robster970
Guest Author
- Messages
- 4,567
- Likes
- 1,390
I enter/exit using the xtrader DOM, but I dont really look at it much. I look at DT's product since it does a much better job of showing the actual trades going through. Honestly I'm having a more difficult time finding signals with the DOM/TS than I thought I would after reading the NO BS book and DT's site. Again, just watching what is trading right now still doesn't give me the confidence to know whats gonna happen next. For example, often I'll see iceberg orders which might lean me to a reversal, only to watch price keep going through. Today at one point there was a massive 6000 contract iceberg at one point, the largest I've seen at one level yet in my few weeks of watching, and price eventually broke through anyway.
I would strongly suggest you persevere and I would also make sure (if you haven't) that you have both DOM & T&S up on screen. Default for x_trader is just the MD trader screen.
Right now, there is nothing discernable to see because you are only just starting to use it (I guess). Over time you will start to notice changes. This might be as simple as the general thickness of the DOM and the propensity for orders to get pulled. Alternatively this might be the speeding up and slowing own of orders on T&S and the subtle shift to it being more 'red' than 'blue'. All these visual cues are generally pre-cursors to what happens next on a chart and it is only because it is rich, voluminous and complex that it is difficult to dissect right now.
I will try and illustrate with the 3 alternative scenarios we were discussing earlier:
1). Low holds. DOM/T&S might exhibit one of two types of behaviour:
a) Lots of orders being traded at the low, bid holding and sell orders plentiful, sustained pressure on the bid and it is just being absorbed. Volume spike at that level. Sustained selling is a burst of activity. After a few minutes and probably a couple of waves of pressure it ceases and T&S thins out.
b) Sell orders start to dry up, activity levels drop, the odd little poke down to the low but nothing exciting to report. T&S flow is relatively constant, smallish orders.
2) Low doesn't hold.
You have probably been watching price grind down and as it gets to the low it slows down a little. It then pokes the low, looking for a reaction, nothing happens, the flow of blue on T&S doesn't increase. There is a tentative push below the low and then a small pause, no buyers turn up, then the sellers push hard through the LVN and take out a few levels below the low as it continues the move down.
3) Doesn't reach the low.
See 1a)
This is an example of what 'I' see. It is not specific. In fact trying to write this was quite difficult. Over time you will develop your own eye for this and be able to get into moves earlier and out later as a result of this additional information. I am not denigrating DT's plug-in btw. I can see it is good and I'm going to have a go with it in the next couple of weeks but my feeling (currently) is that it is just another piece of information about order size (which is useful) but in itself it is not the whole picture of a change of sentiment or money flow. It is complimentary.
So stick with it. You're doing ok.
I assume you are on demo right now or are you burning cash and trading 1 lots?