[VSA] Volume Spread Analysis Part II

[tawe trader]

	Quote:
	OK, enough trading psychology. This is, after all, the VSA thread

Eiger,

Please keep your psychology observations coming. I am very grateful for them and I am well aware that you are an expert in this field.

Being a proficient VSA'er is nothing without having the right mental make-up to go along with it, IMO this is where the trading holy grail can be found. ie combining the technical skills of VSA (or Wykcoff) with a sound and robust trading mindset.

As you know the 'edge' is inside our head and everyday (well for me anyway) it is a constant battle between our basic emotions of fear, greed, impatience etc.

I guess that if psychology didn't matter in this business, every person who has bought Tradeguider software over the years would now be a multi-millionaire trader.

Regards
Tawe

[Sledge]

	Quote:	tawe trader
	Eiger, Please keep your psychology observations coming.

I second this. I don't see much discussions about trading psychology here. But Psychology is AT LEAST 50% of trading- I personally think it is much higher. If you can master the "mechanics of trading" (reading a chart and what it tells you) then you must master your own emotions to be successful.
Been in the "Oooh Ooooh OOOOOH- awesome trade coming up- lets get in NOW" camp and learned to overcome that- but it was tough!

Maybe it would have to be segregated from the VSA thread (even though mechanics without psychology= frustration and loss) But this could go two ways:
We could discuss the psychology of Self
And
The psychology of the herd (and what the pro $ knows about it)

Just a thought!
Aaron

[mike_ITL]

Hi Aaron,

I zoomed out the chart as you kindly suggested and have the impression to have a better picture of what the market did.

I have also a 30' chart and a daily one, just to have support and resistance and a view of higher time frame condition.

Ciao,

Mike

[mike_ITL]

Hi Eiger,

your words incourage me to put effort in what I'm trying to accomplish.

What I found difficult in creating a journal, is to be synthetic when writing notes ... however, I will try to re-introduce this habit, trying to be more schematic. (I used to keep a journal, but as many other Italians, I have the tendency to be lenghty)

As regards trading psychology, I agree with Aaron and Tawe, please keep up the good work !

Have a good day!

Michele

[Sledge]

	Quote:	mike_ITL
	I zoomed out the chart as you kindly suggested and have the impression to have a better picture of what the market did. I have also a 30' chart and a daily one, just to have support and resistance and a view of higher time frame condition.

Excellent- so it did help you to see the bigger picture then? If so- EXCELLENT!
Sometimes we get so close to the action we can't see the huge wall of resistance straight ahead. Glad this helped!
Aaron

[Eiger]

	Quote:	mike_ITL
	Hi Eiger, What I found difficult in creating a journal, is to be synthetic when writing notes ... however, I will try to re-introduce this habit, trying to be more schematic. (I used to keep a journal, but as many other Italians, I have the tendency to be lenghty) ... Michele

I know about being lengthy. I'm Irish, and my grandmother used to say I could talk the dogs off the meat wagon!

There are lots of different ways to do a journal. The best method is the one that helps you and helps you to do it consistently. Here are a few ideas for consideration:

• State your intention for the day. In Michele's example, it might be something like "Today, I will look left for a SOS or a SOW before I trade a VSA indication."
• Log every trade. In addition to entry, exit, stop, P/L, you can also add thoughts and feelings for each trade, which will later help you see patterns.
• At the end of the day, ask yourself specific things like:

• Did I look left on every VSA indication? If not, why?
• Were all trades taken with appropriate trading plan criteria? If not, why?
• What did I learn from my thoughts and feelings? Was there any pattern that I noticed?
• What did I learn about myself and my trading today that is important to my future performance?
• What steps can I take tomorrow and in the future to improve my 1) mental/emotional skills, 2) trading skills?
  
  

The basic idea of the journal is to help you identify strengths and limitations, address the limitiations, and track your progress over time. It needn't be complicated, and you don't have to write a book. Just jot down a few specific things.

Anyway, just a few thoughts that might be helpful.

Eiger

[Eiger]

	Quote:	Sledge
	I second this. I don't see much discussions about trading psychology here. But Psychology is AT LEAST 50% of trading- I personally think it is much higher ... Aaron

I always liked Yogi Berra's take on performance psychology:

"Ninety percent of this game is half mental."

That sort of sums it up well, i think

Eiger

[winnie]

Dear sir,
I find that it is hard to use VSA method in monitor each bar. There seems to be a lot of noise in it. However, I do not know how to tail my position , after entry. Is there any suggestion ?
thanks

[mister ed]

Hi Winnie - perhaps if you could provide an example of the sort of thing you mean - some chart showing entry and so forth?

[Eiger]

I started a new thread in the psychology section called Practical Trading Psychology. Mr Ed said he will copy the recent psych posts from here over to there, and then we can continue, if you like. Thanks Mr Ed!

Eiger