100 trades

[scholfield]

''The past has no relevance as in order to be successful the here and now is what matters, not the past. No matter what behavior is reflected in the chart, nobody, except someone manipulating that market, can know with any semblance of certainty whether the next tick will be up or down and therefore a trend continuation or the beginning of a reversal.

the market virtually always telegraphs it's intentions, but this vital information cannot be found with traditional price charts

I've read john's stuff. I agree with all of it.

 

[scholfield]

scanning the charts from Friday where I was out of power, looks like I would have lost money on CL at least (not checked other charts yet), so probably for the best, lol

 

[scholfield]

And if nothing else, me and purplebrain are showing how LIVE calls should be made, lol. No ambiguous stuff. Clear as a bell.

''Long here at X'' (where X is usually exactly the current price)
stop and target at Y
Stopped out for -20

 

[ZEN archer]

+10 pips

12 tardes

Difficult to say if they were tardes or not S.
You don't post any charts, reasons behind taking them etc. - so can't comment.

Anyway I like the result - from 12 trades in 2 days you got a small profit. That's good

 

[scholfield]

Difficult to say if they were tardes or not S.
You don't post any charts, reasons behind taking them etc. - so can't comment.

Anyway I like the result - from 12 trades in 2 days you got a small profit. That's good

I did intend to post the odd chart etc, but as you're maybe aware, i've had major technical difficulties!

Not that it really matters much, though. Everyone 'in teh know' seems to agree that charts are pointless.

However. for you,because I like you, an example from thursdays ES :

Short ES 1791.5

+30

L es 1785.25

-20

edit: wait. Having trpuble doing this from my laptop

 

[Splitlink]

CL Crude oil, GC gold. Futures contracts symbols.

Still on laptop. Just had another power outage. This time for 25 hours!! Some sort of record.PC still fried still on laptop.

Crikey, I thought Spain was supposed to be backward with that sort of thing. We haven't had one for, I can't remember. I have one of those battery things, that keep charged up and, when there is a cut, gives about 15-20 minutes to finish what you are doing and switch off properly. Looks like you could do with one. They don't cost the earth, mine was around 30 euros (a few years ago). I expect that they have two outlet sockets, one for the computer and the other for the monitor, but it is best to check.

Anyway! Back to trading!

 

[scholfield]

ss GC 1230.1

+30

...

 

[scholfield]

One more:

 

[wallstreetwarrior87]

''The past has no relevance as in order to be successful the here and now is what matters, not the past. No matter what behavior is reflected in the chart, nobody, except someone manipulating that market, can know with any semblance of certainty whether the next tick will be up or down and therefore a trend continuation or the begining of a reversal.

the market virtually always telegraphs it's intentions, but this vital information cannot be found with traditional price charts

John1''

In case you haven't read his posts

Or those that can see the manipulation as its happening

So, then from "nobody", it becomes "some". The "some" don't want it to ever be "many".

Again this is just someones opinion, not fact.

 

[cablemonster]

Or those that can see the manipulation as its happening

So, then from "nobody", it becomes "some". The "some" don't want it to ever be "many".

Again this is just someones opinion, not fact.

Shhhhhhh. I am wondering if john1 wrote this to throw people off the trail or if he was missing a piece of the jigsaw. Or perhaps he was using a different jigsaw.

 

[cablemonster]

+10 pips

12 tardes

I am not convinced fixed stops and targets are very effective. The reason is there will be times where the unfolding action will cause you to let a winning trade run further and also plenty of times where clues are given that the trade may not be working at which point its best to get out without hesitation. Of course they may work for some people but I havent managed to make them work for me or seen others make them work. Conside if you are +29 up and then the trade comes back and stops you for -20, that isnt a great scenario. Just my 2c.

 

[scholfield]

I am not convinced fixed stops and targets are very effective. The reason is there will be times where the unfolding action will cause you to let a winning trade run further and also plenty of times where clues are given that the trade may not be working at which point its best to get out without hesitation. Of course they may work for some people but I havent managed to make them work for me or seen others make them work. Conside if you are +29 up and then the trade comes back and stops you for -20, that isnt a great scenario. Just my 2c.

Yes, it's always frustrating when it comes close to your target, and then turns around and stops you out.
But on the other hand, it's equally as annoying when I try to be clever, cover a trade for a small profit which I think may be in the process of stalling/going against me, only to watch it fly in teh intended direction to my +30 target, after I close for +5.

Will hopefully carry on to the 100 trades target, even with my limited technology.
Also have some hospital/dr appointments which might disrupt things slightly.
Probably a result of stress from getting nowhere after years of starring at charts everyday, lol.

cheers

 

[ZEN archer]

I did intend to post the odd chart etc, but as you're maybe aware, i've had major technical difficulties!

Not that it really matters much, though. Everyone 'in teh know' seems to agree that charts are pointless.

However. for you,because I like you, an example from thursdays ES :

If you make profit all the time using charts it's irrelevant what they say.

I had a look at the examples/charts and they look ok to me - I can't see why you shouldn't end up in profit after 100 of them.
Maybe you can do a bit of fine tuning & being choosier what set ups to trade.

Only thing I didn't like is you kept trading while experiencing power cuts. The simple solution is to suspend trading if there are any technical or other difficulties. Also it's good to enter orders (stops & profit taking) with each trade just in case unexpected power cut (or whatever) comes along or at least have dealing desk's telephone numbers on your mobile.

 

[wallstreetwarrior87]

Probably a result of stress from getting nowhere after years of starring at charts everyday, lol.

cheers

I understand the dilemma, but the issue is as you have said - you are "staring" at charts!

You have to be able to answer the basic question of what are you looking "FOR" not looking "AT".

Progress would definitely be made if you were to really get down to the nitty gritty of trying to answer this question. It may seem easy, but when you try to write down what you actually are trying to find, it the becomes less clear. This is the point most will give up and move onto another "way" of doing things. But is mostly not as efficient.

Like a rabbit "staring" into the headlights, they will remain fatalities until they adapt and see the light for what it is.

 

[timsk]

. . .Everyone 'in teh know' seems to agree that charts are pointless . . .

Hi scholfield,
Based on this, I guess I'm not 'in the know', as I really like charts and think they're far from pointless. They're especially useful for members who don't watch or trade the market or instrument being discussed. Trade calls are fine as far as they go, but a chart provides the all important context, IMO. Also, a picture paints a thousand words etc., etc. So, a thumbs up to charts from me, and I think your thread is all the more interesting since you started to include them.

Tim.

 

[Splitlink]

I am not convinced fixed stops and targets are very effective. The reason is there will be times where the unfolding action will cause you to let a winning trade run further and also plenty of times where clues are given that the trade may not be working at which point its best to get out without hesitation. Of course they may work for some people but I havent managed to make them work for me or seen others make them work. Conside if you are +29 up and then the trade comes back and stops you for -20, that isnt a great scenario. Just my 2c.

It's a terrible scenario and I move my stops to break even, or into profit, before that can happen. However, stops and targets have worked for me when I have had to be away from the computer and I would not be without them, then. Sometimes. trading volatility is so hectic that, I believe, that it is better to be stopped out of the trade because manual work is too uncertain.

Yesterday, I had a long opinion of footsie and one trade that I opened at 1314 for6509 became a nightmare at 1330, when that spike occurred. It is not often that I am present at that time, because of my work schedule, but we had a public holiday yesterday, so I was watching. The 5 minute bar flashed up and down, positive to negative, and back so quickly that, as soon as I saw positive, I pressed the panic button and the trade closed at 6526. I would, with targets and stops in place, have been closed before the market went up to new highs for the day, so you are correct on that score but it is, also, hindsight. The fact, in my case is, that I was lucky to close in profit and I could, easily, have gone negative to an unacceptable level.

 

[darktone]

Scholfield. Have a look back over your charts and see what would have happened if instead of having a hard stop at -20, you use that level as a trigger to set a limit to exit.
Try -10 and BE.

 

[cablemonster]

It's a terrible scenario and I move my stops to break even, or into profit, before that can happen. However, stops and targets have worked for me when I have had to be away from the computer and I would not be without them, then. Sometimes. trading volatility is so hectic that, I believe, that it is better to be stopped out of the trade because manual work is too uncertain.

Yesterday, I had a long opinion of footsie and one trade that I opened at 1314 for6509 became a nightmare at 1330, when that spike occurred. It is not often that I am present at that time, because of my work schedule, but we had a public holiday yesterday, so I was watching. The 5 minute bar flashed up and down, positive to negative, and back so quickly that, as soon as I saw positive, I pressed the panic button and the trade closed at 6526. I would, with targets and stops in place, have been closed before the market went up to new highs for the day, so you are correct on that score but it is, also, hindsight. The fact, in my case is, that I was lucky to close in profit and I could, easily, have gone negative to an unacceptable level.

You were aware that there was major data @1.30 werent you? At the time you entered the already thin FTSE would have been a whipfest.

 

[Splitlink]

You were aware that there was major data @1.30 werent you? At the time you entered the already thin FTSE would have been a whipfest.

Yes, I'm not criticising what I did, I was arguing the point about whether to use targets and stops- I did, after all, get out of that trade with a 16 point profit after 15 minutes. Hairy, yes, I admit but..........you have to speculate to accumulate.

 

[darktone]

Yes, I'm not criticising what I did, I was arguing the point about whether to use targets and stops- I did, after all, get out of that trade with a 16 point profit after 15 minutes. Hairy, yes, I admit but..........you have to speculate to accumulate.

good job you didnt get stopped split, might have been a schlipodrama!