Combining trading strategies and approaches?

Trading Discussion
1

Well, this weekend i am feeling a bit sick, so i can dedicate more time on the charts, and as started to analyse my open position on the EUR/AUD, i noticed something, that i have noticed many times, before, but never got around to actually make a final decision on.

Basically, my Part Time Trading Strategy consists of trading reactions of significant inflictions points on the D,W,M time frames, and a 3 SMA trading strategy on the above mentioned time frames, plus the 4H time frame.

In this current example, i entered 5 pips bellow the lowest point of the hammer, and the SL is located 5 pips above the 50% mark of the entire hammer.
Here is a screenshot.

3 SMA M
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When i zoomed in the 4H time frame, there is a bearish trend forming, and i can basically trail my Stop Loss just above the 50 SMA (Red Line) which is also located just above the tip of the retracement - which is perfect.

TRailed SL
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My question is not just about trailing my stop loss, but entries in general, i can find much better entries on the lower time frames, especially in the EUR/AUD case, since it was based on a monthly candle.

I really would appreciate you guys giving me some kind of a feedback regarding this?

The Hector De Ville part time trading strategy very clearly states that under no sircumstances should i look for entries in the smaller time frames, and to stick to the time frame where the formation was spotted.

Should i combine them as i see fit, should i leave things as they are??

2

hey, imo that upthrust(pin on monthly) needs to be confirmed with a red candle(closed price) in order to jump in. price is trending upwards overall, could be just a bear trap, u need to confirm. plus after the ecb news i m seeing strenght(demand coming in) on the 1hr after they tried to push the price down. i wouldn t short it just yet. price is fractal, doesn t know what timeframe ur looking at, therefore the patterns ur seeing on 1min are same as daily, monthly etc, just the time conversion is different. so u need confirmation imo no matter the tf ur looking at. and yes, u could do a top down aprouch type of thing, start with weekly, support resist, daily same, determine trend if any, drill down to 4 and around those supply demand zones, trendlines, channels, whatever u use u pick ur entry according to ur higher timeframes bias. cheers

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3

The nice thing about forex is you can buy a little as 1 unit if you do choose to. If I know the direction price is moving I’ll do 1 of 2 things.

  1. put a feeler out, which means open a very small position, watch it and when it picks up the trend then open a bigger position. If it changes direction then you won’t lose much.
  2. put in a entry order and wait for it to get picked up.
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4

Great input thanks.
But should i mix 2 different trading strategies?

5


this is how i m seeing weekly, based only PA, would u short there?
hope this helps, cheers

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6

I drilled down on the weekly and daily and even the 4H specifically for EUR/AUD.
And to be honest, i avoid fundamentals, since this is part of the strategy.
But here is how the setup looks on the M, of-course it’s in an overal uptrend (but a very lame uptrend), i am not planing on cashing in a whole swing to the downside, just a reaction of this level.

Reaction
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7

mate, to be honest with u, a strategy based on solely and mostly MA s won t take u far. u need to understand how price moves, why it does so, what s the catalyst, know ur killing zones(where u expect an entry) etc…u can do the top down, it does work as i ve traded that using heikin ashi candles, and i do swin trade sometimes but mostly intraday ticks for me, or just turn a scalp in a possible swing trade etc…most of the strategy outthere have the same common basic knowledge, therefore i d put emphasys more on price rather then ema crosses and the likes, just my opinion anyway

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8

Bro, the example i used has nothing to do with MA’s, it’s based on major levels of S/R.
The SMA is the second strategy i used, and it’s not based on SMA< they are there just as an indicator to determine the trend, still levels/structure/infliction points are the most important thing.

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9

tottaly agreed that the trend is losing steam, and that could mean pullback, reversal, u can t know for sure, and yes, i don t trade news also, but i check to see when we have high impact and such, and i use that as catalyst for my bias. as for trading the pullbacks, tottaly doable, just do that top down aproach first, wait to have the possible retracemnet confirmed like on this example on monthly wait for that bearish close to confirm that hidden upthrust, then drill down and sell the crap out of it))). dunno if i explained myself in an easy to understand mannner

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10

nice , then go with that dude if it s working for u, don t fix what isn t broken

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11

You did, and this is exactly the problem i have.
Because the strategy strictly says that if i have level on the Weekly TF, i should be looking for price formations on the weekly, if i don’t get them, then move on to another pair. But, i should not drill down in the lower TF’s to find an entry.
And to be completely honest, i have been noticing that more often than not i get really good entries on one level lower time frame, then the one where i spotted the formation - which is normal.
But i haven’t kept any statistics to know weather it is valid or not.
My process of thinking is: this guy that made the strategy is a smart guy, if he noticed that for this specific system drilling down in the smaller TF’s was better he would have specified that, but no he specified to stick to the original TF.

I guess i kinda answered my own question, i should gather enough data and then make decision…lol

Any way, thanks for the input it was helpful

12

that s just stupid imo to not drill down to lower tfs if u can and want, like i said price is fractal, so u can drill down and look for exact same pattern or confluence that ur looking for on higher tfs, plus u d have less drawdown, stoploss etc. As for combining strategies, ofc u can and u should do that, u need to add ur own touch to any style of trading, cos what exactly works for another might not work for u unless u tweek it. basically, all ur knowledge so far, from all the stuff u studied, combine all that, journal ur trades, and see what exactly u come up with. what works and what not, win procentage, average loss vs average win for that type of strategy or entry, risk that ur comfortable with and so on. u have to put in the work mate, cheers

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13


i might be wrong but this is my reasoning and that s what i d wait for on monday(knowing what s on weekly, monthly, daily etc)

14

You’re looking to go long…dude, i hope it works out for me and not for you :joy:

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15

lol, ofc long unless high volume on up bar with a bearish reaction(supply coming in and selling into the up move) i wouldn t dare go against the banks. but then again, i m more intraday, or might turn an intraday move into a swing trade to hold for the hole week. but i ain t looking to hold positions weeks months etc. trend is ur friend untill climactic action
and if i d trade on weekly, i d still be looking to buy targeting the highs( look how that weekly candle closed, does that look like the sellers have the upper hand?

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16

The whole setup looks weird an any time frame. But how many hammers do we got on a monthly time frame that are slapping a previous infliction point on the Monthly…maybe 2or3 annually.
Maybe i should have decreased my lot size or something, but i am already involved.

More often than not, when i see a pinbar, on the longer TF’s there are 2 reaction candles…in this if i can cash in 300+ pips or so just from the reaction, i’ll be happy.

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17

Agreed, don’t be afraid to tweak your strategy, try other things. I took this ss Sept 3rd, rising wedge just bounced off resistance, so I went short with a small position. If you look at the M1 now you can see that my patience has paid off. BTW I still have a short position.

image
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I trade based on the M1 and weekly S/R, like you, but I take full advantage of the short term trends during the long term move down to the support level.

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18

for me it makes tottal sence, not weird at all, but we all have different point of views, that s what s fantastic, otherwise we d all be millionaires)))) let me know how ur sell went haha

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19

u jumped the gun imo, that monthly candle can finish anywhere, so unless u have a wide stop and ur targetting just few pips and get out, i wouldn t trade like that. not saying it s wrong

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20

This is exactly my point. Cause even while my reverse hammer was forming on the Monthly, i saw a perfect entry on the Daily…and i was gritting my teeth, cause now i would have been deep in profits.

Where is you SL, and what is your entry policy?