Cory2679

Moved stop and added what would be my second profit target if I had one. This isn't looking too good... EDIT: I've added a chart of what I think may be a better, more conservative first profit target...off to get lunch...I'll see what has happened when I get back!

Even though I'm not trading this week, I may play around with an FXCM micro demo account. I've decided to open a UK account like Thales and his daughter did in order to get the simpler entry order screen. I actually just chatted with FXCM about the change for the US customers, and they said it was because of NFA regulations (I've attached our little conversation). When I go back to trading live (it may not be until the beginning of January, just because of market conditions), I'm going to start with a $250 FXCM micro account. That way, I will have a huge burden lifted off my back when I go live. I figure if I were to completely wipe that account out, I could refill it over and over if I had to. If I lost $1,000's of dollars in my futures account, I'd have to sell things or get loans in order to get a new stake... I kind of relate it loosely to when Livermore had to go bankrupt so he could have the burden lifted off his back so he could trade well. Well, the fact that the money in my futures account is all I have and if I loose it I'm screwed is MY burden right now because I'm still new with this approach...and trading the $250 micro account relieves me of that and allows me to focus on my trading without worrying so much. -Cory

I'm watching the EJ this week...here's an annotated chart. EDIT: The more I look at the PA for that first "setup" the more I think it may have been a break-even effort or just locking in some small profit. I doubt after that second attempt to touch profit I would have held on all the way back past BE. Also, on the short of the current PA, I may be inclined to take it with a tight stop...price would have to present a natural stop level that made the R:R more desirable. We'll see what happens! I'm not trading this week...just watching... EDIT2: I added a second chart with another possibility for a short... -Cory

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I just ran across this post of yours from another thread that made me think of what you had said on this thread. Interesting. -Cory

I'm looking at it like this - the trading performance and education up to this point with this approach was essentially a test run, and I like the approach and want to move forward with it...and I want to do it right. I want to take 100% full advantage of what I've discovered here, rather than rush into it. So I'm not doing this in spite of my performance, but because of it. I have in my possession all five books mentioned in Thales's post. They're short reads so it won't take too much of my time to go through them, especially if I devote my entire day to it. SO, I'm beginning the Thales "course" tomorrow. I'll begin by reading Nicolas Darvas's How I made 2,000,000 in the Stock Market. Cheers! Hey guys, I have another update! I've read Stikky Stock Charts, How Charts Can Help You in the Stock Market by William Jiler, and the price action/chart reading section(s) of William J O'Neil's How to Make Money in Stocks...all twice! A lot of it was indeed review, especially Stikky Stock Charts. This is obviously a beginner's book...but an excellent one at that!! Interesting to read it and see their approach to teaching. What wasn't review, though, was O'Neil's book...how price bases and then breaks out (other than allusions to it on this thread). It was interesting to see references to the other books I'd read in some of the other books...Jiler mentions Livermore by name and so does O'Neil. Jiler also mentions Darvas I believe, although he doesn't disclose the name of who he's talking about. O'Neil mentions Jiler's book as well. It was also interesting to see some of the same stocks being discussed throughout the different books. After I was done reading, I took some time to review the thread, including specific references and recommended readings (I say review because I had already read and studied it before I began trading with the approach). I also took some time to print some charts and mark S/R levels with a ruler and some crayons. I realize there's potentially some added benefit during the learning process to do it this way, rather than just simply visualizing it or drawing it on Ninja. I have attached four charts to this post...they are 4 hour charts of the EJ, EU, GU, and UJ. Please note that my intention was not to identify every potential S/R that was ever relevant...my intention was to treat it like I was about to trade, so I identified what I considered to be the most relevant moving forward. I welcome any feedback on these 4 charts. My next step will be to spend all of next week not trading, but instead just focusing on the price action of one pair (the EJ, since it appears to be pretty popular on this thread)...paying particular attention to H's and L's, as well as identifying S/R. I'm sure I'll be posting some charts on here...just not actually trading. -Cory

I'm looking at it like this - the trading performance and education up to this point with this approach was essentially a test run, and I like the approach and want to move forward with it...and I want to do it right. I want to take 100% full advantage of what I've discovered here, rather than rush into it. So I'm not doing this in spite of my performance, but because of it. I have in my possession all five books mentioned in Thales's post. They're short reads so it won't take too much of my time to go through them, especially if I devote my entire day to it. SO, I'm beginning the Thales "course" tomorrow. I'll begin by reading Nicolas Darvas's How I made 2,000,000 in the Stock Market. Cheers! Hey guys, I'm just chiming in to give an update! Well, I've read Nicolas Darvas's How I made 2,000,000 in the Stock Market & Edwin LeFevre's Reminiscences of a Stock Operator...twice! Excellent reads. That does it for "I. Psychology & Emotions" and now I'm moving on to "II. Reading Price - Theory." So, tomorrow I'll begin by reading Stikky Stock Charts. -Cory

I know this is rather random, but since I made this discovery I figured I'd might as well correct myself on here... The spreads I was referring to were with an FXCM standard (demo) account. The FXCM micro spreads are much better...I didn't realize there was a difference but there is. -Cory

Hey everyone, I'm going to be taking a little time off from trading. Since I began working with this approach, I've done better than I ever have. Even though I haven't traded too awfully consistently, I had a solid 50% return my first week of sim trading (the week prior to my first post on this thread), struggled a bit going live the next week, and I'm up 44.5 ticks this week (mostly between Sunday night and Monday morning). I'm not trying to brag or anything like that...I just want to share my experience. I feel like this approach really fits me. I feel like it's what I've been searching for...I feel like I've picked it up pretty well and sort of have a knack for it... Up to this point, all of my "education" concerning this method has been strictly from reading this thread. So at this point in time, I'm going to essentially clear my mind and start from scratch. I'm going to begin the "course" that Thales set out in the following post: I'm looking at it like this - the trading performance and education up to this point with this approach was essentially a test run, and I like the approach and want to move forward with it...and I want to do it right. I want to take 100% full advantage of what I've discovered here, rather than rush into it. So I'm not doing this in spite of my performance, but because of it. I have in my possession all five books mentioned in Thales's post. They're short reads so it won't take too much of my time to go through them, especially if I devote my entire day to it. SO, I'm beginning the Thales "course" tomorrow. I'll begin by reading Nicolas Darvas's How I made 2,000,000 in the Stock Market. Cheers!

Thanks for the reply, Gabe. One more question...how come 2 ticks rather than 1? Does that have to do with it being spot fx or is that just your personal preference in general? And by tick, do you mean a full pip or 1/10 of a pip like I know spot fx brokers give. -Cory

I haven't seen a whole lot I've felt comfortable risking my money on, today. I'm only trading the EU, GU, and UJ. I just took this trade on a demo FXCM account...I was anticipating price to make it to my drawn support, so I figured I'd try to jump in for 10-15 ticks...no such luck...broke even... I'd still be looking for a long or potential short (if we have a break) at my support level...however, it's getting kind of late for me, and I doubt I'll put on a trade (I'd trade that live if I did.) I have a question for all you spot fx traders on here... How do you enter your orders?? Basically, when I trade currency futures, I put a buy/sell stop 1 tick past the level where I'm waiting for the break. Do you guys put your order in at 1 tick + the spread? So if I were looking to get long off of the break of the high of 1.5555, I'd normally put a buy stop at 1.5556. If there's a 2 tick spread on your spot fx account, would you put a buy stop at 1.5558? BTW, with FXCM, I don't see what all the fuss is about. Right now, the tightest spread (EU) is 2.5 ticks!! I don't think I've even seen a spread of less than 2 ticks since I've opened it. Maybe it's just because of news today... Thanks, Cory

Watching for a possible reversal or breakout of the bottom support...might take some time...

Hey guys... Just got on...looks like there's not a whole lot of opportunity right this minute...just waiting for something of a bottom/top of this sharp move... I think it's funny how dead this thread is with Thales out of commission. :o I'll try to post a trade or two today...

Hey guys... I probably won't be posting any trades today...I just wokeup (seriously overslept)...and my brother just called and is coming over with Japanese food. The later it gets, the less I want to put a trade on...I don't like the afternoons very much... I've got to get it back in gear...I had such a good day Monday! Feel better Thales!! -Cory

Thales, I was wondering, if it's not too much trouble, if you could recommend which chapters to read in O'Neil's book (the sections you took your daughter through). I'll go ahead and read the whole book since I bought it, but I might start with and pay the most attention to the sections you recommend. I'm sure chapters 1-2 are a must ("The Greatest Stock-Picking Secrets" - includes the 100 charts & "How to Read Charts Like a Pro and Improve Your Selection and Timing"). Thank you so much, Cory

Thanks. It's the 4th edition, which I think is the latest, but I'll check it for the charts in the beginning when I get there. -Cory

Just reserved the William O'Neil book at B&N...How to Make Money in Stocks...going to pick it up later this evening...just for some nighttime/weekend reading...

My one trade today...break even (I took one tick of profit to cover commission). I took a long off of the breakout of the range that formed after I had posted the GU short possibility. This trade was SO FRUSTRATING...look at the two times it teased me... BTW, I got in late...10 ticks late, actually...wasn't paying proper attention...so I guess where I got out could have potentially been 10 ticks of profit...oh well...

So you admit it!!

They are. (I use AMP)...AMPFX is actually Gain/forex.com... They might be able to work something out, though...I haven't tried that. I opened an AMPFX account, withdrew my money, then later opened the AMP futures account. EDIT: I just thought more about this...you would definitely be able to use ninja for both...even now, I can connect to my gain data feed and my zen-fire data feed at the same time on ninja, so when I pull up futures it uses the zen-fire and when I pull up spot fx it uses the gain feed. They may have you do separate accounts...one fx, one futures...so when you put in your order, you'll have to select the account on your DOM... You've probably already figured it out by now, though.

BF, I opened an account a little while back with forex.com (specifically the ninjatrader account...requires a different application). They only require $200 I think to open a live account...and they give you the gain data feed for ninja. Since then, I've withdrawn my money from that account (never actually made a trade), and have a balance of $0, but I still get the gain data. -Cory

Potential GU short...

Oh yes, I know. That was never unclear. I sort of took it as a little bit of a joke when you kept saying you were trying for a losing trade. -Cory

I'm sure you may have already found it, but here's a link to a site that's showing it I found on TL... Trader -Paul Tudor Jones_ÔÚÏßÊÓƵ¹Û¿´_ÍÁ¶¹ÍøÊÓƵ 45 Anyone who hasn't seen it should watch it. Really cool. *EDIT: Mostly for entertainment/motivational purposes...it doesn't really teach you how to trade or anything... *EDIT: For anyone who might not be familiar with PTJ, he's well known for his prediction of the 1987 market crash, and he talks about it in the video (this video was before the crash)...it's part of what's cool about the video... -Cory

Talking about similiar/identical situations makes me think of the Paul Tudor Jones movie, "Trader," and the correlation between the 1980's charts and the 1920's charts...over 90% correlation. Crazy. I've been lucky enough to meet PTJ via video conference, by the way!