Alternative Technical Templates.

[4xStar]

Jimmy Jones: Made my first trade tonight using only s/r lines.... I went short and took 20 pips with a tight stop up above the s/r. 2r trade, not great but was more interested in the concept than the gain.

Congrats Jimmy! I started incorporating this methodology into my trading plan a couple of weeks ago and have seen a great improvement!

Re trade documentation ....
Interesting .. JimmyMac and Kenneth Lee have almost opposite points of view on this ...
I see JM's point .. if your trading plan is in place, you don't need excessive documentation and post-game analytics .. but, on the other hand...
Kenneth has a lot of validity, especially for newer traders. As I was reading his post, I was thinking .. maybe write out a set of questions/criteria that can be answered with a simple yes, no, or a check mark .. and print it out, one set of questions to a page and then use one page for each new trade.
That way you would have a quick way of 'checking' that the trade you are about to take will meet your (already defined) criteria...

Probably too basic an idea for the pros, but for newbies ... could be useful.

I still would like more input from seasoned traders .. do you document each trade and if so, why? And, briefly .. how?

[KENNETH LEE]

4xStar: Yes I think learning especailly it helps keep a clear defined course of action handy. especially if things start moving fast. Having some areas jotted down might eleviate some stress. I think the Pro's also do anlaysis you
have to know the answers to all those questions , even if you Know it form just glancing at a chart, There are other things in play on any given day, How much anyone wants to use in there personal strategy is the million dollar question, but someone has a quote on here that states take it all and keep the best.

Your trading plan could all be on your chart, Your S/R lines your trend lines fibs ..etc.. Then at end of every day you could save that chart and add a summary to it, how you got in did it move the way you thought, if not why, all the time thinking about the next move..

This will all get easier as we progress, But I will still write it all down to help myself come up with all the best moves and to help me remember what took place to make those great trades. As I see something is irrevelent it will get tossed aside with a byline of why..

Having just reread JimmyMacs post, if your just using this for day trading than maybe not everything be needed, I am thinking to use this as a core running trade, Then adding and subtracting lots during the trading day to gain max profits, Doing it that way I personnally want to have a known target for every turn that I can either add to or subtract. Plus any other information I may find usefull..

[Sweet Pip]

What Ive been doing is taking a screen shot when I enter a trade and saving it to a separate folder on my harddrive. Then, in notepad, I comment why I took the trade. Later when the trade is finished, I take another screen shot and update the notepad file with the results. This way I have a before & after picture. Sometimes I'll do this if I'm unsure about a trade and didn't enter, but still curious if it would have worked out. I try to name the screen shots and txt files the same using yymmdd.time.pair for a naming convention ie 080826.1500.eurusd.bmp & same for the txt file

[4xStar]

That's a great idea .. having a before and after visual ... and should take just a few moment to do, so not interrupting the trading. Thanks for sharing that (I just added to your rep)

Originally Posted by Sweet Pip

What Ive been doing is taking a screen shot when I enter a trade and saving it to a separate folder on my harddrive. Then, in notepad, I comment why I took the trade. Later when the trade is finished, I take another screen shot and update the notepad file with the results. This way I have a before & after picture. Sometimes I'll do this if I'm unsure about a trade and didn't enter, but still curious if it would have worked out. I try to name the screen shots and txt files the same using yymmdd.time.pair for a naming convention ie 080826.1500.eurusd.bmp & same for the txt file

[Sweet Pip]

Originally Posted by 4xStar

That's a great idea .. having a before and after visual ... and should take just a few moment to do, so not interrupting the trading. Thanks for sharing that (I just added to your rep)

You're quite welcome...and thank you too

[Ray_1]

Originally Posted by Sweet Pip

What Ive been doing is taking a screen shot when I enter a trade and saving it to a separate folder on my harddrive. Then, in notepad, I comment why I took the trade. Later when the trade is finished, I take another screen shot and update the notepad file with the results. This way I have a before & after picture. Sometimes I'll do this if I'm unsure about a trade and didn't enter, but still curious if it would have worked out. I try to name the screen shots and txt files the same using yymmdd.time.pair for a naming convention ie 080826.1500.eurusd.bmp & same for the txt file

I sometimes tend to do that. But I am really not disciplined enough to do that for every trade I entered. Must force myself to have the discipline to practice Sweet Pips record keeping method in every trade.

[pipvader]

I took this trade because it failed to close beyond the 1.4806 level i had marked. i entered below the rejection candle on the 1hr chart. Since im new to this type of trading i was wondering whether my analysis was correct. Does this sort of behaviour happen often and is it indicative of a reversal.

Below is what i was looking at just after i took the trade

[Jocelyn]

Originally Posted by pipvader

I took this trade because it failed to close beyond the 1.4806 level i had marked.

i entered below the rejection candle on the 1hr chart.

Since im new to this type of trading i was wondering whether my analysis was correct.

You correctly identified an area of obvious near-term support & resistance & marked it up for reference.

Judging by the fact you executed a "short" trade, I guess you already established that the bigger picture was biased to the bearish on this pair.

Then you waited until price began showing signs of weakness before stepping in & executing your trade. You got a signal to go, according to your set-up/triggers....& you've got a clear area above the zone to hide your emergency stop in case it fails to go your way.

In my book, that's a pretty cool gig!!
Well done!

I've added a 4 hour chart just to amplify your reasoning & to show the clear s&r flip zone which you accurately identified. The 15min reference over the past few days again very clearly highlights the lower risk/higher reward option which you nailed.

Keep thinking & planning along those lines & you'll begin to weight the odds firmly in your favor over the long haul

Great trade.

[pipvader]

Thanks Jocelyn, I was a spectator today. Looking at the cable, price seemed very volatile around the 1.8300 mark. Had i taken the rejection candle that occurred at 9am gmt i probably would have been stopped out. In such situations how do you negotiate a trade such as this?

[Tess]

It’s certainly been challenging this week from an intra-day perspective. Depending on the set up, most folks would have been stopped out today had they executed around the period earmarked on your chart.

Even the die hard 15min inside bar players who executed earlier into the session as Europe/London opened up for business, would have had to sit thru a tedious, scrappy session until price finally got going this afternoon.

But that’s just how things go sometimes. You’re going to get periods like this when the pairs thrash around & get blown around off course. It’s these lacklustre, frustrating intra-day sessions when most of the break-even & losing trades will surface.

As long as you adhere to your risk parameters & remain loyal to your plans, then you shouldn’t suffer too badly when you experience the setbacks.