picked up a few beats after the open.

I also found it disorienting going from low volatility premarket to a few quick swings up and down. Had I been trading I would have lost all confidence which may be a sign that I don't have a plan at the open (my current plan is not to trade the open). This of course is an even bigger sign that I'm not neutrally observing price at all.

After my first trend line break I kind of reoriented myself to what was actually happening in front of me and I felt a little more on track for the rest of the day. I felt like I was in tune. Some stuff obviously there to work on.
More...

You chose an excellent day or a terrible day, dep on how you look at it. The swings were very wide and very violent. Clearly the Titans were in disagreement and the little guys had a choice between standing aside until somebody won or getting trampled. This kind of open is not the usual case.
 
Some more watching today. I was again confused around the open. I believe mainly because I had an expectation of a certain behavior (namely a selloff). It seemed safe given we stayed in a tight range for the last hour of premarket after the news bar. So when the fast selloff didn't materialize and we ended up back in the top of the range it threw me a little.

We did get the selloff of course - just not when I was expecting. Of course I shouldn't have been expecting at all. Our whole lives we are rewarded for quickly forming opinions based on limited information. Its tough to turn the opinions off enough to just observe. Maybe more confirmation I shouldn't be looking to trade the open?

Here is what I saw today...
 
I've been looking over other people's journals and quite often the first 20 pages or so is them going off on a tangent (trading too soon - whatever), DBP kindly nudging them toward a method that is more likely to produce productive results and good habits etc. This course correction continues until they give up or they start paying attention to the right things.

I've read this thread here several times: http://www.traderslaboratory.com/for...g-journal.html

I guess the missing link for me is how do we go from observed behavior to setup? I've always thought that typical PA setups involved patterns - sell the neckline break of a H and S pattern type junk. Real trading is more complex where context and a whole host of other variables come into play.

We aren't trading patterns or line breaks or MAs so how do we develop setups? What factors of context need to be included for the setup to be meaningful?
 
yertleturtle said:
Some more watching today. I was again confused around the open. I believe mainly because I had an expectation of a certain behavior (namely a selloff). It seemed safe given we stayed in a tight range for the last hour of premarket after the news bar. So when the fast selloff didn't materialize and we ended up back in the top of the range it threw me a little.

We did get the selloff of course - just not when I was expecting. Of course I shouldn't have been expecting at all. Our whole lives we are rewarded for quickly forming opinions based on limited information. Its tough to turn the opinions off enough to just observe. Maybe more confirmation I shouldn't be looking to trade the open?
More...

Don't learn the wrong lesson.

There's nothing wrong with expectations. But the market couldn't care less what you expect. Your job is to look at what's most likely THEN come up with criteria that will tell you whether or not your expectations are becoming fulfilled. It needn't be all touchy-feely. It can be nothing more than a series of LHs and LLs. But it all needs to be well-thought-out ahead of time.

It's really nothing more than the old Phantom of the Pits stuff: what do I have to see to tell me that I'm right? What do I have to see to tell me that I'm wrong?
 
yertleturtle said:
I've been looking over other people's journals and quite often the first 20 pages or so is them going off on a tangent (trading too soon - whatever), DBP kindly nudging them toward a method that is more likely to produce productive results and good habits etc. This course correction continues until they give up or they start paying attention to the right things.

I've read this thread here several times: http://www.traderslaboratory.com/for...g-journal.html

I guess the missing link for me is how do we go from observed behavior to setup? I've always thought that typical PA setups involved patterns - sell the neckline break of a H and S pattern type junk. Real trading is more complex where context and a whole host of other variables come into play.

We aren't trading patterns or line breaks or MAs so how do we develop setups? What factors of context need to be included for the setup to be meaningful?
More...

See the posts I made to "green" in the Ghost thread yesterday.
 
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