Bob Volman Price Action Scalping

[samich1262]

Keep away from gbp usd (unless using wider stop ) , spread is wider and it is 20 % noiser than eur/usd , so 1.5 pip extra spread is like 3.5 with noise.

It depends, some days it is as smooth or even more smooth than EUR/USD, but other days it is noisier. You can tell though, so if it looks like it's a smooth day, I trade it. Have been trading it for months because my broker's spreads are only a tenth of a pip higher on GBP/USD.

 

[cha-ching]

Could anybody please comment on the BB/IRB setup? I never took these two types of trades. Thanks!

 

[samich1262]

If any one of you took this ARB, would you exit after you saw that double top formed and price dipped below 20ema at 8:04 on my chart? I made those comments at the time price progressed as if I were in the long position.

I didn't take this, but the overall chart looked bullish enough to just move the tipping point up and stay in.

 

[samich1262]

Could anybody please comment on the BB/IRB setup? I never took these two types of trades. Thanks!

I skipped that IRB because it didn't look like it contained enough bullish pressure. Those dojis weren't able to close on the barrier line and it just looked kind of lackluster. I was watching it, but I didn't get the sense that the bulls were strong enough to force the bears to close out their positions.

 

[15 min tlb]

It depends, some days it is as smooth or even more smooth than EUR/USD, but other days it is noisier. You can tell though, so if it looks like it's a smooth day, I trade it. Have been trading it for months because my broker's spreads are only a tenth of a pip higher on GBP/USD.

Good luck .

The brokers don't really give you a 0.1 extra spread , because they move their prices by another extra pip or 1.2 pips , therefore effective spread is extra 1.3 pips .

You won't notice the extra spread an noise , but over the longer term the trader pays .This figure is based on evidence from 50,000 trades.One way reducing this noise is to trade when e/gbp are trading in a tight range and e usd is in same strength.

 

[matty_dunn]

I only have a part time job, so I have a lot of time to study and trade. However, I read the beginning of one of Al Brooks's books and he learned while raising 3 kids and working. It did take him a long time but before him, nobody had written an extensive book on price action trading. He went through a lot of methods and exploration on his own before discovering price action. I think if you just pick a method based on price action, it's doable if you stick with it. It does take a lot of live market experience though.

Thanks samich1262, appreciate your thoughts. Guess I just better knuckle down and get on with it. I think I find the choosing of one particular method one of the hardest parts and just sticking to the plan; so easy to get bored and want to do something....anything. Patience, patience, patience

 

[kevinkdog]

Thanks samich1262, appreciate your thoughts. Guess I just better knuckle down and get on with it. I think I find the choosing of one particular method one of the hardest parts and just sticking to the plan; so easy to get bored and want to do something....anything. Patience, patience, patience

Keep an open mind, too. This particular method may work for some, but for most it will not work. This is NOT a knock on Volman's method. In fact, take ANY method, and for most people it will not work. I have seen people lose, even when given a method with 100% rules disclosed (I know this because I followed the rules and made money, while they lost).

The trick is to 1) find a method with an edge, and 2) be comfortable enough with a method to trade with confidence. Many people find one or the other, but not many people find both. If you don't have both, you will lose. Guaranteed.



Good Luck!

 

[cha-ching]

Do you guys all have other jobs? Full-time or otherwise? Or do some of you purely trade?

If trading isn't your main source of income how do you manage it all - time to study, rehearse, experience etc etc?

Personally, I find the juggle pretty tough with a full-time job and 2 young children. Am beginning to wonder if it's all really worth it, given the countless hours one must put in to become consistently profitable.

Would appreciate any thoughts on the matter, and maybe some encouraging words. Feeling a little unsure about it all.

I know it's tough for you, but in some way you are luckier than most US traders. You can have a job and trade the European morning session after work. We can't. We either give up regular sleep, or just trade the slower London/NY overlap without a morning job.

When I was demo trading a M15 method in a chat room last year, many European and Australian/Asian traders reached daily target when we US guys just started to trade. None of the US guys using that method was profitable. It's very frustrating.

I think you'll first need support and understanding from your wife. That's the most important thing. Secondly, if you don't feel comfortable with Volman's method maybe you can find a higher time frame, say, M5 or M15. There are a number of threads in Forex Factory that can give you quite a few signals during European morning session. However they do use indicators which I don't like and don't understand well. If you are OK with indicators you can try those.

With M15 I didn't have to sit all the time. I just walked around with my bluetooth headphone, and got audio alerts from MT4 whenever price reached some level or the candle was closing in, say, 3 minutes. With 70 tick I don't have the luxury to do that, though I could carry my laptop around with remote desktop to access my desktop computer (I haven't done that yet). Like Al Brooks I close my shade and want minimum distraction. I listen to some soothing classical music from winamp, and forex audio from Market News | Forex Audio Commentary News | FxPro Squawk (but nowadays I think most of the FX news is useless to me so I turned the audio off and just read the text from time to time). Now that I have reviewed all of Bob's charts (not necessarily understood all of them) I'll be able to pull out relevant charts during live trading. The trick is to index or tag those charts with key words. I'm still in the process of building a kind of a "system" to do this more efficiently.

There are many other ways to fight boredom while keeping alert, you just need to be creative.

Best luck,

 

[cha-ching]

The trick is to 1) find a method with an edge, and 2) be comfortable enough with a method to trade with confidence. Many people find one or the other, but not many people find both. If you don't have both, you will lose. Guaranteed.

Well said!

 

[kevinkdog]

I think you'll first need support and understanding from your wife. That's the most important thing.

+1 EXCELLENT ADVICE

Without support, your career as a trader will be infinitely harder.

I am eternally grateful to a spouse who, almost 5 years ago, let me walk away from a lucrative career to follow my trading passion. Without her support these past 5 years, I would have been toast a long time ago...

 

[matty_dunn]

Thanks kevinkdog and cha-ching. Appreciate your thoughts.

I really like Bob's method. So simple in some regards - one chart, in and out with one click as he says. I find using multiple time frames confusing. And the longer time frames, though they may give you more time to assimilate your thoughts, I find a bit slow. I prefer the intellectual challenge and stimulation of the faster paced chart. I think it comes down to expectations and not setting them too high too quickly.

I'm starting to realise I'm not going to be an expert trader overnight. Just like any profession, you need countless hours of study and practice. So for, for the time being it is about developing consistency. Profits will come later. Perhaps even breaking the method down into different skill sets - valid entries, exits and tipping point technique, risk management and managing emotions and focusing on one or more during any given session until I can do what needs to be done in any given moment.

And yes, I suppose I should count myself lucky in some ways given the hours in Sydney. I will endeavour to keep positive and Bob says - it's all about confidence.

Thanks again guys

 

[15 min tlb]

Three important points

1)Trading is a full time occupation , many of you will learn this the hard way.If you want to know why , there are threads in other forums explaining why.
2)A trading method does not have an edge , most of you don't understand the meaning of a true edge in trading.If market conditions became negative for this method , for an extended period of time , the edge would not exist .It is not a true edge which dissapears.Most of you are amateurs , which is why you don't understand the true meaning of an edge.Only amateurs use the word trading edge including Gurus WAFFLING.
3)Most of what you see on scalping charts is similar to results of random data , that is why your ranging trades are less effective .Trading in the direction of longer time frames will make your trading more effective , read Elder , but I have proof that the success rate with trends is 50 % plus .A simple trick is to use 4 hr trend lines and moving average crosses (forget all the bs about lagging etc) , use them for support and resistance.A 8/18/30 EMA CROSS works very well on 15 and 30 min charts on candlesticks , I use the same on tick charts .Always look for a slope of 45 % plus on trend lines.All these things will be learnt by losers after the event . winners will use this free info and trade with an advantage.

 

[kevinkdog]

Only amateurs use the word trading edge

Disagree.

Please start a new thread, and this topic could be a good discussion.
(I can't start a new thread, since I do not have 25 posts yet)

 

[15 min tlb]

Disagree.

Please start a new thread, and this topic could be a good discussion.
(I can't start a new thread, since I do not have 25 posts yet)

The edge is negative in scalping , because the cost of spread is almost 10 % before the scalper starts .On DMA where traders pay a exchange fee , some of the brokers actual front run your dma orders for scalping , they know the order flow.The broker in this case has an edge .An edge should return more than the risk free rate - otherwise there is no edge as the risk is too much.An edge is any approach that has a proven statistical positive expectancy when executed.Trading methods do not have an edge and there are hundreds of reasons why they can fail .

This concludes the edge discussion , it has been discussed on other forums in extreme detail , and everybody has a self fulfilling belief of what an edge is and when to use the word edge.

 

[kevinkdog]

I'm sorry to all for temporarily hijacking this thread. No more from me!

 

[billyd]

Three important points

1)Trading is a full time occupation , many of you will learn this the hard way.If you want to know why , there are threads in other forums explaining why.
2)A trading method does not have an edge , most of you don't understand the meaning of a true edge in trading.If market conditions became negative for this method , for an extended period of time , the edge would not exist .It is not a true edge which dissapears.Most of you are amateurs , which is why you don't understand the true meaning of an edge.Only amateurs use the word trading edge including Gurus WAFFLING.
3)Most of what you see on scalping charts is similar to results of random data , that is why your ranging trades are less effective .Trading in the direction of longer time frames will make your trading more effective , read Elder , but I have proof that the success rate with trends is 50 % plus .A simple trick is to use 4 hr trend lines and moving average crosses (forget all the bs about lagging etc) , use them for support and resistance.A 8/18/30 EMA CROSS works very well on 15 and 30 min charts on candlesticks , I use the same on tick charts .Always look for a slope of 45 % plus on trend lines.All these things will be learnt by losers after the event . winners will use this free info and trade with an advantage.

You love to hear yourself talk don't you. Why not hijack another thread

1. Wrong. People with full time jobs can start trading on the side and go pro eventually.

2. Uh what??? A trading method does not have an edge? I would like you to explain mathematically what an edge is? Could you do that? I could easily show you an EV formula for Volman's setups. Anybody can have an edge with any method regardless of you winning percentage. Many pros win 50% of less of their trades and can make a handsome winning with that kind of an edge.

3. Whatever.

 

[BLS]

More charts from Bob:

Week 46 did not differ that much from Week 45. Still not an awful lot of volume being pumped around, making continuation trades more a rarity than a common sight (so lay low on the DDs, FBs and SBs). Fortunately, we have some excellent tactics at our disposal to come out ahead pretty decently in an environment like this, and they are of course the IRBs, RBs, ARBs, as well as all favorably located BB variations. Instead of going on a hunt for your trades, let the market come to you... Work on your range break skills, it will pay off, just check the charts.

 

[matty_dunn]

More charts from Bob:

Thanks once again BLS and Bob. These charts are much appreciated.

 

[15 min tlb]

You love to hear yourself talk don't you. Why not hijack another thread

1. Wrong. People with full time jobs can start trading on the side and go pro eventually.

2. Uh what??? A trading method does not have an edge? I would like you to explain mathematically what an edge is? Could you do that? I could easily show you an EV formula for Volman's setups. Anybody can have an edge with any method regardless of you winning percentage. Many pros win 50% of less of their trades and can make a handsome winning with that kind of an edge.

3. Whatever.

I am begging you to give them , but do u really have them?

Here is the Volman trading log and back tests , fill them out and show proof.In the absence of any proof , we have to assume there are many flaws in this method , many of them I have tried to discuss and point out.

Volman created arb due to the failure rate of range breaks.An admission IMHO.

He had to create three trending entries , because they don't always work.

Here is the sheet , fill it out .

No response?

 

[stehlikpetrmsncom]

rubbish

I am sure there are many more threads that will suit your knowledge better then this one, you just won't find people eager to engage in discussion with you here.

Most people don't even read what you write anymore, so why the effort?
Do everyone and yourself a favor and find another thread,
Also work on your english, even if I tried to read your posts I couldn't understand half of it.

P.S.: You won't get any other response from me.