A hectic time, even to write a blog.
I am still doing significant home improvements but outside of that dedicating myself to my trading.
My trading style is discretionary lower time frame price action, and I’ve settled on a particular procedure for some time.
Yes, as with most longer-lasting traders, I’ve tried most indicators, timeframes and magic sauce known. And in great detail too.
It is so important to find what suits us personally. For example, I prefer a lower timeframe pure price action read with context from higher timeframes.
It’s only for some, requiring significant screen time and skills development.
I’ve also gone from multiple markets to one or two indices—namely, the Dax and the Nasdaq. But my go-to is the Dax, which suits my preferred trading hours.
Now I’ve found my style (rather than following someone else’s), it is suitable to be able to verify what I’m doing continually.
To do that, I subscribe to Straydog Trading (aka Relja Radovanovic) for daily context. By email and access to his website. I get his take on the Dax every morning before the market opens. He’s been in the game for a couple of decades, and not much gets past him. It is also a good check that I’ve caught everything in my preparation.
Straydog’s process is the same as mine, which, for me, is the vital thing.
How can you learn price action? Lance Beggs is the best I’ve found online for a detailed price action trading course. Before Lance, however, you’d have to learn the basics of which there is a great deal of information online or by studying multiple books on the subject.
Price action is suitable for any timeframe. Indeed, the higher the timeframe, the more stable the price action, as the news is not as noticeable.
But, like Lance, I prefer the very low timeframes. I need to be watching the screen, and I like to work with tight stops. Not suitable for most, but I like it. The price rarely gets to my ‘stop’ before I’ve rejected a trade. Having had a significant loss in the past, I’m now super conscious of risk.
Letting the price escape one’s control is a feeling I’d assimilate to Larry Walters, a surviving Darwin Awardee. In 1982, Larry bought 45 weather balloons, attached them to a tethered garden chair and filled them with helium. Then, armed with sandwiches, beer and a pellet gun, he released the rope.
Looking forward to floating around at about 30 feet, he envisioned taking out a few balloons to get back down. But, in reality, he immediately ascended to 16,000 feet. Finally, after some fourteen hours, he got the courage to shoot enough balloons that he descended.
Yes, trading can be exactly like that if you ever let it get away from you. As Larry probably said, “expletive, never again”.
Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. All the very best
Buzz