Scalping and Analysing your trades
- Thread starter douwe
- Start date
This is how I trade, i have 4 setups. When I see a setup developing I write down entry, initial stoploss and the price target.
When my entry is hit I immediately place my initial stoploss and write down filling price, initial stoploss and the time on my trading sheet. (5/7 seconds)
When the market moves in my favor I move my stop (and write it down) till my price target is hit. If the market doesn't move in my favor my initial stoploss is hit. When the position is closed I make a jpg of the chart, write down my thoughts and write down exit price and time, this will take app. 20 seconds.
The problem is when entering the position. I miss 5/7 seconds of the trade and imho is the most important part of your trade (where you wrong or right when entering the market). But I also want to write down my trade in case of system failure
That's not scalping though. I can't imagine for a second that I would be writing stuff down right after getting filled and then doing so much stuff away from the flow of the market. What would be the difference between doing all of this right on the trade and doing it all after you are out and you are waiting for the next setup? I would consider not being distracted with this until the trade is complete.Quote from douwe:
This is how I trade, i have 4 setups. When I see a setup developing I write down entry, initial stoploss and the price target.
When my entry is hit I immediately place my initial stoploss and write down filling price, initial stoploss and the time on my trading sheet. (5/7 seconds)
When the market moves in my favor I move my stop (and write it down) till my price target is hit. If the market doesn't move in my favor my initial stoploss is hit. When the position is closed I make a jpg of the chart, write down my thoughts and write down exit price and time, this will take app. 20 seconds.
The problem is when entering the position. I miss 5/7 seconds of the trade and imho is the most important part of your trade (where you wrong or right when entering the market). But I also want to write down my trade in case of system failure
Also, in case of system failure, you will now that you have a position on of a certain size long or short and your only option is to call your broker and get out right away. Having the exact entry, stop, etc wouldn't be a concern for me. I would just want to be out. I'm saying all of this because you say that you are "scalping". For scalping, the flow and rhythm of the market is extremely important and you can't have it if you are writing stuff down and making JPGs etc.
Let me know what your thoughts are.
I just noticed that the histogram scale is incorrect on the one I posted. In the process of removing the trader's name and some details, I shifted the scale. Here is a fresh one. My previous post will be deleted.
Quote from FuturesTrader71:
It sounds like you are still trying to figure out the scalping thing. You can seriously gain a lot from doing the following:
I hope you can make this happen. If I'm missing the point of your post, please let me know.
- Put up the tape for the product you trade. It will take a while to get accustomed to it, but it is very useful to know what the market is actually doing at the moment as opposed to seeing the bid/offers.
- I will post a copy of my standard lineout that I use for my traders. You will find that paying attention to your entries and hold time as well as how you are doing overall will be a useful tool.
- LISTEN to your inner thoughts while you trade. Is your pointer hesitating on the screen? What thought do you have when you get filled? Are you thinking "ok crap.... I need to take a tick quick" or are you sitting back and just watching how it goes calmly?
- Pay attention to your breath. Is there a big sigh of relief when you get out of a position?
- This may seem odd, but get a headset with a microphone. A good one from Logitech will cost you around $30. Set it up so that the microphone is right in front of your mouth. Buy and install Camtasia and record your trading screen in one or two hour increments (you need a good amount of memory and CPU power for this). Make sure you enable the AUDIO in Camtasia. When you play back the video, you want to listen for your breath (hence the microphone being right in front of your mouth and under your nose). Seems bizarre, but you might be surprised at what you will find.
- When you play back the video also watch for what the prints on the tape show versus what happens a few seconds or minutes later (depending on the speed of the prints coming in).
- Split your trading session into 2 and don't do your lineout/analysis until the end of each session. Write down what you learned from the lineout and apply it to the second session. Are you able to maintain your goal/discipline? If not, you need to work on your discipline. Scalping is the style where discipline matters most because of how quick you have to think and be.
- Send me a check for providing invaluable advice to you. Any amount is fine with me.
1.I also use Market Depth of SP500 and ER2 (I trade ER2) when trading my setups (are there in sync) but not leading. Price and Volume are more important. But I will include the tape, thanx for your advice
2.Thanx again
3.Good tip!
4.during trading Iâm focused on my breath, I watch if itâs calm and relaxed
5.I will look in to it!
7.I keep a dairy where I write down what I have learned that day, things that went well/wrong and shut improve for the next time.
Thanx for your replying
I don't scalp, I don't have enough experience at the moment. But eventually I want to scalp.
Your right about keeping track of my trades. I should change it and write down the stuff after the trade is closed, or perhaps after the market is closed.
Thanx for the feedback, the problem is I don't know a lot of traders so ET is perfect for this kind of things.
OK... the title of the thread is misleading. I thought you were scalping already.
. Because I want to scalp in the future I was curious how people analyze there trades when scalping