Done pretty well today... Got up @ 10.30am. Its amazing how, when you've been waking up really late for a while - how long a day feels like. For example its 12:43 - usually wouldn't be up, and i've had breakfast, watched some tv, went for a jog and went to my friends to discuss travel plans.
E-mini S&P 500 Talkage:
Current trading methodology is to very closely track the 60-minute trend, by trend, i mean its very current direction... If its a pullback in a bigger trend, i consider that a downtrend ... Because when day trading i don't want to be fading - and even if i'm buying a pullback, i'm going with the trend, but i'm fading the direction... So i'm tracking the 60-minute/5-minute direction and then bidding on small sharp drops.
Its about being patient in waiting for the direction to be clear, rather than trying to guess the start of the change or the actual end of a direction... If a market is clearly rising, then i want to be bidding maybe 3 ticks below and just waiting for a normal sharp fall before a continuation of direction. Alternatively in a strong directional movement, i'll wait for a small two-peak breakout opportunity to arise.
For trend i use three-box-break graphs, a 50EMA and a 200EMA. Some simple tracking of Higher highs/Higher lows, really more visual than accurate, $tick & Finally just following the momentum.
For the actual entries, i use low-tick charts to try and see all the activity at the bid/ask.
For exits; Pivots (Weekly/monthly/Daily), strong S/R & volume.
Buying into direction and momentum is normally associated with 'greed' but i'm of the belief that if you can do so, with discpline and rules then its a really good strategy because you'll be getting in much sooner than all the greedy emotional traders and then they will fuel your earnings...
Because we are told against buying rising price, its hard to do at first but actually, having had the majority of last years trades as fades and still having trend trades outperform i think its a much safer and profitable way to trade.
Just to add; i use to spend 5 + hours per day watching time/sales on the E-mini S&P 500 or Spy or particular stocks and i've replaced that now with a bid/ask indicator, as well as a size recognition indicator. Still watch it while i'm actively trading but now its a lot easier. (If you want to know my T/S settings then do ask and i'll consider letting you in on the No 1# trading secret for pit traders - Not.)
A' Thankyou . x
Todays 60-minute chart.
News is also another important factor for me, and mostly i use it to add a weighting to a directional move...
Most of my trading revolves around gaining a context, particularly through keeping up on news and watching the markets reaction, and then having actions appropriate to them conditions.
Right now i'm working on a stock day trading strategy; which will revolve around scanning for 'Whats moving on the day' via new highs/new lows/ 'strange volume' and using upgrades/downgrades & earnings & other fundamental factors to scan for potential movers. This idea is thanks to Jeff, who is really handsome