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AbeSmith

8/3/07 General Trade Log / Idea Sharing

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Good morning, and good evening to our fellow international traders. Unemployment data came out today at 8:30ET and YM dropped 40 or so points at that time. Good luck everyone.

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First trade was short YM at 13494 and covered quick at 484 for +10. Bottom of the range was at 76 and figured it *could* be a possible turning point so took what what I could and am awaiting the aftermath of the ISM so get in again.

YMMorn_1.thumb.jpg.9b9f4fbccb74d1cf671c5a7b0c8fc80e.jpg

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Trade 3: -21 points. Stupid move. This trade made me appreciate again how important psychology and state of mind is in trading.

 

Didn't calculate stop ahead of time. Spur of the moment trade. Should have calculated stop, and then I would have seen that it was too wide.

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Im done for the day. The day is really wacky.

 

Yeah lets use a little word association for the day...

 

Whacked

 

On crack

 

Stupid

 

Choppy

 

Messy

 

Haha everyone have a great weekend!

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Abe,

One idea - for the way you are trading (and I'm not 100% sure what that is), take a look at Volume Based Charts (VBC's) just as a comparison. I see the chart posted is a 1 minute chart, so you are not adverse to some quick moving charts. I am currently running a 5000 VBC on the ES.

 

In case you are not sure what a VBC is, it's when you tell your chart to print a new candle after so many contracts have traded. It can take that volume function that many use and display in candle format. Some charting packages refer to this as a Contract Setting and some chartings do not offer it. But if you have it, it could be worth looking at for comparison purposes if nothing else. Going to a VBC made a big difference for me when I first found them and even though I got away from them, I am back (esp with this volatility). I found minute charts to be taking too long in this current environment.

 

PS

Your charts look cleaner and I hope they are even easier for you to make on the fly with SnagIt!!

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Abe,

One idea - for the way you are trading (and I'm not 100% sure what that is), take a look at Volume Based Charts (VBC's) just as a comparison. I see the chart posted is a 1 minute chart, so you are not adverse to some quick moving charts. I am currently running a 5000 VBC on the ES.

 

In case you are not sure what a VBC is, it's when you tell your chart to print a new candle after so many contracts have traded. It can take that volume function that many use and display in candle format. Some charting packages refer to this as a Contract Setting and some chartings do not offer it. But if you have it, it could be worth looking at for comparison purposes if nothing else. Going to a VBC made a big difference for me when I first found them and even though I got away from them, I am back (esp with this volatility). I found minute charts to be taking too long in this current environment.

 

PS

Your charts look cleaner and I hope they are even easier for you to make on the fly with SnagIt!!

 

Thanks Brownsfan. I'm not sure if I have the VBC.

 

Yes, the SnagIt is excellent. Thank you for finding it.

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Take a look this weekend to see if you have VBC's and see if they make a difference for you. It took me years to even hear about them, so if they work for you and saves you some time, great! If not, no harm.

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Alright, I'm finally proud of myself for catching a long term play. I finally got my e-signal up and running again and I set up the charts a little bit differently. I now have a small 15 minute (sorry the chart says 5 I wasn't paying attention). I noticed a wedge on the chart and took a scalp at the breakout and another position to hold slightly longer incase the breakout proved effective.

 

o Entry – 13455

o Exit scalp – 13445

o P&L – 10 YM

o Exit 2nd contract – 13425

o P&L – 30 YM

 

I got out because of the -1000 tick. I should have turned around and gone long and caught another easy 10 pts but I didn't.

 

Now looking at the chart, I should have held on till the close of the 15 min candle - it would have been a much more profitable trade. Oh well, I made the trade and it worked.

5aa70decd0d46_breakout5minaug3.thumb.jpg.7849095a751332c65a20b93775bfb36a.jpg

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Thanks Brownsfan. I'm not sure if I have the VBC.

 

Yes, the SnagIt is excellent. Thank you for finding it.

 

Abe,

 

With IB data and sierra charts you can plot volume based bars

 

Instead of minutes in the format box look for volume or shares.

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Abe,

 

With IB data and sierra charts you can plot volume based bars

 

Instead of minutes in the format box look for volume or shares.

 

 

I see a volume option in chart settings, but not sure how to configure it:

VBC.thumb.jpg.8b6bdb8a61cd529b32fd562889cefd37.jpg

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I see a volume option in chart settings, but not sure how to configure it:

 

Just click the dot to select volume and type in "5000" or "7500" that would be equal to every bar printing when 5000 contracts have been traded.

 

Brownsfan has an excellent thread on VBC's

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Just click the dot to select volume and type in "5000" or "7500" that would be equal to every bar printing when 5000 contracts have been traded.

 

Brownsfan has an excellent thread on VBC's

 

I see. Thanks.

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Abe on that trade, you should have waited for the breakout on the short side then gone short. I've found that works extremely well. You see those 4 candles all making lows at the same point, you could have setup a short once that was broken and you would have had a 30pt gain instead of a 3 pt loss. Just an idea.

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