Quote from golablue:
Anyone out there only trade a certain time of day? Only mornings? Only lunch hour? Only the close?
If so, why?
I'm contemplating only trading mornings, as I seem to do very well, only to give most of it back in the afternoons. Is there anyone else out there who experiences this, or only trades a certain portion of the day?
Any thoughts/ideas are greatly apprecaited.
Nice post.
As a beginner, it is very important to consider doing only no risk trades.
You have made an important decision to look at various parts of the day regarding the risk that is at hand.
Try making up a matrix that crosses time of day with market money making patterns. Make a space at the top of the sheet for a description of the cell content.
By using an assortment of topics (start with 5 to 10 separate sheets) one for each topic, you can learn much about how days go along. Fill in the cells with an assortment of specific annotations (limit yourself to 3 initially) in order of importance.
For example, if you look at the Nitro thread where he is frustrated by getting shot down during the last three time segments you will list, you will easily find out what the trap is that he trades in.
By having a set of 10 sheets that begin to annotate how the day unfolds with respect to these 10 topics, you get to KNOW the market.
Do the day vertically from preopen at the top (as you read books) going to the last three elements prior to getting to close.
Market patterns are best grouped under the different paces of the market. When in doubt because of lack of knowledge and background, just use sets of threes to cover the spectrum.
With the day divided into your x parts and a set of y patterns under various paces and a set of 10 sheets with each cell containing 3 annotations, you will find that you have completed a lot of market analysis.
This will let you discover where you need to acquire skills to be able to handle the spectrum of risks that the market holds.
A person named martz or like martz posted last week about how he must guard against complacency because the market is so dangerous as he sees it using his mechanical approach. Naturally he has decided to overlay it with a blanket of descretion.
Nitro and martz share a common characteristic. They definitely do not know what is going on during the day and they both are seeking help and making changes (Nitro may not get to making changes it turns out). When you pm them your 10 fully annotated sheets (use excel or access), it will be very helpful to them. At a minimum you will have defined about 3,000 facets of market action. You will note, by then, how important volume is as a leading indicator of price and you will know that the market dictates every trading action directly to you to obey. By knowing that traders do not determine actions (the market does), you will be more and more focused on the two topics that are yours to deal with: effectiveness and efficiency.
Do not trade before 9:45 nor after 11:15 until you have your sheets all done and corrected. Most of what you annotate at the beginning will need correcting by the time you get to sheet 4 or so. Look at your past logs for the best answers. There, you will also find that you made all your money within the above time zone and when you lost in that zone it was because you had whipsawing because you entered before 9:45.
