Techniques for Day Trading the ES, NQ, YM, MES, MNQ, and MYM

[volpri]

Trade #4

Made the same mistake again. Forgot to move my 3 point stop. My my…it is a pain getting old. Lesson learned not learned earlier!

See, MAKE sure all is set right on entries WHILE trading when distracted with making posts and visiting company! LOL Now I get to average down and attempt to get back this minor loss. ROFLMAO. The blue circle shows me averaging down 3 times after the initial entry at the green # 1 while attempting to get this loss back. Notice #4 green number was actually a scaling up on a higher level on a PB. Thus a combination of tactics #2and #3 in post 1178. I have yet to exit any of these entries on trade#5

Of course I am still up by a long shot for today. Anybody can get burned by fire once…but a second time…well………………..

These subsequent trade #5 entries (blue circle) are basically adding to my position on PB’s and holding, as mentioned earlier in another post, until the session ends or a reversal takes place. However, I have already had several opportunities to get back the loss of trade#4 back and may go ahead and exit soon and just quit for the day. The reasons are the market is still in SPBL trend mode but it is staying pretty flat and often times a reversal happens around 1:30 or 2:00 chicago time. Not always though. It can pop back up and give a very good profit but I got company too and don’t need to be rude. One person has already asked me what I am doing…LOL. Trade #4 was a very small position as I forgot to move the SL and to average down adding, so the loss was very small. The present trade #5 is also small also but enough to get back the loss and then some, if it pans out.

 

[volpri]

Well here is the end result of trade #5. It was averaging down and scaling up on entry number 4 (green). A combination of tactics 2 and 3 mentioned earlier in a previous post. I think post #1178.

Another sister (of my wife) and her husband showed up so I can’t continue be rude so I exited and am done for the day. I got back my loss on trade#4 and made a profit. It may continue grinding up or we could also see a reversal before the close but at any rate I am finished.

I hope this was of instructional value as to how I trade SPBL TRENDS. It is the same procedure for SPBR TRENDS just reversed concepts.

If I get a free moment I will post a final chart at the close of the session so we can see what did in fact happened. A continual grinding up or a reversal.

Notice all the position in trade 5 was in the money by my exit. Again that is a principle in tactic 2 post 1178.

 

[volpri]

This is the end of the session with all the trades. First chart is the 5 min chart. All the trades were multiple points of profit and not the min scalp of one point. And this was in a market that barely moved. Just grinding north at a slow pace.

3 wins 2 losses (losses by procedural mistakes) but still all losses recuperated and in the end a decent profit made. The losses should have never happened.

If things are just so slow on 5 min chart one can trade on a 2 min. Even a 15 min chart was a SPBL trend with price staying above it’s 20 EMA. One could use the same guidelines and tactics on the 15 min chart (second chart).

Step up to large size trading the same tactics and decent money can be made. The procedure is the same trading 1 to 5 contracts or trading 10 to 20 contracts. And all this on days that are slow and grinding. Most traders don’t like these days but still good money can be made on these low volatility trade days if a trader knows how to trade them. They are generally low risk days. Money can be made on virtually every PB and the subsequent surge north, even if the bars are small. Why wouldn’t a trader want to trade these days? On average you might encounter them 1 day a week.

Have a great weekend! Tomorrow we celebrate my granddaughters birthday. The one that helped constrained me to ride the roller coasters on Six Flags over Georgia a few weeks ago.

 

[volpri]

What kinda of day does it look like ES might have today July 12, 2021? Range? SPBL trend? Neither?

 

[volpri]

Chart is MES 5 minute:

Well nobody responded to my questions in post #1184. But to answer them myself it ended being a typical SPBL trend day. Remember a SPBL trend day is when price grinds up relentlessly most all the session. Often times around 1:30 Chicago time we might see a deeper PB that sometimes looks like a reversal. Only to resume the trend up before the close.

Now when the market opens at or above the 20 EMA (as in this case) and in the first few bars shows a strong BO like it did here (green arrow) then once we get the first PB it will often be the deepest PB of the entire session (at times thru ema as here ..red arrow) only to resume and generally stay in a relentless channel that grinds up, with PB’s staying mostly at or above the 20 ema. In this case we had 3 times that PB’s went below the 20 ema with any sort of significance, only to resume the grind up. These are great days for scalping. Today’s SPBL trend was more active with a little more volatility than Last Friday’s SPBL TREND. Review my post #1178 to see three ways or tactics to trade this sort of price action. I did trade MES and the ES today and will post charts next showing how I traded them. They basically track together so in both cases they were SPBL trends.

 

[volpri]

Ok here are my trades for MES for 7-12-21 on a 5 minute chart.

TRADE #1(blue) I used tactic #3 from my post #1178. First I entered on the opening BO. At this point not yet sure what kind of day we would get but I wanted in on the BO. So the green 1 was my initial entry. By entry 2 which is on a PB bar I am suspecting we will see a SPBL trend evolve. Why? Because it is the first actual PB since the open with a rather large bar. So either we are going to get a reversal and a move south or we are going to get a PB to the 20 ema and a resumption of the previous opening bull trend. By looking at that opening BO I see it consist of 10 bars with higher lows until it gets to the top which is followed by that bear bar (green 2). I reason it is a strong enough opening BO that I doubt that larger bear bar will be a reversal and will more than likely just be a PB, followed by, at some point, with a resumption of the opening trend thus giving clear signs of a SPBL trend.

So, I scaled up by adding long to my previous position. This is tactic #3, post #1178. My intention at this point is to hold my position for several hours and just scale up by adding to my long positions on subsequent PB’s then exit the entire position before the close, or on a reversal, should one materialize. So, I continued scaling up on green numbers 2, 3,4, 6, and 7. That is, all these additional entries were above my original entry (green 1) so they are scaling up entries. Except entry 5 which was the only one that was below my original entry hence it was an averaging down entry. I did average down on entry 5 because I saw that bear bar on entry 5 and the 3 bear bars that preceded it, not as a reversal, but as simply part of a PB to the 20 ema. Because every bear bar since my entry 2 all had tails on the bottom signifying buying pressure (even though they were bear bars) and all were also overlapping bars (thus no strong bear conviction and likely profit taking from the opening BO) . I do not expect this type of selling pressure to entirely undo the buying pressure of the opening BO.

Once I built my position I then exit the entire position accumulated 4 bars after my entry #7. I had in mind of going to town so I exited but then began to feel bad after taking some new meds so decided to stay home.

I then initiated TRADE #2 with a long entry as a PB is occurring. Then I add to it by averaging down as the PB comes close to the 20 ema. I then exit those positions 7 bars later with a profit. This TRADE #2 was using tactic #2 in my post #1178.

So, two trades in MES today consisting of multiple contracts. Both winners and both profitable. Using two different tactics for trading SPBL trends. Hope this is instructive.

 

[volpri]

Ok now for my trades in ES. As you can see it was basically same price action as MES above. An opening BO followed by a SPBL trend day.

The 5 minute chart below is how I traded the ES. I used tactic #2 from my post #1187 for trades 1, 3, and 4. These were averaging down trades. One was a loser and two were winners. Trade #1 I took an initial long position at green #1 then averaged down adding to it twice, as it went against me. I then exited the entire position with a profit on my latter two entries and a small loss on my initial entry. Overall it was a profitable trade #1 using tactic #2 of my post 1178.

Trade #2 was a straight short no averaging down using a twist of tactic #1 post 1178 but using it for shorting a PB as we are at double top area. No averaging down here. Just shorting if I think the PB from the DT will be big enough for a scalp. Like I said a twist on tactic #1 post #1178. Look to the left of the short entry on trade#2 to see the double top. It is also a triangle with 3 pushes up and 2 down since bar 10:35.

Trade #3 was using tactic #2 post #1178…averaging down short. While in the averaged down position at bar 14:10 it appeared it was gonna make a new session high so I decided to exit all positions with a loss then reverse and start going long building a BIGGER position than the losing trade #3 so as to recuperate my loss in less distance traveled, and quickly.

So, I immediately initiated trade #4 after my loss from trade #3. My initial long entry for trade #4 was the green 1. Then as price moved against me I added more contracts at the green numbers 2,3,and 4 building a long position as price pulled back to the 20 ema. I then exited the entire position on bar 14:15 making money on entries 2,3,4 and break even on my initial entry #1. Bottom line I totally recuperated my loss and made some more. This is what averaging down can do for me in the right conditions and context. Note: I did not hold the averaged down position of trade #3 very long but exited quickly when it appeared price would make a new high with 7 bull bars in succession as only 1 bear bar in the mix. So, I just decided to take my loss and reverse, going long. That is how quickly I got back my loss, and then some.

Note: The process is the same whether one is averaging down with one contract each time he averages down or is doing so with 5 or 10 contracts each time. What determines that is the size of ones account.

 

[volpri]

I often talk of the market cycle or phase. All markets go from range or sideways movement to BO then upon first PB the BO becomes a channel. So a TREND is composed usually of a BO or spike followed by a channel. Then the market goes back into sideways movement or a range. This action repeats over and over. There are tactics to use in each phase or cycle. Also notice the market is always in a channel. At all times on some Time Frame. Here on one TF (5 min MES of 7-12-21 ..i.e. today) we are in a broad channel that contains several sideways movements i.e. blue boxes, several BO’s (green) and channels (broader magenta and blue channels) and smaller channels (orange). This is another way of looking at the MES chart the same chart above as in post #1186 that shows my trades for today in MES.

It is of upmost importance to know where we are in the larger context. This opens the door for many trading techniques. While todays PA is indeed a SPBL trend that is staying for the most part, at or above the 20 ema, there are BO’s, channels, ranges or sideways moves embedded, therein.

See, there are different trading tactics for each phase. Multiple ways to trade. Today I have showed two tactics I use, as described in my post #1178 for when price is evolving into a SPBL trend day. But there are other ways to trade it too. A good trader is not limited to two trading techniques in SPBL trends or SPBR trends. I can trade the ranges in it, using range trading tactics. I can trade just the BO’s in it using BO trading tactics. I can trade the channels within the SPBL TREND using tactics for channel trading.

It is helpful to understand that as traders we are basically, most of the time, just trading ranges, as channels too are ranges; just tilted ranges. BO’s only make up about 10% of market PA. Think through that! What does it imply? What does that mean for a trader?

 

[volpri]

Here we are 7-13-2021 @ 10:01 Chicago time. What kinda of Day is it shaping up to be? Trading Range? Bull trend? Bear Trend? A hallmark of a developing range is tge emotion of confusion. Goes up then goes down. Bulls and bears pushing. One wins for a bit then the other gets the upper hand. That process is what creates the range. Market goes up then down. Taking either side at wrong time creates losses for the retail trader as he gets whipsawed around.

 

[tiddlywinks]

It is helpful to understand that as traders we are basically, most of the time, just trading ranges, as channels too are ranges; just tilted ranges. BO’s only make up about 10% of market PA. Think through that! What does it imply? What does that mean for a trader?

It means that *IF* the trader can discern where the current price/bar is within the range, whether sloped or horizontal boundary , the trader will more easily recognize and be able to benefit from the money-making side of the market. The same discernment also more easily shows when BO's can/should be anticipated, which depending on risk tolerance, can affect hold, add, and/or exit-reverse strats.