The Price Action Journal

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Quote from mccullek:

As you described, I got chopped to death as well. I actually made a little money in the afternoon, only to give it back at the close. I knew better than to take a last minute trade, but I was hoping the market would give me a little more.

It was just not a good day for me. I need to be more disciplined and will continue to work on it. On days like this, I usually try to scalp 4 ticks, then go to BE. Normally this works well for me, but for some reason, I could not get the feel for this market today.

While studying my chart after the close, if I would have just bought or sold the S/R lines, using my scalp method, I would have made money almost every time, even trading counter trend. I need to get to the party sooner, as my problem today was getting in too late. Every one of the arrows on this chart indicate an entry point off of a S/R line in which I could have made a point or two at a minimum each time. I was already scalping, so there was no reason I should not have made money trading today. I must continue to work on trusting the S/R lines, particularly when they are proven from a previous touch.
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Mccullek,

Sometimes it's good to just let the market "prove itself" first by getting ahead of you and providing some meaning to recent S/R levels. You could try fading the Highs and Lows after a second test of Support and Resistance. Missed trades can easily lead to overtrading; catching up, making back losses or chasing the market entirely. Either way, awareness is key. Deal with it and become profitable.

As a note: I still trade simulation every evening, 7 days a week. PA and Support/Resistance (horizontal and diagonal). Gotta put in the time to continue to make the dime.
:)

Best of luck to you,
Tex
 
Quote from SusanaDT:

You must be trading some serious size. Best deal I have ever received was 3.60 from Infinity.

If I could get 3.00/RT from Mirus I would, considering they got Zenfire technology and 60 cents cheap, darn, I want!

Could you please clarify this ?

Thank you

Susana
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Susana,

My bad, MS Word doesn't catch typos involving numbers. It should read "5.00/RT...".
But $3.60 is good. I'm just comfortable with Mirus/Dorman.

Btw, I don't trade more than 10 contracts at a time. This is my max. However, I position size based upon PA and market structure.

Headed out for my jog now. I'll check back in a few hours.

Take care,
Tex
 
<i>"I actually made a little money in the afternoon, only to give it back at the close. I knew better than to take a last minute trade, but I was hoping the market would give me a little more.

It was just not a good day for me. I need to be more disciplined and will continue to work on it...

... Normally this works well for me, but for some reason, I could not get the feel for this market today.

While studying my chart after the close, if I would have just bought or sold the S/R lines...

<b>as my problem today was...</b>

... so there was no reason I should not have made money trading today."</i>

Trading the ER or NQ this morning was (relatively) easy money. Trading the ES was brutal. While the other two symbols made smooth swings up & down, the ES pinned to 1300 magnet and chopped both sides.

Yesterday and prior days the ES was (relatively) easy trading. Tomorrow might be the best price action you have ever enjoyed. Today was congested, sideways and choppy. It sucked. Not until 3pm EST did the ES go anywhere at all.

We have to avoid the urge to curve fit our personal approach into every single session... especially the outliers. This was one of those. It was not a normal-range session, at all. Trying to tweak and twist your core approach to suit every wiggle will lead from a methodical approach straight to wild-a** guesswork trying to make a buck. Which is a breakdown in discipline. Which leads to ruin.

Forget about the ES today. Quit before digging any big holes, and go right back to your usual approach tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. No emini trader on earth with zero exceptions makes money every day, period. You won't be the only one who does, so your only focus should be controlled loss during adverse stretches and maximized gains during normal market action :)
 
Quote from SusanaDT:

You must be trading some serious size. Best deal I have ever received was 3.60 from Infinity.

If I could get 3.00/RT from Mirus I would, considering they got Zenfire technology and 60 cents cheap, darn, I want!

Could you please clarify this ?

Thank you

Susana
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Hey Susana,

I was with Infinity and only got $5.00 RT as my best. How many RT are you making a month to get $3.60? You can PM if youd rather not take space in the journal :)

Thanks!
 
Quote from rolextrader:

mccullek, what do you use moving averages for (a no-no on this thread, so don't answer the question)? Also there are spots where resistance shows and the price ran through it. It seems that, with all due respect, your arrows were placed with the benefit of hindsight which always makes for a perfect trading day.
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I don't actually use the MA's for trading. They have been on my charts so long that I actually don't even notice them any longer, thus I didn't think about it when I posted the chart. I'll remove them before posting in the future.

You are correct that the turns are not always spot on at the S/R lines, but a tick or two through a S/R line is not a break out, at least not in my trading rules, so I should have taken them when they proved they would hold. Even if you left out the trades that didn't turn right on the lines, there were still several that did turn spot on, and they would have all made money. The ones that did penetrate the S/R area would have held up with only a 4 tick stop, so those are still valid turns in my opinion. The person I originally learned PA trading from would have taken all those trades, as he taught me not to expect perfection when it comes to the S/R areas. After all, that's why so many traders lose when trading break outs.... they aren't really break outs.

You are also correct in that it is much easier to see the turns after the fact, but if you are trying to trade using S/R levels, you have to watch for a bounce near the previous S/R areas and then have the confidence to take the trade. Based on that, I stand by my prevoius post that this could have been a profitable day for me had I been able to confidently take those trades, which I was not, and that was the basis for my post. The best PA traders probably saw most if not all of those turns. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of them today. At some point, I will learn to take those trades, and then I will be able to post a similar chart where the arrows were placed as the chart printed.

Until then, I'll keep learning and working towards improvements.
 
Quote from jack411:

Hey Susana,

I was with Infinity and only got $5.00 RT as my best. How many RT are you making a month to get $3.60? You can PM if youd rather not take space in the journal :)

Thanks!
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All the AHG guys/gals got a special deal of 3.60 RT even on 1 lots but the offer was only good for a 48 hour period.

Susana
 
Quote from austinp:

<i>"I actually made a little money in the afternoon, only to give it back at the close. I knew better than to take a last minute trade, but I was hoping the market would give me a little more.

It was just not a good day for me. I need to be more disciplined and will continue to work on it...

... Normally this works well for me, but for some reason, I could not get the feel for this market today.

While studying my chart after the close, if I would have just bought or sold the S/R lines...

<b>as my problem today was...</b>

... so there was no reason I should not have made money trading today."</i>

Trading the ER or NQ this morning was (relatively) easy money. Trading the ES was brutal. While the other two symbols made smooth swings up & down, the ES pinned to 1300 magnet and chopped both sides.

Yesterday and prior days the ES was (relatively) easy trading. Tomorrow might be the best price action you have ever enjoyed. Today was congested, sideways and choppy. It sucked. Not until 3pm EST did the ES go anywhere at all.

We have to avoid the urge to curve fit our personal approach into every single session... especially the outliers. This was one of those. It was not a normal-range session, at all. Trying to tweak and twist your core approach to suit every wiggle will lead from a methodical approach straight to wild-a** guesswork trying to make a buck. Which is a breakdown in discipline. Which leads to ruin.

Forget about the ES today. Quit before digging any big holes, and go right back to your usual approach tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. No emini trader on earth with zero exceptions makes money every day, period. You won't be the only one who does, so your only focus should be controlled loss during adverse stretches and maximized gains during normal market action :)
More...

This is good constructive criticism. Thanks for reminding me of what I should already know! :)
 
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