" Question which are specific to a trader asking the question should be asked via PM. Questions like, what is your OR, what is your indicator on your chart, what time did you enter the trade etc. should be asked via PM." Please
follow this next time. I will answer since i need to answer another question also.
Have been trading CL for 2 years. Yes.
I will take this opportunity to answer some related issues since lot of traders are struggling day after day and they
watch BTR411 clearing 100 ticks per set up, mf breakout clearing $500 here and $700 there etc.
I have said it many times but it's worth repeating. Without proper equity account a day trader makes his job harder
beyond imagination.
With a 20K account most brokers will let a trader trade 3-4 cars. My recommendation always has been
1 car for 25 K equity account. This means one need to have 50K account for 2 cars. I have traded myself and
see other traders push the envelope in terms of trading maximum size and then not been
able to handle the PRESSURE.
Even more important than equity account is ones financial situation outside trading account.
I personally ONLY know of 2 traders who are successful beyond anyone's imagination. One has a full time business
and trades 4-6 cars a set up and does very well. He has very little pressure to make money and does very well.
The other one is full time trader for last 30 years and it's tough to describe his success. I have compared
my trades with his. In majority of the cases we are on same side of the trade but his results are just out of this
WORLD. He has no pressure because most IMPORTANTLY he knows what he is doing plus financially he is like FORT KNOX.
He did not started with 10K, 20K to make millions. He started out financially VERY secure, learned his craft like all of us and never looked back.
He has NO FEAR. NONE. Why? because as long his premise and set up is correct market can move 100 ticks against
him and it will not make any difference whatsoever in his life, his account. He can loose 5 days in a row on full size
and it will not make a difference. By the way one will have to go way back in his trading career to find 5 loosing days in a row.
I am financially quite secure but have lost a life time of savings in REAL ESTATE during 2007 bubble. So i still have
SCARS left plus large losses during first year of trading.
I know every set up of these 2 traders and trade them daily but i can not match their performance primarily due to
losses i had in the past. The day i get over that HUMP watch out.
I got lot of e-mails from traders and they keep on struggling primarily due to in sufficient equity accounts and i am
pretty sure that their financial situation is not conducive to day trading . I will say to the traders who have reached out to me that you know everything you need to know. Take care of financial side first.
Bottom line day trading CL is not hard. It has ATR of 140-200 ticks on more than 70% of the days.
It should not be HARD to grab 40-70 ticks a day from this provided one is financially very secure and use
common sense in day trading.
3 traders. Same method, set ups but different execution based on fear.
Mfbreakout= Trading with moderate fear, moderate results.
Mentor #1= Some Fear, good results.
Mentor #2= No fear EXCEPTIONAL results.
I bet a traders execution gets screwed depending upon the level of FEAR on has while trading. A common sense trading approach
plus strong financial security will take care of FEAR and your method will look like the best in the WORLD.
Environment is important for trading.
Edge is also important.
But EIA wednesday messing my edge.
So I will be trading on Mon, Tues, (Rest), Thu and Fri (Rest), (Rest).
Nice.
I'm not afraid to change my mind. ;)
After few years, and after deep consideration I now will award myself a rest day on EIA day 9usually Wednesday). So I will simreal trade only 4 days/week - mon, tues, thu and Friday.- 8.45am to 10.45am each day. (2hrs)
CL Friday session will lull my mind to sleep and it has different characteristic than other days. (Suddenly mkt move - hey Mr Market celebrate my decision!)
Since a long long time ago, I had this idea of SR line can act like a fence.
You and I know that at this point, the price action will act...
Then I jumped ....exactly at the Wrong Side of the fence.
The entry direction is totally bad, even though the entry place is totally good.
To have agood entry....I need to have more skills at reading direction by observing...
1) Wicks 2) Wedges 3)InsideBar 4) Head Shoulder 5) Doji 6) Big Candle Engulfing 7) DOMOTO Double or More Touch 8) HiHi LoLo witches 9) Fakey
However, there is one thing MORE important than the entry. The exit.
I need to know where I should exit. Or do I need to leave it to my manager ? (Mr Stoploss).
Difficult to think during trading without visual aid...
However, yesterday I found the tool that I looking for afters years gone....the Reward risk tool ...lurking somewhere in the Sierra chart. It looked like this...
I have to thank the an anon trader that ask SC for this tool...
And kiss goodbye to that "Cut loss, profit run" rhetoric.
Again , this is only a RR tool...it will be a good tool if I have a good skill using it..
Nothing fancy....still use XP and DSL .
The pic taken after trading hour, so no live chart or DOM
- at left printer to print notable setups,
- hearing local radio station during trading is helpful...
-simple rules on the wall...changes often ;)
- direct line to call Chicago if there is any fire ;)
-May put a wall paper with a lake view and switch to optic fibre ..if I have +ve trading income later ;)
(the carrot)
update Apr 2014: using fiber optic now much smoother
I realised that most of traders use 5 min chart for CL.
Yesterday prove this case, also like 1001 cases before...
I use a smaller TF than that 1 or 2 mins.
A democracy can failed at certain times - e.g. gov shutdown (let those clever politicians solved their problems). A democracy is always agree to disagree. But working as a team always need everybody to agree. Conclusion : Thats why politicians do the talking, and the others do the working.
However, democracy always right in trading, because democarcy in trading is risking the real working money
Therefore , I will use 1 of my eye to look at 5 min TFrame...
even though I hate that 5mins chart ;)
