My Trading Quest - Profitability in 90 days!

[Eresults MTG]

DAY 4 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp Setup 2 and Testing …

Today, I will share more on the chart setup called the Enhanced Trapped X Box and identify all the setup’s on a static chart, just for one day.

I need to be able to identify the setup, see that the trade occurs a reasonable amount of times and see if it shows any signs of being profitable

Actions I took:

• Watched more videos
• Identified the rules for the first setup including Initial Stop and Profit Target
• Reviewed one day of trading on a static chart, to see the availability and results of the setup
• Continued to learn about the first setup and what it looked like on the chart

Videos:

It is important to take good notes and watch the videos in sequence as it makes it easier to understand.

Enhanced Trapped X Box

Yesterday, I introduced the basic requirements for Setup #2. Now I am going to explain the first setup which I called Multi-directional.

This trade is called the Enhanced Trade or the Enhanced Trapped X Box. The multi-directional refers that it can be taken in both directions – with the trend or against the trend.

Rules:

The first 2 rules are as explained yesterday.

• Setup must be a Reversal bar
• An exhaustion box with a trapped order must appear on the end of the bar

The additional rules are:

• A new print of either a MM or a Paw must occur on the setup bar.
• An existing level (OP Level) must be within 2 ticks of the new MM or Paw on the setup bar.

I won’t go into a lot of detail about what these lines and levels are.

• OP Levels are either:
  • MM is a beige line which represents lines where price has strong rejection or attraction
  • Paw is an orange line formed at weak price levels
  • ZOI is a Zone of Interest where the market has a lot of participation in this area
  • I-Blocks – are where large orders are placed

The next important rules are based on Reasons Not to Enter:

• Not within 5 minutes of Market Open, Close or Government News
• Not directly into a stack of 3 or more OP Levels
• Not enter when 2 clusters appear within 3 bars of the and including the entry bar
• Not against a strong trend

Stop and Target

• The initial Stop is 1 tick above/below the setup bar (17 ticks)
• The Target is 9 ticks

The following image will give you an idea of how simple it is to identify the trade.

So, now I have a basic understanding of this setup I need to see if the setup is easy to identify on first a static chart and then on a moving chart. On the static chart, I also want to see that the setup happens regularly and looks like it can be profitable.

I was talking to one trader and he said that recently the number of Enhanced Trades have reduced recently.

Because of the Risk: Reward of the rules it is important to have a minimum of approximately 72% wins.

Please note this test is not suggesting anything more than that this setup has or has not sufficient potential to keep investigating. This is a TEST nothing more!

For the test I will use the following criteria:

• The test is on a static ES chart (I will go bar by bar to test the day)
• The day will be the Friday 17th April session which starts at the open on the 16th April at 18:05 and Ends at 15:50 on the 17th.
• No commission is included
• I will follow the rules the best I can
• I may miss trades
• The test is for the 24 hours and this would not be possible

The following image shows my results:

Comments on Results:

The results look positive and justify’s further backtesting.

I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

 

[Eresults MTG]

DAY 5 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp Setup 2 more Backtesting …

Today, I backtested more and check that my observations are correct.

I need to be able to identify the setup, see that the trade occurs a reasonable amount of times and see if it shows any signs of being profitable

Actions I took:

• Watched more videos – 2 new webinars from this week
• Backtested 2 more days
• Another Apex trader checked to see if my trades were valid

Videos:

Apex Investing held two more webinars on how to make the most of the Bootcamp. I found them very helpful.

Backtested:

I continued to backtest on a static chart, bar by bar to help me identify the setup.

The results are below.

I used the same criteria as yesterday.

Please note this test is not suggesting anything more than that this setup has or has not sufficient potential to keep investigating. This is a TEST nothing more!

Comments on Results:

The results still look positive.

Traders helping Traders

I find that if you ask a question or post a chart on the Facebook page or in the trading room, traders are willing to help.

One of the traders was willing to check my trades as I backtested each day.

On the day that I reviewed yesterday, I had recorded one winning trade that was not valid.

It helps when someone reviews your charts and results.



I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn


Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

 

[Eresults MTG]

First Live Sim Trade - 1 contract +$95 Net

The following image shows my first live sim trade.

As you can see It was A ETX (Red Box and Blue inside) and had a new MM on an Existing ZOI.

So it was a valid short.

The negatives of the trade wthat the market was in a range but it just had sufficient room for target to be hit before the 2nd MM.

I had left my target at 8 ticks and the target was hit.

 

[Eresults MTG]

Second Live Sim Trade - 1 contract +$95 Net

The following image shows my 2nd live sim trade.

As you can see It was A ETX (Red Box and Blue inside) and had a new Paw on an Existing Paw (within 2 ticks).

So it was a valid Long.

I had left my target at 8 ticks and the target was hit.

 

[Eresults MTG]

Third Live Sim Trade - 1 contract +$95 Net

The following image shows my 3rd live sim trade.

As you can see It was A ETX (Red Box and Blue inside) and had a new Paw on an MM (within 2 ticks).

So it was a valid Short.

I had left my target at 8 ticks and the target was hit.

 

[Eresults MTG]

DAY 7 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Plan, Do, Review & Improve …

Today, is a review today to ensure that I am on my path to profitability within 90 days.
I believe, I have started well, but after reviewing a few things I need to make a couple of changes.

Actions I took:

• Yesterday, I tested sim trading by entering 3 trades
• Reviewed another traders record of trades
• Reviewed the effectiveness of the ETX trade to meet my goal
• Studied some extra setups
• Reviewed the valid trades for the day

Sim Trading:

It is one thing to identify a trade, but it is important to ensure that the trade flows from entry to exit. The three trades performed as expected.

Valid Trades Review

I was testing outside of US open and the trades were few and far between them. I know each day is different, so I asked another trade if I could look at his record of valid trades for the last few weeks.

The results identified that the ETX trades currently have reduced in frequency. So it supported my decision to include a couple of other setups from the TX series. The results showed that the TX trend and Divergence setups achieved great results and occurred frequently.

Naked TX Trend Trade

This is a very simple trade to identify.

The first 2 rules are as per all TX trades

• Setup must be a Reversal bar
• An exhaustion box with a trapped order must appear on the end of the bar

The additional rules are:

• That the current bar DR (trend indicator) and the prior bar DR must be the same color

The next important rules are based on Reasons Not to Enter:

• Not within 5 minutes of Market Open, Close or Government News
• Not directly into a stack of 3 or more OP Levels
• Not enter when 2 clusters appear within 3 bars of the and including the entry bar
• Not against a strong trend or into strong levels
• Not into chop

Stop and Target

• The initial Stop is 1 tick above/below the setup bar (17 ticks)
• The Target is 7 ticks

The following image will give you an idea of how simple it is to identify the trade.

Naked TX OD Divergence Trade

This is a very simple trade to identify.

The first 2 rules are as per all TX trades

• Setup must be a Reversal bar
• An exhaustion box with a trapped order must appear on the end of the bar

The additional rules are:

• Long Example – When Price makes a HH with the OD Divergence number making a substantially reduced number then we have OD Divergence

The following image shows my results identifying all 3 setups for the Sun- – Mon ES trading session :

Comments on Results:
The results look positive and justify’s further backtesting.

It is interesting that for the day:

• ETX – 13 trades, 1 maybe 2 lost, Total Gross $537.50
• NTX (trend) – 3 trades, Nil Lost, Total Gross $262.50
• NTX – OD -2 trades, Nil Lost, Total Gross $175.00

This did not match the frequency ratio of the trades from the sample I looked at.

I need to do more daily recording and analyse the trades to see how they fit my requirements.

I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn
​

Disclaimer
I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

 

[Eresults MTG]

 

[Eresults MTG]

DAY 8 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Testing and Learning …

Today, I continued to review the trades for the last 24 hours and learn more about the new setups.

Actions I took:

• Clarified the rules for entering and not entering with the new setups
• Reviewed the valid trades for the day on a static chart
• Daily Valid Trade Review

The following, shows all the trades I identified for the Tuesday ES trading session. The session starts at 18:05 Monday and ends for me at 15:50 Tuesday.

Please note, this is a deliberate learning process for me to learn to identify the trade setups, when to enter and when not to enter. I have a trader review my spreadsheet and we discuss the validity of both the entries I took and didn’t take.

The process takes a fair amount of time but helps me learn much quicker.

The following is the legend for the trades sheet:



Comments on Results:

The results look positive.

I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn​

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

 

[Eresults MTG]

DAY 9– Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Studying the Setups …

Today, I continued to study the setups and review the trades for the last 24 hours.

Actions I took:

• Listened to 2 new webinars on how to be successful on the Sniper Bootcamp
• Clarified the setups in my trading plan
• Watched the live market and the commentary during the first 90 mins of the market open
• Reviewed the potential trades for Wednesday

New Webinars
This week Apex held a number of excellent webinars to help with my understanding of the setups. Learning when not to take a setup has been the most difficult part of learning to be successful.

Live Trade Room and Commentary
I found the moderators very helpful in clarifying the market during the US Open.
For a new person, the learnings were excellent but I still would recommend, first having a reasonable understanding of the rules before attending the sessions.
Live calls were made with explanations when possible. Some of these calls matched the Sniper Bootcamp setups and others were based on the experience of the moderators. Most of the calls would have allowed a trader to enter in time for the trade.

Wednesdays Potential Trades
Wednesday was an interesting day. I saw more chop in the market around setup bars. Chop is one of the reasons not to enter. The market chop kept me out of a lot of trades and if I had not have studied the Reasons Not to Trade, I am sure I would have had a number of losses.

Instead, I only identified winners, from the small number of trades.

Please consider this is on a static chart where I am moving it bar by bar to make my decision. So when in Sim or Live where the decision is needed quicker, I may have a completely different result.

That is why doing this Deliberate Practice is critical to my success.

Practice doesn’t make Perfect, Perfect Practice makes Perfect.
​

The other important process is having someone else check your practice of identifying valid trades. Feedback is critical to my growth.

The following is the legend for the trades sheet:

I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn​

Disclaimer
I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

 

[Eresults MTG]

DAY 10 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – More Testing and Learning …

Another day in a market that didn’t give many valid trades. But still a good day!

Actions I took:

• Listened to more training webinars and refined my notes
• Watched the live market and the commentary during the first 60 mins of the market open
• Reviewed the potential trades for Thursday

Live Trade Room and Commentary
I find that listening to the Live Room when the two moderators are in the room highlight and reinforce the trading nuances necessary to be successful.

Thursday Potential Trades
Thursday was another slow day but full of lessons.

After I went through the daily process of bar by bar static chart review, I looked at the trades I didn’t take and asked myself what would have happened in the live market. There was one trade I am sure I would have taken and lost. This one was not on my sheet as I had sufficient time to analyze it on the static chart. This part of deliberate practice is proving to be critical for building my skills.

The major lessons are around … When not to take a trade.

The other important process is having someone else check your practice of identifying valid trades. Feedback is critical to my growth.

I added a second setup column so I could record if there were 2 setups on the same signal

The following is the legend for the trades sheet:

I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer
I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

 

[Eresults MTG]

DAY 11 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – More Testing and Learning …

Another day in a market that was slow and didn’t give many setups … but still enough!

Actions I took:

• Watched another live webinar
• Watched the live market and the commentary during the first 150 mins of the market open
• Reviewed the potential trades for Friday

Live Trade Room and Commentary

With the speed of the market being slower, more time was spent on questions, reinforcing lessons form the market and the webinars along with trade calls.

Friday Potential Trades

Friday was another slow day but full of lessons. The slow days test your discipline.
Again, on review on the day’s trades I identified some trades that I may have taken live which were not valid. This highlights that I need more practice on both a static chart and with Market Replay using a fast speed to help my decision making reflections.

Identifying the trade is easy but seeing the reasons not to enter can sometimes be harder.

The following is the legend for the trades sheet:

I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer
I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

 

[Eresults MTG]

DAY 12 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Review Day …

Time to review where I am currently at, in the challenge.

Actions I took:

• Reviewed my current status with the course to see if I am on track to meeting my goals
• Reviewed the 6:3 Apex Rule

Current Status

I am happy with my progress, having gone through:

• all the online videos
• updating with the weekly webinars
• learning the setups and rules around entering and not entering
• daily review of possible trades
• peer to peer review of my daily review
• sim trading for 1 day to check that the process works

Apex Investing

Generally, I am very happy with the course and Apex Investing.

Best Features:

• The sniper setups appear to work (still to test in the live market)
• There are plenty of people in the community who will answer any questions or give you advice or how to find out the answer
• Apex team are very knowledgeable and want to help and make the information more understandable

Possible Improvements:

• The Bootcamp Sniper Training page has all the information and links for the course. It could be simplified and reordered to make it easier to follow.
• The course is evolving due to the market and Apex trying to simplify it for new people. This comes across as Apex changing things too often. They are only small changes but it can put you off. I find that they are just clarifying things to help the students
• When the moderators are in the trade room it can get confusing for the new people, as some of the trades are not sniper trades.
• If you miss the moderated room time then you will often miss great nuances to help you trade. I record the sessions so I don’t miss these gold nuggets.

What has held my progress up?

The biggest area that I have been slow to learn has been around when not to enter a trade especially around some types of chop. I have completed several other courses, but I find that in this course it is more important than in the others.

Am I on Track to my Goal?

At this time I see that I am on track to profitability within 90 days.

Review of the 6:3 Money Management Rule

The 6:3 ratio means that on any given day you can only lose 6 net trades and win 3 net trades before you stop trading. Apex state that is highly improbable to lose 6 net trades.

Too many people keep trading and don’t know when to stop.

Net 3 winners

This idea is based on wanting you to be profitable for 3 months before you start increasing your contracts. They also suggest that you withdraw 50% of your profit weekly.

If you trade ES with an 8 tick target the that means:

3 net winners = $12.50 x 8 = $100 x 3 trades = $300 per day minus commission.

Weekly = $300 x 5 = $1,500 – commission

Monthly = $1,500 x 4 = $6,000 – commission

Net 6 Losers

Again, If you trade ES with an 8 tick target the that means:

6 net losers= $12.50 x 8 = -$100 x 6 trades = -$600 per day plus commission.

Comment based on my Backtesting Results:

I like the idea of having the rule to stop trading. I have not seen any loss of 3 trades which resulted in 3 net losses. The only time this would occur would be if mistakes were made. So based on these results I will stop trading if 3 net trades occur on any 1 day. This will then allow me to identify and fix any problem before I lose too much financial or mental capital.

The idea of stopping when I make 3 net winners means that I will achieve my original goal and limit the risk of overtrading.

I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn​

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

 

[Eresults MTG]

DAY 13 + 14 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Testing and Focus …

Time to test my skills and focus to improve.

Actions I took:

• Market Replay Testing to observe where I need to improve my skills
• Daily Practice of identifying the trades for the day

Market Replay Testing

The purpose of the Market Replay testing is to identify if I currently have the skills to trade profitably at the speed of the market.

The results identified one main area that I need improvement:

• The main skill is identifying a certain type of chop. I will create an indicator to flag the chop and that should help a lot

Sunday + Monday Potential Trades

I identified 11 valid trades of which 10 were winners.

Of the three types of trades (Enhanced, Trend, and Divergence), Five trades were Divergence trades.

I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

 

[Eresults MTG]

DAY 15 – Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Daily Review …

ES had a good day and NQ starting to deliver good signals!

Actions I took:

• Good learning in the live trading room at US Open
• Created and tested chop indicator – still some mods to do
• Reviewed the potential trades for Tuesday

Live Trade Room and Commentary

Darrell was late to the room and Lori shared her experience with the room.

Tuesday Potential Trades

The ES had some slow periods bit still would be a profitable day..




I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

 

[Faust88]

Hey Garry,

thanks for sharing your results of the trial with us. I have never heard of Apex before.

How subjective is the approach from your experience ? Does the guy who operate the trading room post live trades or is it the usual coulda whoulda shoulda stuff you have in most trading rooms, i.e. pointing out the winners after the fact and then coming up with all kinds of explanations as to why the unprofitable trades should never have been taken as xyz were not valid etc etc ?

Thanks

 

[Eresults MTG]

Hey Garry,

thanks for sharing your results of the trial with us. I have never heard of Apex before.

How subjective is the approach from your experience ? Does the guy who operate the trading room post live trades or is it the usual coulda whoulda shoulda stuff you have in most trading rooms, i.e. pointing out the winners after the fact and then coming up with all kinds of explanations as to why the unprofitable trades should never have been taken as xyz were not valid etc etc ?

Thanks

Hi Faust88,

The trading room calls vary due to the speed of the market. I generally find that the calls are called with sufficient time for the listener to enter when the market is not too fast. Most of the calls are called clearly but sometimes not as clear.

A lot of the traders take the trades and make their 3 and done.

From a beginner I would not immediately go into the room until you learn the rules. Then I would not take any of the trades until I was confident they meet the rules of the setups.

Three types of calls are made:

1. Trades that meet the rules
2. Trades based on the rules but may not fully meet the rules and are based on other factors not taught yet.
3. These calls are called audible calls and may not reflect the trade setups in the course.

Darrell, uses these to make excellent profit in front of the traders in the room.

As a new trader this can be a little confusing as some of it is outside the course.

The benefit is that you can follow the calls and make good $$ and learn some extra lessons by listening in the room and asking questions.

Cheers
Garry

 

[Eresults MTG]

DAY 16- Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Daily Review …

ES had another good day!

Actions I took:

• Good learning in the live trading room at US Open
• Reviewed the potential trades for Wednesday
• Continued using Market Replay to improve my live market decision making for the live market

Live Trade Room and Commentary

The US open started slow but some good trades could be made. Avoiding News was critical.

Wednesday Potential Trades

The ES could have been a profitable day as long as you followed the rules.

The following is the legend for the trades sheet:

I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

 

[Eresults MTG]

DAY 17- Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Daily Review …

Not the best day for ES!

Actions I took:

• Good learning in the live trading room at US Open – Lori shared some great lessons
• Continued using Market Replay to improve my live market decision making for the live market
• Reviewed the potential trades for Thursday

Live Trade Room and Commentary

ES gave a lot of opportunities to lose money.

NQ is trading well during the US trading session. Some people are starting to trade more NQ then ES. I will continue with ES and from Monday, I will start recording the Potential Trades for NQ as well as ES.

Market Replay Lessons

Have your trading plan in front of you when you trade. This may sound common sense but I see a lot of people who are taking trades that are not valid trades. Just because it wins doesn’t mean it was a valid trade and can create bad habits.

After, listening in the live trade room it is easy to want to take other trades that I have not tested and fully trust.

This was a problem for me today when I started my Market Replay! I stopped and clarified the trade setups I was using and took ownership of that. After that, it was easier to focus on my trading and I stopped making silly mistakes if, in doubt, I referred to my setup notes for confirmation.

Thursday ES Potential Trades

This is one of the lowest ES profitable trade day lists that I have tracked.

The following is the legend for the trades sheet:

I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

 

[Eresults MTG]

DAY 18- Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Daily Review …

An interesting day for ES and NQ still giving good signals.

Actions I took:

• Listened to the trading room for the first 90 mins of the US Open
• Continued using Market Replay to improve my live market decision making for the live market
• Reviewed the potential trades for Friday

Live Trade Room and Commentary

I believe the live trading room with commentary and calling trades good for some people but distracting for others. Some of the knowledge shared in the room is very useful and would help me to learn quicker.

I fall into the bracket of being distracted and I don’t want trades called for me. So the question is, how do I get the knowledge that is shared in the room?

I have tried recording the session and because the talking is not continuous can be over 2 or more hours, it isn’t practical to review it every day.

So I believe the best way is if I record it and then convert it to text. I could skim the text in 10 mins and see what is useful and what is not. There are some free and paid programs. The paid ones can work out expensive so I am looking for one that is free or low price to achieve this. So far I have not found a program that does a good job.

If anyone can suggest a program that will convert either audio or video/audio to text, I would appreciate it.

Market Replay Lessons

Again, the Market Reply reinforced some items I need to focus on.

Friday ES Potential Trades

Two losses in a row!!

Remember, the tracking sheet is of all trades that I identified for the day. The plan is to have 3 Profitable Net Trades or 3 Losing Net Trades then quit for the day.

I also showed my tracking of MFE (Maximum Favorable Excursion) for each trade. This is an important statistic that I use to allow me to make an informed decision to vary my profit target.

In simple terms, MFE is how far the trade moves in a profitable direction.

You will also notice a comment “stopped must have been placed in the correct place”. In this trade, the long entry bar was sitting on a paw (line) that was 1 tick below the low of the bar. The normal stop would be placed 1 tick below the setup bar. Unless the order print (in this case the paw) was below the low. Then you would place the stop 1 tick below the paw (correct placement).

In the case price came back to the paw and if you had your stop in the correct place (1 tick below the paw) you would not have been taken out.

The following is the legend for the trades sheet:

I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

 

[jeffre5]

Why have you felt the need to go on several sites posting your journal??