Anyone scalping the FTSE Futures??

the DOW is a fly in the ointment it has a first target of 242 but would only have to print a 149 today to make pattern complete and open a low target

I dont have a calc on this yet but if the 139 was hit in first two hours of trading it would be in the region of 10680 not for today thats a weekly target
 
I feel like that guy in little britain today when I go to click the button I say yeah but no but yeah but no but:)
 
I feel like that guy in little britain today when I go to click the button I say yeah but no but yeah but no but:)

dont click take the decision to stay out for the day watch but dont trade tomorrow will be more clearer, never worry about missing a move
 
I don't understand these harmonic patterns yet, but if we break the high of yesterday evening at 5234 then it should mean more up, and a failed bearish Gartley.
 

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I don't understand these harmonic patterns yet, but if we break the high of yesterday evening at 5234 then it should mean more up, and a failed bearish Gartley.

There will be a lot of stops just above there too Martin, so if it pops through it will set them all off as you know. Then watch for any follow through.
 
Hi guys,

A little bit of advice from Martin and DaddyJohn would be great if you don't mind as my trading style is most like yours, how do you recognise when the market is ranging and is therefore not very tradeable compared to the decent trending moves? I have found myself doing well most of the time but then getting killed every so often by a sudden lack of movement with a number of losing trades meaning I have to play catch up.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
I will exit @280 if we get that before the US open then await confirmation of a higher move than 304

My DOW trades will be off the table @149 and wait for same confirmation
 
dc would you consider yourself a scalper?

not really but thats why I joined this thread my trading targets are larger moves but often this will consist of 3, 4 or 5 smaller moves that will exceed the points gain of the larger move, Im not after more points though Im after a shorter time frame in the market and a reasonable points gain for that time.
 
Hi guys,

A little bit of advice from Martin and DaddyJohn would be great if you don't mind as my trading style is most like yours, how do you recognise when the market is ranging and is therefore not very tradeable compared to the decent trending moves? I have found myself doing well most of the time but then getting killed every so often by a sudden lack of movement with a number of losing trades meaning I have to play catch up.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Latham, I will answer your post tomorrow if I may. I am calling it a day now, have made my target and dont want to push my luck. Plus am feeling rather tired, at my age scapling can be very tiring and I find it hard to do three full days on a trot. Going to recharge.
 
Im with you DJ time for a rest
back later this evening to see state of play
 
Hi guys,

A little bit of advice from Martin and DaddyJohn would be great if you don't mind as my trading style is most like yours, how do you recognise when the market is ranging and is therefore not very tradeable compared to the decent trending moves? I have found myself doing well most of the time but then getting killed every so often by a sudden lack of movement with a number of losing trades meaning I have to play catch up.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks

Latham - I'll try and give you a more detailed answer later, but specific to this morning I would guess that people struggled a little after the high at 8:35am until around 10:30am. That's two hours of less predictable price action.

To stop yourself from getting into trouble you have to limit yourself to three mistakes and you're out. If the price action breaks down to the point that you get three trades wrong in a row, then you have to just accept that the price action is not consistent enough to trade.

We had a pretty strong move more or less from the open this morning at 8:02am, and it ended in a kind of climax blow off top at 8:36am. A move that strong will have made a lot of bears think twice about pushing it back down. Next you watch for the amount of the retracement and if it retraces with any strength. It didn't really.

On the 1 min chart the candle at 8:46am told me what was going on. The price had crossed down below the MBB and touched the LBB, but it didn't continue down. Instead it went back above the MBB and printed a double top. Call it a failed reversal. After that you would expect it to be rangey or possibly make newer highs reluctantly.

For almost an hour it failed to retrace more than 23% of the move and then it made a move down, but it bounced very clearly off the previous high that was the end of the opening move up at 5178. Resistance becomes support ( the old cliche). From then on the likelihood of a retest of the highs and a one way day up seemed fairly good, even though it may not have given you very clear entries. It was probaly tougher on a scalper with tight stops than it would have been on a swing trader with stops of 10 pts or more.

But finally, rule of thumb if the price action breaks down for you as a scalper. Sit it out and wait for clearer signals.
 
I know I said I will rest but :LOL:

if the DOW goes 219 to 242 area then I short for 200 points equally if we get 11019 to 42 I long
 
That was a quick drop I didn't have time to take the short at 223

Lurkalot - I don't know if you have signed up for Ransquawk. It's free and it's a great source for news. You don't always know what the news event is the moment it happens, but you can see the price action and spike in volume when it does. Ransquawk at least gives you the explanation.

We just had a typical bull**** news event, that is effectively a non event. All morning they have been talking about the chinese buying italian bonds. Then at 15:10 the italian industry minister says they do not rely on Chinese bond purchases. Then at 15:15it's now the bleedin' Austrians having a vote that apparently is bad news. The market spikes down, then goes down more triggering stops. Then it reaches a previous support level and motors back up to where it was before the news.

The whole market knows that europe is in a big mess, eventually they will kick the Greeks out and possibly Portugal, but then they will get on with life.

Most news events are eventually ignored by the market. It usually just triggers a bunch of stops, and then the market gets on with what it had been planning prior to the news. Occasionally the news is big enough to matter, but mostly it is not.
 
Thanks Martin I'm not sure that will help other than to find out after the event what caused it.

I am probably confused enough as it as at the moment!

Still tempted by the short, but it goes against my instincts now, so is more like gambling.
 
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