Trading on "Instynct" (NQ)

[bmwhendrix]

Quote from highballs:

Can you explain what you consider to bet the significance of this chart? Tell me how this chart should impact my trading decision in a fundamental way?

Sometimes a rose is a rose is a rose. I have no desire to impact your trading in any way. I have found the last few weeks challenging to my way of trading, and that chart kind of, sorta, shows why. I long for those days of long daily trends with good tradable pullbacks. But what I see is a very jerky market that jumps from one level of consolidation to another. FWIW. Remember this is ET, so don't expect more than you paid for admission!

 

[highballs]

Quote from bmwhendrix:

Sometimes a rose is a rose is a rose. I have no desire to impact your trading in any way.

you couldn't care less about me personally, why should you?

however,

I have found the last few weeks challenging to my way of trading, and that chart kind of, sorta, shows why.

what has it taught you and what do you wish to convey by posting it here?

I long for those days of long daily trends with good tradable pullbacks.

i long for my carefree teens.

But what I see is a very jerky market that jumps from one level of consolidation to another. FWIW. Remember this is ET, so don't expect more than you paid for admission!

then what the purpose of posting your chart? with the commentary


5000 vol chart of NQ showing consolidations. This is not the best action for trading. If you miss the jumps between consolidation areas
the potential for trading in chop certainly seems more possible.



who are you talking to

 

[highballs]

still awaiting an answer..

 

[marceck]

Now that NQ is back at 2001 levels, they should also return the contract to 1/2 point increments ($10) and get rid of the HFT scalping noise.

 

[Redneck]

Quote from Instynct:

In my situation it is as if there is this losing mentality that has had a grip on me. This bastard wants me to see 10 pt unrealized winners turn into losers (yes that has happened recently)… enter a long entry before price has come to me and get out right where I know buyers will step up because it’s too painful to hold on… buying at the top of the run instead of waiting for a pullback because of the fear of missing out… I can go on but I think you get the picture.

It’s been about a week since your post and I believe I’ve reached bottom, or at least getting real close. I’ve not considered myself a loser in your definition, just someone in the process of becoming a winner. I can do better than this. Be patient with me, as I’m a slow learner. Take care and thanks for your post.

Possibly it is a losing mentality…, likely it is guilt

Here are a couple of suggestions to resolve it Sir…

Seek out that which is causing it, and forgive… even try to make amends


If that is not an option…

Sit quietly and write out a letter to that which is the cause…, spell and spill out everything…

Then in the closing paragraph – forgive yourself

Once the letter is complete, file it in your filing cabinet for safe keeping

fwiw – I have two such letters

=========================================

We can’t control other’s beliefs or actions (past, present, or future)….


We can control how others affect us…

We can control our actions…

We can forgive our self…

And

We can let go and move on


Maybe I'm all wrong on this... maybe I'm not... Best you be the judge Sir

RN

 

[highballs]

Quote from marceck:

Now that NQ is back at 2001 levels, they should also return the contract to 1/2 point increments ($10) and get rid of the HFT scalping noise.

how about dime increments to reduce slippage?

 

[Instynct]

Quote from Redneck:

Possibly it is a losing mentality…, likely it is guilt

Here are a couple of suggestions to resolve it Sir…

Seek out that which is causing it, and forgive… even try to make amends


If that is not an option…

Sit quietly and write out a letter to that which is the cause…, spell and spill out everything…

Then in the closing paragraph – forgive yourself

Once the letter is complete, file it in your filing cabinet for safe keeping

fwiw – I have two such letters

=========================================

We can’t control other’s beliefs or actions (past, present, or future)….


We can control how others affect us…

We can control our actions…

We can forgive our self…

And

We can let go and move on


Maybe I'm all wrong on this... maybe I'm not... Best you be the judge Sir

RN

RN, your advice is much appreciated. Fwiw I don't think you're wrong on this.

 

[Instynct]

To get things out of the way first, here are last week’s results. Pretty much more of the same BS, self inflicted wounds, particularly on Wednesday (2/29).

 

[Instynct]

This week’s results show some promise. Here is a brief summary of each day’s trading for this week. Still trading single lots.

Monday(3/5): Morning started a little rough as I was making the same previous mistakes. Then at 7:57 pst I took a short at 2625.5 (march contract) and the market showed me +20 handles in quick fashion thanks to aapl… I took about +18 and that put me nicely positive. Pretty much called it a day and spent the rest of the day just watching price unfold.

Tuesday: Longs late to the party got nervous and price gapped down big. All 3 markets (ES, NQ, YM) opened well below it’s previous LOD, so I was all over the short side coming in. Took 7 scalps all before the lunch period as I was not willing to hold for swings due to the fact that the uptrend in the larger time frames are still intact. You just never know when dip buyers will step up again to at least retest highs if not break them. So I thought best to protect profits and scalp it. My last trade was near the eod when I was banking on a long to play the recovery. Lost a couple points on that one as my stop was too close. If I had placed my stop just 2 ticks lower I would’ve added another +5 handles to my day.

Wednesday: Even though NQ traded above it’s previous HOD (regular trading hours), both ES and YM opened below their respective previous HOD so that kept me on the sidelines until they showed some strength and break above it. That saved me a lot of money as I know I would’ve gotten chopped up to death in the opening had I tried to trade it. Once ES broke above its previous HOD, I took a long at the tail end of the first leg up for +2 (price showed me +4 but my trailing stop gave me 2). Second trade I waited patiently for price to dip back down to support and took another long for about +5 handles. It was a slow day but a good one none the less as I dodged the morning chop and executed my setups.

Thurday: Morning started off tough as I found myself committing those same mistakes again. I knew coming in that price needed to sell off and pull back a bit to pick up new buyers that were willing to take this higher again. But I failed to patiently wait for price to confirm itself and ended up taking poor long entries as well as a short which is completely out of my play book given where price opened. Once price confirmed itself and was ready to move higher, I was already out of bullets mentally. And you can see how smooth the up move was with very shallow pullbacks. Good price action if you are already in long and trailing your stop, tough if you were looking for a decent pullback for a long entry.

Friday: Being that it is employment situation and rollover week, I was expecting a slow day with few opportunities. Once again I waited for sellers to come in, price confirmed itself, and I entered long, good for about +5 handles.

Not out of the woods yet in terms my trading results, far from it. This is a long term battle for me and I’m in it for the long haul. I know I will run into trouble again probably sooner rather than later, but I know I have an edge and as long as my will to survive stays strong I’ll make it out of this.

 

[Instynct]

Quote from highballs:

Can the mindset of a scalper coexist with that of the swing trader? Or will that create conflict?

I think the conflict is created, at least for me, when you put a label on yourself as either a scalper or swing trader. If you put yourself in the mold of a scalper you will miss out on big days when the market grinds in one direction because all you will think about is scalping for small profits. Likewise if you only consider yourself a swing trader you will hold out for larger profits and let those smaller unrealized profits (2-5 pts) go to waste if the market never trends. I think it would be best to focus on price action and manage the trade in a way so that you can lock in profits and give yourself a chance to pick up those large winners as well. Some days you keep those stops tight, and some days you loosen them. Even though most of my winning trades are small (2-5 pts), sometimes I do get those big winners too. It’s all a function of my trade management and what the market is offering for the day.