Bob Volman Price Action Scalping

[stehlikpetrmsncom]

Absolutely. But maybe I am only saying that because I made some pip today. :cheesy:

The problem is that you don't know for certain that nothing will happen on days likes these. Opportunities to trade may or may not show up regardless of whether there are any scheduled releases of economic news. It's possible that some unexpected news item may move the market.

I understand how you feel though. I definitely skip bank holidays. I have the urge to skip trading on days like these too because I get really bored. But you just never know what is going to happen. If the market happens to be too slow, maybe you could reread parts of Volman's book or study some charts from previous days while keeping an eye on the market. I get distracted at times but I try to do some studying so the trading session isn't wasted.

Hi, you are right, it is worth it in the end. I'm glad you managed to made some pips today, I skipped this because I found the bull/bear clash too even to demand 10 pip ride from the market. I probably did the right thing though, because with my current broker, I would miss the target by few pippettes Gotta change it soon.

 

[samich1262]

I think it is, I just hate sideways markets. I just skipped an RB that would've erased that bad read, and then took a BB that didn't work out. I have the tragic flaw of not taking several setups after taking a losing one. So on a day like today, I lost 10 pips when I should've made a profit. I get frustrated with myself for skipping the first couple valid setups, jumping in late, and then watching a move die out. It's like Volman said in the book though, we have to take every single setup or its a missed opportunity. I will be more comfortable with that after I stop trying to take BBs and IRBs that aren't ready to break open, lol.

 

[BLS]

Hi, you are right, it is worth it in the end. I'm glad you managed to made some pips today, I skipped this because I found the bull/bear clash too even to demand 10 pip ride from the market. I probably did the right thing though, because with my current broker, I would miss the target by few pippettes Gotta change it soon.

Bleh, forgot to mention that I bailed 1.5 pip early 11 minutes after my entry (my target is 10.8 pip to cover cost of commission). I've been toying with the idea of adding a time based stop, maybe something between 10-15 minutes because I've noticed that trades tend to sour after awhile, especially in slower markets. I should take the time to review my earlier trades and see if this is indeed the case.

The pressure inside the setup was pretty even and there weren't many hints of a bullish break to the upside until the last part of that range. Maybe I just got lucky with this trade.

 

[vanica]

I think it is, I just hate sideways markets. I just skipped an RB that would've erased that bad read, and then took a BB that didn't work out. I have the tragic flaw of not taking several setups after taking a losing one. So on a day like today, I lost 10 pips when I should've made a profit. I get frustrated with myself for skipping the first couple valid setups, jumping in late, and then watching a move die out. It's like Volman said in the book though, we have to take every single setup or its a missed opportunity. I will be more comfortable with that after I stop trying to take BBs and IRBs that aren't ready to break open, lol.

View attachment 144584

Hi,
I think it was easy to skip/miss this RB even without a distraction of earlier losses. The range looked good and bullish pressure was evident, but the entry wasn't all that clear (at least to me). Range broke too fast. At least another doji before the break would have made it easier to trade.

 

[BLS]

I just skipped an RB that would've erased that bad read, and then took a BB that didn't work out. I have the tragic flaw of not taking several setups after taking a losing one. So on a day like today, I lost 10 pips when I should've made a profit. I get frustrated with myself for skipping the first couple valid setups, jumping in late, and then watching a move die out. It's like Volman said in the book though, we have to take every single setup or its a missed opportunity. I will be more comfortable with that after I stop trying to take BBs and IRBs that aren't ready to break open, lol.

View attachment 144584

That happened to me on Friday. I skipped a BB that happened to work out and in my frustration I took a DD straight into a double top.

We have to be a bit more careful about taking every valid looking setup. We're not quite on Bob's level where can just shrug off every losing trade, valid or not. I think we have to build more confidence in ourselves and the trades we take before we can take every valid setup the same way Bob does it.

I missed that RB because I was distracted but I probably would've skipped it anyway because I hate trading into 00 levels like this. I understand your thought pattern though. Missing out on a trade that you could've taken leads you to want to "make up for that" and try to get in on the move any way you can. I thought I dealt with this problem awhile ago but once in awhile it rears its ugly head and I end up losing quite a few pip. It's probably one of the biggest reasons why I'm not profitable.

One way I try to deal with it is to try to forget the previous trades I took. I erase all marking on my chart related to previous trades and try to focus on current price action and how it fits with the overall picture. It doesn't always work so I'm trying to find other ways to forget about previous skipped/missed/bad trades. If you guys have any other ideas I would appreciate it.

 

[samich1262]

Ok, here's what I think I need to do when trading a sideways market.... Oftentimes, my trades that fail look bullish and then when the breakout fails, that creates one bearish move that makes the pressure as a whole look bearish. Which definitely tells me that some of my IRBs are too even. So I think if we're taking a bullish setup, the pressure needs to be unmistakably up. Maybe I'm counting higher lows and I have 2 tops, a double bottom and a higher low. I'm going to try to score it, in this case that'd be like, bulls winning 2-1. That's not enough because if it puts in a lower top, the pressure is even. But if we have a double top and then a double bottom and a higher double bottom, the bears have a lot more work to do to turn the tide. It can't just have one move that gives the bulls the upperhand. It has to start looking really scary for the bears. We'll see if that helps cut out some bad IRB and BB reads.

 

[cha-ching]

Absolutely. But maybe I am only saying that because I made some pip today. :cheesy:

The problem is that you don't know for certain that nothing will happen on days likes these. Opportunities to trade may or may not show up regardless of whether there are any scheduled releases of economic news. It's possible that some unexpected news item may move the market.

I understand how you feel though. I definitely skip bank holidays. I have the urge to skip trading on days like these too because I get really bored. But you just never know what is going to happen. If the market happens to be too slow, maybe you could reread parts of Volman's book or study some charts from previous days while keeping an eye on the market. I get distracted at times but I try to do some studying so the trading session isn't wasted.

BLS,

I love the way you mark your charts (different letters, moving stops, etc.). I missed this trade by about 10 seconds, and it's marked "M1" on my chart for future review.

Just finished reading Bob's book. It opened my eyes after reading a lot of useless books. Have you ever read Al brooks' three volume books on price action? I heard it's more in-depth although Al's writing style is bad according to many people. I myself plan to learn and apply Bob's method for some extended period before I look at Al's stuff.

Yes there are a lot of distractions. I wish I had an office like this one.

Happy trading!

 

[samich1262]

That happened to me on Friday. I skipped a BB that happened to work out and in my frustration I took a DD straight into a double top.

We have to be a bit more careful about taking every valid looking setup. We're not quite on Bob's level where can just shrug off every losing trade, valid or not. I think we have to build more confidence in ourselves and the trades we take before we can take every valid setup the same way Bob does it.

Yeah, I have been doing stuff like that a lot and it has been hurting my results. I'm still in the positive but I haven't done very well for a few weeks. Exiting good trades early and such... I am going through about a week's worth of charts every day to try to build some confidence. I figure if I can repeatedly show positive results in practice, I'll start to trust my abilities. I'm not anywhere near not caring about my results yet, but part of that is because I know I still occasionally take invalid trades. It will be easier to shrug off losses when I am sure that I'm making good decisions most of the time.

 

[samich1262]

See this BB? This was on the 7th. I keep doing this over and over again and it seems to fail more than it seems to work out. Is this BB not in a trade-able context?

I know you can take a BB trade in:
A trending market
As part of a range break
As an IRB in the right conditions

This doesn't fit any of those scenarios. It looks like a trend could potentially start if this broke upside... it wasn't a tradeable RB. Should setups like these be skipped?

 

[cha-ching]

View attachment 144602

See this BB? This was on the 7th. I keep doing this over and over again and it seems to fail more than it seems to work out. Is this BB not in a trade-able context?

I know you can take a BB trade in:
A trending market
As part of a range break
As an IRB in the right conditions

This doesn't fit any of those scenarios. It looks like a trend could potentially start if this broke upside... it wasn't a tradeable RB. Should setups like these be skipped?

Hi samich1262,

Isn't the second place where a BB can happen "A horizontal pullback in a strong trend"? For example, the first box in Figure 10.3 from the book. I have only read the book once so I could well be wrong...

 

[samich1262]

Hi samich1262,

Isn't the second place where a BB can happen "A horizontal pullback in a strong trend"? For example, the first box in Figure 10.3 from the book. I have only read the book once so I could well be wrong...

Yeah, that's true. I didn't consider this a trend yet though. It's like, it busts out of a range but hits immediate resistance and forms a BB. So that's probably formed by short sellers stepping in to short a new high. So I'm wondering if that's why these first trend setups tend to fail a lot. I won't buy a DD or SB after an improper break but I wasn't sure about a BB because it should provide some support. Not in this trade though.

 

[BLS]

View attachment 144602

See this BB? This was on the 7th. I keep doing this over and over again and it seems to fail more than it seems to work out. Is this BB not in a trade-able context?

I know you can take a BB trade in:
A trending market
As part of a range break
As an IRB in the right conditions

This doesn't fit any of those scenarios. It looks like a trend could potentially start if this broke upside... it wasn't a tradeable RB. Should setups like these be skipped?

Maybe these types of BB's don't do as well as they did when Bob wrote the book. That would mean laying off of them for now. I tend to skip these BB's because I have notice them fail a lot; round numbers and even number levels tend to give more trouble in slower markets.

 

[samich1262]

Maybe these types of BB's don't do as well as they did when Bob wrote the book. That would mean laying off of them for now. I tend to skip these BB's because I have notice them fail a lot; round numbers and even number levels tend to give more trouble in slower markets.

I was wondering if Volman even meant for these to be valid. If prices shot up like 20 pip and made a solid BB, sometimes those work out. I was really surprised to see some nice trending setups this afternoon. Too bad I was working back on last week's chart and didn't notice the afternoon action until 5pm. Lol.

 

[cha-ching]

I was wondering if Volman even meant for these to be valid. If prices shot up like 20 pip and made a solid BB, sometimes those work out. I was really surprised to see some nice trending setups this afternoon. Too bad I was working back on last week's chart and didn't notice the afternoon action until 5pm. Lol.

I think you are right. The trend wasn't strong in your chart but in Figure 10.3 it was stronger, though still less than 20 pip (16 pip). I think it's similar to trend-versus-trend mentioned in other setups, where a strong trend is required.

 

[stehlikpetrmsncom]

samich1262:

Frankly I don't see any bullish signs that would persuade other trades to step in. I make a distinction between ranging and sideways market. For me, ranging market is one that has certain support and resistance area and price is contained with tension, getting ready to burst out. On the other hand, sideways market is price merely drifting to the side, making high and lows pretty much randomly. If there is a sideways market, I either want a really good setup, or else I'll pass (setups I'd otherwise take) to see if the market is even capable of a reaction, or if it stays lifeless after prices break from the sideways formation.

This happens to me a lot during early european session. The market seems to pick up it's speed at various times at morning, but until it does, most setups are low odds because they won't provoke the necessary follow through of other traders.

It is as if the market didn't have enough energy and whenever the price goes too far from it's median zone, traders lack the enthusiasm to really push the price further and they give in to the other side that pushes the price back. This is how I view it.

 

[Giorrgi]

Hey guys sorry for interrupting your discussion of trade setups with such a general question but...

Would Volman's book be a good start for learning how to scalp? Is there any other good book that I could benefit from?

 

[johnwolf]

The only BB I'll take is at the end of a diagonal pullback. One of Al Brooks' mantras is that 80% of breakouts fail. I find that to be true and prefer to wait for breakout confirmation and a pullback.

John

 

[johnwolf]

There is not much else on price action scalping that I've seen. You could try Al Brooks' books. But Brooks doesn't recommend scalping for beginners (if that's what you are). The trader's math, he says, greatly improves if you swing a portion of your trade.

Volman's is the only book I've seen of it's kind. I'd also be interested if anyone knows of others.

John

Hey guys sorry for interrupting your discussion of trade setups with such a general question but...

Would Volman's book be a good start for learning how to scalp? Is there any other good book that I could benefit from?

 

[cha-ching]

There is not much else on price action scalping that I've seen. You could try Al Brooks' books. But Brooks doesn't recommend scalping for beginners (if that's what you are). The trader's math, he says, greatly improves if you swing a portion of your trade.

Volman's is the only book I've seen of it's kind. I'd also be interested if anyone knows of others.

John

Hi John,

I searched in Al Brooks's website, only found a few people trading forex using his method, not much discussion there. A few people in this thread mentioned books by Brooks here and planned to blend it with Volman's approach. Have you ever traded forex using Brooks price action principle?

I came across YTC Scalper by Lance Beggs one day. He scalps futures, not spot. I haven't got a chance to read his articles yet (the ebook is not free).

Best regards,

 

[Giorrgi]

Hey,

I just searched "scalping" on amazon and this book also popped out :

Amazon.com: Forex Trading: Uncut: High Probability Forex Trading Tactics and Scalping Strategies for Improving the Odds in the Largest, Most Unpredictable Financial Market (9781452092225): Donjo T. Franklin MBA: Books