FAQ What trigger(s) do you use to get into a trade ?

[rathcoole_exile]

if your being serious about not trading on fridays, then thats quite mad as fridays has always been really bad for me and i was actually seriously thinking about making it a strict rule that i don't trade on fridays.

many people do the same.
especially when you consider that Fridays, in addition to all the other usual profit taking activity etc, are also the weekly and monthly Options expiration days with all the added volatility that that produces.

 

[options]

Excellent reply Rathcoole grasshopper son. You learn your lessons well...

But. The market being the double edged sword that it is also provides ample opps for the short time frame trader who is not afraid to take those opportunities.

As a general rule though, spot on. A lot of pros take a long weekend. Or at least are done by 10 ish uk time.

Me though, just to be obstropulous, Fridays have always been good to me. Mondays have always been terrible... Some traders do a 3 day week, some do full time for 5 months and take the rest of the year off.

It is whatever works for you.

I would personally only want to make one trade a year.

No. guess not. I would get bored.

 

[brutusdog]

Hi options good to see you about mate hope your well...been a while!

As far as triggers go and nick will already know this the 20ema works great for me, after a divergance setup in the trend of the higher timeframe.

 

[jayjay121]

for me at the moment .........it goes in this order and i like all to be confirming.

regular divergence only (more powerful if part of a 1,2 step pattern)
a broken trendline,
clear of s and r with enough room to make my target,
finally check my dom to see levels are in my favour.

its quite alot and i must admit i sometimes enter trades without all confirming, but when all are very high probability.............

 

[fayalac]

I prefer momentum wih a second trigger which is EMA, i never use an EMA larger than 20 because the longer the period the less sensitivity it can have to short therm movements.
I do these because i do swing trading.

 

[jonj]

hi yawl,just a sugestion but why dont people post charts with there explanations??it would be helpful for us newbies.

 

[rathcoole_exile]

hi yawl,just a sugestion but why dont people post charts with there explanations??it would be helpful for us newbies.

Price was in a BB squeeze (purple dots) obviously caused by lack of overnight volume/movement.
Price had started moving when the squeeze fired off Long at 6.30/7am (turquoise dots and green momentum bars)),
Placed a BuyStop at today's pivot, target R1

(Once I was Long I also placed a Stop & Reverse SellStop just below the Pivot. This obviously wasn't triggered)

Off to the pub....


(NB: This was obviously a trade from few weeks ago, before the Rainy season kicked in, so it was pretty safe to go Long. Of course this month, I'm looking for trades to the Short-side 'cos of all the rain)

 

[Carlosyabrudy]

Ive tried this and been successful a few times. This is of course not doable all the time but waiting til the Dow is at an extreme oversold level for the day.... usually marked out by a few bullsih divergances where you see buyers have rallied at lows of the day and had more power than bears.

take today..... first bullish CS at 14.50pm
Second rally at 15.05pm.... EXNTRY at 12,220... exit at 12,260.... US usually has a lot of double tops and head and shoulders. Ive been watching the Dow for a month and a half straight every trading day.

Of course this is all confirmed with MACD and momentum to gather the speed of price changes. MACD set at 12 and 22 based on Alexander Elders recommendations. I find it works better than a 26.

Is this idiocy or is this a semi-good idea?
Opposite applies when the market is bearish...

Edit: And there you have it for today. Nice head and shoulders pattern just finished emerging.

 

[studyolic]

I use swing charts for set-ups, wait for a pull-back against the trend, then watch the daily bars. My entry trigger is the market going back in the direction of the main trend by breaking yesterday's bar. I got about one trade a week, on average, during 2007; less during 2008.

 

[FulcrumTrader]

For futures trading, my primary means for exact trade entry final determination is a statistically set order flow transition . Through tracking Cumulative Delta at all times for the futures instruments I trade (ES, ZB, DAX, QM, etc), I will never enter my trade for the various set-ups I use until my order flow transition criteria is met.

If I am going to initiate a LONG trade, I want to be sure I join the market into a proper transitional change within the order flow conviction. Once the order flow transitions from sellers having control to buyers having control, to a defined criteria, then I am ready to fire off my LONG entry at that exact moment. I handle LONG or SHORT entries with the same statistical criteria that I have quantified for a proper order flow transition. I feel joining measured momentum at the exact time of entry is a critical aspect to higher probability trading.

 

[cuotes]

Different markets, different criteria.

But always wait until volume confirms the move.

Rains or shines.

 

[Splitlink]

I use swing charts for set-ups, wait for a pull-back against the trend, then watch the daily bars. My entry trigger is the market going back in the direction of the main trend by breaking yesterday's bar. I got about one trade a week, on average, during 2007; less during 2008.

If you are happy with one trade per week, you need go no further. The pullback system is, IMO, the only way to go. I don't like the risk taken, via SL distances, that daily bars
entail. In fact, hourly bars are too risky for me, so I use a lower TF. That doesn't matter, though. Everyone has to trade with the character that each of us has and each TF has its pullbacks.

 

[fayalac]

Any method will answer basically two questions, 1) when to enter (trigger), 2) when to leave (target).
So i guess you should define your method (best suitable for you) and you will find your triggers.

 

[littlebopip]

Good ole Fibonacci levels and support and resistance!

 

[amit1986]

Level 2/Time and Sales is my trigger. If the chart setup is good but momentum on level 2 isn't there, then I will not take it. If the chart is not too good, but the level 2 momentum is brilliant, I may take it, but being careful about my stop.

So, level 2 is my trigger.

 

[amit1986]

Hmm, well just read through the thread and it seems most of the posters are swing traders. For swing trading, level 2 is much less useful. For intraday trading, however, here's what I meant:

Chart setups provide a visual explanation of what is happening to price. However, trading simply off charts will not provide an edge to anyone. This is because anyone and everyone can notice chart patterns and trade off them - there is so special skill required to do so. In order to have the edge, you need to bring something unique to the game - a skill that takes time to develop, and most importantly, a lot of effort.

My skill that I am constantly developing is the reading off the level 2 screen, which shows all the bids and offers in the market of a particular stock. By reading the level 2 screen, I am able to add another dimension to my trading and most often, I can see what is about to happen to a stock before it actually happens. So, I can get into a trade several cents before all the chart traders jump on board.

For example, prior to a breakout, if I observe strong bid pressure, I will usually jump on board before the breakout and be able to get a healthy profit out of it. In this respect, the level 2 screen is my trigger and also keeps me out of many a false breakouts.

I won't be right all the time, but with momentum trading, if the stock doesn't do what I expect it to do, I can be out with a small loss.

Hope this explanation was clear enough.

 

[arigoldman]

Find the niche that suits your trading style best as different markets have different behaviors.

 

[fayalac]

Different markets, different criteria.

But always wait until volume confirms the move.

Rains or shines.

Within a wide spectrum you´re right, however markets follow a basic logic, of course you´re right if we consider as different markets 1) currencies, 2) indices and 3) comodities

 

[dgtrading]

turning points;

when higher highs and higher lows turn into lower highs and lower lows ( and vice versa)

pretty simple and applies to any timeframe, my favourite trades are turning points on the daily chart in line with the weekly

 

[malaguti]

turning points;

when higher highs and higher lows turn into lower highs and lower lows ( and vice versa)

pretty simple and applies to any timeframe, my favourite trades are turning points on the daily chart in line with the weekly

here here, an inverse head and shoulders reversal on the daily in line with the weekly trend..great set-up and happens all the time, on all timeframes (I just prefer higher TFs)