Scalping_My Way with ACV

[VSTscalper]

So...Are you selling your strategy, or just webinars on how great it all is? And how many contracts per day are your strats round-turning, on average?

Looks like you have 3 questions.

1) NO - NOT selling any strategy - I don't Lease or Sell to Retail traders - I work with some big money clients - going back many years now
2) NO - NOT doing any webinars - and if I did - they would be FREE
3) How many contracts per day? - for my own trading - I never trade more than 2 hours after the market opens. I usually trade up to 5 contracts now - used to trade more. I need to hit my Net Daily Goal - within that 2 hour period - regardless - at 2 hours - I am done for the day. As far as how many Round Trips - it all depends on whether I am trading my old trading method - or the Algos. I actually prefer my old trading method - kind of gives my old brain some exercise. I go back and forth - trade both.

I wouldn't do this in other threads - but since it is my thread - I decided to add some pictures - showing one of my Algos - mainly just playing around. I have several friends - in this forum - from many years ago - and we talk now and then. We talk about traders Backtesting_Optimizing_Curve Fitting (B_O_C) to get the best results - then turn the system on - and end up LOSING - as most will fail. In all the pictures above - NONE are B_O_C - although my systems can be B_O - that is NOT required. Personally - I find B_O - mostly BS. I don't care what happened a Month ago - a Year ago - and on and on. I love trading - and I am also a Developer. I have learned the hard way when it comes to Algorithmic Trading.

My Algos - are NOT based on one or more Indicators - they are all about Price Action. I am only concerned about what is happening - on the Current Bar. I won't explain things here - in the forum - but you (Overnight - ONLY) are more than welcome to PM me - I will show you and explain some about the code - and I may let you watch the Algo working - in Real Time. It is my way of doing some A.I. - you might say some "dirty" A.I. - but the damn thing works - and that is all I care about. I live in between - the main Microsoft campus and the Google campus in Seattle area and I have programming friends at both - so I have received some pointers from professional coders.

My Algos - do LOSE at times - but not often - don't want anyone to think they always win.

I truly believe - the reason most traders fail - is they make things too complicated. I am no different - I have been there and done that - and almost went out of business - 25 plus years ago - more than once.

I wish you much success with your trading.

 

[VSTscalper]

After "Overnight" - made a comment in my thread - above - and then I responded - it made me do some thinking - so Overnight - I appreciate your comment - your questions.

The following is some FREE advice - take it or not - up to the individual trader. I have been in this business for around 27 years now. Damn - seriously - as I am typing this - I just realized - over a half century. No wonder I am looking and feeling old.

I have been trading the following setup for many years - very simple. I still trade it - along with one of the Algo setups - but actually - this is by far - my favorite setup.

Traders - including myself - in my early years of trading - tend to make things way too complicated - by adding several indicators to their charts - and looking at too many charts - because they think they need this - and they need that - and soon - their charts are so Cluttered - they get confused - and they end up going out of business. And - that almost happened to me - more than once.

The Support & Resistance Lines - are based on the Open of the Bar - NOT the High or Low - and for me - I find it to be more accurate. If you are doing a lot of Counter Trend trades - like I do - you don't really need the Green & Red Dots. Also - with the Green & Red Dots - I do Head & Shoulders - My Way - not like what you would see in a book.

After purchasing a hell of a lot of Trading Books - and taking several expensive classes early on when I started trading - and still having many Ups & Downs - making money - then losing money - I finally decided to find my own way. I started printing charts everyday - looking for Patterns - trying to find a better way - and for me - I did. Having said that - what I do - may not work for other traders.

While the Bottom Chart - offers many more trading setups when used together with the Top Chart - seriously - there is really NO NEED - for the Bottom Chart - if you are only doing doing CounterTrend trades. The point is - the Less Complicated your charts are - the better chance you have of making money from trading. You do NOT have to take Expensive classes - from me - or anyone else - just find a way to Keep Things Simple.

Head and Shoulder - and CounterTrend trades
(small sample - and there are many like this during the day)

Large Candlesticks (both charts) - 7 Tick Range Bar
Green & Red Dots (bottom chart) - Coded - based on One Tick Range Bar

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[VSTscalper]

The following chart - is the same as the Top Chart - immediately Above. I had to do this Fast - and I could NOT show all the Potential Trades available - and there were more - in a Short Period of Time. The point is - traders do NOT need a bunch of Indicators - just Keep It Simple.

I did add the TRIX - an Indicator that comes with most charting platforms - and I set it up - to show some Potential Reversals. For me - I do NOT need any Indicators at all - just Support & Resistance - which gets rid of Cluttered Charts - which - in my opinion - is the root cause of most traders to go out of business.

Also - see the 2 Trendlines - on the Left Side of the Chart - that is what I call - Walking the Trendline - which I used for years. See the early Posts in this Thread.

 

[VSTscalper]

ES on Top - MES on Bottom
5 Trading Days
10 Tick Range Bars
Scalping Setup
Trading One Contract per Trade
4 Tick Profit Target
Bizarro Code

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[VSTscalper]

While I trade mostly with my Algos now - in the past - for many years - this is the setup I used to Discretionary trade - and to this day - it is still my favorite way to trade. Sometimes - I will still use this Setup - because it is Simple - and Easy to trade and I really like it.

I do a lot of Counter Trend trades between Support and Resistance. As you can see on the Top chart - the only thing needed to make a decision on whether to Enter a trade or not - are the Support and Resistance lines. There is really NO need to use a lot of Indicators. Many traders tend to overload their charts with Indicators - looking for the Signal to Enter a trade. I did the same thing in my early days of trading.

There is One Indicator on the Bottom chart - the Green and Red dots - which I use to Divide the Bar up in One Tick Increments. I can trade - with the Top chart ONLY - or I can use the Bottom chart - for more potential Setups - which I will not talk about now. The point is - I can trade the Top chart by itself - or if I want more Setups - I can use the Bottom chart as well.

So all you traders out there - who may be struggling - I just want say - try making your trading less complicated - you may be surprised how easy and rewarding trading can be.

By the way - I only have this one workspace - don't need to look at a bunch of charts or indicators - to get confirmation to enter or exit a trade. More charts plus more indicators equals Confusion and Complication - which usually ends up with a trader losing.

And - you do NOT need my Support and Resistance lines or the Green and Red dots. Draw your own lines - just about as simple as you can get. Seriously - you just need the Top chart with NO DAMN INDICATORS.

 

[easymon1]

Thanks for those posts, and this Thread with some Serious Legs.

I have been in this business for around 27 years now. Damn - seriously - as I am typing this - I just realized -

Flow that blood baby... it doesn't take much to start.
youtube.com/watch?v=HOz-1GdRCs4
No kidding, do this couple times a day for a while and who knows where it will lead.

 

[VSTscalper]

Thanks for those posts, and this Thread with some Serious Legs.


Flow that blood baby... it doesn't take much to start.
youtube.com/watch?v=HOz-1GdRCs4
No kidding, do this couple times a day for a while and who knows where it will lead.

----------------------------------
Looks like I said on that post - a "half century" - instead of a "quarter century" - guess that is what happens when you become a an old fossil.

 

[VSTscalper]

ES and MES
30 days
NO - Backtesting
NO - Optimizing
NO - Curve Fitting
Trend Setup
Single Contract per Entry
Multiple Entries in Trend
Single Exit
​

I have some friends in this forum - going back many years. Based on our conversations - I decided to offer some advice to traders - whether they follow my advice or not - that is up to them.

Many years ago - I was taught how to Backtest_Optimize to get the best results. Over the years - I tried many different Indicators - individual and combinations - and I Backtested_Optimized the hell out of them - and guess what - the Algos made money for a short time - and then most of them FAILED. So - I would Bactest_Optimize again - start the process all over. I finally decided - Automation was NOT for me. After some time - I eventually became a Scalper and to this day - that is how I prefer to trade.

Having said that above - I have continued to develop Algos - for the purpose of going Full Auto - maybe someday. It is a trust issue for me - even as old as I am - I still prefer my Discretionary trading method. Please look at (#266 Dec 29, 2020) - "MyFavoriteDiscretionarySetup" - on a previous page - and #279 - #282 - #285 - that is my prefered setup. I use ONE Chart - NO need to Clutter up the screen with Multiple Charts - Multiple Indicators. I am all about keeping things as Simple as possible. I said it in another post - traders think they need this Indicator and that Indicator - and on and on - and the vast majority of traders who thing that way - will LOSE - and go out of business - and in my distant past - I was that trader - and I damn near went out of business - several times. The point I am trying to make is - try to keep things Simple - so you can React to what you see - NOT second guess yourself - believe me - I have been there.

If you are coding - think about the following - the first two sentences

The Algos I have now - for many years now - are NOT based on Indicators. They are based mostly on Pure Price Action - NOTHING else - and - while they can be Backtested_Optimized - there is NO NEED TO DO THAT. I do have some big money clients - that do use my Algos - and some - but not all - are Full Algo - but they have Servers - in Chicago and some other cities where Exchanges are located.

The way I code now is much different than when I first became a Developer. The Algos can Scalp - Trend - or do Scalp_Trend combinations - all with the same code.

The point of this post - is to get traders - especially traders who are having a problem trading - and not as successful as they want to be - to think about cleaning up their charts - try to Minimize their use of Indicators. This doesn't mean that Indicators have no value - they do - but my advice is - try to Simplify your charts - clean them up. Many years ago - that is what made the difference for me. I started out trading Equities - and I was at the point in my trading - I had to change - I had to quit blaming Market Maker_Specialist for my problems - and ACCEPT the fact that I WAS THE PROBLEM.

I could go on - but I have probably already pi$$ed off some traders in this forum - so I will stop - for now - however - I do like to pi$$ off people at times - and I have proof - my lady - I seem to find a way to pi$$ her off - without even trying.

Click on the picture to make it larger.

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[VSTscalper]

ES
10 days
25 Tick Range Bar
NO - Backtesting
NO - Optimizing
NO - Curve Fitting
NOT - based on Indicators
Pure Price Action ONLY
Entry Signal based on the Current Bar ONLY
Trend Setup
Single Entries - Single Exit
Multiple Entries - Single Exit​

In my early days of trading - I tried just about every indicator I could find. When I started coding - all my coding was based on one or more indicators. While I did make money trading with my Algos - I did have many down days - which sometimes led to daily or weekly losses. So - I would code some more - trying to find the right indicator(s) that would provide consistent profits. And - I was never able to code an Algo using indicators - that was successful over a long period of time. That got me to thinking - I had started Scalping more and more - and doing well as a Discretionary trader - using Price Action on the Current Bar - I finally decided to focus my Algo coding on what I call - "Pure Price Action" ONLY - NO MORE DAMN INDICATORS. Since I had become mainly a Scalper - with some Short-Term Trend trades - I decided to focus on coding Algos - based on the Current Bar ONLY. Because of this change in my thinking - I found a way to code - where I do NOT need to Backtest_Optimize - although I can - if I want too. This may not make sense to most traders - as WE (including ME) - have been taught that we need to use this Indicator - or that Indicator - or a Combination of Indicators - in order to be Successful as a Trader. For ME - I have found that to be TOTAL BS. Having said that - YES - WE can make money using Indicators - but it is my belief - we need to use as few as possible.

I spend part of the time trading the Algo Signals. But - for Fast Scalping - I still prefer the Bottom Picture - "My Favorite Trading Setup". With this setup - I do a lot of Counter Trend - Scalp trades - with some Short-Term Scalp_Trend combinations. Please notice the charts are NOT Cluttered with a lot of Indicators - which makes it easy and fast - when it comes to making a decision on what to do.

The point of this post - is to encourage traders who are having trouble with their trading - to make their charts less Cluttered and Complicated - and if you do - you may be surprised how fast it could lead you to becoming a successful trader.

Click on images to make them larger.

Algo Signals
Simple - Clean Chart
Trade the Arrows

My Favorite Trading Setup
Counter Trend trades
Green and Red Dots on the Bottom Chart - Only Indicator

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[Overnight]

Brilliant. Thanks for sharing. Happy money making.