The Trader's Arms 2nd Floor

Beginner Questions
109

Morning all,

Sorry have been a little absent, no particular reason for it just lots going on.

Interesting stuff on the S&R, nice video HoG (although having one’s own picture as a desktop wallpaper does smack a little of narcissism, and by the way I know it is cold up there but man you need a shave).

I have been trading, been a nice September, made some good pips riding EUR/AUD up, the cross pairs have had some nice action this month. Am currently short AUD/CAD, EUR/AUD and EUR/CAD, I think, all looking fine so am happy with that.

Anyway, this thread opened with a video. I saw this one a few moments ago and was going to email it to HoG, but then I thought that it is pretty applicable to trading in general, so is pretty relevant to all contributors. Anyway, it struck a chord with me so here it is.

And HoG: this chimes very clearly with some conversations we have had recently, so only watch this when you have just under nine minutes to spare, watch it in one sitting, don’t pause, replay or anything until it has finished, just sit back and listen to the wisdom!

(And apologies if the link does not work - I’m 50-50 at best with such things…)

ST

110

Man, thats a good video to wake up to… Thanks…

111

Whattu Whattup Whattup, it’s yo boy, H…O…G… and ahm here to tell ya baby…(how’s that working for everybody??)

Anyway, in all seriousness, as ever Mr ST has provided a little nudge to the HoGster (might just keep that, the HoGster…hhhmmmm) to keep it all moving. Last couple of days has gone pretty stagnant so here’s what’s going to happen to get us going gain.

Support and Resistance lines, that was the subject, and as I’m finding, it’s pretty difficult to have a protracted conversation about them. As much fun as they are, ahem…, it’s not The Ryder Cup we’re talking about here. So, right now, here is what I intend to do.

I’m going on to youtube just now to find out how I go about enabling longer video recordings. Then, at some point tonight, I will pick 5 currency pairs, and post probably the most boring video in the history of babypips on how I would go about doing my S&R analysis on each one of them.

If nothing else, this will serve to, (I was going to say “Draw a line under the subject” but maybe that’s the whole point of a S&R conversation LOL!! That’s one of those “Trader Jokes”) help us move on to the next subject.

Dunno really what the next subject should be to be honest. Once you’ve learned S&R, what do you guys think the next ‘progression’ should be? Candlesticks? Pivots? Fibs??

Anyway, thanks again to ST for the push forward with the video, (he knows he’s appreciated even though I don’t tell him often) I’ll do the video tonight and we’re on again.

Pairs I reckon we’ll do is EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, we’ll do the EUR/CAD (for 2 reasons; First I’ve never traded it and second because it was one of the pairs ST mentioned above) and then I’m going to do FXCM’s Dollar Index chart as a means of trying to introduce the idea of correlation a little.

Talk later

HoGster…hhmm not working is it? :frowning:

112

Implied support and resistance. Trend lines, fibs, maybe previous days highs and lows… Just a suggestion.

113

[B][U]£4.92[/U][/B]

Ok boys and girls. As you can see above, the “DO NOT THROW THIS AWAY” money total has crept up. That’s the good news.

Bad news is that my screen capture software has decided not to work, and since my pc is situated in my youngest daughter’s bedroom, and she is currently sound asleep, the video will have to wait until tomorrow night.

Please don’t think this is a get out. I did do the video but for some reason the software closed after 9 minutes and I carried on talking to the computer for a further 21 minutes not realising the bloody thing had shut down. Now who feels silly???

So I’ll do it tomorrow. Gives me tonight to ponder on the next topic anyway

114

I know that this thread was supposed to remain very trading focused, but I have just spent the entire night lying awake due to this first post in a thread called “I need some inspiration from you guys” started by Aeesop20;

I kid you not, the entire night I’ve been awake with that running through my mind. Isn’t it crazy how the most innocuous thing can affect us so much?

So considering that one question owes me an entire night’s sleep guys, please bear with me while I give my answer to it here, on this thread.
I have already asked Aesop to look in here at posts number 1, ST’s post number 109 and this post. Please be assured Aesop20, if you DO look in here, I make this post with no sarcasm, no malice nor ANY derogatory intent whatsoever. In fact, you may well be responsible for writing the single most inspirational thing I have ever read; I’ll explain later.
I will edit this part after work tonight to give my answer as I don’t have time to do it just now

115

It’s what I do, Hogster, it’s what I do.

I’ll also try to post more focussed thoughts when we cover more focussed areas of trading.

ST

116

Cheers for guiding me here HoG :slight_smile:

Checked out the posts you suggested, watched the videos too.

Sorry I stopped you getting any sleep :o I look forward to your answer soon,

Cheers.

117

Whats going on Traders,

Well, my S/R method seems to be going very very well, I have to admit. Once again, rite to the lines…

Everyday, I have this setup at 12:00 GMT or 6AM EST, and are effective thru 5AM EST the next day…

Right now, Im finalizing a system with this set-up…

Have a look at todays action.

118

Glad all seems to be going so well MoneyNVRSleeps. Yunny1 has been saying for long enough that newer traders should keep it as simple as possible with the use of basic S&R levels and price action. He must be thinking now, “God at last they’re listening!”

Anyway, with that in mind, here is the promised video of how I look for my price reaction levels. Again it’s not the most thrilling watch you’ll ever undertake, but it does fall in a little with the video ST posted based on repetition again and again until you find success.

[video=youtube_share;Zc1FoTp7WsY]http://youtu.be/Zc1FoTp7WsY[/video]

So that really does cover it for me as far as the finding reaction points, or S&R levels, are concerned. I’m tempted to look at this from a “well now that I have established the levels, how can I tell if price is going to react to them or not.” point of view and start getting into the whole candlestick thing.

Trouble with that is there’s already a couple of really good price action threads and I’d really need to question whether some-one with my level of experience would bring anything new to the table.

I suppose the new slant would be looking at it all from a beginner’s point of view. Anyway Friday tomorrow and the weekend to come up with “next step” so don’t be shy in throwing in some suggestions you lot.

Failing that I’ll go with a bit of candlesticks or possibly the importance of the pendulum action in your putting stroke…sorry, that’s a different thing …sorry.

119

Hey HoG, thanks, now, like you said in the post, how do we use the lines… Im currently using AO and AC along with CCI8 to catch the directions possible change. Also, add in ADX for momentuem base, and time, like of 30/60… But something else about my system I have created, I have found that my range fortells the days pace. Like if the range is 15 pips, I have found there is around 90% chance, it will rally at some point, so one those days, I find it very important to play the lines, and not so much candles and stochs, or really, any indicator, because it will break without notice…

Sure, there are other threads about price action entry, but I havent read them, so, just keep on the thread, as its enjoyable…

Going to watch the video in a bite, have things to take care of, but will surely watch…

Have a good day,
*HAt Tip

120

Morning all, slept in a bit this morning as the kids are not at school today (holiday weekend in Glsagow).

Anyway, I suppose you are right MoneyNVRSleeps, now we have a screen full of lines, what are we gonna do with them? I have to be honest and tell you I have no idea what AO and AC are, never heard of CCI8 (thought he was in Starwars) and only briefly heard of ADX, which I did think was a psychological problem at first.

If those things work for you then good, I’m genuinely happy that you’re finding a system that works for you. However, (you just knew the “BUT” was coming didn’t you?) as I said before, I keep trying to look at this from a “I’m a total beginner” point of view, and if you HAD just started out and just discovered how to draw your reaction lines (S&R lines), you probably wouldn’t know what all of those other indicators are, you’d just want to know how to use the lines you’ve just learned to draw.

So I think some basic candlestick stuff, leading on to the use of candlesticks with your lines and then introduce a second (as yet undetermined) means of confirmation would be the best move.

By that time, what we would have created is our very own first, although admittedly basic, strategy.

As most indicators as far as I can see, are nothing more than creating different S&R levels, whether they are fixed, dynamic, lagging or forward predicting, I would be looking to introduce a second means of confirming a reaction, or at least improving the odds of a reaction.

Once we have 2 different reaction levels telling us the same thing, and our basic (ish) understand of candlesticks (price action I guess) then I think we would be ready to trade. But we need to get the basics down first.

Once that is in place, we could then experiment other “indicators” , Fibs, Pivots, trend lines, MA’s.

Just by looking at advice given out by many successful traders, if I can get to a position where by I can trade successfully without the use of an array of flashing lights and clairvoyants, that will do me nicely.

Anyway, of to work now.

Sorry I didn’t get to update my previous post Aesop20, events just caught up with me last night. But if you want to know what inspires me to become successful in trading, it isn’t the thought of all of the wonderful things I can buy when I get there. I also saw that you posted later;

[B][I]"…I just meant in terms of surrounding myself with trading stories and cool things, just to make me feel like the man whilst i’m doing it"[/I][/B]

Well here’s my 2 inspirations.

First thing is NOT the thought of the fancy houses, cars and yachts I can buy when I’m rich that drives me forward. It’s the thought that never again will I have to do a 17 hour shift on a Saturday and deal with the drunken scum ( as much as I dislike that word, sometimes it does apply all too well) that get in and out of my taxi, and all they are looking for is an argument. I’ll be done with that, forever !! USE THE THINGS THAT HURT YOU THE MOST AS INSPIRATION

Second thing, and most important of all, (and I know already this may sound a little corny or cliched) is my two children. I go to work, most weeks for between 70-80 hours, and put up with some of Glasgow’s “finest”, so I can put them to bed at night in a warm, safe place, NOT so I can feel like [B][U]THE[/U][/B] man, but so I can feel like [B]A[/B] man.

121

Hi HOG. Haven’t contributed to this thread as a) having only discovered this market two years ago, I haven’t really the experience to advise others and b) having had an appalling last few weeks and suspended live trading, I’m not going to be much help to anybody. HOWEVER…

I quoted the above as clicking ‘like’ didn’t seem enough. I wanted to make a big bright shiny glimmering luminescent dazzling LIKE !!!

122

Thanks UKDave, I did neglect to mention however that I also have ST kicking my arse everytime I start to slack, him and Eric Thomas are playing their bit in my “revival” as well LOL!! :wink:

123

Sorry about the losses Dave, but try not to sweat it too much, it goes with the territory. August is pretty crappy every year for me, plus we are only just getting back into a slightly more trending market, so a lot of good traders will not have been turning in quite the numbers they would like, recently. September seems to be marking a return to normalcy, so hopefully that will continue through the autumn. But the trick to trading, imho, is mechanical execution of an effective strategy, so by all means take a minute out when you take a punch in the chops, but try not to lose your mojo and do get back in there otherwise all that happens is your confidence ebbs away and the loss stays on your record. If the champ knocks you down, as long as you get back up, take your 60 second break between rounds and then get back out there, you still have the chance to put it on him in the following round.

And the general pooling of ideas, opinions and experience on here generally helps everyone learn something they didn’t know before, or see things a different way, so please don’t let your own perception of your lack of experience (most likely also coloured, currently, by your recents losses) persuade you not to speak up. We all of us have something of value to say, even if we don’t realize it.

It is said that throughout the ages the world’s greatest swordsman has not feared the world’s second greatest, as there is nothing that he can show him that he has not seen already and knows he can beat. However, he should fear the rookie, the pretender to his title, as he might bring something unexpected that turns out to be inspired.

So throw it all on the table!

Indeed. Am very glad to see this thread getting back on track, as my kicking leg was starting to get tired!!

ST

124

(Although HoGster I’m sorry to say this but the volume on your video is so low that I can’t hear it over Arthur playing here today. I’ll have another go later on, but without headphones I might struggle… am looking for a master volume setting on the laptop but no luck so far and other videos I watch are fine. I’m working on it, though, just don’t think I don’t appreciate your efforts!)

125

Now THAT is inspirational. Appreciate the reply HoG :slight_smile: I don’t think i’ve ever been driven by fancy cars,houses, yachts etc… because realistically that probably isn’t going to happen, but as you say it’s just nice to head toward a day when you can wake up and do what you want, not just be another cog in the machine just to get by.

126

Yep, I echo what ST has just said UKDave. I have been “in” the market for roughly the same time as you, made probably the most common rookie mistakes, threw the toys out of the pram, got consumed by greed and over confidence and eventually blew the account.

But I’m not here not give advice, and to be utterly blunt about it, hoping not to cause offense in anyway to anyone, I’m not here either for the benefit of the wider community or the world as a whole, I’m not here for world peace and an end to global poverty, I’m not entering the Miss World competition. I have come here primarily for MY benefit.

It just so happens that I believe the best way to go about improving my own trading skills, is to talk about the whole subject with people who share the same interest. It’s even better that there is a healthy mix of experience and inexperience here.

It is our job, regardless of our level of skill or experience, to constantly ask questions. Had the world simply rested on it’s laurels after Herminie Cadolle (France) invented the first modern bra in 1889, we would NEVER have discovered the visual delights the Wonderbra has given the whole of humanity in the last decade or so.

So please do get involved UKDave, ask questions, give your opinion, because ALL opinions are as valid as the next. REMEMBER we have one extremely valuable resource on this site that would be nothing short of criminal if we did not use it, and that is experienced traders who are happy and willing to give us a nudge in the right direction when needed. But we need to do our end of the bargain by putting in the legwork and asking the appropriate questions.

ST: Tried to find an image of a can of Ralgex spray for that leg mate, but hopefully you won’t be needing it much anyway :D.

Probably won’t post again before Sunday now, unless it is very short as I’ll be using my phone as of 10 mins from now, difficult to write too much with it. Downloaded some Steve Nison Candlestick stuff a while back, will get cracked on with reading some of that and start on Sunday using the basics with the lines we drew all over the place with the S&R video.

Time to put the game face on people and get busy. Turn off the phones, unplug the TV, sell the kids on ebay and get studying !!!

Oohhhhh your not hearing me baby, you’re listening but you’re not HEARING me. I’m pumped, I’m ready to do what does have to be done in order to do it !! Man, I’m hear to tell you, you better HEAR me, we’re in the 4th quarter now, no more second chances, time is of the essence now, time is even more valuable now than the money we’re trying to make, so you better spend it wisely.

whattup…WHattup…WHATTup… WHATTUP …it’s ya boy…

127

Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it certainly can buy freedom, which is a good step towards helping with the happiness. I am lucky enough to be full time at this, and that means that I do childcare, school runs, and at 1500 this afternoon I’ll be taking my youngest to his brothers’ school assembly, as I do every Friday afternoon, yet I make more money than I did in my old ‘career’ job… so personally I think that one of the principal advantages of currency trading is that it can fit around pretty much anything else in life that really [I]does [/I]motivate us. And that isn’t a fable, it’s the truth…!

ST

128

I’d agree ST,

Money can definitely be the main means to an end, the end being happiness and fulfillment in life. I guess i’m lucky in many ways that i don’t yet have kids, or a wife who rely on me… so any mistakes I make only affect me, and any gains I make are purely for my own benefit.