Bob Volman Price Action Scalping

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I just took this ARB. I wasn't too sure about the box break or the original barrier break since it came from a couple pips away so I waited for a ceiling test. Price started to stall and it looked like it wasn't going to start a new trend or touch the 80 level, so I trailed pretty sharp. This was the low of the day, and I thought that if price was unable to test the 80 level, it would probably go back up and test the round number. As I type, it looks like price is heading in that direction, as it has climbed above the original entry.

Taking the first entry, the break of the box could be valid, there's definitely pressure there, but I wasn't sure at the time. At least after the ceiling test, I felt more sure that the market was going to go down for a few pips.
 
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I just took this ARB. I wasn't too sure about the box break or the original barrier break since it came from a couple pips away so I waited for a ceiling test. Price started to stall and it looked like it wasn't going to start a new trend or touch the 80 level, so I trailed pretty sharp. This was the low of the day, and I thought that if price was unable to test the 80 level, it would probably go back up and test the round number. As I type, it looks like price is heading in that direction, as it has climbed above the original entry.

Taking the first entry, the break of the box could be valid, there's definitely pressure there, but I wasn't sure at the time. At least after the ceiling test, I felt more sure that the market was going to go down for a few pips.

I ended up skipping this one. I'm still a bit paranoid around the 00 levels so I came up with excuses for skipping (I didn't like the lower barrier).
 
Here's what I did today.

It was nice to see it move during the US morning session for a change, but hard to adapt to after so many days of nothing. That's probably the main reason why I didn't take that 3rd set-up I saw. Just didn't believe it could go again.

Hopefully we are finally done with these super tight trading range days. (y)
 

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I just took this BB setup in EURUSD. It didn't work out and ended up costing me 6 pips. In hindsight, I could have been a bit tighter with my stop loss and I would have saved myself a couple of pips.
 

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I just took this BB setup in EURUSD. It didn't work out and ended up costing me 6 pips. In hindsight, I could have been a bit tighter with my stop loss and I would have saved myself a couple of pips.

Maybe the fact that it hadn't retested the 80 level was cause for concern. Just seemed to be "hanging" up there a little...
 
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Just caught this RB on EUR/USD. Price couldn't stay above the 80 level there so a test of the 60 level seemed likely. This one really took off once the barrier broke.
 
The price took off because of Speaker Boehner's press conference. He started talking about his doubts for an agreement to the fiscal cliff.

Oddly, there was no mention of it on the ForexFactory calendar.
 
The price took off because of Speaker Boehner's press conference. He started talking about his doubts for an agreement to the fiscal cliff.

Oddly, there was no mention of it on the ForexFactory calendar.

Hmm, yeah I wondered if there was any news involved in that. I checked DailyFX's calendar too and didn't see it there either. At the same time, the 5m chart showed a break of a bear channel a few minutes before the RB took off, so there were multiple time frames showing bearish signals too. I noticed several large breakout spikes today, one being on the 9:00 U.S. housing report.
 
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Just caught this RB on EUR/USD. Price couldn't stay above the 80 level there so a test of the 60 level seemed likely. This one really took off once the barrier broke.

Good catch. There definitely were some bearish clues inside the range. I wasn't paying much attention because I saw that price action was moving rather slow.

The price took off because of Speaker Boehner's press conference. He started talking about his doubts for an agreement to the fiscal cliff.

Oddly, there was no mention of it on the ForexFactory calendar.

It's possible his press conference was only scheduled shortly after the latest talk. The problem with this kind of political risk is that we don't know when the headlines are going to hit. At least with the economic numbers we know when those are going to come out at least the day before. The market seems to swing every time one of those important members of congress opens their mouths and talks about the fiscal cliff.
 
One trade for me today. So close to target :(. I decided to tighten up my stop after price couldn't follow through.
 

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One trade for me today. So close to target :(. I decided to tighten up my stop after price couldn't follow through.

Took the same trade, same result. So close, and so frustrating.
 

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Just caught this RB on EUR/USD. Price couldn't stay above the 80 level there so a test of the 60 level seemed likely. This one really took off once the barrier broke.

Nice one. I was worried about the congestion just below that level from an hour earlier.
(the fact my earlier trade stalled there probably affected my decision)

But you're right, it did look really nice on the 5min chart too.
 
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Took the same trade, same result. So close, and so frustrating.

I almost took that too. I was pretty sure the market wanted to go down, but I wanted a tad more squeeze so I wouldn't have to risk that many pips. That's probably just me being picky though because I thought it was probably valid.
 
Obama speaking at 12:05, Boehner at 12:45. Could have news reaction. ET time so 15 min from now
 
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Obama speaking at 12:05, Boehner at 12:45. Could have news reaction. ET time so 15 min from now

Thanks for the heads up.

Couldn't find any trades today. I saw one nice potential setup but I thought the entry was bad/too aggressive.
 

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Thanks for the heads up.

Couldn't find any trades today. I saw one nice potential setup but I thought the entry was bad/too aggressive.

BLS (and anyone else who cares to answer) do you mind me asking how you manage to not put on a single trade over the course of a trading session?

I know the obvious answer but I guess the reason I'm asking is because I personally find it really hard - the waiting patiently for a clear and unambiguous set-up.

I have to be honest and say that I find is SO SO difficult. And then when I do take a sub-par trade out of boredom or impatience etc I hate myself for it and feel like I'm making no progress; maybe even regressing in some ways.

Sorry for going on, I know it's my own personal **** but I find handling myself, my emotions, my discipline etc etc the hardest thing by a mile.

For example - I take a trade that I shouldn't have and immediately lose money. I am then angry at myself for not following the plan and, quite rightly, being punished for it. I then want to get the money back and this affects my judgement (hard to control the revenge trading situation). Things can quickly spiral out of control.

Also, say I diligently follow the plan and take 3 or 4 losses in a row I find it hard to keep my confidence up.

Sorry for the rant, especially since I know this thread is primarily related to discussing set-ups/trades, but I would be very interested in what people have to say about how they deal with the learning process, set backs, their emotional/mental state etc.

Also, how do people afford to sit at their desks day after day and not make any money???
 
The job is not to take trades. It takes a long time to learn that. And everyone has a "relapse" every now and then. My concern is that you seem to be developing bad habits. Those bad habits are going to be awfully hard to break.

You have to accept what the job is -- managing risk. You can only take the trades where you have a good handle on the risk. Risk is about the math. Taking subpar setups is OK if you can get the math to work for you. But it doesn't sound like you have the math working for you.

From the posts here, I think some traders manage the boredom by looking at multiple markets. I do that a bit myself. Pace of price movement has a "sweet spot" that I try to find -- not too fast and not too slow. If I can find it, I can stay engaged for hours reading price action. I will trade "too fast" rather than too slow though because of the reasons you mentioned -- just nothing much to do in really slow markets.

Is it really psychology that is bothering you or your competency level?
Can you look at the chart at the end of the day and pick out all the good entries (regardless of outcome)? Can you describe objectively why they were good entries?
If so, then can you pinpoint your exit point or tipping point mgm of the trade? Trade mgm can make the difference with a good entry but bad exit.
If so, can you really be satisfied with what the day gave you -- you have to have a method that gives you the $ you need/want.
After all of the above, can you do it in sim or market replay without knowing the outcome? Can you make the decisions fast enough? Can you manage the tipping point the same way. Can you feel the pain on a loss and not let it effect your next trade.
Then try it live and see if you can take the next valid setup after 2 stop outs in a row.
Dr. Steenbarger doesn't believe that psychology is always the culprit. Sometimes he says it is just not practicing the right way. Finetune the practice and some of your problems could go away. So thank him if it works.
 
but I find handling myself, my emotions, my discipline etc etc the hardest thing by a mile.

Sorry for the rant, especially since I know this thread is primarily related to discussing set-ups/trades, but I would be very interested in what people have to say about how they deal with the learning process, set backs, their emotional/mental state etc.

It's hard to fight boredom but if you set reasonable expectation and view your trading losses as tuition paid instead of punishment, you don't get angry if you have a loss. I myself don't expect to get consistently profitable soon.

I started writing a trading journal in October, every day I document lessons learned, both from fellow traders here and from my own trading, and any new ideas I learned. Some recommends that you write down your emotion as well. I haven't done that but I think it's a good idea, esp. if it's easy for you to get angry and frustrated. I should've reviewed the journal every week but I've been too busy studying Bob's charts to do that. Just to list some of the mistakes I've written in my journal:
1) Spent too much time adjusting the position of boxes, tipping points, etc., on the chart;
2) In a pullback trade, went long when price was well below the ema;
3) Manually changed stop level in the trading platform.

I found that by writing down a mistake, I may make the same mistake one more time, but not repeatedly (so far never twice again or more).

There are a lot of ways to get more disciplined, one just needs to find one that's best for him and stick to it (which is the most difficult part).

Also I'm inspired by Bob's charts. Though I cannot see everything he sees, there are setups that I shouldn't have missed every week. Just by knowing that gives me the motivation to study harder and stay calm. Once I can see more valid setups I won't get bored as easily as I do now.

Not much advice I can give you but just to share my experiences. Have a nice weekend.
 
One more thing: I never used one-click order. It's a two-step process for me to both place a trade and to close one. I deliberately did so in the beginning to prevent me from over-trading though I never had that problem when I trade live.
 
The job is not to take trades. It takes a long time to learn that. And everyone has a "relapse" every now and then. My concern is that you seem to be developing bad habits. Those bad habits are going to be awfully hard to break.

Thanks for your thoughts shotgun and cha-ching, I appreciate it.

I think it's definitely a discipline issue. I can read price action well enough, both in simulation and real time, but my impulsiveness is something that I need to change. Perhaps the confirmation click thing could help?

I've read what Steenbarger has to say about such things and he is an advocate of having a specific goal/skill to focus on each session. Maybe that's another problem - being a little too loose with what I'm trying to achieve in a given session.

Anyway, all stuff that's up to me. Thanks for listening.
 
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