Bob Volman Price Action Scalping

[Giorrgi]

Almost the exact same thing happens with RBs. When price is making lower arches and then cuts through a barrier level, it takes off. It's like the arches display momentum. But when price starts to go sideways for awhile right on the barrier level, like a sideways mass of dojis, it has no momentum and the break usually fails. The EMA looks like it gives us an excellent squeeze but there doesn't seem to be any tension in these breaks. These cases have been my absolute biggest trap situation, so next week hopefully I will keep an eye out for that.

Man samich, you've been laying down some heavy wisdom these past two days. Thanks (copied pasted your stuff in my Volman folder )

 

[kevinkdog]

Hi Everyone -

I'm glad I found this thread on Volman. I am going through it now in detail, and I love the analysis. I've had the book for a week or two.

I apologize if this question has been asked, but I'd like to "see the light at the end of the tunnel, and know it is not a train coming at me!" So,

Has anyone here been able to consistently make money (not sim) with the Volman approach?

If so, how long did it take for you, after reading the book the first time, to get to that point?

Finally, how important to your success is using forex chart bars to 4 decimals, instead of 5? Volman says this is important, and I'm curious what consistent successful people think.

 

[samich1262]

Hi Everyone -

Has anyone here been able to consistently make money (not sim) with the Volman approach?

If so, how long did it take for you, after reading the book the first time, to get to that point?

Finally, how important to your success is using forex chart bars to 4 decimals, instead of 5? Volman says this is important, and I'm curious what consistent successful people think.

Hey Kevindog,

I have made it into positive territory, but I have not yet found my consistency. Although I am very close. I finished the book in early July.

By 4 decimals I assume you mean charting software that prints candlesticks to 1 full pip and not to the tenth of a pip? It's super important, in my opinion. I tried it for awhile with pipettes when I first started. I did pretty well in trending markets with SBs and DDs, but as soon as I started trying to trade ranges, I could not tell where the barrier level was and started losing. I exited some winning trades too early and entered some trades that I shouldn't have because of the pipettes, so I switched to ProRealTime. I really wouldn't recommend trying to trade this method without charting in 1 pip increments. Hope this helps!

 

[kevinkdog]

Hey Kevindog,

I have made it into positive territory, but I have not yet found my consistency. Although I am very close. I finished the book in early July.

By 4 decimals I assume you mean charting software that prints candlesticks to 1 full pip and not to the tenth of a pip? It's super important, in my opinion. I tried it for awhile with pipettes when I first started. I did pretty well in trending markets with SBs and DDs, but as soon as I started trying to trade ranges, I could not tell where the barrier level was and started losing. I exited some winning trades too early and entered some trades that I shouldn't have because of the pipettes, so I switched to ProRealTime. I really wouldn't recommend trying to trade this method without charting in 1 pip increments. Hope this helps!

Thanks Samich! Getting into profitable territory in 3 or so months is very admirable.

Thanks for the advice on the pipettes. I wish my charting software did both 70 tick, and full pip charting. I really don't want to add another package to what I am already looking at.

I hope you find consistency soon - it sounds like you will!

 

[BLS]

More charts from Bob:

This week really put a trader's patience to the test. Fortunately, a clever scalper has no need for a trade. If he remains calm and patient, his moments will come. And indeed, despite the lackluster character of all of last week's price action (big volume definitely absent), there were opportunities abound in both the European and US sessions. It is my sincere wish that aspiring scalpers are slowly starting to tell the high odds plays from the less favorable ones. A good idea might be to assemble all of the extra charts I have sent so far (week 38-42, over 100 charts in total) and to categorize all the opportunities per individual setup. And in particular the IRB. For example, if you build a file with nothing but IRBs in it, and then replay them one after the other, chances are that they really start to make sense, if only for their unmistakable similarities. Another thing that might help is to block the outcomes from view in order to develop an eye for how things tend to look on the brink of entry. Ultimately, it really should not be that hard. It is just a matter of training your eye. Fight boredom, fight impatience and above all, fight frustration. Very few traders pass through the gate after just a couple of months in the game. Progress is not measured by the amount of pip won or lost for the week, although it is easy to fall into that trap. The actual progress is a feeling that you can do it, that things are starting to materialize in your mind, that you can swing them around any time soon. It is all about confidence. Confidence often comes as a side-effect of skill, that is true. Yet very few skills are built up without the confidence to acquire them in the first place.

 

[stehlikpetrmsncom]

More charts from Bob:

I am really grateful for the charts and maybe even more for the inspiring words. It is like a dose of fresh motivation and heartwarming reassurance

 

[shotgun77]

@BobV, @BLS, Thank you again for the charts.
All, I'll update my spreadsheet and post on Sunday.
I may create a powerpt slideshow of IRBs and BBs. As Bob said, it would be a helpful tool for training the eye. Question: do you think I should include all of them, even the ones that Bob notes are weak or to skip? If the purpose is to train the eye, I'm leaning towards only including the "good" ones. But I would not judge "good" by outcome, of course. Just based on Bob's notes on the charts.

 

[cha-ching]

@BobV, @BLS, Thank you again for the charts.
All, I'll update my spreadsheet and post on Sunday.
I may create a powerpt slideshow of IRBs and BBs. As Bob said, it would be a helpful tool for training the eye. Question: do you think I should include all of them, even the ones that Bob notes are weak or to skip? If the purpose is to train the eye, I'm leaning towards only including the "good" ones. But I would not judge "good" by outcome, of course. Just based on Bob's notes on the charts.

Thank you very much shotgun. Maybe you can create two ppt's separately, one for good ones, the other for weak/skipped ones. Using ppt is a great idea!

 

[stehlikpetrmsncom]

Hi, do you think this IRB is skipped for a reason? If so, what would that reason be?

 

[matty_dunn]

More charts from Bob:

Just want to say a huge thank you for the charts, advice and encouragement. It's great to see a larger variety of set-ups than are offered in the book with new and different commentary.

 

[matty_dunn]

Hi, do you think this IRB is skipped for a reason? If so, what would that reason be?

Possibly the head and shoulders type bottoming pattern in the 50 area immediately to the left? But I agree that it looks decent.

 

[samich1262]

Possibly the head and shoulders type bottoming pattern in the 50 area immediately to the left? But I agree that it looks decent.

I thought the same. It sort of looks like a triple bottom in the 50 level. Price does look like it wants to go down. I wonder if the IRB had been more extended, if he would have taken it.

 

[shotgun77]

Hi, do you think this IRB is skipped for a reason? If so, what would that reason be?

After a triple bottom, leg up, then maybe you are shorting into a retracement level of 40-60%? If you think a reversal to long has occurred, you would not want to short into retracement, right? But if you think you are in a range, then it looks pretty good.

If watching build real-time, I'd probably be thinking long. Most of the bars that are on the IRB dotted barrier line are closing in the top 1/3 -- nearer the highs than lows so bullish pressure.

Bears would argue H&S top so good short.

 

[shotgun77]

I've attached the cross-reference spreadsheet that references the setup to the chart.

Then I went back and looked at posted charts on the forum and matched them with Bob's charts. I put that in the spreadsheet too.

Here is what I found:

Vanica: Took on Bob's charts: 1 aggressive,2,4,15
Samich: Bob's charts: 4, saw 13, saw 14, saw 24 and Bob skipped
BLS: 4, skipped 15, took 16, skipped 21
Cha-ching: 4
Stehlikpetr: 4

It looks like most are trading setups that don't end up "making it" into the weekly set. I know a lot of Bob's are not being traded because of the time difference and not because they are not seen. Anyone know where Bob is located?

I'm not going to have time to do the powerpoint slides today.

 

[shotgun77]

attachment.

 

[samich1262]

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Thanks Shotgun, that saved me some time sorting these!

 

[cha-ching]

I've attached the cross-reference spreadsheet that references the setup to the chart.

Then I went back and looked at posted charts on the forum and matched them with Bob's charts. I put that in the spreadsheet too.

Here is what I found:

Vanica: Took on Bob's charts: 1 aggressive,2,4,15
Samich: Bob's charts: 4, saw 13, saw 14, saw 24 and Bob skipped
BLS: 4, skipped 15, took 16, skipped 21
Cha-ching: 4
Stehlikpetr: 4

It looks like most are trading setups that don't end up "making it" into the weekly set. I know a lot of Bob's are not being traded because of the time difference and not because they are not seen. Anyone know where Bob is located?

I'm not going to have time to do the powerpoint slides today.

Thanks for the summary. Me, BLS and Samich are based in US, we only trade London/NY overlap. For me I was only able to trade 2 days last week. Bob, Vanica and Stehlikpetr all trade European session.

I wanted to do some similar analysis but I want to focus on Bob's setups by hours to figure out how many opportunities one can have during London/NY overlap if he is as sharp as Bob, but due to personal reasons this has been delayed again and again. I may be able to produce something late next week, and after I finish I'll post it and share.

 

[samich1262]

Thanks for the summary. Me, BLS and Samich are based in US, we only trade London/NY overlap. For me I was only able to trade 2 days last week. Bob, Vanica and Stehlikpetr all trade European session.

I wanted to do some similar analysis but I want to focus on Bob's setups by hours to figure out how many opportunities one can have during London/NY overlap if he is as sharp as Bob, but due to personal reasons this has been delayed again and again. I may be able to produce something late next week, and after I finish I'll post it and share.

I mainly trade the US/European overlap, but last week I also traded the European morning session twice, Asian session a couple times for news announcements and the US afternoon a little. It's a lot, but I was on the verge of a breakthrough in my understanding of IRBs so I really wanted to hammer down on live trading experience last week.

 

[BLS]

I've made a PDF files with all IRBs from Weeks 38 to 42 (based on shotgun77's excel reference file, thanks shotgun77). I decided to include the "bad" IRBs because I think it's important to recognize good and bad looking setups. Please let me know if you notice any mistakes.

 

[vanica]

Thank you Shotgun and BLS!