Trading the NQ: Take 2
- Thread starter k p
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yep.... thats right... I trade 3-4 hours per day and on average have 3-5 trades... its a waiting game that requires me to wait and watch for price to do those things that I watch for in a setup. the only advantage that I have over you is that i trade a dozen symbols, so i am constantly looking at different symbols and charts looking for that 1 setup that i trade.
That is actually a nice advantage.
Waiting wouldn't be the hard part if in that hour or two, I knew that on most days I can get 10 points and call it a day. But with the exception of a few days where I got my 10 points, and hence why I started posting again, most days don't work out like this, so I feel as if I need other things to fall back onto, other trades I could take, ways to get into a move that I may have initially missed so look for some continuation, etc.
That is actually a nice advantage.
Waiting wouldn't be the hard part if in that hour or two, I knew that on most days I can get 10 points and call it a day. But with the exception of a few days where I got my 10 points, and hence why I started posting again, most days don't work out like this, so I feel as if I need other things to fall back onto, other trades I could take, ways to get into a move that I may have initially missed so look for some continuation, etc.
i understand what you are saying, but wouldn't it be better to find that "one setup" that works first before ""so I feel as if I need other things to fall back onto, other trades I could take, ways to get into a move that I may have initially missed so look for some continuation""
Part of what I'm thinking is that there really are only two setups. One is a rejection of a level, so buying the bounce if its a bounce off support (or selling if the bounce is off resistance), the other would be a continuation of the BO, so price doesn't bounce, but instead penetrates.
There are just so many nuances though that by the time I figure out if its a REJ or BO, the entry for a tight stop is long gone.
Many setups (signals)..., only two directions
The third direction (flat / tight range) is for all intense purposes - not trade-able
btw;
One set up for each direction is quite sufficient - then you can always add as your experience grows
But which set up for each - that can be a bitch in pairing it down
But nee-dent be KP - just pick..., then master
Have no doubt - all setups (every single one of them) - work..., and break down - lose
RN
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ok... i can live with that
but only if you pick one support and one resistance level to start with...
maybe use the overnight high(resistance) and overnight low(support)
or yesterdays high(resistance) and yesterdays low(support) i don't care which one
i'm not saying these are the only ones or the best ones... i'm just saying one of the above can be a starting point.... for example:
you are now looking for price to BO above overnight high or BO below overnight low
or you are looking for a reversal when price moves close to the overnight high or close to the overnight low
don't worry about the stop area for now... just use your 2 point stoploss for now where ever you enter.
BUT ONLY USE SIM FOR NOW
So here is my final trade today, and final trade that I'm sure I will post in this journal. As I was reading toucan's post above, he mentioned an example about waiting for a BO above or below the overnight level. That got me thinking to look at price since I hadn't glanced over for a while (I shut down the other monitor already, so now my charts were in the background, behind my browser windows)
Anyway, I saw price approach the ONH, some hesitation, and I shorted. Sure enough, price spikes up above the ONH, and comes back down, but not before taking me out. As it so happens, my 2 point stop is filled even 2 ticks below. So instead of slippage being on the worse side, my stop is actually only 6 ticks when I am expecting 8 ticks or worse. Can you imagine???
I also mark where my target was. You can see it comes within a tick the first time down. If I didn't get stopped out.. would I have still held the short? Who knows. On the second trip down, price hits twice, but since the exit is a limit order, I might not have gotten a fill (this has caused me much pain before where I tried to exit a trade for a tiny profit at a limit price which was never filled a few times, and instead, I took a 20 point loss once it went against me cause I just wanted price to come back down again.
Anyway.... a little while later, price does eventually for sure hit my 5 point target. So I finish my day at -$190.
Anyway, I saw price approach the ONH, some hesitation, and I shorted. Sure enough, price spikes up above the ONH, and comes back down, but not before taking me out. As it so happens, my 2 point stop is filled even 2 ticks below. So instead of slippage being on the worse side, my stop is actually only 6 ticks when I am expecting 8 ticks or worse. Can you imagine???
I also mark where my target was. You can see it comes within a tick the first time down. If I didn't get stopped out.. would I have still held the short? Who knows. On the second trip down, price hits twice, but since the exit is a limit order, I might not have gotten a fill (this has caused me much pain before where I tried to exit a trade for a tiny profit at a limit price which was never filled a few times, and instead, I took a 20 point loss once it went against me cause I just wanted price to come back down again.
Anyway.... a little while later, price does eventually for sure hit my 5 point target. So I finish my day at -$190.
Just two. A main 20 inch monitor that has my 5 sec chart, and a DOM window on the right for order entry so I can either click on the ladder for a limit entry, or click Buy or sell for a market order. Then on the notebook monitor, I've got a 1 min chart, and a 5 min chart.
If I wanted to look at other stuff while things are moving slow, I would click on the IB software along the bottom taskbar, and look at some other chart in IB TWS.
I'm sure I can have multiple tabs along the bottom in Sierra to have other stuff to track, and I do have a tab for the ES, but its not my intention to trade anything else until I can learn to trade at least one instrument.
Here is a picture of my money losing machine! (I think its operator error and not a result of the hardware... LOL)
EDIT: So when I say I shut down the monitor, this was the notebook screen, and I just moved the charts back to the main Sierra window. No sense in wasting electricity if I won't be trading anymore.
If I wanted to look at other stuff while things are moving slow, I would click on the IB software along the bottom taskbar, and look at some other chart in IB TWS.
I'm sure I can have multiple tabs along the bottom in Sierra to have other stuff to track, and I do have a tab for the ES, but its not my intention to trade anything else until I can learn to trade at least one instrument.
Here is a picture of my money losing machine!
(I think its operator error and not a result of the hardware... LOL)EDIT: So when I say I shut down the monitor, this was the notebook screen, and I just moved the charts back to the main Sierra window. No sense in wasting electricity if I won't be trading anymore.
