Day Trade the FTSE

[AlanY]

Hello everyone.

I'm a newbie here, and I'm not sure if anyone will every reply to this thread, as the last post was posted 9.4.08, but I thought I'll give it a go and say hello to all you guys that post useful information here.

I am new to trading and only started about 5 months ago, so I'm still a premature baby in this field, I have made many mistakes and traded on emotion and desperation quite a few times and made some very stupid trades that has caused some major damages to my bleeding wallet.

I haven't given up, as I see this is the only way to could make huge sums of money and living a life of a dream..(and it may just be a eluded dream for the rest of my life but I'm chasing it)

I am trying to fly before I even know how to take off...so basically I'm jumping of a cliff..and hope for the best...but I have learned my lesson and have been studying materials that would assist me in my intra day trading.

I have been learning about Japanese candlesticks and reversal patterns and I am very pleased to have read a few threads that someone else is using this candlestick trading strategies to trade the ftse.

I was paper trading before I made actual trades and each time the reversal signal came up, I made the right decision as to buy or sell, however when I actually trade I am losing money...I don't think I have mentally overcome my losses in previous experience and that my current mentality is trading to lose money instead of making money.

The reason I say this is because every time I should have traded..and I predicted ( or read the charts in the right way) it moved in the direction I expected and could have gained easy points ranging from 5-20 points, but when I actually place real money trades..I always manage to find the losing trade and trading in the wrong direction.

Anyway..not sure why I'm telling you all about this, I guess I'm just frustrated and feel to need to spill my heart out to people that may have a better understanding of my situation...!!! my apologies for boring you all here.

So to the point...can anyone help? anyone using candlesticks as a trading platform help and tell me that these reversal patters are reliable or not, and what would you use along side these candlesticks to help you make the entry point decision? what kind of time frame do you use give the best results?

I have done a lot of reading from materials I can find on the web, its free, so I'm not sure how reliable they may be.

I am currently trading with IG index and I used their chats software to place my trades, I am using the 15minute time frame as a main guidance and flicking through the 10, 5 and 1 minute charts as a possible entry point.

I also use MA 3, 13, and 34, which I read from some article..saying always sell when market is below 34..and buy when market is above 34..!!!

I think this thread is long enough..so I shall stop here before I put you into full sleeping mode after readying this boring thread.

I hope someone could help, I'm not trying to gain 100 points a day, just anything from 10-20 points a day is all I am asking for.


Alan

 

[black bear]

Nine its your fault......... again

Nine this is your fault I hold you to blame for my lack of will power

Hi Alan

another last post

Thread below is a good starting point imho, plenty other methods to choose from but that ones simple and you will capture plenty of good moves even if a complete beginner and I think everyone can see where the stop should go, and why. The article is well written and all in one place and a good starting point imho.

I do not intend debating it ......... it is what it is and its free..........its ok and works fine straight out of the box and can be improved upon when your knowledge base expands, mines not expanded much and I do fine

Bad trades using that method are not really that bad

The markets just told you something if you were not to emotional regards the loss you just took and keep watching for a bit longer :idea:

Works on any timeframe, 15 min ok tf imho, I use it together with the longer tf, if you want to go lower I find the 3 min tf goes well with it and shows the counter trend rallies up very nice

Watch and see for a few weeks, if you don"t like it .....plenty more fish(methods) in the sea

Whatever method you decide on.............You will need a proper plan writing up, search trading plans on the search bar, sure something will come up that maybe of help

T2W Day Trading & Forex Community

Paper trade chosen method make it automatic so you do not need to think

then

Real money = 1 lot or minimum stakes if you must go sb route

Sb imho are not suitable for intra day trading, you pay your money you takes your chance, so up to you Alan

My opinion on them and that of other posters can be found following the link below to another thread, mine is quoted below :!:

http://www.trade2win.com/boards/brokerages/31080-you-not-trading-5.html#post422166

"Hi

Simple fact is Sb firms are crooks.

They are the ones who act in an un-professional manner.

They are very good professional crooks I will concede that.

They are suitable I guess for longer timeframe trades and hedges, even than I see no reason to give a crook business so ...........not from me anymore thanks. I ended up ahead after the usual start with them but its not an experience I would like to repeat.

I for one would not like my real Stop with them placed any place close to the actual market Quote because it will be filled in my experience every single time. This leads to a constant game of Cat and mouse which can lead to poor trading habits and discipline issues which you could pay for later on if you progress. At the very least you will have to make an allowance to overcome this when in a trade regardless of time frame traded if you want to maintain normal risk levels imho.

Suitable imho for FUN only (accounts 5K and less)

If you want to learn to trade its cheaper to go DA and papertrade account with your method and improve it until your ready to go live imho. You will not have to re-learn anything and what your seeing is real not some price that can be adjusted in a nano second.

Good post Crap that is correct if you can not trade you will die anyway.

At least going about it in a professional manner with professional tools and execution at your at your disposal your destiny is in your own hands, you can choose to go live on the exact same platform you have been trading on in papertrade mode and there will be no difference what so ever.

If SB and Da are not worlds apart.........................

How come when I take my signal, which I have not changed at all since my move to DA five months ago and I keep very detailed records.

40% more of my trade entries move in my favour the nano second I enter the trade. When I was trading with the SB Firms this was never the case EVER they sit you wrong side of the trade for as long as they can, in my experience thats a fact. That increases your risk by .........To much imho

Pretty fed up with T2W and same old debates, must be me I guess and time to move on to new pastures.

This will be my last post, thanks to all who have given me help both direct and via their posts and contributions on many threads.

Sorry regards long goodbye many of the issues I had not resolved 6 months ago are fully resolved in my own mind and ............

Just Thanks too all

Move to Da as gone better than I could have hoped for, one large error made which as done no real damage, Silly attempt to be something and trade like something I most certainly am not. Total brain down

Someones signiture reads .....that which does not destroy me makes me stronger, I like that and in my opinion its very true. Have recovered and.........

Maybe I can go a little further

Only thing that remains un resolved and I have decided to leave it that way once and for all ...

Longer timeframe trading, I can not do it and will never feel comfortable doing it, just feels plain wrong to my very core, so F..ck it I will just do what I can do and make the best of it


If you are real serious regards trading Go DA first imho, paper trade it than .........use the Sb firms to your advantage if a longer timeframe player latter.

All the best

Gone


The END"

again

Good Luck Alan :clover:

 

[d_one]

good
bye

 

[Splitlink]

Nine this is your fault I hold you to blame for my lack of will power

Hi Alan

another last post

Thread below is a good starting point imho, plenty other methods to choose from but that ones simple and you will capture plenty of good moves even if a complete beginner and I think everyone can see where the stop should go, and why. The article is well written and all in one place and a good starting point imho.

I do not intend debating it ......... it is what it is and its free..........its ok and works fine straight out of the box and can be improved upon when your knowledge base expands, mines not expanded much and I do fine

Bad trades using that method are not really that bad

The markets just told you something if you were not to emotional regards the loss you just took and keep watching for a bit longer :idea:

Works on any timeframe, 15 min ok tf imho, I use it together with the longer tf, if you want to go lower I find the 3 min tf goes well with it and shows the counter trend rallies up very nice

Watch and see for a few weeks, if you don"t like it .....plenty more fish(methods) in the sea

Whatever method you decide on.............You will need a proper plan writing up, search trading plans on the search bar, sure something will come up that maybe of help

T2W Day Trading & Forex Community

Paper trade chosen method make it automatic so you do not need to think

then

Real money = 1 lot or minimum stakes if you must go sb route

Sb imho are not suitable for intra day trading, you pay your money you takes your chance, so up to you Alan

My opinion on them and that of other posters can be found following the link below to another thread, mine is quoted below :!:

http://www.trade2win.com/boards/brokerages/31080-you-not-trading-5.html#post422166

"Hi

Simple fact is Sb firms are crooks.

They are the ones who act in an un-professional manner.

They are very good professional crooks I will concede that.

They are suitable I guess for longer timeframe trades and hedges, even than I see no reason to give a crook business so ...........not from me anymore thanks. I ended up ahead after the usual start with them but its not an experience I would like to repeat.

I for one would not like my real Stop with them placed any place close to the actual market Quote because it will be filled in my experience every single time. This leads to a constant game of Cat and mouse which can lead to poor trading habits and discipline issues which you could pay for later on if you progress. At the very least you will have to make an allowance to overcome this when in a trade regardless of time frame traded if you want to maintain normal risk levels imho.

Suitable imho for FUN only (accounts 5K and less)

If you want to learn to trade its cheaper to go DA and papertrade account with your method and improve it until your ready to go live imho. You will not have to re-learn anything and what your seeing is real not some price that can be adjusted in a nano second.

Good post Crap that is correct if you can not trade you will die anyway.

At least going about it in a professional manner with professional tools and execution at your at your disposal your destiny is in your own hands, you can choose to go live on the exact same platform you have been trading on in papertrade mode and there will be no difference what so ever.

If SB and Da are not worlds apart.........................

How come when I take my signal, which I have not changed at all since my move to DA five months ago and I keep very detailed records.

40% more of my trade entries move in my favour the nano second I enter the trade. When I was trading with the SB Firms this was never the case EVER they sit you wrong side of the trade for as long as they can, in my experience thats a fact. That increases your risk by .........To much imho

Pretty fed up with T2W and same old debates, must be me I guess and time to move on to new pastures.

This will be my last post, thanks to all who have given me help both direct and via their posts and contributions on many threads.

Sorry regards long goodbye many of the issues I had not resolved 6 months ago are fully resolved in my own mind and ............

Just Thanks too all

Move to Da as gone better than I could have hoped for, one large error made which as done no real damage, Silly attempt to be something and trade like something I most certainly am not. Total brain down

Someones signiture reads .....that which does not destroy me makes me stronger, I like that and in my opinion its very true. Have recovered and.........

Maybe I can go a little further

Only thing that remains un resolved and I have decided to leave it that way once and for all ...

Longer timeframe trading, I can not do it and will never feel comfortable doing it, just feels plain wrong to my very core, so F..ck it I will just do what I can do and make the best of it


If you are real serious regards trading Go DA first imho, paper trade it than .........use the Sb firms to your advantage if a longer timeframe player latter.

All the best

Gone


The END"

again

Good Luck Alan :clover:

Simple fact is Sb firms are crooks. AS WELL!

Andy,

I don't know whether you are coming, or going, nowadays but, if you get to read this then you will know that I agree with you. The problem is, Who is not a crook, in the world of finance?

You will have heard of Enron,WorldCom, Lord Black and the shareholders of Northern Rock, RBS and most of the bank shares. If you want to go back a bit more, we can include Lord Maxwell, who screwed the Daily Mirror' s Pensioners. The directiors of that lot are not angels.

Investors, or speculators, must know that it is a jungle out there. Don't know where you've taken your account but WATCH IT, because they are all painted with the same brush.

By the way---an opinion, only. If anyone is going after cheap bank shares I would advise them to leave the mortgage banks alone i.e. AL. and BB.

Split

 

[AlanY]

Thanks Black Bear, appreciate it.

Good luck in everything you do.

bye

 

[black bear]

Was just going........again

Split

errrr was just going for my dinner then off to have a nice weekend Split


Will not be posting much Split, end of the week ..... it was nines fault............ again not mine ..never is = just fed up with the ....same old scene

Band the Mrs had the hots for were 1st rate Split and well worth the drive top live performance :clap:

I accept your point Split its just the whole industry standard that gets me down and gets me at it I guess

If they did not bother with stop hunt programs and they upgraded their platforms if that is the real reason for the disconnects, which I very much doubt is the case anyway Split given the huge investments IG and CMC have made on their new platforms to name just two

They would still make a huge profit from the learner traders imho anyway

Minimum standards should be

1. phone answered by dealer if thats what name they want to go by, account number = closed out = time and conversation = brisk and accurate

How hard is that :?: next they you will put you through to some auto mail box to choose a department like British Gas and BT do before you get to speak to a real person

2. We can not lay our liability at the market = so sorry no live charts less than 10 min timeframe available

I no once you find your feet you can do ok with them or have some cheep ish Fun if thats what you want, and they even provide a service to the longer term players

I would never trust them not to fill the Stop even on the longer timeframe if they were offered the opportunity by some news that was breaking = RANDOM SPIKE, seen it to often for it to be a one off event, they can do that because its not real its their market and they call the shots, anything much over minimum stakes imo and your asking for trouble.

Not real interested anymore Split, had my say on the subject ..THE END


You pays your money you takes your chance



Have a Good weekend Split :clover:

 

[Puolagha]

Hi, glad to hear it. I recently started ltrading as i've alway had an interest in it and decided to go full time. Just started trading the Bund, would u have any suggestions on how to trade this market and what indicators to use.

Hi,
I'm new to this board and having had a good look round I thought I'd start a thread to see if anyone is out there. Been day trading for about a year, started on he YM, tried various markets, but ended up with the FTSE for the last 6 months or so. I'm intriuged to see so many negative posts about the FTSE futures. Its a great market to trade. It is not a leading market, but that helps. There is generally plently of volatility with at least 50 points to go at most days.
Why does everyone expend so much energy trying to predict the future? Thats a mugs game. Why is everyone looking for indicators? they are irrelevant, since they are all derived from historical data. The only thing that counts is the price action.

I have learnt at a high cost, that the key to successful trading is my personal psychology and discipline in trade management, entries, and exits. All markets are the same in this repect, only the FTSE is more forgiving, less erratic and trends are more reliable.

The YM pre market or otherwise does not influence the FTSE or anything else. The YM is at the bottom of the pecking order in my experience, with the Nasdaq and or Russell 200 being number 1.
If anything does pull the FTSE it is the DAX in the am, and then the Nasdaq in the pm session. THis is a significant advantage, as it often gives me forewarning of a move.

So I'd like to put in a good word for the FTSE !

My trading strategy? using candlesticks and support and resistance levels. Nothing more. Oh and support and resistance levels ARE reliable in the FTSE. at least asmuch as any other market. Mind you, you have to watch the price all the time. This is a full time profession, not a hobby. Some people seem to think that its possible to place a trade at the beginning of the day and come back at the end to see 10K in their account with no effort. If that were really possible, if any automated system was reliable you could, in a short space of time, collect all the money in the world, literally. I suppose that its the British love of gambling that makes people think that futures trading is like horse racing. All you need is a good tipster!

I guess you can tell its a quiet day on the FTSE today. Went short at 5985 at 9 am and currently looking at 5974 at 11 am.

Love to hear from any other full time traders out there.

 

[datav]

Heed the words of Black Bear and Splitlink.
My feeling is that when newbies post here, they all say the same thing...what indicators, what methods, what system...bla bla bla. Yet if you read through this thread, you will see time and again from experienced traders, the same message. GET YOUR TRADING PLAN.
I can see alll you new traders thinking, yeah, yeah, I dont need that, but OK, Ill do one soon, but in the mean time, HOW DO I MAKE SOME MONEY!!
The answer is,, like all get rich quick schemes, You cant, not without serious study and application. So what is a trading plan? It is a list of rulesand intructions which defines the conditions for everything you do, In, Out, how much, when etc etc. When you have that, then run it on a demo account and tabulate the results of AT LEAST 200 trades. If you have the discipline to do that, and after all its only 20 odd hours work, then maybe you can be a trader,
Any other contibutions on trading plans would be welcome,,,

 

[black bear]

Super post

Heed the words of Black Bear and Splitlink.
My feeling is that when newbies post here, they all say the same thing...what indicators, what methods, what system...bla bla bla. Yet if you read through this thread, you will see time and again from experienced traders, the same message. GET YOUR TRADING PLAN.
I can see alll you new traders thinking, yeah, yeah, I dont need that, but OK, Ill do one soon, but in the mean time, HOW DO I MAKE SOME MONEY!!
The answer is,, like all get rich quick schemes, You cant, not without serious study and application. So what is a trading plan? It is a list of rulesand intructions which defines the conditions for everything you do, In, Out, how much, when etc etc. When you have that, then run it on a demo account and tabulate the results of AT LEAST 200 trades. If you have the discipline to do that, and after all its only 20 odd hours work, then maybe you can be a trader,
Any other contibutions on trading plans would be welcome,,,

Hi datav

Good post and good advice

I would add or draw attention to this line from your post .......


"It is a list of rules and intructions which defines the conditions for everything you do"


everything



Have a good weekend:clover:

nice to see the thread jumping into life again

 

[black bear]

"Humilitas occidit superbiam."

On the hilt of the sword reads "Humilitas occidit superbiam." Humility kills pride. A fine lesson for everyone especially chess players

& traders

Thats rule no 1 sorted

I would say from my own experience which is not extensive by any means but does include a number of years backing horses in my earlier years and there is more than a bit of overlap imho

1. decide why you want to trade and what you hope to achieve

2. decide which hours you are free to learn to trade with no distraction at all

3. lower expectation of wealth gain etc remove them from your mind = expect nothing

4. 3 above is achieved by focus on the moment and your action in the moment (recording the detail by written record to refer to later, memory is not to be trusted)

5. pick a simple method to trade = nothing indicator based imho if you must or want to go that way ONE only and learn it inside out =when it works why it works when it does not work why :?::?::?::?:

6. set up a bank, if you have to save up = no problem learn while you save and papertrade the market

7. papertrading if done with a proper attitude can be FUN and very worthwhile, if you can not paper trade in the money do not kid yourself into thinking that it will be easier with real money down because you will take it more serious etc etc

It will not, it will be a complete nightmare that will end in tears because you are a gambler, a chancer, not focused, you are a LOSER before you start.

paper trading done correctly is exactly like the real thing, in fact I put so much pressure on the result and myself I found it a lot harder, by the time I went live it was a relief = I had tested everything I could think of and some

You could even paper trade it on the fw live call forum, if you fail to follow your plan you will soon find out about it

8. Regular breaks from trading and learning

9. "insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result" if its not working = Bin it and start again, and again and again and again. Its worth it, I see a bit of everything I have tried in each and every trade I make today even with my present rules in place and being followed (discretion trader / intra day only)

10. Daily routine, write it down till its fully automatic, examine it, is it the best way of doing it :?: or do you just do it that way because thats how you always have done it. Things you need to do list seems to grow with your expanding experience and it can get muddled up because I guess we all learn different things in a different order so keep checking it

11. You must no your IN & OUT before you get IN because without it in place its going to get emotional and very draining as you are forced to make constant decisions while in the trade = do not go there unless you like :cheesy::clap: all in the same hour

12. If you get STOP :!: and walk away every time

13. You have bound to have forgot something so proceed with care at all times, if in doubt = GET OUT:!:

I like these ones I found on travels but its important you write your own

Old Rules...but Very Good Rules.

If I've learned anything in my 17 years of trading, I've learned that the simple
methods work best. Those who need to rely upon complex stochastics, linear
weighted moving averages, smoothing techniques, fibonacci numbers etc.,
usually find that they have so many things rolling around in their heads that
they cannot make a rational decision. One technique says buy; another says
sell. Another says sit tight while another says add to the trade. It sounds like a
cliché, but simple methods work best.

1. The first and most important rule is - in bull markets, one is supposed to
be long. This may sound obvious, but how many of us have sold the first
rally in every bull market, saying that the market has moved too far, too
fast. I have before, and I suspect I'll do it again at some point in the
future. Thus, we've not enjoyed the profits that should have accrued to
us for our initial bullish outlook, but have actually lost money while being
short. In a bull market, one can only be long or on the sidelines.
Remember, not having a position is a position.

2. Buy that which is showing strength - sell that which is showing
weakness. The public continues to buy when prices have fallen. The
professional buys because prices have rallied. This difference may not
sound logical, but buying strength works. The rule of survival is not to
"buy low, sell high", but to "buy higher and sell higher". Furthermore,
when comparing various stocks within a group, buy only the strongest
and sell the weakest.

3.When putting on a trade, enter it as if it has the potential to be the
biggest trade of the year. Don't enter a trade until it has been well
thought out, a campaign has been devised for adding to the trade, and
contingency plans set for exiting the trade.

4.On minor corrections against the major trend, add to trades. In bull
markets, add to the trade on minor corrections back into support levels.
In bear markets, add on corrections into resistance. Use the 33-50%
corrections level of the previous movement or the proper moving average
as a first point in which to add.

5.Be patient. If a trade is missed, wait for a correction to occur before
putting the trade on.

6.Be patient. Once a trade is put on, allow it time to develop and give it
time to create the profits you expected.

7.Be patient. The old adage that "you never go broke taking a profit" is
maybe the most worthless piece of advice ever given. Taking small profits
is the surest way to ultimate loss I can think of, for small profits are
never allowed to develop into enormous profits. The real money in
trading is made from the one, two or three large trades that develop
each year. You must develop the ability to patiently stay with winning
trades to allow them to develop into that sort of trade.

8.Be patient. Once a trade is put on, give it time to work; give it time to
insulate itself from random noise; give it time for others to see the merit
of what you saw earlier than they.

9.Be impatient. As always, small losses and quick losses are the best losses.
It is not the loss of money that is important. Rather, it is the mental
capital that is used up when you sit with a losing trade that is important.

10.Never, ever under any condition, add to a losing trade, or "average" into
a position. If you are buying, then each new buy price must be higher
than the previous buy price. If you are selling, then each new selling
price must be lower. This rule is to be adhered to without question.

11.Do more of what is working for you, and less of what's not. Each day,
look at the various positions you are holding, and try to add to the trade
that has the most profit while subtracting from that trade that is either
unprofitable or is showing the smallest profit. This is the basis of the old
adage, "let your profits run."

12.Don't trade until the technicals and the fundamentals both agree. This
rule makes pure technicians cringe. I don't care! I will not trade until I am
sure that the simple technical rules I follow, and my fundamental
analyses, are running in tandem. Then I can act with authority, and with
certainty, and patiently sit tight.

13.When sharp losses in equity are experienced, take time off. Close all
trades and stop trading for several days. The mind can play games with
itself following sharp, quick losses. The urge "to get the money back" is
extreme, and should not be given in to.

14.When trading well, trade somewhat larger. We all experience those
incredible periods of time when all of our trades are profitable. When that
happens, trade aggressively and trade larger. We must make our
proverbial "hay" when the sun does shine.

15.When adding to a trade, add only 1/4 to 1/2 as much as currently held.
That is, if you are holding 400 shares of a stock, at the next point at
which to add, add no more than 100 or 200 shares. That moves the
average price of your holdings less than half of the distance moved, thus
allowing you to sit through 50% corrections without touching your
average price.

16.Think like a guerrilla warrior. We wish to fight on the side of the market
that is winning, not wasting our time and capital on futile efforts to gain
fame by buying the lows or selling the highs of some market movement.
Our duty is to earn profits by fighting alongside the winning forces. If
neither side is winning, then we don't need to fight at all.

17.Stock Markets form their tops in violence; Stock markets form their lows in quiet
conditions.

18.The final 10% of the time of a bull run will usually encompass 50% or
more of the price movement. Thus, the first 50% of the price movement
will take 90% of the time and will require the most backing and filling and
will be far more difficult to trade than the last 50%.

There is no "genius" in these rules. They are common sense and nothing else,
but as Voltaire said, "Common sense is uncommon." Trading is a common-sense
business. When we trade contrary to common sense, we will lose. Perhaps not
always, but enormously and eventually. Trade simply. Avoid complex
methodologies concerning obscure technical systems and trade according to
the major trends only




right someone elses go .....................

Timsk as a very good template for a full plan someplace on this site :?:



Later all :clover:

 

[datav]

Ever considered writing a book Black Bear?
Seriously though, any newbies wanting a thorough introduction to tradingand the importance of a trading plan should read Black Bears post above. Not just skim read it, print it off and really read it, trying to relate each paragraph to your own experiences. For me, the turning point to profitability came when i finally stopped thinking that I was smart and could guess where the market was headed. You have to be humble when you approach this business. Your game plan has to start with the premise " I dont know much, and there's a load of sharks out there who are a whole lot cleverer than me, and they will hurt me if they possibly can, so Id better be carefull"
Then, I developed a plan that defines conditions for entry and exit.
To do this, you have to start with some ideas and test them out. Back testing and paper trading these ideas tilll you are sick of them. Hundreds of trades are nececessary to arrive at a statisitical probability or expectancy for your system. Your system and its associated nuances, conditions and rules become your trading plan. You cannot just buy a system or pick one off the shelf and trade it, because you havent done the homework on it. You have to have done the homework, to arrive at the expectancy YOURSELF, so that you have the CONFIDENCE to trade it. without that confidence, any system or plan will fail, because you will not follow it through correctly unless you have that confidence.
Here's the link to Timsk's trading plan thread. Recommended reading forall
http://www.trade2win.com/boards/gen...rading-plan-you-must-have-one.html#post140905

 

[black bear]

Only a Mini Book

This is about the longest book I could write .......

From NQ in Cornwall ~ Fistral Beach you get a great view of natures market at work watching the surfers catching waves, depends on their skill and experience which waves they can catch and for how long.

Primary Waves and their smaller brothers and sister’s

You see it all ~ Scalpers going for short quick rides right up to the large position players who will sit for hours waiting for the right Wave Set, they climb up and stop out many times, (short paddle back to take off) then they are up and you just no this time they’ll make every move at the correct time, skipping effortlessly from set to set avoiding all the dead waves and dumps and finding the true Wave that will carry them all the way to shore.

It’s a hell of a long paddle back to take off and a long wait for another good Wave, they don’t mind they know it’s worth it.

Cribber to the beach only top quality wave riders make this one
(very large wave that starts up when the swell is 5ft +)

You see surfers making careful board selection ~ Long board or Short true honest
You see all the surfer’s all gathered up out there watching the Sun going down, comparing notes etc best board/Wax/ area to sit and wait. Looks like a great forum out there.

Direct PM answer to ~ am I a Surfer.............. Posted it to someplace ~

The eye opener is watching the experienced Surfer (trader)
ride the waves, watching him stop out then try again all choosing different spots for take off , no right or wrong just a good take off spot for their skill level

No man I am not, but do live where stated, moved there 7 yr ago. I appreciate all skills done well in any field.

The Surfers attitude to life if he is a true
(not a week end dude with is brand new VW) is probably the best traders attitude to adopt ~ IMO

They care about surfing, life interacting with others, They are not competitive by nature and they don’t seem to bother about tomorrow much just the here and now. They ride the waves to become one with nature and don’t care to much about money as long as they have enough that’s cool

There lack of attachment to money gives them an edge in what they take part in LIFE.

I removed the money from the trading game 6 months ago when I realised I was just constantly breaking even. Thought about what I new, thought what’s logical, which waves do I want to ride, wrote it down and traded it on a demo account, Great results for my level of ability.

Went Live a few months ago / still got me part time job (everybody part time in NQ) going ok not setting world on fire yet, but do you now what, I don’t care anymore, I am in full control of my method and me, and if it don’t work out and I cant become a full master of this trade, I am having FUN learning and taking part. The downsides covered

So ye I am a surfer, we all are if we choose to be,

I am a Surfer on the snooker table, a Surfer at work and most of all I am a Surfer when I trade.

If you feel the heat, feel uncomfortable in any way, what ever you’re doing, you’re doing it wrong "my Dad said that"

Step back and say what can the surfer do for me and the search goes on "I said that"

Latter :clover:

 

[datav]

Good analogy, the surfer. As traders we have to catch the wave and ride it. So how do you know when one is coming. Maybea littleabout systems would be useful here. Excewllent stuff on that thread I linked to about trading plans. Well worth reading through.
Here's todays 15 min ftse chart. Just the traditional pivot point, S1 S2 and R1 R2, and prevvious days OHLC. Just wanted to mention candle sticks which I have studied considerably, and someone asked about them before. Here you see 2 or 3 decent trading opportunities today. When we get a doji, that is a candle that opens the same or close to its close, with a tail either side, that occurs on one of the support or resistance lines, we can expect the price to change direction. There are a few more dojis than the trades marked with arrows, but I dont take the ones that occur on the pivot point. This is the bare bones of a system and the expectancy is about 60-40. In other words, the price will move at least 10 points in the opposite direction. after a doji on S1 S2 R1 R2, or previous days HLC, 6 out of 10 times. The rest of the candlestick stuff in my opinion is all mumbo jumbo and not much use atall.

Ill try and post examples of the rest of the technical anaysis tools that I find useful

 

[noodles666]

Hello everyone.

I'm a newbie here, and I'm not sure if anyone will every reply to this thread, as the last post was posted 9.4.08, but I thought I'll give it a go and say hello to all you guys that post useful information here.

I am new to trading and only started about 5 months ago, so I'm still a premature baby in this field, I have made many mistakes and traded on emotion and desperation quite a few times and made some very stupid trades that has caused some major damages to my bleeding wallet.

I haven't given up, as I see this is the only way to could make huge sums of money and living a life of a dream..(and it may just be a eluded dream for the rest of my life but I'm chasing it)

I am trying to fly before I even know how to take off...so basically I'm jumping of a cliff..and hope for the best...but I have learned my lesson and have been studying materials that would assist me in my intra day trading.

I have been learning about Japanese candlesticks and reversal patterns and I am very pleased to have read a few threads that someone else is using this candlestick trading strategies to trade the ftse.

I was paper trading before I made actual trades and each time the reversal signal came up, I made the right decision as to buy or sell, however when I actually trade I am losing money...I don't think I have mentally overcome my losses in previous experience and that my current mentality is trading to lose money instead of making money.

The reason I say this is because every time I should have traded..and I predicted ( or read the charts in the right way) it moved in the direction I expected and could have gained easy points ranging from 5-20 points, but when I actually place real money trades..I always manage to find the losing trade and trading in the wrong direction.

Anyway..not sure why I'm telling you all about this, I guess I'm just frustrated and feel to need to spill my heart out to people that may have a better understanding of my situation...!!! my apologies for boring you all here.

So to the point...can anyone help? anyone using candlesticks as a trading platform help and tell me that these reversal patters are reliable or not, and what would you use along side these candlesticks to help you make the entry point decision? what kind of time frame do you use give the best results?

I have done a lot of reading from materials I can find on the web, its free, so I'm not sure how reliable they may be.

I am currently trading with IG index and I used their chats software to place my trades, I am using the 15minute time frame as a main guidance and flicking through the 10, 5 and 1 minute charts as a possible entry point.

I also use MA 3, 13, and 34, which I read from some article..saying always sell when market is below 34..and buy when market is above 34..!!!

I think this thread is long enough..so I shall stop here before I put you into full sleeping mode after readying this boring thread.

I hope someone could help, I'm not trying to gain 100 points a day, just anything from 10-20 points a day is all I am asking for.


Alan

Look at the big picture first.....
try looking at monthly, daily,then 60m, charts to determine which way the market your looking at is going. Having determined this, its far easier to look at a 15min or 5 min chart with more confidence.
I personally am now looking at FOREX for opportunitoes.
Dont give up....
I started with a 50k account, managed to depleat to 29k in a week of horrendous trades, but fought may way back to 65k 10 days later.
Nick

 

[noodles666]

This is about the longest book I could write .......

From NQ in Cornwall ~ Fistral Beach you get a great view of natures market at work watching the surfers catching waves, depends on their skill and experience which waves they can catch and for how long.

Primary Waves and their smaller brothers and sister’s

You see it all ~ Scalpers going for short quick rides right up to the large position players who will sit for hours waiting for the right Wave Set, they climb up and stop out many times, (short paddle back to take off) then they are up and you just no this time they’ll make every move at the correct time, skipping effortlessly from set to set avoiding all the dead waves and dumps and finding the true Wave that will carry them all the way to shore.

It’s a hell of a long paddle back to take off and a long wait for another good Wave, they don’t mind they know it’s worth it.

Cribber to the beach only top quality wave riders make this one
(very large wave that starts up when the swell is 5ft +)

You see surfers making careful board selection ~ Long board or Short true honest
You see all the surfer’s all gathered up out there watching the Sun going down, comparing notes etc best board/Wax/ area to sit and wait. Looks like a great forum out there.

Direct PM answer to ~ am I a Surfer.............. Posted it to someplace ~

The eye opener is watching the experienced Surfer (trader)
ride the waves, watching him stop out then try again all choosing different spots for take off , no right or wrong just a good take off spot for their skill level

No man I am not, but do live where stated, moved there 7 yr ago. I appreciate all skills done well in any field.

The Surfers attitude to life if he is a true
(not a week end dude with is brand new VW) is probably the best traders attitude to adopt ~ IMO

They care about surfing, life interacting with others, They are not competitive by nature and they don’t seem to bother about tomorrow much just the here and now. They ride the waves to become one with nature and don’t care to much about money as long as they have enough that’s cool

There lack of attachment to money gives them an edge in what they take part in LIFE.

I removed the money from the trading game 6 months ago when I realised I was just constantly breaking even. Thought about what I new, thought what’s logical, which waves do I want to ride, wrote it down and traded it on a demo account, Great results for my level of ability.

Went Live a few months ago / still got me part time job (everybody part time in NQ) going ok not setting world on fire yet, but do you now what, I don’t care anymore, I am in full control of my method and me, and if it don’t work out and I cant become a full master of this trade, I am having FUN learning and taking part. The downsides covered

So ye I am a surfer, we all are if we choose to be,

I am a Surfer on the snooker table, a Surfer at work and most of all I am a Surfer when I trade.

If you feel the heat, feel uncomfortable in any way, what ever you’re doing, you’re doing it wrong "my Dad said that"

Step back and say what can the surfer do for me and the search goes on "I said that"

Latter :clover:

Hi from a Falmouth Trader

 

[datav]

measured moves

Take a loook at the daily chart on the left and the 15 min on the right. You can use the measured move technique to predict where prices will reach. From the standard ABC measurements, D is the first target. Typically, 100% repeat of a prior move is common, and extension to 127.8% is the first upside target after that. In a strong market, look for 161.8% This works equall¡y well on any time frame

 

[datav]

measured moves continued

Look at the 4 hour chart of the ftse future, See how the 100% repetion of the previous upswing exactly nauiled the move of the last few days on the left. If we look now at where the ftse is likely to go, the chart on the right gives us a good idea of some targets on the upside. When fib extensions overlap from different swings then the resistance lines are stronger. I'll be looking for long opportunities this week until we get up to 6350, (if we do), and as I write, the Dow and S&P have recovered the highs,

 

[pelzar]

Really enjoyed reading your post blackbear!

 

[savioursofpop]

I've been day trading the FTSE for some time now - I use a combination of stochastic, MACD and boll. indicators. I try and keep my period views above 5 minutes - too easy to get sucked into the small action and loose track of the bigger picture at 1, 2min.

The key to a useful system in my experience seems to be marrying a combination of indicators. I also feel, because volatility is really our friend the Asian markets are particularly good - the fact that IG's spread on China - H shares is 20pips tells us something!

 

[KillPhil08]

Anyone notice today the footy just followed a channel trend downwards after the morning rally, it then formed a break out and formed another channel! (a flag atm). using fib lines and RAS today was very easy ! (watch out for that round number at 6180 )