Merry Xmas and Healthy, Prosperous New Year 2012!!!
Back some time ago I was trying to get myself disciplined enough to write a journal. It didn't work out. Too much time-consuming. Now I stopped day-trading. Daytrading is fine if one has time to watch trades and/or working EA that could bring SL to break-even at specific levels. I didn't have time nor the EA, so I stood in drawdown.
UPDATE 2012.02.28 - SIMPLIFY
I'm dropping taking trades off Heikenashi color change and some bar formations.
A. TRIGGERS:
Pin Bar and it's 50% retracement
Inside 4 Bar - with or without 50% retracement - depending on setup.
Inside Pin Bar - same as above
Tweezer Outside Bar - seldom, with 50% retracement.
SETUPS: based on AOI - Areas of Interest:
MRY - Mean Reversion Yearly Levels
MRQ - Mean Reversion Quarterly Levels
FRS - Floating Resistance-Support Levels (EMA 8, 21, 42, and/or trendlines)
PPZ - Price Pivot Zones incl. S/R levels of previous swings
RN - Round Numbers (major only, i.e.: 1.000, 1.5000
Retracements of +/- 50% of the last swing or DGL level 1,2,3
POC - Point of Change and 90% so-called "kill-zone".
Terminal Patterns: Harmonic Patterns, Horizontal Terminals, Diagonal Terminals, Expanding Terminals - only if they occur at AOI and form a trigger.
ER - Event Retest / Rotation - in an uptrend price bounces of resistance, then goes through, and comes back to retest the broken area; in a downtrend price bounces off the support, then breaks down and comes back to retest the area.
There are 2 approaches: with trend and contrary.
With-trend: I'm looking for the price to retrace then form a trigger. I'm not buying new strngth or selling new weakness (breakout trading), but rather waiting for a price to retrace, hence it might be viewd by some as a contrary approach.
Contrary - I' looking for the price to bounce off MRY, MRQ, touch trades or waiting for setups. At the same time I will take a trade with a trend if price forms ER around these levels.
I want to thank the traders and educators whose material I found helpful: Donn Fisher of DGL and Arco Trader, Akuma99 and his forum, James16 for awakening me into price action setups, and Neil Fuller - (I've never purchased his course though) for great clarification on price action and helpful ideas, Tim Morge and Paul Coghlan - real Masters of Pitchforks, Joseph Harts for Trend Dynamics course, and...myself - for never giving up!
This is basically swing trading the daily time frame (!!!ONLY!!!), using 2-3 strategies (not mechanical systems) that I've used for past year, while still developing and testing new ones. RR should be 1:2, but we should strive for higher.
Back some time ago I was trying to get myself disciplined enough to write a journal. It didn't work out. Too much time-consuming. Now I stopped day-trading. Daytrading is fine if one has time to watch trades and/or working EA that could bring SL to break-even at specific levels. I didn't have time nor the EA, so I stood in drawdown.
UPDATE 2012.02.28 - SIMPLIFY
I'm dropping taking trades off Heikenashi color change and some bar formations.
A. TRIGGERS:
Pin Bar and it's 50% retracement
Inside 4 Bar - with or without 50% retracement - depending on setup.
Inside Pin Bar - same as above
Tweezer Outside Bar - seldom, with 50% retracement.
SETUPS: based on AOI - Areas of Interest:
MRY - Mean Reversion Yearly Levels
MRQ - Mean Reversion Quarterly Levels
FRS - Floating Resistance-Support Levels (EMA 8, 21, 42, and/or trendlines)
PPZ - Price Pivot Zones incl. S/R levels of previous swings
RN - Round Numbers (major only, i.e.: 1.000, 1.5000
Retracements of +/- 50% of the last swing or DGL level 1,2,3
POC - Point of Change and 90% so-called "kill-zone".
Terminal Patterns: Harmonic Patterns, Horizontal Terminals, Diagonal Terminals, Expanding Terminals - only if they occur at AOI and form a trigger.
ER - Event Retest / Rotation - in an uptrend price bounces of resistance, then goes through, and comes back to retest the broken area; in a downtrend price bounces off the support, then breaks down and comes back to retest the area.
There are 2 approaches: with trend and contrary.
With-trend: I'm looking for the price to retrace then form a trigger. I'm not buying new strngth or selling new weakness (breakout trading), but rather waiting for a price to retrace, hence it might be viewd by some as a contrary approach.
Contrary - I' looking for the price to bounce off MRY, MRQ, touch trades or waiting for setups. At the same time I will take a trade with a trend if price forms ER around these levels.
I want to thank the traders and educators whose material I found helpful: Donn Fisher of DGL and Arco Trader, Akuma99 and his forum, James16 for awakening me into price action setups, and Neil Fuller - (I've never purchased his course though) for great clarification on price action and helpful ideas, Tim Morge and Paul Coghlan - real Masters of Pitchforks, Joseph Harts for Trend Dynamics course, and...myself - for never giving up!
This is basically swing trading the daily time frame (!!!ONLY!!!), using 2-3 strategies (not mechanical systems) that I've used for past year, while still developing and testing new ones. RR should be 1:2, but we should strive for higher.