Trading With A Plan: Devising a daily trading plan

[Soultrader]

Most traders fail because they do not have a trading plan. As a trader, you need to spend some time analyzing the market and doing your daily homework. From the previous days action you can develop a trading plan for the day. Of course market action is unexpected and you may have to adjust according as the trading day progresses. But having a basic idea of price levels is important to guide you in your trading day.

This is a short video on my daily analysis technique for Sept 1st, 2006.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO


Charts created by Tradestation
Presented by Traders Laboratory

[Rich]

James,

I started to watch your vid's and decided to start at the beginning.

Your first video reveals great things, but brings up some basic questions, at least for me :-)

1st. 'trading', is your definition of it as 'daily trading'? I can't see this working on a buy that is held for some time, maybe a week, month, year etc. Can you explain please if I'm in error...

2nd, Your chart that shows the pivot point, R1 &2 and S 1,2 &3, is this pivot type chart accessible without a premium account?

Being new to this, your videos have a LOT of information, but for us who are starting out they seem to jump into the heavy stuff without explanations of the basics. It’s with the help of a few others that I learned anything about the pivot point. I guess what I'm asking is, is there a 'beginners' section on what and how too?

Thanks, I appreciate the site, but as a newbie it is somewhat overwhelming in many ways. I REALLY like the videos, but more simplicity (at least for my limited understanding) would really be helpful. Some of us aren't as educated and experienced as you and many other here.

Thanks again, James, PLEASE DON'T think I'm being negative, I'm not. I'm just sometimes lost at what your trying to convey.


Rich

[Soultrader]

Hi Rich,

I thought my trading was as simple as it can get All of my videos, comments, posts, etc... are on a intraday trading basis. Why? Because I day trade only.

Pivot points are just simple calculations used by floor traders. If you use tradestation as your platform an indicator labeled "Soultrader's Pivots" is available free at the indicator forum. All you need to do is plot the high,low, and close. Hope this helps.

James

[Rich]

Day Trading, ok--- the videos now makes sense to me. I don't day trade so I was trying to understanding how the system would work with someone who buys a stock and checks on it every day or so.

Knowing this makes your videos have perfect sense now. This is why I asked for verification.

Just starting out I find myself being confused by all the new terms, techniques, and emotions. I believe sometimes I make things more difficult than they should be.

Am I correct then in assuming that this site is basically for day traders then? It’s a great site with many very experienced/educated and wise people; maybe I too will become proficient and experienced enough to be with the rank and file here :-)

Thanks again for the kind reply,

Rich

[Soultrader]

Not necessarily Rich. Anyone can post videos.. I just post my own which happen to be geared towards day trading. Its a forum where ppl can throw off ideas and knowledge, no one is here to mentor anyone or act as a guru. So the best way you can interact here is to start posting away.

[TradingMan]

I'm new to the forums and found your trading plan video quite good as I'm a beginner day trader trying to learn the ropes. I guess you have other videos on the site that I'm on my way to checking out. Great site by the way.

[lrushing]

Hi Rich,

The style of trading you are referencing is known as "Swing Trading".

A swing trade can be characterized as a trade initiated to be a short to intermediate-term trade, typically based on a daily timeframe that has the objective of capturing stock or market swings lasting between 2 to 5+ days. Most traders define swing trades as a trade position that is intended to be held overnight, and commonly appeal to traders seeking to capitalize on multi-day moves without having to monitor their trades during intraday movements.

There are several types of trading techniques traders use with in swing trading. These techniques can be based on technical analysis which uses price action and volume as the primary inputs. Other techniques can be based on fundamentals analysis of the underlying instrument (stocks, options, futures,…).

Once you determine which technique you feel best fits your personality then you can begin incorporating this and other key ingredients into your trading plan as Soultrader has commented on.

[vladv]

If I swing trade on forex market can I earn more than if I would use scalping?Anyone can recommand me a good swing strategy for a newbie like myself?.....thx all your're the best forum around about money and investing!

[lrushing]

In theory, swing trading provides bigger reward opportunities but also requires accepting bigger risk as well. Scalp trading can provide small to moderate rewards if you are disciplined and have a clear set of strategies that have a high winning ratio. One simple and very effective trading strategy is often referred to as the "opening range strategy".

In this strategy, you predetermine a specific time frame that you will wait for the market and price action to illustrate whether it can breakout of the range upwards or downwards. There are several sources that can provide you with more details and examples.

[torero]

James, the video link is a dead link (404). Can you please relink it? Thanks.