TDs Journal

[trader_dante]

Yesterday I was looking at a chart of the Bund and decided that I wanted to sell it as it looked to me like it was under distribution.

I sold £2 per point at point 1 on the attached chart which was directly into a rising TL. Contrary to the way most traders operate, I sometimes SELL support.

What happened immediately after is why this is not always the best idea. Price found value and made its way back up to the highs.

There was a huge point of control on the Market Profile at 23's and clear resistance on the charts so I put my stop a short way above this. Although it look obvious and I have drawn it here, I hadn't seen the TL across the tops when I took this.

The market took out the highs but only just and in the process came very close to my stop but didn't hit it. This turns out to have been a false break and then once again it turned and as soon as it did my conviction that this was going to break became ever stronger. When it returned to the TLs, I began to sell again - £1 on a break of the first one (point 2) and another £1 on the break of the second (point 3) to give me a £4 per point net short position.

I held this position as an overnight and when the market moved lower this morning, I closed £2 at the first support level on the hourly. I put the stop on the second half to just above the hourly S/R pivot with the intention of trying to run it down as far as 00s but it was hit when the price bounced at my support.

Total profit on the trade was £99.

Whilst I was in this Bund trade, I also bought £2 per point late last night when the Euro formed a daily pin bar. (see weekly charts for the levels and daily for the pin) I was alerted to this by a post from superspurs on my thread and as a result when I withdraw, half the profit goes to a charity of his choice.

The actual entry coincided with a bounce from an S/R pivot (see point 1 on hourly chart). I had a target of 1.4150 (just ahead of the resistance) but when price stalled not far from it, I decided to exit on a break lower of the inside bar at point 2.

Total profit on the trade was £176.

Account balance is now £978.90

 

[superspurs]

superb.

 

[Glenborrell]

Great Trading Dante

Dante,

Think you are doing some great things with this thread. You probably deserve some :clap::clap:.

Really touched by why you have done this as my partners Dad also suffers from parkinsons. He's still pretty active but taking the drugs and coming on and off them is awful to watch. It's also tough cos he really likes playing with our daughter but she wears him out to much but is not old enough to understand.

It definitely makes you feel good about society knowing there are people out there like yourself. And a darn site better than listening to all the bad news on TV and in the papers.

Keep up the good work. I will continue to watch with interest.

Glen

 

[Lord Lucan]

Tom,

Well done for reaping money from the ether to give to charity but you're still a t0sser in my eyes!

Good stuff mate

 

[trader_dante]

Tom,

Well done for reaping money from the ether to give to charity but you're still a t0sser in my eyes!

Good stuff mate

Bah! Go back to scalping the FTSE off the order flow and leave the real moves to the big boys, LL!

 

[grimweasel]

Top drawer stuff this Tom; good luck with the quest and I hope it brings you and the charity a good financial reward.
Best of trading,
Grim

 

[trader_dante]

Not the best day yesterday. I played the gap fill on the Euro/Usd with the entry coinciding with a break of support (point 1) but after half the gap filled, I moved my stop to breakeven and then got stopped out on a retracement covering near the highs before the REAL move kicked off.

I then tried to get long later in the day off the inside bar that appeared near the lows entering at (point 2) Long tails showed short term value rejection below the S/R pivot so I went long on the break but after being 40 ticks up decided to move my stop once again to breakeven with a pivot between my entry and the price. A retracement bought me out once again for nothing.

I tried again later at point 3 but closed immediately for a scratch when I found that the inside bar was actually the result of a data error in MT4 and price had actually pushed higher in that bar and then been forced down.

Finally, in the evening, I caught the violent break to the upside from the consolidation area, entering £2 per tick at point 4. I closed it at first potential resistance at point 5 for a profit of £120.

 

[sinimini]

Fantastic thread TD, made even more special by your motives...congratulations on smashing the £1000 mark!

Sini.

 

[PKFFW]

"Not the best day yesteerday"

Don't be so hard on yourself TD! you made 120 pounds and didn't lose any.

Great stuff, keep up the good work.

Cheers,
PKFFW

 

[trader_dante]

Yesterday marked the end of my second week trading this account and it was marked by another £70 credit referral This bonus money can't actually be withdrawn from the account for three months, not that it matters because more money means more margin...

So, the record so far is 14 trades:

8 Wins
1 Loss
5 Scratches

...and 2 referral bonuses.


The intial £40.60 is now at £1,168.90.

The first target of £1,000 was hit. My second target is £2,000.

I'm going to aim to hit that by the 7th October (Five weeks from my first trade)

 

[trader_dante]

I went long on Crude last night (point 1) entering at £1 per tick minutes before the US rate announcement. Not the best timing as I went immediately offside and almost got stopped as the Dollar gained strength. However, the market came back strongly and as the position moved well into profit I held it as an overnight.

Once the market broke through my first resistance I moved my stop to a little way beneath it and was stopped out for a profit of £183 at point 2.

 

[timsk]

Hi Tom,
Great trading - as ever.
In line with the recent flurry of members changing their username, I think you should change yours. Some suggestions in case you want to consider the idea . . .
1. Midas Touch
2. Mr. Midas
3. trader_midas

Tim.

 

[trader_dante]

This is one of my favourite setups although I made nothing out of this particular one.

Price falls strongly into a solid support (fifth test in this case). The market then bounces but stalls part way up the previous bar and then falls back again.

I took this at £2 per point on the breakout at point 1 with a target at point 2. This went almost immediately onside but I was a little too hasty to move my stop to breakeven (after being 23 pips up) and got caught on the retracement.

The target was hit two hours later.

Such is the case from time

 

[Glenborrell]

This is one of my favourite and most reliable setups although I made nothing out of this.

Price falls strongly into a solid support (fifth test in this case). The market then bounces but stalls part way up the previous bar and then falls back again.

I took this at £2 per point on the breakout at point 1 with a target at point 2. This went almost immediately onside but I was a little too hasty to move my stop to breakeven (after being 23 pips up) and got caught on the retracement.

The target was hit two hours later.

Such is the case from time

TD,

When you played this breakout ($/yen) where did you put your initial stop? And is it the same concept with all breakouts you play?

I'm asking because before i found your initial thread i had been trading breakout/triangle/flags etc but struggling to identify a good place to put stops. Somewhere where your decision to trade is wrong (like in the case of pins bars the break below the pin).

Thanks in advance,

Glen

 

[trader_dante]

TD,

When you played this breakout ($/yen) where did you put your initial stop? And is it the same concept with all breakouts you play?

I'm asking because before i found your initial thread i had been trading breakout/triangle/flags etc but struggling to identify a good place to put stops. Somewhere where your decision to trade is wrong (like in the case of pins bars the break below the pin).

Thanks in advance,

Glen

Hi Glen, I usually put my stop just above the high of the bar that triggers the entry into the breakout. In this example entry was at 105.17 with a corresponding stop at 105.47.

 

[omni]

I see you have a new mantra trader_dante......... is time not time, and money not money anymore?

 

[trader_dante]

I see you have a new mantra trader_dante......... is time not time, and money not money anymore?

Time is time and money is money is one of my favourite quotes but it's always good to change the mantra from time to time.

Don't want to sound like a broken record lol

 

[trader_dante]

On Wednesday, I was watching the Soybean market as it came into the rising TL from September '06 and a major previous swing low that also forms a minor s/r pivot.

I saw an inside bar at this level on the hourly TF and decided to take it on a break long at £3 per tick at point 1 with a stop on the other side of it at point 2.

When I got home from work the pits had closed but I saw that beans had moved up after my entry but pulled off the hourly resistance which was a little disconcerting because the other grains had had a strong rally into the close.

In the electronic session overnight, the market came off but in the morning it moved up and made new highs once again. This gave me a degree of confidence, however, when the pit opened there was a sharp gap down.

I admit I had a bit of a "rabbit in the headlights" reaction to this down move. It wasn't anything to do with the size of the position - I had calculated the risk and was prepared for the loss - it was more to do with the fact that despite having a plan you are prone to wondering in the heat of the moment whether you should hold steadfast to the plan or call on intuition and experience and adjust the plan in response to unexpected market movements.

The dilemma for me was that although the beans gapped down they were holding at my entry and then moving up to fill the gap even while the other grains (Wheat and Corn) were falling quickly and violently. I couldn't decide and indeed had no way of knowing at the time whether the fact that Soybeans were holding up was because either they:

a) had underlying price support leading to the assumption that if the other grains turned up then Soybeans would outperform or;

b) that selling had not hit them yet but soon would

In the end I decided, despite being given several chances to get out for a scratch or a small gain, to keep to the plan and hold as I believed the level I had used as the basis for my trade, was a strong one.

At any rate, the beans soon followed the other grains and went down through the support, hitting my stop.

Was my stop in the safest place? The problem with placing it below the inside bar was that the inside bar itself was above the TL and the previous swing low. Therefore a complete test of support may have been anticipated on any downwards move.

This thought was confirmed by the spike low which was short lived when the market was bought up at slightly lower levels.

I always find that you learn more from the losing trades than the winners and I had a lot to think about after this one.

The loss was relatively minor though at £75.

 

[MrGecko]

What is your view on the contract now? With no close below your support (red line), do you remain bullish and on the lookout for another entry on pullback? Or have you taken the whole trade off the table....

great trading BTW.

 

[trader_dante]

What is your view on the contract now? With no close below your support (red line), do you remain bullish and on the lookout for another entry on pullback? Or have you taken the whole trade off the table....

great trading BTW.

Hi MrGecko, thanks for reading my journal.

Rather than take a view, I try and follow the price and stay open to all eventualities.

However, I can say that price has held above the confluence of a rising TL and a previous major swing low so there is support. While we are above support and a strong one such as this, I am looking to be a buyer.

Interestingly, price has hit what was my first target in the trade I took, head on (see chart attached) and found some resistance...

At each resistance level on the way up, I will be looking for shorts into the downwards trend that started in June...