Steroid Scalping

Trading Systems
21

Why did you go short at what looked very clearly to me to be support? I went long exactly where you went short. I thought it was support, you knew it was, what, resistance? That can’t be. How did you know to go short at that congestion area that looked so much like support to me?

Boing787,
Heres my reasons for those trades…
Hopefully the picture says it all, so you dont have to read the long ass post below. :wink: I figured a picture would be more helpful.

The first short was showing a nice space between where price was and the true first support was. So I capitalized and took a quick 2 pips.
Then the price congestion started happening, which tipped me off a little bit. It became pretty clear…that the bears had the bulls beat, by watching the price action. And tick chart.
The price tried to push up and hold a couple times, only to be slammed down. And the longer it went on, the more sure I was that it was gonna drop instead. I went short, but with a smaller trade. Because I wan`t 100% sure…It was a familiar pattern though, that I see all the time. Horizontal congestion, ends with a continuation move about 75% of the time…and if it was strong support it wouldve bounced immediately like the previous two times.
Now still, even if you did play it as support, right when it hit it…you wouldve been able to grab at least 5 pips into the congestion.
But if you went long exactly where I shorted, than yeah, you woulda had to average it down.
If I had went long there…I see that I wouldve been able to break even or claim some pips right at the next 300Bollinger support (green)
I woulda added my next average at that line…and cuz price was jumpy around there, there were 3 opportunities to take some profits.

But the next short after that was a no brainer. Bumping up right on what was recently support, and a small trendline confluence above,with no more major support below besides that major trendline confluence point about 20 pips away.
And a classic 3 leg move looking like its busy forming.
On the 5 minute…it was clear that it was gonna go towards the major point. (38fib, 300BB, and major trendlines)
They were like a magnet for the price, and I rode that sucker down.

But the long was the easiest trade for me, as it was major major confluence, with a fibonacci reversal time projection as well!
From the 5 minute.
I went HUGE on that one. Fully maxed to my allowable BIGposition.
This is one of those ones where if it didt do what I want. I would exit straight away…not average. Too risky.

Hopefully this helps you in some way… :slight_smile:

22

I learn a lot from you, thanks for taking the time to explain. Now I see why you shorted what I thought was support: “75% continuance”. That makes sense and now I will put that into my knowledge bank.

Well I went ahead and traded this morning, right during the busiest time, too. I know you said you didn’t like to do that, but I had a blast, and ended up with another 1%. I’m learning to average in better, spacing the first 5 entries further apart if I get caught going against the crowd, letting profits run a little more on the first orders, etc.

I’m finding it is kind of like breathing with the market. My only problem is I seem to be breathing in when everybody is breathing out and vice versa. I still can’t get entries worth beans (and here I’ve been doing this for 3 full trading sessions now :)). I’m hoping to be like you when I grow up!

So all in all a very profitable 3 days trading, even though I’m not doing things quite like you, just because I don’t have your experience.

Thanks again. Keep me updated as to how you’re doing.

23

I seem to have the instincts for this! always winning trades or i just close them at even when i see too much movement, never make big profits but it adds up nice :slight_smile:
Oh! I don’t use s/l or t/p ,lol , managed to put my two demo accounts at +

Not for newbies but im doing it,lol , it was cool to read this thread gave me good indications that others are doing the same madness as me, hehe riding the beast butt naked,lol:D

I will try PIp’s strategy of trading in calm hours to see if that can save me a phew stresses :slight_smile:

24

Do you average in if you get the direction wrong? That’s what I’m doing presently.

I don’t think Pip-Siphon trades naked, I think he uses some bollinger bands and fib stuff, he can correct me if I’m wrong. I trade naked, hence my need to average in :).

25

Do you average in if you get the direction wrong? That’s what I’m doing presently.

Yes I do, but it all depends on trade size, and what lies beneath/above.
If Ive entered on a weak support, and theres a major confluence 10-15 pips away. I wont average in until price reaches that point. Then I put on 1.5 more units than what the original trade was.

BUT…if Ive taken a trade at what I thought was gonna be MAJOR confluence, and a big reversal, and I put on a large trade. Then if it doesnt follow through I try get out ASAP.
These trades are my most loved and hated trades.
When they work…about 87% of the time
(according to my spreadsheet)…I get paid big time.
When they dont, I have to cut the loss as short as I can. NO AVERAGING!! Way too risky, since it was a major support. And the momentum can run that train up/down fast!

But with an 87/13 ratio. Cutting losses short on the larger trades, pays off big time.
Thats why i call them my bread and butter trades.
But you cant be afraid to put them on.
When you get to a major point, you go balls to the wall, and know that 87% of the time youll get at LEAST a 8-10pip reversal.
And CUT YOUR LOSSES the other 13%.

And to answer the other question…

No, youre right, I dont trade naked. I use 300 Fibobollingers, and trendlines. But…I could trade naked if I wanted to.
Im not reliant on my indicators.
Besides my most used tools, trendlines and SR, arent really indicators, so much as levels.

I’ll keep updating my trades everyday.
If I can teach at least one man to fish, Ill be happy.
:slight_smile:

And yes…like you said, trading like this, is kinda like breathing with the market. And I guarantee you, the more you do it, the more you’ll be able to perfect your entries, because you learn to breath with it. :wink:

Though admittedly, we can never ever ALWAYS be in tune with direction. Some days are a struggle. Our mental state has to be totally quiet in a sort of zone/meditation to be able to breath with the market accurately. But daily stress, and general life, can cause your brain to become an unfocused chatter box, which can definitely wreak havoc on your trading. Specially with this style of trading, which requires focused attention, to every tick.

26

Cool thread pip-siphon. I got a question, even though it’s not directly tied to your topic :slight_smile:

You said trade on Oanda, but I noticed not all your charts are from Oanda’s platform… looks like MT4. I was wondering if you do your analysis VIA MT4 and use Oanda solely for entries?

Cause well… this is what I’m trying to do… but no one can seem to answer my question lol. I love Oanda as a broker, but hate their native charts (well, maybe “hate” is a bit harsh… I just prefer MT4)… I don’t know why they just can’t bite the bullet and give us MT4, but what can you do? Anywho, I was wondering what broker you used for your MT4 analysis and if they had a never-expiring MT4 demo? I’m not having much luck finding a MT4 demo with the same feed as Oanda (I think I got one rather close though) and I can’t subscribe to Oanda’s API.

I apologize for my off-topic question, but after looking at your charts I just had to know :).

27

aVI,

Yes I do use Mt4 along with Oanda for entry.
Ive got a real account with IBFX. Which is why I have the charts.
But I had their demo for 4 months before I got an account there, so I dont think their demo expires. But Im not totally sure.

But I would hate it if oanda changed to mt4. MT4 sucks for order entry.
I dunno…I just prefer oanda one click trading much better.
But I havent really explored mt4 totally, who knows, it probably does do one click orders, but I just havent figured it out yet.
:slight_smile:

28

Thanks man, I appreciate it.

Damn, from what I read the IBFX demo is only 30 days now… I’ll probably still check it out. If it looks closer, then I might open some small account w/ them depending on their min. deposit.

You’re right about entries on Oanda, that is one thing I do like about their native system… orders are easy as hell to set up, moving stops are a breeze… I don’t have really any complaints at all in that arena, I just think the actual charting is a weak point. That’s MT4’s strength, plus you have loads of indicators available that people program, I think that’s awesome. :cool:

29

Tonights trades…
Called it a night after 2 hours. Was a little beat from the weekend.
But a nice little 15 pip range between upper pivot resistances gave me something nice to work with tonight.
Around 70 pips bagged with varying lot sizes.

I had to average one. (magenta) Which annoyed me, :mad:
Because it wastes precious time. lol :smiley:
But the second lot was applied right on the resistance2 and the 300BB were tightening, after a bigger move earlier, so I was pretty sure price wouldnt run just yet…as usually the 300bb tighten before the next breakout. Plus price ran really quick to the resistance, in 1 bar, so odds were it would retrace quick too…and it did. 5.8 pips in 1 second.
Then shorted again after the first quick bounce, when price reached that point again.

All in all, shorted the upper resistance area 5 times. :slight_smile:

799×610

30

Well Pip-Siphon, you got the elevator up last night, I got the shaft. Meaning where you went long, I of course (with my total inability to pick direction), went short. I rode the elevator up with you, averaging in, jumping up and down trying to make it go back down, which it eventually did and I took profit of .5 percent. My money management is so far working, though it causes heavy breathing at times :).

This morning I saw price was at psych 0, which looked like resistance, so I shorted, and rode it down nicely 50 pips for another .5 percent.

I have to admit this morning’s trades were much nicer, and it was the first time I got the market direction right. Could it be that I’m learning from you? I hope!

31

Got another .5 percent tonight easily, just using what Pip-Siphon has taught me regarding confluence/congestion. Worked easily, got in for the ride down and got out. Thanks for teaching me how to fish!

32

Glad to hear that Boing787. :wink:
Keep up with it, you wont be dissapointed. :slight_smile:
Its a grind, somewhat. But its worth it.

I’ve only failed to meet my quota 16 times out of 637 trading days.
I even lost 13% on one of those failed days…by a stubborn averaging against a clear trend…(early days, lol)
But Im still way in the black.

By treating it like a job, with a production quota, and time investment…it literally became my job, over time.
And that makes me quite happy, as that was my original goal when I started. :slight_smile:

33

Oh yeah…boing787
And about averaging.

When I first started I averaged quite a bit, because I wasnt good at picking exact changes in trends.
Id say the ratio was something like 80% of trades had to be scaled into.
The longer I traded, the more I learned about certain movements and price action.
And naturally over time, with hard work and tick watching…it became second nature to enter right at key points. With the odd exception here and there obviously.

So I believe that if you keep with it, you will get better and better at entries. As with anything in life you ONLY get better with practice!
Nobody is born a brilliant piano player, they work hard at it, because they want it…and because they enjoy it.
This is no different.

Also, remember…that different market times, can be exploited for different things.
Adaptiveness to change, I think, is the KEY element to survival of any succesful trader.
You dont have to only trade quiet times. That works for me…but you might be a totally different kinda person.
Try other markethours if you like. See what they all offer. because they all trade somewhat differently. (action wise)
You might find youre better in those times. who knows.

Just watchout not to get caught on the wrong side of a bad average, up a strong trend, during busy times. :smiley:
I learned my lesson from that once. :rolleyes:

Good luck to you!
Keep posting your results and questions.
Im here to help :wink:
.

34

Tonights trades…

Had one quick average.
And a stop and reverse.

800×606

35

Man I nearly blew it last night. I thought I saw a double bottom so went long, right at the top of the big crash. The market then proceeded to drop 130 pips, with me averaging in every 20-30 pips on the way down. It finally reached bottom and retraced long enough for me to get 1.5% profit. But wow, I really need to not do that anymore. 100 more pips down and I would have had a margin call. I’ll keep practicing.

36

Hey Pip Siphon,

Nice thread. I consider myself a midrange scalper. I prefer to be in and out w/in about 30 seconds when possible, but don’t like to take less than 10 pips. I will stay in for as much as 20 or 30 min sometimes if the charts warrant it. I don’t enter as many trades as I only enter very high winning probability trades.

Just one question that has absolutely nothing to do with pipping. What kind of band do you play with? I see you’re from BC. You don’t play pipes, do you?

-Pippy

37

Hey Boing787,

Hypothetically, if you did take that hit at -100 pips.
What would your drawdown be??
Just curious. Cuz it shouldnt be more than 4-5%. And if youre almost at margin call…then somethings not right. :eek:

Are you adding ONLY at strong support/resistance points?
Or still every 5-8 pips? Are you doubling? or just adding same amount?

Could you post a chart of where you went long??
I cant quite visualize where exactly you did.
Thnx

38

Pippy,

I play in a funk band, and a metal band.
And I dont play pipes…lol :wink:
I do play guitar, piano, and drums though.

Are you in a band too?

39

Yeah, I do play pipes. I live in Chicago but am currently playing w/ a pipe band from L.A. I love me some metal, though. Give me a little Chimera or Pissing Razors and I’m all set.

Good times.

40

Hey everybody,

Just got back from a nice easter holiday in puerto vallarta. :slight_smile:
Too short though. :mad:
I traded while I was down there…only 2-3 trades a night.
And after the 3rd night of a questionable internet connection, I figured why risk my money like that, when I didnt really have to.
So enjoyed the rest of my break…with no trading stress. :wink:

Anyway…Im back now.
I will continue posting my trades again…If anyones still interested.
let me know.