S/R Emini Journal
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And another point not directed at anybody in particular.
Whenever one is tempted to succumb to the overwhelming urge to give advice and save a trader from himself, he should ask himself if he has traded the instrument in question long enough to have turned a profit in it over an extended period of time.
If he hasn't turned a profit in it over an extended period of time, or if he hasn't traded the instrument, or if he doesn't even know what the characteristics of the instrument are, then he should most likely put his hands in his pockets and resist the urge to advise.
To do otherwise is to risk causing the target of the advice to doubt himself for no reason whatsoever.
Now back to our regularly-scheduled program
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I am sorry if I caused 4er to doubt himself because of my comments. Like I said, I have not traded the Emini yet. I found this thread to be of very good educational value and a good starting point for me.
I think it is normal for me to compare his strategy to what I have been using with success with other instruments. Especially as we use very similar entry strategies (I personnaly got rid of all indicators on my charts, even volume, and only consider price and 5MA). If letting profits run does not make sense with Emini, I think explaining the reason why would be much more constructive than this.
I find it really annoying on ET that everytime someone makes a comment or ask a question everyone takes pleasure in jumping on their throat and telling them that they need to study first, how long have they been trading etc..I thought this thread was really refreshing by offering some genuine advice and asking everyone to contribute. Thought my experience with other instruments could be helpful and learning and maybe tweaking a little bit this strategy.
Whenever one is tempted to succumb to the overwhelming urge to give advice and save a trader from himself, he should ask himself if he has traded the instrument in question long enough to have turned a profit in it over an extended period of time.
If he hasn't turned a profit in it over an extended period of time, or if he hasn't traded the instrument, or if he doesn't even know what the characteristics of the instrument are, then he should most likely put his hands in his pockets and resist the urge to advise.
To do otherwise is to risk causing the target of the advice to doubt himself for no reason whatsoever.
Now back to our regularly-scheduled program
------------------------------------------------------------------
I am sorry if I caused 4er to doubt himself because of my comments. Like I said, I have not traded the Emini yet. I found this thread to be of very good educational value and a good starting point for me.
I think it is normal for me to compare his strategy to what I have been using with success with other instruments. Especially as we use very similar entry strategies (I personnaly got rid of all indicators on my charts, even volume, and only consider price and 5MA). If letting profits run does not make sense with Emini, I think explaining the reason why would be much more constructive than this.
I find it really annoying on ET that everytime someone makes a comment or ask a question everyone takes pleasure in jumping on their throat and telling them that they need to study first, how long have they been trading etc..I thought this thread was really refreshing by offering some genuine advice and asking everyone to contribute. Thought my experience with other instruments could be helpful and learning and maybe tweaking a little bit this strategy.
Nick,
That depends, if you are asking about since I began trading the ES since the beginning. I had a rocky start while I was trading with the TI. I lost right at 25% of my starting account. Making a lot of trades. Since I have started trading this style things have gotten a lot better. I average 1.3 trades a day at the present time. I don't talk about %'s or account size though because it could create false hope for new guys just starting out in here. I also don't want the thing to be a one up on everybody. I have seen too many bad things happen when that begins. Sorry for being vague on that. Hope that helps you some though.
My trading has not changed at all by your comments. Like I said I just wanted to answer yours and several questions last night in a little more depth. I don't mind the questions.
I know this statements were not directed at me but I just wanted you to know how I feel on the matter. You are cool in my book. I think guys are just trying to gauge you a little better since they don't know much about your trading.
You are right, if you can trade one thing you can trade another. With some tweaking.
Don't think they are jumping on you just feeling you out. Sorry for the confusion.
4re
Don't worry about it.
It's not Lacmont_C's thread, it's 4re's ... and until HE says different, you're welcome to post anytime, saying anything you want to say. I personally agree with the split contract concept and got a few extra points off of it in this morning's trade, using a triple screen setup.
If the market had trended harder (see Tuesday's action). I would have gotten more.
And by that same token, 4re's discipline has helped me to modify my trade entries so that I focus on the optimal setups and stop trading if it isn't "working" for me. However, I go for more if the opportunities present themselves, but once I have a "good take", unless the market reverses, I leave it alone.
We're here to learn, take any and everything (and I mean everything) that you can from these forums and see how they do/don't work for you!
Best,
Jimmy
My trading has not changed at all by your comments. Like I said I just wanted to answer yours and several questions last night in a little more depth. I don't mind the questions.
I know this statements were not directed at me but I just wanted you to know how I feel on the matter. You are cool in my book. I think guys are just trying to gauge you a little better since they don't know much about your trading.
You are right, if you can trade one thing you can trade another. With some tweaking.
Don't think they are jumping on you just feeling you out. Sorry for the confusion.
4re
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I get it. Maybe I should have introduced myself
I just hate to do it, as I feel everyone here is trying to show that they are the best trader. But here it goes:
- I have been trading for 15 years. Mostly options, mostly ITM, 2-3 months out. Been consistently profitable. Had some bad drawdowns, but have not had a bad year in more than 10 years. I don't own a jet yet, but trading has allowed to take care of my familly and have the freedom to spend as much time as I wish with them. And it is what matters to me.
- I started using all kind of indicators like everyone else: MACD, RSI, BBs, patterns, japanese candlesticks EW, Fib, etc..I think I tried them all. Until I understood that they were all derived from price and not very useful for my type of trading. I now use only price and 5MA (for trend indication).
I play breakouts, like you, but more in a "trend following" manner. And this is why I focus on letting the profits ride
- I have read hundreds of books about trading, not exagerating here. I read Douglas' books (the disciplined trader and also "trading in the zone")regularly as well as Van Tharp's.
- I am not focused on entries as you are, as I believe that exits are much more important. For me exits are where you can have 100% control and where you can really improve your expectancy. This is why it is fascinating to see someone have such an amazing W/L ratio. I am personnaly very happy if I can get a 40% winning rate, as my winners are much bigger than my losers.
But if I can improve this 40% to something like what you do...
I am still trying to figure-out how you are getting such numbers. I know part of it is your chart's reading ability, but looking at your examples, your S/R are pretty obvious, so there is something else. This is one of the reasons why I was wondering how this system would do in a less volatile market. Future will tell us, I hope it does as well. But it is in fact probably a mix of everything: waiting for 0.5 point before entry, trading only twice a day, setting your targets before market open etc...All of this is very interesting as you are doing a lot of things the right way.
Well, in any case, like I said these are just some comments. I know I insist here, but please don't take it as a critic of your system. Confidence is soooo important in trading. Your system works very well for you, but maybe it can be improved for those of us who are trading full-time and can monitor positions during the day.
I know this statements were not directed at me but I just wanted you to know how I feel on the matter. You are cool in my book. I think guys are just trying to gauge you a little better since they don't know much about your trading.
You are right, if you can trade one thing you can trade another. With some tweaking.
Don't think they are jumping on you just feeling you out. Sorry for the confusion.
4re
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I get it. Maybe I should have introduced myself
I just hate to do it, as I feel everyone here is trying to show that they are the best trader. But here it goes:- I have been trading for 15 years. Mostly options, mostly ITM, 2-3 months out. Been consistently profitable. Had some bad drawdowns, but have not had a bad year in more than 10 years. I don't own a jet yet, but trading has allowed to take care of my familly and have the freedom to spend as much time as I wish with them. And it is what matters to me.
- I started using all kind of indicators like everyone else: MACD, RSI, BBs, patterns, japanese candlesticks EW, Fib, etc..I think I tried them all. Until I understood that they were all derived from price and not very useful for my type of trading. I now use only price and 5MA (for trend indication).
I play breakouts, like you, but more in a "trend following" manner. And this is why I focus on letting the profits ride
- I have read hundreds of books about trading, not exagerating here. I read Douglas' books (the disciplined trader and also "trading in the zone")regularly as well as Van Tharp's.
- I am not focused on entries as you are, as I believe that exits are much more important. For me exits are where you can have 100% control and where you can really improve your expectancy. This is why it is fascinating to see someone have such an amazing W/L ratio. I am personnaly very happy if I can get a 40% winning rate, as my winners are much bigger than my losers.
But if I can improve this 40% to something like what you do...
I am still trying to figure-out how you are getting such numbers. I know part of it is your chart's reading ability, but looking at your examples, your S/R are pretty obvious, so there is something else. This is one of the reasons why I was wondering how this system would do in a less volatile market. Future will tell us, I hope it does as well. But it is in fact probably a mix of everything: waiting for 0.5 point before entry, trading only twice a day, setting your targets before market open etc...All of this is very interesting as you are doing a lot of things the right way.
Well, in any case, like I said these are just some comments. I know I insist here, but please don't take it as a critic of your system. Confidence is soooo important in trading. Your system works very well for you, but maybe it can be improved for those of us who are trading full-time and can monitor positions during the day.
Again I was just curious.
I prefer daily targets, because it helps me to better manage stress, but each trader is different.
I like Porgie's philosophy: "If you have a good system it's like having an unlimited ATM card, so why bother with trying to get more points."
The ES volatility has been great over the past months, and I hope it last, if not than small targets are useful.
Don't worry about it.
It's not Lacmont_C's thread, it's 4re's ... and until HE says different, you're welcome to post anytime, saying anything you want to say. I personally agree with the split contract concept and got a few extra points off of it in this morning's trade, using a triple screen setup.
If the market had trended harder (see Tuesday's action). I would have gotten more.
And by that same token, 4re's discipline has helped me to modify my trade entries so that I focus on the optimal setups and stop trading if it isn't "working" for me. However, I go for more if the opportunities present themselves, but once I have a "good take", unless the market reverses, I leave it alone.
We're here to learn, take any and everything (and I mean everything) that you can from these forums and see how they do/don't work for you!
Best,
Jimmy
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Thanks Jimmy, and I totally agree with you. There is always something we can learn from someone else. Just take as much as you can from everyone
It's not Lacmont_C's thread, it's 4re's ... and until HE says different, you're welcome to post anytime, saying anything you want to say. I personally agree with the split contract concept and got a few extra points off of it in this morning's trade, using a triple screen setup.
If the market had trended harder (see Tuesday's action). I would have gotten more.
And by that same token, 4re's discipline has helped me to modify my trade entries so that I focus on the optimal setups and stop trading if it isn't "working" for me. However, I go for more if the opportunities present themselves, but once I have a "good take", unless the market reverses, I leave it alone.
We're here to learn, take any and everything (and I mean everything) that you can from these forums and see how they do/don't work for you!
Best,
Jimmy
-------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks Jimmy, and I totally agree with you. There is always something we can learn from someone else. Just take as much as you can from everyone
We are butt up against the HOW from last week in both the NQ and the ES. If you think there are enough people still trading at this time of day to push price far enough past R without a lot of backing and filling, then go for it.
Otherwise, as you say, this makes a nice setup for tomorrow, particularly since the ES and NQ made higher lows on the dailies and last week's swing point high represents an important level for short-covering, new longs, and adding to long positions.
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