S/R Emini Journal

[4re]

Quote from Lamont_C:

Missed the first. Took the second.

The behavior this morning is really strange. The pace should be quicker given where we are, one reason why I let the first one go. But there may be more here.

Yeah, this market should be in rock and roll mode by now. I would have entered long at 1275.25 for a second trade but market has a weird feel to it. Still has upside bias to me anyway. I am glad I am done for the day.

You probably made a better call than I did getting in on the second one. Good job.

 

[JimmyJam]

Quote from 4re:

Yes, I put on a big position this morning using 25% of my account so I don't need to trade anymore today.

OK High Roller!

Yeah, they blasted out of the gate on that one. Sitting on 1/2 profits, waiting to see what else the market will give me.

Believe me, I understand WHY you use position sizing the way you do (looking for the quick knockout punch)and because of compounding you can do very well, but for me, I like to catch anything that remotely resembles a trend, so I think conservative MM while trying to catch the broader sweeps of the market.

So there you have two totally different approaches to the market, both of which can be very profitable over time. The question is, which one do you use. This is where it is more important for a trader to understand themselves and their individual psychology than it is to understand a particular system or method of trading

Side Note: (In sum total points, I think this thing has 20 or 30 points up room to go, so if I were a position trader - which I am not - I would love to just scale in and make the huge bucks! while sitting around, drinking coffee and "chatting" )

Best,

Jimmy

 

[4re]

Quote from JimmyJam:

OK High Roller!

Yeah, they blasted out of the gate on that one. Sitting on 1/2 profits, waiting to see what else the market will give me.

Believe me, I understand WHY you use position sizing the way you do (looking for the quick knockout punch)and because of compounding you can do very well, but for me, I like to catch anything that remotely resembles a trend, so I think conservative MM while trying to catch the broader sweeps of the market.





Best,

Jimmy

Ahh, using my boxing lingo. I like it. I do believe we have more upside today as well.

Money management is one of those things that I think everyone has to figure out themsevles. As long as you can lose one day and still comeback and play tomorrow is ok. I do like the one punch knockout but not everyone has the stomach for it. I don't have the nerves to keep getting in and out. I feel worn out by the end of the day. But to each his own as long as we are all making money.

It looks like the 20day EMA is very important today so far on the index and the ES.

 

[Lamont_C]

Quote from 4re:

Yeah, this market should be in rock and roll mode by now. I would have entered long at 1275.25 for a second trade but market has a weird feel to it. Still has upside bias to me anyway. I am glad I am done for the day.

You probably made a better call than I did getting in on the second one. Good job.

The market can tell you things as much by what it doesn't say as by what it does say. Given the very strong support at yesterday's lows in both the YM and ES, the pace should not be this slow, regardless of whether price moves or not. This may not be detectable without using a tick chart, but this trades almost like a pre-holiday Friday with an early close. The ES should have taken off out of 75.75, but it went limp almost immediately.

Price could creep, of course, but I don't trade creep. So . . .

 

[4re]

Quote from Lamont_C:

The market can tell you things as much by what it doesn't say as by what it does say. Given the very strong support at yesterday's lows in both the YM and ES, the pace should not be this slow, regardless of whether price moves or not. This may not be detectable without using a tick chart, but this trades almost like a pre-holiday Friday with an early close. The ES should have taken off out of 75.75, but it went limp almost immediately.

Price could creep, of course, but I don't trade creep. So . . .

Totally agree. Here is a practice trade. Seeing if we get it to the 60day ema about 1279 and some change. By the way this chart I am using with all the ma's is how I use to watch my options and let me know when to get out. I call it ribbon trading.

 

[Lamont_C]

Quote from 4re:



Money management is one of those things that I think everyone has to figure out themsevles. As long as you can lose one day and still comeback and play tomorrow is ok. I do like the one punch knockout but not everyone has the stomach for it. I don't have the nerves to keep getting in and out. I feel worn out by the end of the day. But to each his own as long as we are all making money.

You made a point some time back that may have been missed and shouldn't be, which is that substantial profits are generally made by size rather than by logging in a great many trades, for various reasons, one of which is fatigue and its effects on judgement.

This means, in part, that if one is supremely confident in his strategy, he can trade size and get away with making far fewer trades, taking only those which are exactly what he wants and have the highest probability of success. To get away with this, though, one must be extremely sure of his entries. There is absolutely no room whatsoever for hope in this scenario.

 

[4re]

Quote from Lamont_C:

You made a point some time back that may have been missed and shouldn't be, which is that substantial profits are generally made by size rather than by logging in a great many trades, for various reasons, one of which is fatigue and its effects on judgement.

This means, in part, that if one is supremely confident in his strategy, he can trade size and get away with making far fewer trades, taking only those which are exactly what he wants and have the highest probability of success. To get away with this, though, one must be extremely sure of his entries. There is absolutely no room whatsoever for hope in this scenario.

And you made the point about cherry picking the best trades of the day as well. Which if you feel like you are cherry picking there is no fear of size.

Yes, on losing days I lose more money but I at least try to make it up the next day on one trade.

But I can't tell others how to manage their money, especially when they are already successful. I can just explain why and how I do it. Jimmy has gotten used to how he does it and I believe he is doing well so we are all happy. I think....

 

[JimmyJam]

Quote from 4re:

Anybody else have anything to add to Dominic?

This has been given to me, so I'll pass it along to you. Don't take my word for it, backtest it, study, keep looking for it until you start to get a "feel" for it.

At that point, you will have begun to understand the (basic) language of the markets.

It's Price Action! Price Action tells the individual trader/investor everything they need to know. One MA is good for letting you know when a market begins to trend, you only need one because the price will begun to extend its range beyond the MA while never touching it, and when it does touch it will "bounce" off of it if the trend continues, or it will reverse through it if the trend is ending immediately, or it will consolidate and proceed from there (see, Price Action).

I've suggested to other traders at the site that if they read through 100 threads they would have gained a good education on trading - at which point I was told that I was an idiot, and that reading 100 threads would not make you a better trader.

My reply was, it depends on which 100 you read.

So here's a few.

1. The one you're on now. Go back and re-read it. The first time I came across it, I didn't know what the hell 4re was talking about either Saico. So I continued on my Merry Way, Scalping as I went, and eventually I just got tired of all the work involved with it. So I did one of my marathon 24 hour weekend re-toolings and started playing around with looking at Support & Resistance (duh), and this is the end result (all I've got to say is hurray! )

2. Anything by ProfLogic. He's a controversial figure, but just read his posts for the information only, or hey you could always give Traders International 4-5 G's for learning basic Technical Analysis.

3. Anything by Marketsurfer. He's the opposite end of the spectrum from Prof Logic, but the guy has guts, and you can get a lot about psychology from'em (as well as) learning how to see things from a macro POV.

4. Acrary - Ah, the Science!


5. Everything on IB (Interactive Broker), this way you will know your hardware/software/trading system inside&out, and you will be fully prepared for if (or when) your system goes on the fritz!:eek: (BTW, this is one of the best arguments of all advocating for being a short-term scalper, because you are not exposing yourself to very much market risk).

Hope that helps,

Jimmy

P.S. I know it's kinda windy, but I really RELAX after that first Cha-Ching!

P.P.S. Late post to 4re, speaking of being happy, well honestly I feel great that I've found a nice little trading community (trading can get lonely AND boring, especially if you're just waiting fo the Prime Setups ... well the money making part isn't boring, but you know what I mean).

I'm very happy that my trading has progressed as far as it has (I forgot to mention a thread about a guy who decided to "give up" on being a profitable trader, it's entitled ("Another one hangs it up") for anyone who wants to read it. - BTW, my 2nd set just got stopped-out, that happens (a lot) when you're swinging for the fences!

Now I just have to get the "social stuff" in order!

 

[Lamont_C]

Quote from 4re:



But I can't tell others how to manage their money, especially when they are already successful. I can just explain why and how I do it. Jimmy has gotten used to how he does it and I believe he is doing well so we are all happy. I think....

I wasn't referring to anybody in particular with regard to over-trading. I was emphasizing a key principle behind what you're doing. One man's over-trading is another man's most profitable MO, but over-trading is nonetheless one of the most common causes of failure over time.

 

[Lamont_C]

Quote from 4re:

Totally agree. Here is a practice trade. Seeing if we get it to the 60day ema about 1279 and some change. By the way this chart I am using with all the ma's is how I use to watch my options and let me know when to get out. I call it ribbon trading.

I don't want to rain on your parade re the MAs. If they work for you, great. But think about looking to the left when you use them and you may be able to obtain a greater benefit from them.