Jay's Journal

The History

I thought it was about time to put myself on the line a bit. I began trading almost two years ago after hearing the hype about how “easy” trading was. You know those wealth programs going around that say sell options and it is hard to lose hehe. Well I began in May 2006 with writing spreads on the Aussie Equities market and to cut the story short, in two months I had dropped half my capital.

In all honesty it was probably one of the best things to happen. First it taught me that the market needs respect and secondly it taught me that to trade the markets I need to learn them first. With spreads I was simply picking stocks that appeared to be good value. Now I know it doesn’t exactly work that way unless you have seen markets over a period of many years.

After learning my lesson from spreads I decided the best plan would be to educate myself in charts. Unfortunately I purchased a different wealth program that taught charting but it was pretty much the most basic stuff you can learn on the net for free. Of course there was no money management, risk management, profit targets, backtesting or scaling talk etc. After doing this course I thought I was the king of trading and jumped into buying options.

Over a period of a few months in buying options on equities I soon realized that I was risking way too much to make too little. Add to that, I learnt market makers are extremely difficult to deal with. You could buy an option for 20 cents and then see them squeeze another person trying to sell the same option seconds later for 15 cents. That was when I realized that market makers weren’t governed by any rules stating that an option should be valued roughly at X when the underlying stock is worth Y. Of course such a rule I now realize would go against the very fundamentals of capitalism.

My bought options would be set for a month till expiry and any sort of swing would move my position instantly. At the end of my bought options stint I was roughly break even. I had realized that there was no backtesting I had done nor did I know my statistical probability of making profit. At that point I decided to do some further investigating into the markets and really look for something solid to trade. Another moment in my trading history that formed one of the best things that could happen.

It was at this point I found a mentor willing to help me out with mechanical trading. With his help I developed a system for trading equities with CFD’s. I backtested a huge amount of stocks until I came up with a list that I was happy with. Every stock on my list had provided me with 150% or more from 2000 till 2007. I thought this was it, finally I had figured out the keys to trading. Make a plan, backtest it with historical analysis and if it works you are pretty much guaranteed success. Obviously all the mechanical traders out there would agree that I was a little uninformed. I didn’t believe that systems might work in one market but not another.

I traded the CFD’s from April 2007 and initially I made a 40% gain on my capital in 3 months. I thought I had regained my throne of the King of Trading. Then we came to June 2007 and the market effectively changed. Instead of a nice steady uptrend or downtrend we hit this volatile whipsaw of one move to another. My 40% gain moved into a 30% loss. My trading plan relied on trending markets to make money however there was choppy action that would have me enter a position only to be taken out a few days later. Thankfully I was only ever risking 2% on any single position. Come September 2007 and I realized that I needed another strategy to compliment the trend following one. Something that allowed me to trade sideways markets, a little bit more short term.

The Present

This brings me to my futures trading on the S&P E-Minis. It wasn’t until I learnt about futures that I realized I had been trading the wrong style up until this point. I discovered that my personality suits more fast paced action, I hate the idea of waiting weeks or months to find out if I’m wrong. I have also discovered that I am quick to change my ideas on a market.

When I was watching the equities closely, my ideas on where the stock was headed changed pretty much daily as new information became available. However trading stocks on an intra day basis is not a great idea in the Aussie market as the liquidity is low and likely to result in large slippage. Also my account size was not big enough to make use of 1-10 cent price gains.

So after doing some soul searching and asking myself why I was trading, I discovered that the nature of the futures market was exactly what I was meant to be doing. For me scalping the market provided quick feedback to my performance and futures seemed to allow more control over positions due to less chance of slippage and high liquidity.

So here I am, six months after first watching the futures market. I began simulation trading in September and live trading in January. My first few months of live simulation were rocky, moving from equities to the S&P E-Minis was a big change. I don’t believe the markets move the same and it took a while for me to adjust. I was alternating between good weeks and bad weeks up until December when I finally found my footing. I could watch the market and see the high probability moves that fit my plan and take action. From December to the end of January I was trading consistently well. I followed my plan to the ‘T’ and traded only when I felt 100%. I took losses but they were small and often didn’t reach my hard stops. The rocky start I had was over and I was finally looking at the market through the right eyes.

At the end of January I decided two months of good simulation trading meant I was ready to trade live. In fact two months of intra day trading is a lot of exposure to the market. I only trade the last two hours of the first two hours of the trading day, obviously there is more time to trade but being in Australia makes it difficult to trade the entire day if you want to see civilization in the day hours.

The first hiccup occurred straight out of the gate. I was eager to get my feet wet with my trading capital and didn’t want to make a big deal of using my own funds. I jumped in and made a nice scalp and got out. It was the only trade I placed for the first day and that was fine as it appeared to be the only solid opportunity. There was a problem though, I was using TransAct to place my orders instead of the Trade Navigator order bar I was accustomed to. The second day I placed a trade with too much confidence and right away it went to my hard stop. I noticed before it reached and exited at market. Instead of just getting me out, it got me out and added me short at the next tick lower. Straight away it bounced and caused me to lose double my normal risk on one trade as I exited that one at market. Safe to say that the second day put a dent in my capital that I wasn’t expecting. A good lesson in learning your order platform.

The Problem

The reason I mention this is that it formed the basis of my fear in placing orders. The reason I am here with this journal is to deal with the fear of placing trades. I have been placing trades since but I am cutting my profits short and hesitating before entering. I recognize that this is a big problem that needs to be addressed yet I am not sure how to fix it. I even went back to simulation for a week and managed to pull a decent profit for the week. As soon as I went back to using my own funds I was like a turtle sticking his head back in his shell.

The major frustration is that from watching markets I have developed the ability to pick changes in market mood very well. I often look at the market and from the way it is moving can generally say something is changing and get it right at least 80% of the time. The only problem I have is taking conviction on those trades. Something is holding me back. I even dropped my risk amount by half and I still cannot push myself to pull the trigger. When I do, my heart races and everything speeds up, I no longer look at the market in the non biased light and assess it clearly. The only thing that has changed from my consistent trading with my simulation account to my failure to place trades is the introduction of my capital. I hope this journal can help me take action and get me going again.

The Plan

The plan is to update this as often as I can, daily is ideal. I have S&R zones that are my guides for the day as well as a couple of EMA’s that help show me the general direction. However I am one to watch the market and how it got where it did more so than look for indicators to tell me to trade. I trade emotions, areas that people are trapped in the market and are feeling edgy to get out or to get in. I use volume but only as a form of stop protection when I place my trades. Usually through watching the legitimate orders on the market and where previous price levels seem to attract attention. The NYSE Tick is a big part of my trading as it tells me the general sentiment of the market in a quick glance. I use it to see if the futures are getting to excited or too depressed and find things that don’t quite add up.

Ok I am sick at the moment so I didn't get to trade today. Very disappointing as it did look like it was a good day to trade. Need the rest though so I will be back when I'm 100%. What an anti climatic start to a journal hehe.

Ok I have my setup for the 5th March 2008. As I trade early in the morning here due to time constraints, I'm not sure whether I'll trade until I wake up in the morning. I'm still a bit under the weather so am hoping that by 5am tomorrow I am back in good health. I always set my days trading up in advance so I have a game plan and here are the Support and Resistance Areas I will be looking for action around.

Resistance Areas

1331.75
1333-1333.75
1335.50-1336.50
1343.75-1344.25
1347-1347.50
1354.25-1355

Support Areas

1323.50-1322.75
1319.25-1318.75
1312.50-1311.75
1307.5-1307

I do have some more areas above and below these but for the moment they are the important ones. I'm inclined to think we may have some more consolidation on Wednesday with a possible bullish bias. I'm not a fortune teller though so when I open up my trade screen I will be ready to change my plan as necessary.

Hi Jay,

Interesting to read your journal.

One bit of advice that you may be interested in with regards to your fear of pulling the trigger: I found that when learning it's easiest if you trade as small a size as possible. There must be a trade size which is small enough for you not to worry about putting it on so find what that size is and start there. As you make money then start to increase the size.

I know that even one S&P e-mini future may be too large for you to feel entirely comfortable to start with so you may wish to trade the SPY's instead (the S&P ETF - I hope I've got the symbol correct). This will track the S&P market pretty well and you can trade as small a number of shares as you wish. I know that the commissions may be disproportionately expensive if you trade too few shares but the object of the exercise at this stage is simply for you to learn your craft and to feel comfortable trading. You might wish to keep a theoretical track record which uses the equivalent % commission that you would be charged if you were trading the futures so that you can get a better idea of how it's going to be once you get to that size.

I hope this helps - I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on it either way.

Good luck with it all.

Thanks for your great advice a_gnome.

I have thought long and hard about the trade size I am using hence why I dropped my risk amount by half. Before cutting the risk amount in half I was risking 1-3% per trade. Now it is closer to 0.5-1.5% per trade however I think I may just drop it down to one contract for a while just to get used to getting in and out of the market. Mind you most of the time I cut my trades before they reach my hard stop when I notice the sentiment has changed or the market isn't going in my direction like I think it should.

I think every market has a different personality due to the volume traded and the people trading it. For me personally, trading the SPY instead of the ES in my opinion would put me back to square one. By that I mean that I would have to learn the personality of the SPY and all it's particular nuances etc. Granted it is based upon the ES, it does have different people trading it. I think this journal will help me with my conviction of my trades because it will put me at risk of humiliation should I fail to follow through on the plan. Nothing like a bit of negative emotions to get people to take action.

Like yourself I am a student of the Martial Arts and how much it ties in with just about every facet of life intrigues me. Including trading.

Update for 5th March

Well my Support and Resistance Zones seemed to be placed as well as could be expected. Unfortunately I didn't get to use them as I woke up and still felt a bit unwell. I figured I would be best to preserve my energy and rest for the next trading day. Disappointed in the poor start to the journal but I guess there is not much I can do about that.

Insight to my trading mentality

My trading is very basic. I don't like to complicate things and the less things can be reduced down to the least amount of factors, the better. As a student of Martial Arts and follower of the philosophies of Bruce Lee, I like to make things direct. Hence why the way I look at markets comes down to one thing. Waves.

As simple as it is, that is the way I trade also. I look for the dips in the waves and the peaks in the waves. If I place a trade it is because I can find the other elements to support why the wave is starting to roll over or why it has finished rolling over. Maybe that's why I'm better at trading the lower volatility areas as opposed the higher ones. I like the slow rolling waves as opposed to the big crashing ones. Though the big ones often provide the biggest ride.

6th March Setup

Ok I have done my setup for tomorrow. I'm pretty certain I'll be good to trade as I am feeling about 90% right now. As long as I get some good rest today I'll be right. One thing that is concerning me is that I believe the US are changing their clocks for Daylight Savings this weekend.

Unfortunately Australia doesn't change theirs back until April so I will have a month of being in Limbo. As of Monday I will be trading the open instead of the close. I haven't traded the open since October last year so it may be a week of watching to get the feel of how the open trades again. I know last year I had some good results fading the opening gaps through simulation but we'll have to see how it goes.

Here are the S&R Zones I'll be watching tomorrow.

Resistance

1338.50-1339.25
1345
1347-1347.50
1354.25-1355

Support

1328.75-1328
1320.25-1319.25
1312.50-1311.75
1307.5-1307

Just to clarify, these zones are not where I place orders before the market opens. I know there are quite a few traders out there that have that much confidence in their S&R zones that they place their orders in as early as possible to get taken however that doesn't suit my style. I use the zones as a place to watch for something to change. If it changes around there then I look to place an order. The same goes for pretty much all of my indicators.

My outlook for tomorrow is that we could see more back and forth action we saw today. I'm pretty neutral on tomorrow without a bullish or bearish bias. However as always I am open to be wrong and will go with whatever we see occur tomorrow.

Ok posting this is a bit personal for me so not sure if I will continue to do so or not. It is my daily thoughts during trading, sometimes it nay include profanity other times it won't. Depends on how well I'm looking at the market usually. Also there are probably spelling mistakes but I don't have time for spelling whilst looking at the market and typing at the same time. Plus fixing those errors isn't on my to do list. I am doing it because I think it will help with my confidence in my trading. Here goes:

First thing to do is check emails and see what has happened in the market. I woke up feeling healthy but a little bit of nerves crept in. Worked on breathing that helps me relax and now I'm back on track.

13:29 First thoughts on the market is that we are downtrending. Sticking to the ema like glue so fading the bounces seems the best option. Tick has had a hard time getting above the 0 line so it shows a bearish view amongst stocks. Can't rule out a late day rally should this trend look like it's losing steam.

13:36 Just broker the 1312 support area. Will see if it sticks and should tell me how strong the downside is... Break of 1312 failed to stick, not convinced we are strongly moving up though.

13:42 Market looks like it is having trouble pushing higher, Wait for one last push to find an entry is possible. EMA's and LT area good support for stop area.

13:45 Order in at 15.25 waiting to see if I get taken. Maybe too late, in fact as I write this the market is moving down. Removing order. Not gonna chase the market especially on an entry that is on the first up candle after a downtrend. Historically for me they are the trades I perform worst on because I enter too early. Usually they are only good for a half point scalp at best.

13:49 Market reached back to 1315. Maybe the last push higher I was waiting for? Patience here is important. about 1318 is what I am waiting for.

13:53 Order in at 1317.25 but may not be taken. Orders removed. Bit of a pain that I missed that order. If I was about 20 seconds earlier I would have been filled. not to worry, there are plenty of opportunities out there.

14:00 Market doesn't look like it is dropping like it should. Very suspect right now. If we get above that 1320 area I think we could have some bullish movement come in. Not willing to risk a long position before that.

14:17 Come back from bathroom break to find the market reached 1318.50 before retracing. I still think we may see a test of 1320 area for a decision. Of course I'm not going to set that in stone so that it sways my versatility to trade without reaching there.

14:24 Market isn't exactly slow but I am getting a bit bored with it's struggle to continue lower for some reason. Need to make sure it doesn't push me to trade when there isn't a good place to trade. Feeling like I should try a long position at the moment even though I know it would be against my plan. Going to refrain from taking an impulse trade like that.

14:30 It appears we are ranging inbetween 1320 and 1312 right now. Interesting to see how long this lasts. As I write we are at the bottom of the range, possibly a good opportunity to go long but I'm not risking it with the strong underlying trend being down.

14:33 A bit early to tell but I think this range may be a stall before a turnaround. Not exactly sure why I think that but it just seems a little odd at the moment. As always I will let the market show me what it's doing.

14:40 The Tick looks like it is still having trouble closing above the 0 line. Stocks seem to be having a hard time maintaining higher prices. Might see the break through the floor of the range here. Nup, there she goes on the long side. Will be interesting to see what she does if she reaches that 1320 area. Seems we have a 1-2-3 bottom in place and maybe I should have taken that long position. No way, not trading against the plan by going against the overall trend. Quick way to losing the game that is.

14:50 In short at 1316.25 profit target at 1314.75 stop at 1317.75. Don't excpect it to move back to 1316.25 so moved stop to break even. Profit target taken. Data stream 20 seconds behind now, talk about timing. Ok this was a quick trade so I didn't get to write my ideas down. Market created a double top type pattern at 1317.50 and 1318.50 the peak before. Area was right near an ema that had been tested before and there was a Tick extreme. Tick was right at 0 line so if it went above it would be easy to see the market turning.
-Emotionally it helped to write in this as the trade went on. Granted it took my attention away from watching the market but it helped stop me getting caught up in the tick by tick moves. Initially the trade went against me by a couple of ticks but didn't seem to have strong buying behind it. Usually I'd have two lots in the market, the first taken at the profit target and the second would be trailing stop moved down as the trade goes on. Getting used to the market exposure with my own funds right now though so just keeping risk low.

15:03 Now looking to see what the movement is after getting over the joy of feeling like my mojo is back. A little premateur to think my trading is back to what it should be and I don't want to make a habit of stopping trading after a good trade. Nice to see the move kept going after I got out, had I been trading the two lot I would be doing nicely but I am keeping my risk low right now so I am fine with that. 1312 area has finally been breached. Obviously I was wrong about the bottoming of the market, that doesn't bother me to be honest. I don't mind being wrong about future predictions as that is not my strong suit. Coffee time.

15:10 Ok so now that we have broken through the range it is time to look to short the bounces again. There has already been a small test of the 1312 area but not sure if that will be the only test. Volatility has slightly picked up but right now it isn't to the point that I can't judge what is going on.

15:15 A bit off on my support there, instead of using the same one I had previously it was moved to match the inbetween of yesterday's and the day before. Not a good idea to do that it seems. Retest of 1312 occuring right now. Patience on this will be necessary to figure out if it's a reversal or retest. I don't like shorting the first up candle after a down move so I need to wait. May result in losing a good opportunity but I'm best waiting for the right trades to follow my plan.

15:19 ok looks like it has re-entered the range. Entering an order on the first up candle after a down move is like trying to surf waves 100 metres out from a sandy beach. There are ripples but you need to be closer in to give the wave time to set. Getting on the wave just before it breaks is the higher probability chance you will have a good ride. If your out 100 metres, the wave will just roll right past you until it builds up at the shoreline.

15:23 Getting close to my cut off time for trading. I don't like placing orders after 3.30pm as it puts me near the close. Definitely no positions are made after 3.45pm. Possibly a shorting possibility right now but for some reason I don't like the look of it. Maybe I have seen too many closes and know that commonly there is a last ditch effort to push the market higher in a down day and to push the market lower on an up day. Of course this isn't always the case but is what I have seen commonly occur. Highly trafficked area around the 1314 price range. Interesting to see if it pushes through there and sticks.

15:28 There the market goes with that last ditch effort to go higher on a down day again. Glad I didn't short that position. Not going to place any more trades for the day but will watch the close as I usually do. Helps me build subconscious memory of market patterns.

Wrap Up

I was happy with how I was processing the market data today, I had a clear mind when assessing the changes in the market but unfortunately I wasn't quick enough on my first attempt to short the market. It likely would have ended in a small scalp but it was good that I didn't chase the market. I enter on my terms, not the markets. That is the one thing I can control. I had a hunch to go long which I didn't however I am happy I didn't. It was going against the larger trend and often can lead to positions being blown through and my hard stops hit before I get a chance to get out in a civilized fashion.

The trade I did get on was well planned. My stop was tight but not too tight that it was taken with an initial pullback. I placed my profit target at an area that I thought would cause a slow down in price action and I managed to get taken as it hovered around that area for a while. Would have been nice had I been using my usual two lot format so I could trail the second lot but I am learning to be exposed in the market right now. Will stick with the one contract (thanks a_gnome for the lowering risk advice) and build up the confidence whilst risking my capital in the market.

Overall I followed my plan and things to work on for tomorrow is possibly paying a bit closer attention to the market action so I can recognize the shift in market sentiment about 30 seconds earlier. I rate myself as a 7 out of 10 for following the plan today.

7th March Setup

My setup for tomorrow has been done and is looking a bit dismal. As my trading platform doesn't let me view intra day data prior to the 21st Feb this year I cannot go back to the 22nd Jan and 23rd Jan to get support areas. I have only started religiously keeping my past support and resistance zones from roughly two weeks ago. In fact to combat this very problem and to speed up my setting up for the day. Not to worry, I'll just have to deal with the hand that is dealt and be cautious should I take any long positions.

So here are the S&R Zones I'll be watching:

Resistance

1311.25-1312
1316
1318.50-1319.25
1324-1324.50
1328.75-1329.50

Support

1302.75-1302.25
(Wow one whole support area hehe.)

My outlook for tomorrow is that we are likely to see a continuation of this move we saw today. Some transparency about the Financial Stocks exposure to the credit problems has developed which is looking pretty rough. We may even see a test of the Jan lows on this latest downward leg but anything can happen so I'm not holding these thoughts in stone. The fact that we broke that range that lasted a month or so to the downside could mean the bearish pace may pick up.

Goal for tomorrow is to pay close attention to the market action and try to keep a clear mind. I know its not a strictly defined goal but the one thing I found I lacked today. To help achieve it I might work on my "Yoda State" as Brett Steenbarger likes to call it. To do this I have got some music I want to use as a relationship for when I am trading to cue my heightened conscious state.

7th March During Trade Journal

Here is what happened for Friday:

So checking the emails shows nothing of significance seems to really be going on apart from high oil prices and a fall in nonfarm payrolls. From what I have seen, high oil usually means a declining stock market but we'll see. I woke up today feeling pretty good. Again there were some small jitters but by the time I had a coffee I was good. Today the aim is to make sure being ahead for the week doesn't result in me undertrading due to not wanting to lose it, or overtrading because I think I am playing with "house" money.

13:32 Ok just looking at the market, we had the gap down that was filled during the morning and took us to a 1314.50 high. From there it has been trend down however the 1292 area looks like it may be slowing it down. Too soon to say though. Right now the ema's are acting as a good resistance. Tick has been generally staying below the 0 line so that is a pretty good indication of the mood. 1297 seems pretty heavily trafficked and a good place to keep an eye on. After that it's pretty light until 1302. Will just keep an eye on the action.

13:42 We have a break of the low for the day. Will see whether that sticks or creates a turnaround. Market is already 17 points down so will be interesting to see what the result is. Will stay on the short side unless 1299 area is broken with some balls.

13:51 Seems like we have a pretty slow market right now. It is important that this is not sloved by placing orders when I shouldn't be. During these times I actually hunt the forums and market news to keep me occupied. I'm waiting for a decent pullback to enter on but right now it's slowly down and stalling.

13:54 Right now I'd like to see a pull back to the 1293.50 area if this market doesn't keep dropping right now. That doesn't mean I'll place an order if it gets there but more so keep a close eye on it if it does. Checking out Bloomberg it seems a lot more of the financials are announcing troubles. Finally things are being disclosed about how big the issue is, or should I say was. The most of the actual damage has been done I am guessing. Now we just wait for who is going to say it's too much and fold.

13:58 Tempting to look for a trade against the 2 minute chart SMA right now but think we are due for a bit of a bigger pull back than at 1291.25. It's times like this that are good to be a trend follower. A nice slow and steady grind down. Not my style though, I'm costraphobic and don't like crowds .

14:06 Finally a move up. How far it will go is anyones guess but I will be interested around the 1293.50 area if it doesn't seem too strong.

14:11 A hesitation at 1290, is this just to get a few people waiting to short trapped? I think it has further to go upwards. Possibly even 1295 after looking at this move.

14:14 Am I limiting my trade possibilities by waiting for X price to be hit? Seems like I may be trying to tell the market what to do instead of it telling me. How nice of me to write out a story that it should follow. Doesn't work that way. Now it looks like its dropping. Or is this simply following my plan?

14:17 I think I have trouble trading a trending market. I am quite good at picking trades out of a ranging market but as soon as it starts trending I have trouble picking the turnaround points. It might have something to do with not liking to get on a trade that has already moved quite a ways first. Coffee time.

14:25 This trend is definitely a slow and steady grind. Definitely not my cup of tea when it comes to watching a market. I feel I am getting bored and am having trouble concentrating on the market action. I have heard there was a time, maybe back in 2006 I think that the market was really slow for the futures Index. Apparently it would sit on one tick going back and forth for minutes on end. I wonder what that was like to try and keep your concentration during such a slow market.

14:29 I am a believer that there are some days that you should just watch and I think today is panning out to be one of those days. Occasionally the market throws a day that doesn't suit my style or my trading. I guess that is why I trade the futures because you can have a whole years worth of equity market cycles queezed into a month in the futures. Today the market may be trending but Monday it may go back to the back and forth action we were seeing. I am looking at today's action with a pre-concieved idea, surely this market isn't going to keep this slow down trend going. However I think that mentality is preventing me from scalping some downward moves. You would think with such a day it would be a safe bet to get in to scalp some short positions and be in good profit before you get caught out on the turnaround. If there ever is one at this rate.

14:42 The market action is very disappointing for me right now. I want to trade but not if there isn't anything to trade. My plan acknowledges stairstep movements like we are seeing now but it has been a while since I have seen one move so slow and with such small pullbacks. The reason I am hesitant is that I fear jumping on just as we hit the bottom. There has only been one decent pullback and that presented the one pattern that hits me the hardest the most commonly. Trying to short on the first up candle after a downtrend. Hence why I was waiting for it to move a little bit further up to 1293.50. We may have a move developing now though.

14:48 Hmm, the orders in my order bar aren't showing up. That is a bit irritating, even when I close and re-open it. Wait... there we go. Ok it seems TransAct keeps locking up. Even if I did want to place an order right now I would try to attempt it with this instability going on.

14:53 Bwahahah, just got an email from TransAct saying they are having troubles with their market data. I guess if there were ever signs not to trade, these are it. A slow boring market and my order system having difficulties. Ah well, a bit of a disappointing end to my closing market season of trading but I'll see it again in November. I'm pretty sure the US changes their clocks this weekend so it will be opening market trading for me. I will definitely be taking it easy for the first week or so to get my bearings right.

15:07 Well there is the pullback I was waiting for. Can't complain though, issue with the market data was out of my control. Popped a point over my area I identified, maybe the way I look for prices isn't such a bad thing as it instills discipline with my trade ideas. I will just keep watching the market into the close to get a feel for it.

15:23 Quite an interesting pop up we are seeing here. Wonder if it will continue into the close as we have the weekend and I'd be surprised if many traders were willing to hold positions over the weekend.

Wrap Up

Sometimes the market can be quite testing on my patience. I am happy to say that I stayed out of a market that didn't suit my trading and didn't place any trades. I was disappointed with the market data issues with TransAct towards the end of the day. Some volatility came into the market however I am not sure whether or not I would have traded. To help cope with such a slow day I was flicking through market sites and forums to keep preoccupied. As a result I was not paying full concentration on the market. So much for the goal I set to pay close attention to the market. I feel if I did do that I may have felt inclined to place an impulse trade so it was probably best.

Weekly Result

The first 3 or so days this week I was unwell and unable to trade. That put a bit of a dampener on the week. Yesterday I traded well and followed the plan which I was happy with and produced a 1.5 point gain for the day. I could have been in more positions but was a bit slow out of the gate on a couple of trades. Today had no trades placed due to the slow moving market right up until my data providers had technical issues. I will say that I am pleased they emailed me as soon as they figured out something was up otherwise trades could have been placed in a not so trustworthy situation.

Overall for such a choppy week in my ability to watch the market I was pleased. Not because I ended the week in profit but because I was paying close attention to following the plan and very little attention on the P&L status. In all week I thought about the market in terms of trades instead of profits or losses. I remember what it felt like to trade in the simulation account and this feels similar. There is a long way to go in regards to achieving long term consistency however I feel this is a step in the right direction.

Next Week's Focus

Next week has the beginning of a new challenge. I am transitioning to the opening hours of trade as opposed to the closing I have been trading. It has been a long time since I have traded the open due to time differences so I will need to be careful. The afternoon has worked for me lately because I can look at the day's move and get a good idea of what has happened for the day.

From memory the opening hours were faster moving than the closing ones, however I am not sure whether that was due to my perception or if it is a reality. When I last watched the open I had about 4 months less experience. The plus side to this situation is that I can potentially watch the market for longer. I have been getting 2.5 hours of market exposure however I may be able to push it closer to 3.5 hours.

For the first few days at least I want to refrain from placing trades and just see if I can still pick up on the changes in direction as well. It means I will need to place more emphasis on my S&R zones but I think they hold their weight majority of the time. I do look forward to the change.

Help For New Traders

Ok guys I'm not sure if anyone is actually reading this thing but I thought I'd try to help people discover what to trade. I'm going to disclose a few things about how I found my trading niche and offer some ideas to help people find out their niche. This may be a long post so if you want some help picking a niche, grab a coffee or beer before starting to read. List what you find so you can help keep track.

When I first started trading I was foolish enough to jump in without doing my homework. I jumped into trading a time frame that wasn’t suited to me and trading an instrument (options) that didn’t utilize my personal talents and advantages. So over time I managed to find the right instrument and time frame to trade but how did I go about it?

I actually found the time frame and instrument a bit blindly to be honest. I actually stumbled across them and then did the following stuff afterwards to clarify that it was the right thing for me. Hopefully if you’re reading this you can do it before backtesting or simulation trading a method so you don’t waste your time.

After reading a great book by Brett Steenbarger entitled “The Psychology of Trading” I realised the importance of finding a trading method that suited my personality. It is very important that you are trading a time frame that suits your personality, this doesn’t mean one that suits your other out of market commitments, that is very different.

Just because you work a day job doesn’t mean you should be trading according to daily time frames because the only time you can get to the screen is for fifteen minutes to see the close. First find what time frame suits you and then figure out a way to do it around your work or outside commitments. Being that we are in the thick of global economies you can trade any market around the world from you own home pretty much. So how did I the right time frame and market instrument and how can you find it?

Look at Past Activities and Sports

I started by looking at past activities and sports I enjoyed. By doing so I managed to find an interesting pattern. I always seemed to play sports that were reasonably fast paced. They included football (Australian Rules as I am from Australia, Ice Hockey, Basketball and Tennis). The one I liked the most out of those was Ice Hockey because there wasn’t really a dull moment for any player whilst on the Ice.

Another pattern was particular video games I used to enjoy. They were always ones that were action packed but still required strategy. Shooting games that needed you to be quick but at the same time take everything in that was on screen and work out how you’re going to get to the next area. I didn’t mind the thinking type games such as Command & Conquer and Sim City but I always found they took too long to get things done.

Another fast activity I enjoy is riding my motorbike. I like riding around the mountains going as fast as I can but still leaving something in reserve should I need to avoid a road hazard or get out of a bad situation. Here was another clue, I didn’t like putting myself totally on the line, something to keep in mind for risk management.

So looking at my history of things I enjoyed, I realized they were all pretty fast moving activities. Previously I had been trading longer term instruments where trades would last for weeks. Obviously not fitting my past activities I enjoyed.

So first thing you need to do is look at the activities you have enjoyed in the past and the nature of them. You may enjoy Baseball, Golf or playing Poker which are activities that give you more time to think about your next move.

So I had found that I needed something which had a bit more action and was quick. I then needed to find out my personality traits and talents. To do this I looked at how I interacted with people on a social level and what my subjects I gravitated towards in School. You can do the same for College or University or even look at your job.

Finding Personality Traits and Talents

First starting with school. I was always someone who picked things up very quickly, I’m a fast learner. Another clue to what I should be doing. I never enjoyed nor was I good at History, Math and Science. I enjoyed English, Graphics, Theatre/Drama and Sport. Right there if you read between the lines it tells you that I don’t like the subjects with heavy calculations and rules. I liked subjects with creativity but didn’t like the rules accompanied with Math and Sciences. History required intense study of the past and remembering of facts and information. So I realised I had a liking for and a talent of the creative subjects but without using hard statistics.

If you think about your School or College/University days and your current workplace, you can find out what areas you were good at and just as importantly what areas you enjoyed. You need to find areas that you enjoy and that you are good at. Both are important.

I then thought about my social life and what I tended to do in conversations and groups. I noticed that I was a quick thinker when it came to talking with people. When I am in a conversation I think about what the person I am talking to will say in response to what I am going to say, before I say it. So like a Chess player who thinks moves in advance, I think conversations in advance. I then try to lead the conversation to the direction I would like it. That was another clue, I seemed to put possibilities together before they happened.

I also noticed that I would constantly look for signs in people to tell me that they are enjoying the conversation or looking for something different to talk about. This is when I realized that I liked looking for things people were saying without saying it verbally. Another clue for trading that I tended to look for things that were being told but without being obvious. The last thing I realized was that I was creative in my humor. I would not tell a joke straight, I would make a comment that would get people to think about the joke. Instead of telling a punch line I would give people a reference to come up with the punch line themselves. This was another clue into my personality trait of thinking ahead and my creativity.

At School I always was a bit different to everyone else. I wouldn’t do things to fit in, in fact I deliberately would go out of my way to do the opposite of what most people did. Yet some how I managed to still be well liked by the majority of people in school. This was another clue that I didn’t like to follow crowds, I also didn’t like to follow the rules of the School. If there was a rule I thought logically didn’t make sense, I wouldn’t follow it. Things such as wearing a tie with the uniform or being cleanly shaven.

Just take some time to think about your own social experiences. You need to be honest with yourself. If you were someone who was comfortable fitting in with everyone else, write that down. It will help determine whether you should be following the trend or going against the grain. There is no point going against the grain if every time you do, you feel unsafe and sick in the stomach because it doesn’t fit with your personality. You also want to think about how you interact with people and whether you are quick in your responses or whether you like to take your time to think about what you say. That can tell you if you suit a fast paced market or a slower moving one.

How You Drive Your Car

The last thing I thought about was how I ride my motor bike and drive my car. I look for people in their cars turning their heads to see if they are going to change lanes. I look at the front tires of a car to see if they are going to come into my lane. I watch the car and how they move within a lane to see if they are a reasonable driver or a terrible one that is moving from one side of their lane to another. I drive a touch faster than everyone else on the road because I rather keep my eyes on the people in front of me instead of having to watch people next to me and coming up from behind me. These are clues to what I tend to gravitate towards. I am observant of things that aren’t so obvious and I am very individual.

There are many things you can find out about yourself in regards to how you drive your car and if you follow the rules strictly or believe it is safer for you to do something else.

Think about anything else you can to tell you what your personality is like. I wear clothes in the same style I have worn for ten years. I don’t care if the fashions change, I know my style and I stick with it. I am “street smart” more than academic smart. I like to learn on my own more than being taught by someone else because I think I can learn it myself.

List Your Findings

Whatever you think of, slice it up and look at the hidden meaning behind it. Then once you have a list of things you do, you then need to see how that relates to trading. I wrote my list that looks something like the following.

Don’t like to follow rules unless I agree with them
Good at seeing between the lines
Like being creative
Like things fast paced with action
Don’t like to overexpose myself and feel unsafe
Don’t like following the crowds

Look For Markets That Suit Your Findings

So how did I know to trade futures in an intraday time frame? Well I learnt from a past mentor that certain markets should be traded at certain timeframes. Here is the following:

Equities should be traded using daily charts
Options should be traded using weekly charts
Futures should be traded intra day
Forex should be traded intra day

Now this is not set in stone and only my opinion. I am sure there are people out there trading these instruments in different timeframes to what I have mentioned. The reason these are like I have listed them above is because of the volume traded. Equities are traded a lot but there isn’t the liquidity to get in and out of positions as easily as forex and futures. Don’t forget I am from Australia and our market is not as Liquid as the US or London markets.

Considering I wanted to trade quickly, not be exposed to things out of my control and have a bit more discretion in my trading, I realised the Futures were my most suited trading vehicle. I trade them looking at a 5 minute basis and e-minis in particular have high liquidity. I trade against the grain but follow the overall flow of the market. I use the NYSE Tick to tell me that the equities are doing something different to the index futures, looking between the lines. My other indicators are guides and not strict rules where I must do X if Y occurs. I have the freedom to interpret markets.

If you get your list of what you are after, you can find a rough time frame to trade such as intra day charts, daily charts, monthly charts, or maybe no charts at all. You may find you are good at reading business statements and use fundamentals.

You can then work out your style of trading whether you like to trade with the grain or against the grain. There is no inbetween. Your either trading as the market is moving or your trading as the market is stalling looking for the opposite direction. You can find out if you need strict rules to tell you what you should be doing or whether you trust your own judgment to make the strict rules simply guides.

This should hopefully get you headed in the right direction and give you some guidance. Once this stuff is figured out, look for a mentor who trades in a similar way to what you’re looking for or ask around forums for what people recommend according to what you’re looking for. At least you will start in the right direction and can focus on the plan instead of asking whether you are in the right niche.

March 10th Setup

First of all, I see that after my recent post I copped a Terrible rating... Awesome. I haven't seen another journal with a Terrible rating so maybe I'll make the Guinness World Records for a Terrible Rating on a personal journal in T2W. I guess people on here aren't happy with me offering advice so it's probably best that I refrain. I will say it's disappointing that the person didn't actually post a comment on why it wasn't any good because then we could see an alternate point of view which is what learning is all about.

Now on to business. This week sees me trading the open instead of the close and I don't have too much information in the way of support areas. That again has me needing to be cautious on any long positions below Friday's closing price. So here they are:

Reistance

1294.50-1295
1298.75-1299.50
1302.75-1303.50
1314.5-1316

Support

1287.75-1287.50
1285.5-1284.75
1282.25-1282.50
1262

My outlook for tomorrow is that we would likely not see any upward movement just yet. It seems we are turning into a stair step downward move. We are in the thick of the rejection area for the Jan lows of this year. My thought is that we may see a grind down in this section where we are and possibly see a slow decline. As always I could be wrong and I am always open to what the market is showing me.

The focus for me is to watch the market on Monday without any intentions of trading. I need to get used to the open again and see how it moves. Back in September and October of last year I saw some good trades fading the opening gaps but it can be a bit risky. That is why I need to assess it and find out if I'm better off waiting half an hour before jumping in or whether I can pick the opening changes.

10th March Trading

Ok here is the thought process for the 10th March:

Sitting here waiting for the market to open and it is strange that I feel a little bit nervous. It's 15 minutes until the open and I'm not intending on placing any trades today yet for some reason nerves are kicking in. I am excited about the market open at the same time. It is something new and interesting so I think my excitement is well warranted. Like the minutes before the start of a game of sport in a new division.

9:28 Theoretically from what I have seen in the past, the market tends to take a direction for a short period of time and then reverse to take that direction for the next hour or so. Big assumption and generalisation so I need to really study this market and build a subconscious memory of it's tendencies. I don't want to get caught out telling the market what it should be doing. I am feeling a bit tired so I may make it a short sesson tonight just so my body clock can pick up on the change.

9:30 Here we go with the open. Opened at the 1295 resistance area and haven't moved much so far. Doesn't seem as fast as I remembered, not sure if this is a Monday thing or whether it means the open isn't as quick as I once thought.

9:32 Big order at 1295 keeping the market down at this stage as others jump in front of it. Nasdaq seems to be taking a beating right now so maybe that will be a lead for the market to follow. Big fan of getting the opening resistance right and only outside it by a couple of ticks.

9:34 The 1291 area was something I thought would be interesting but never put it down as significant support. Will be interesting to see if I was wrong and if it should have been recognized.

9:37 I think if we can push below 1282 we may see some strong moves downward. There is a fair bit of traffic in between 1290 and 1282 in regards to support so it will be interesting to see what happens around there. I need to remember that the Tick isn't reliable until about 15-30 mins into trading as all of the stocks haven't begun trading yet. My eyes are really quite droopy right now, I definitely feel older than I am right now.

9:41 Not really feeling anything now. The nerves have gone and the excitement seems to have turned into curiosity. Good signs I think. However I have planned just to watch today and not place any trades so that may have something to do with it. We seem to be having a hard time getting lower right now, I wonder if we will see a short rise.

9:44 So far a short rise to 1292 or so. I am interested to see if it can pull higher or if it is a small covering of shorts. I am inclined to think it could be a good move upward at this stage. Heavy sellers above it though so I wouldn't think of betting against that even if I was trading.

9:53 Ok it seems we hit the 1287.50 area support and had a quick bounce from it. Not sure if it is a strong enough area to stick but it did manage to get a reaction. That's a plus in the building up confidence in my S&R zones column. Tick bars are slowly getting bigger as well so I think they may be ready to use as reliable sources of information right now.

9:56 I'm still not convinced by this move lower right now. I thought a pretty strong move would have shown up by now. It could be that the open trades different to the close but this doesn't seem like a strong run down right now.

9:58 And moves like these are what puzzles me why I was so afraid to trade. I continually pick up these hidden areas in the market that turn into good moves. I'm not annoyed at missing this one as part of today's plan is to just watch. It is bizarre that I would have fears of trading though when so commonly I pick up on something change in the market. I can't tell exactly what had me thinking the downside wasn't strong just then but I just had an instinct that said it wasn't right.

10:06 Here comes a better move from the downside. Volatility is picking up now. I don't think that 1287.50 area can hold this move down. I could be wrong and am open to be wrong but this looks like a strong move down.

10:12 Wrong I am. We seem to be playing inbetween the S&R zones right now without any clear direction. What an interesting open. It's times like these that I enjoy the markets most as I get to see the hard battle of prices and enjoy the standoff. Usually these types of occurences trigger a big move when one side prevails as the stronger group. Question is, which side will be the mover, buyers or sellers.

10:24 Getting pretty tired right now. I don't think I'll make it past 11am today. Currently 1:24am here. Market is still yet to break that range with oompf. Data stream is running behind again so need to restart it. Market definitely hasn't been as fast paced as I remembered. Obivously a sample of one day is a bias towards what to expect so I don't want to use today as my research for market speed. I will get a better idea as the week progresses but today's display is prommissing as it shows I am used to a fast market.

10:36 It turns out that 1287.50 support area was stronger than I thought. Quite surprising to be honest. Nice move in the upward direction we are seeing here, it will be interesting to see what it does around that 1295 Resistance as it was a strong one for memory. Even though I am tired I am feeling compelled to watch this action until the range is broken because it is very interesting.

10:45 My concentration is definitely lower right now. My eyes are sore and I am looking for things to keep me awake. After going to bed early for 4-5 months to trade the open it is definitely a change to the routine staying up later. I think my body knows it too. With a few more days under my belt I think I will have it sorted. Right now the market looks like a scalpers paradise. So many back and forth moves to trade off. Not sure how many I would be able to get on but it does look like my type of market.

10:57 Ok thats it for me. Time to get some rest. I look forward to seeing what happens in regards to this range tomorrow.

The Wrap Up

As I had planned not to place any trades today I was quite happy with the day. I was a bit surprised that the market wasn't trading as fast as I remembered but I'm not sure if that was due to being a Monday or if it's a regular occurrence. I was getting tired in the last hour of watching so a bit of conditioning over a period of days staying up late will be necessary. As I look at what progressed for the day, that range was broken to the downside and the market picked up some steam. It would have been good to see it happen but there are plenty of days to see the market do something like that.

The focus for tomorrow is similar to today. I am still assessing the speed of the open and what it's particular nuances are. Today was a good start. I am also still getting my body ready for trading of a night instead of an early morning so I want to make sure I don't place any trades whilst I am fatigued. I will have my areas I will be watching for in m next post and look forward to the trading day.

Side Note: If anyone has any questions or comments please feel free to post them. I am always open to trading discussion whether you agree with my trading style or not. I'm also always open to learn from anyone no matter what their experience.

11th March Trade Set Up

Here are the S&R Zones I'll be watching for the 11th March:

Resistance

1280.50-1281.25
1284.25-1285
1287.25-1288
1294.25-1295

Support

1273-1272.50
1262

Right now I still don't have much in the way of support areas. Not to worry I'll just have to make do with what I have and again be cautious of taking any long positions below the 1262 area.

My outlook for tomorrow is that we could see a bit of a slow down in the current downward move. As we hit the lows of January I think we will see a few people rushing to cover their positions. This in my opinion might create a bit of traffic. If we do push through that area it could pick up momentum and cause a bit of panic. It is possible that we could see a rebound off the lows but my money isn't on a big upward move if thats the case. As usual I am happy to be wrong as long as I can adapt to what the market is telling me.

11th March Trading

Here is the thought process for 11th March:

10 minutes until the market opens. The Fed announced an injection into the economy by way of lending treasury securities. That announcement pushed the market to 1304 area in pre market trading. That blows most of my early Resistance areas out however I still have many others sitting there from the past few trading days. I am going to be watching with keen interest how the big gap open trades and if we see some strong volatility as people scramble for position on the news.

I'm still just observing the market at this stage and staying out of positions. I was thinking of changing my status to trading on a very conservative basis but in light of the recent announcement it may not be the best idea. This could prove to be a better learning opportunity than trading opportunity. I am feeling pretty tired as well so it could affect my judgment. The way I see it, there is no rush to get into the market so staying out for the sake of learning is a good idea.

9:28 Looks like we will open at the past 1303 resistance area I had. It is going to be interesting to see if the market rushes upwards with the news or if it doesn't prove positive enough to stick. Just curious at this point. Not fearful or anxious, more so tired but interested.

9:30 Here we go, first thing after the big gap open is a quick decline. Whether or not it will continue is yet to be seen. Already 27 points in the green on the ES. YM is up 230+ points.

9:33 I'd suspect a pullback of sorts would be coming up early into this market but right now I'm out of my familiarity. I haven't seen action like this before so it is new territory.

9:37 Market seems to be struggling to stay higher right now. Looks like the pullback is coming but how far it goes has me puzzled. I guess I know when I am out of my league.

9:40 Not a very long lasting pullback it seems. Came down and touched the 1301 area and bounced pretty much instantly. Tick is unreliable at this stage but showing most stocks are opening whilst trading at the bids. Market is moving pretty quickly right now and volatility is high. If I was trading today it would be something I would make a note of as it is the period in which I take my biggest losses. Just a particular market to be cautious but nto afraid of.

9:44 I find myself squinting to see what is going on. I like to keep some of the past day's data showing at the same time and with the big gap open the bars are somewhat smaller than usual. ok maybe that pullback is happening afterall. I don't even want to speculate where it is heading as it wouldn't be anymore than a guess. I have some past resistance areas that will likely act as support for any short positions that are wanting to cover at break even. 1299 being one and 1294.50 being another.

9:53 Slowing down at that 1299 area though I doubt it will hold. Some reason I think we could see a big move down before a stable uptrend prevails. Then again we may see a downtrend appear for the rest of the day. In all honesty it is anyones guess right about now. A few things were telling me the market was slightly oversold recently but with the open today it may have changed the indicators to overbought in the very short term.

10:01 I think after seeing the market today moving rather fast, I don't find it daunting. I don't consider it threatening in any way and somewhat feel comfortable trading it should I wish. At the moment my thoughts are that tomorrow I may be up to trading. I still don't want to trade today due to my tiredness and the fact I set myself a goal of not trading today to get the hang of the open. I do feel good about trading the open at this present moment.

10:04 Well 1299 has been blown through and it looks like we are on our way to 1294.50. The order bar looks pretty heavily stacked from 1296 down so it may be a grind if we get to 1294.50.

10:12 Current bounce looks like it is struggling to pick up steam. I wonder if it will be a decent move or if it will roll over pretty quickly. Well there seems to be my answer. Just as I wrote this it got some balls and pushed higher.

10:15 I'm hoping I can stay awake until 11:30am market time today. It is currently 1:17am which sees me pretty tired. A bit more conditioning and I will be good for making well thought out trading decisions. I look forward to when Australia winds their clocks forward to end daylight savings. Then I won't need to be up so late or I could get an extra hour of trading in. Whichever suits me on the day.

10:23 I am actually liking the opening market at this point. It looks as though it has good back and forth movement to take advantage of. It doesn't seem too fast, grantes two days doesn't make me a professional at watching the open.

10:35 Market seems to have slowed right down now. Seems to be forming a down step type of move. Going at this rate it may take some time before the market reaches it's low for the day and reverses. That is IF it reverses. Could very well end up being a down trending day after the massive upward gap.

10:40 Stocks seem to be pretty nuetral right now according to the Tick. Not heavily swaying to either buying or selling right now. Makes for some interesting trading to say the least. My S&R zones have been off today. A bit disappointing but I'm sure I can assess them at the end of the day and see where they could be improved. Right now I'm feeling pretty casual. If I did put a trade on right now I don't think it would phase me in terms of heightened emotional states. For some reason I just feel relaxed watching this market and looking for sentiment changes that would be opportunities if I was trading.

10:59 Ok so we have hit the 11am area. I want to stay for another half an hour before calling it a day. That way I can help increase my awareness late at night. I'm not feeling as tired as last night but I am not 100%. I must admit that I enjoy being up late more than getting up at 5am to trade.

11:09 So far both opens I have seen have ben sideways ranges. I wonder if a trending open is different and whether it provides less opportunities than I am seeing here. Right now there seems to be a possible trade every 20 minutes which is much better than the afternoon trade.

11:13 Market seems to be refusing to take any direction right now. Everytime it appears to be picking up steam in a particular direction it gets stopped in it's tracks. It is very interesting to watch. I'm inclined to think the better odds break would be to the downside but it is anyones guess. Actually it looks like it may be making its move right now. Yep, there she goes. It has taken a while for the selling to finally pull through.

11:20 Fatigue is really kicking in now. Eyes are drooping and I'm having trouble concentrating. Pushing the envelope of tiredness is the only way to increase my ability to stay up and trade. Will stick in there and stay till 11:30AM.

11:24 There are some days when you look at the market and can see everything clearly. This has been one of those days. I have had good market sense today and it would have been nice to capitalize by trading however I think I have learnt a lot today. I felt good about watching the market and it just adds to my confidence for trading the open.

11:30 Well I made it. Time to switch of and get some rest. I am pleased with the day's learning and look forward to seeing how the day pans out.

The Wrap Up

Again I set my focus on watching the market and not placing any trades. This has helped me immensely as it has allowed me to focus on the market action instead of the trade action. I have found the open not to be as daunting as I remembered, even with the pace of yesterdays open. I think I will allow myself to place some trades on Wednesday but stay quite conservative for the moment considering I have only been exposed to two opens thus far.

So the focus for tomorrow is paying close attention to the open action and if the opportunity arises for conservative trades, to take it. I am removing the hold on placing trades so I can test the waters. I am also aiming to watch the market until 12pm to increase my conditioning. That will be my limit though and once Australia's daylight savings are adjusted it will give me an extra hour in the market.

12th March Trade Setup

Here are the S&R Zones I'm watching for 12th March:

Resistance

1324-1324.50
1328.75-1329.50
1334.25-1334.75
1338.50-1339.25
1345

Support

1310.75-1309.75
1303.25-1302.50
1298.50-1297.75
1294.50-1293.50
1286.50-1286.25

Finally I have both support and resistance areas to look for. Yesterdays S&R zones weren't great but I guess I couldn't expect much better when we have an announcement like we did. My thoughts is that we are likely to see a bit of back and forth consolidation and possible further gains from the previous day. I wouldn't expect a big ranging day after the 415 point move on the DOW but it can happen. As always I am keeping an open mind and ready to adjust should something different occur.

jasont said:

First of all, I see that after my recent post I copped a Terrible rating... Awesome. I haven't seen another journal with a Terrible rating so maybe I'll make the Guinness World Records for a Terrible Rating on a personal journal in T2W. I guess people on here aren't happy with me offering advice so it's probably best that I refrain. I will say it's disappointing that the person didn't actually post a comment on why it wasn't any good because then we could see an alternate point of view which is what learning is all about.

Click to expand...

To hell with them. You're doing just fine. (I raised your rating )

Are you working daytime jason?

Consider STW, Nk and SPI in the day if you're not.

With daylight savings time coming off here and on in europe consider GBL (bund) and ESTX50 (eurostoxx) for a couple of really liquid nice trending markets with good pullbacks. They should fit an afterwork timeframe and the european morning is great for those markets.

Hey guys thanks for the support.

dbphoenix thanks for giving my thread some boosting in the stars department. It was looking rather sad hehe.

Nine, thanks for the great advice. I only work part time and most days I have off. I have considered trading some other markets but never spent the time investigating them as much. Actually to be honest one of the reasons I have never traded the SPI was because I never found a tool like the NYSE tick that tracked the moves of the stocks traded within the XJO. The NYSE Tick is pretty much my main gauge of when the market is likely to turn.

The same goes for the GBL and ESTX50. I would trade some other markets as well as the S&P if I could find a tool similar to the NYSE Tick that helps track divergences in the related market.

As for the STW and NK, I'm unfamiliar with them. Can you provide me with a short description or direct me to where they are explained?

Thanks again guys, getting some feedback at least tells me a few people are interested and watching. It helps keep me following my plan because there are people watching.

stw is the taiwan stock index on the singapore futures exchange usd10 per tick. nk is the nikkei which comes in 4 forms with sizes from $75 per tick down to under 5 per tick with lots of liquidity.

None have tick that I know of except maybe KOSPI (korea). Personally I just trade the price and volume (price movements mainly).

Your journal is remarkable. There are a great many beginners who could learn something from the foundation you laid in your opening posts. And you're to be commended for not trading but rather watching when you're not sure what you're doing or you're too tired or distracted to trade well. You seem to understand that the goal is trading well, not making money, that the money will come.

Moving on, I'm interested in how you locate S/R for the upcoming day.

Db

Incidentally, about the other markets. Consider the NQ with the TICKQ.