Finding an entry

[Fisherfisher]

Hello everyone,
I have been trading using price action only using the weekly and daily charts to find the trend and the 4hr for a entry and exit. I get the direction of the trend right most of the time but I get stopped with poor entries. I am trying to find a good confluence to use for an entry. What do you have to see before you pull the trigger?

 

[tomorton]

Not so fast. How do you know you're making poor entries? Are your entries good but stops too tight? - a common temptation when you trade off intra-day time-frames.

Or are your entries genuinely badly timed, but then are they too late or are they are too early?

 

[FXX]

Another question is where is your stop placement. Give some examples

 

[Fisherfisher]

Another question is where is your stop placement. Give some examples

For example in this trade, daily and weekly are in a uptrend so I look for longs. I wait for a 4hr retracement for a entry, in the image price pulls back to the 50% fib, I would put my stop under the .618 fib and aim for -.27 fib. but some would reject .382 fib, .618 or .786 would you just enter at say 50% everytime or wait for confirmation?

 

[FXX]

Have you tried to filter based on confluence levels like multiple overlapping fibs, trend lines, big round numbers etc. You might find it will be a good technical filter. If it were me, I would be using fundamentals as my filter and technicals as a confirmation entry. I currently don't even use charts for entries but I do know of several professionals that do that very successfully.

 

[Fisherfisher]

Have you tried to filter based on confluence levels like multiple overlapping fibs, trend lines, big round numbers etc. You might find it will be a good technical filter. If it were me, I would be using fundamentals as my filter and technicals as a confirmation entry. I currently don't even use charts for entries but I do know of several professionals that do that very successfully.

yea I use trendlines also and keep an eye on round numbers. Maybe I should use a couple of confluences. If previous resistance is lined up with a fib level and trend line then take the entry.

when going over the charts I seem to find a strategy that works but when backtesting with soft4fx ( future charts not shown ) it all falls apart

 

[FXX]

That is the smoke and mirrors charts do to a trader. I can show you charts of births, migration patterns, deaths, and even random number generators and they exhibit patterns you see I charts. Don't read into what you see as a sign of what might happen in future. This is why I don't bother with charts and probability in general. That being said it can and does work for some traders, just not me. You might be the same. It's a case of finding something that fits with you.

 

[Fisherfisher]

That is the smoke and mirrors charts do to a trader. I can show you charts of births, migration patterns, deaths, and even random number generators and they exhibit patterns you see I charts. Don't read into what you see as a sign of what might happen in future. This is why I don't bother with charts and probability in general. That being said it can and does work for some traders, just not me. You might be the same. It's a case of finding something that fits with you.

Ill keep at it, I don't know anyone who trades so sometimes its hard to know if your going down the right path. Trying to learn from the internet is hard as there is so much bad information and everyone seems to have a course for sale which makes me question them. I have been learning for a few years but unable to be consistent, sometimes it feels like its not possible but I weirdly enjoy the challenge.

 

[dbphoenix]

View attachment 257078

For example in this trade, daily and weekly are in a uptrend so I look for longs. I wait for a 4hr retracement for a entry, in the image price pulls back to the 50% fib, I would put my stop under the .618 fib and aim for -.27 fib. but some would reject .382 fib, .618 or .786 would you just enter at say 50% everytime or wait for confirmation?

If you're trading price action only as you think you are, then trade price action only, e.g., get rid of the Fib and the colored candles and the moving averages. In this example, your first lower high is your signal that an exit might be imminent. You then make a series of lower highs, each of which tells you to stay in. You then make a higher low, signalling resurgence of demand and you get ready to enter on an upward exit from here (50% is not a Fib level).

One of the chief purposes of trading price is that you get in and out before most everyone else (though not those who are orchestrating the turn in the first place). If you confuse the issue with indicators and colors and candles and so forth, then you're not trading price. Not that there's anything wrong with trading indicators, but that's an entirely different area of study.

P.S. A convenient spot for your stops is behind the last swing high, if short, or the last swing low, if long, though you must always be prepared to re-enter in case Big Money is trying to pull a fast one and decides instead on a continuation.

Db

 

[Fisherfisher]

If you're trading price action only as you think you are, then trade price action only, e.g., get rid of the Fib and the colored candles and the moving averages. In this example, your first lower high is your signal that an exit might be imminent. You then make a series of lower highs, each of which tells you to stay in. You then make a higher low, signalling resurgence of demand and you get ready to enter on an upward exit from here (50% is not a Fib level).

One of the chief purposes of trading price is that you get in and out before most everyone else (though not those who are orchestrating the turn in the first place). If you confuse the issue with indicators and colors and candles and so forth, then you're not trading price. Not that there's anything wrong with trading indicators, but that's an entirely different area of study.

P.S. A convenient spot for your stops is behind the last swing high, if short, or the last swing low, if long, though you must always be prepared to re-enter in case Big Money is trying to pull a fast one and decides instead on a continuation.

Db

Thanks for your input so wait for a higher highs and higher lows to form a trend, enter at previous high and then hold until a lower high has formed. I agree indicators ect are over complicating things.

 

[dbphoenix]

Thanks for your input so wait for a higher highs and higher lows to form a trend, enter at previous high and then hold until a lower high has formed. I agree indicators ect are over complicating things.

In the particular example you provided, yes. But that was pretty much straightforward. Price can also make a higher high and then just sit there examining its nails. There's no way of knowing what price is going to do once you've entered the trade, so what you will do will be determined entirely on (a) how familiar you are with your instrument, (b) how predictable its movements are, and (c) how much risk you're willing to assume. And of course what your trading plan is and whether or not you trust it, and, if so, how much.

Db

 

[NVP]

Hello everyone,
I have been trading using price action only using the weekly and daily charts to find the trend and the 4hr for a entry and exit. I get the direction of the trend right most of the time but I get stopped with poor entries. I am trying to find a good confluence to use for an entry. What do you have to see before you pull the trigger?

if you are getting the direction mainly correct then just widen your stops

N

 

[NVP]

View attachment 257078

For example in this trade, daily and weekly are in a uptrend so I look for longs. I wait for a 4hr retracement for a entry, in the image price pulls back to the 50% fib, I would put my stop under the .618 fib and aim for -.27 fib. but some would reject .382 fib, .618 or .786 would you just enter at say 50% everytime or wait for confirmation?

i think others have also answered but you are over complicating things .....look at the S/R points and ask yourself what level you are prepared to commit to as a stop loss vs the return you require to justify it ...is it worth the trade ? ...thats it :smart:

N

 

[PBenkert]

What kind of trading makes are you comfortable with?

Thanks for your input so wait for a higher highs and higher lows to form a trend, enter at previous high and then hold until a lower high has formed. I agree indicators ect are over complicating things.

To truly become the best trader you can be, you must first find out what kind of trader fits your personality. Are you a Day Trader? or a Swing Trader? or a Mid-Term investor? or a buy-it and forget-it investor?

Once, you know what kind of trader you are, then you can start looking for the kind of instrument you want to invest in.

For me, it took years and a lot of losses to discover that Day Trading was my comfort zone. I like to trade (a lot) and I worry to much about my positions over night. So, getting in and then getting out in the same day fits my personality.

I tried swing trading but I think I end up with ulcers from it. I was worried all the time and had trouble sleeping.

At once time (building up capital), I was a Buy-It and Forget-It investor. This was thru the retirement program at work. Just keep dumping money into the retirement account each payday, and let someone else invest it for me (mutual funds). After years of this, I find out that I could do better than the nameless person managing my retirement fund, who was making more money than me, from the fees I was being charged.

So, finding your center or the type of trading that fits you the best is the first step before you can succeed.

 

[NVP]

the kind of trader i try to be is a winning trader

any timeframe ......not fussed

joking aside i encourage traders to read and research widely and take nothing for granted ......push your envelope and thinking and try to think outside the box and be as creative in your thinking as you can .....thatbis where the edge is

if 95% of traders fail you must find out what those 5% are doing right and implement them .....or the most important elements of what they are doing right

N

 

[Bloodhound]

Hello everyone,
I have been trading using price action only using the weekly and daily charts to find the trend and the 4hr for a entry and exit. I get the direction of the trend right most of the time but I get stopped with poor entries. I am trying to find a good confluence to use for an entry. What do you have to see before you pull the trigger?

Can you show a couple of examples of your higher timeframe analysis and, ideally, the pairs that the charts relate to?