When it comes to learning about markets and trading, finding the right path and committing to it is the hardest part. The right path has little to do with any technical analysis method. It has to do with structuring our mental framework so that we fundamentally change how we experience markets, trading, and loss. In the video, I show some Median Line and...
Learning Happens when you're open and curious and making observations from what you see. From there, you must be mentally balanced to take action on your observations. In this post, I focus on the price action that happens in the pivot portion of a swing cycle. If you make observations of this area you will see a certain kind of repeating behavior that can help...
This is the first in a series of posts on Gaps. Gaps are a sudden supply/demand imbalance that shows up in the price bars of a chart, It's the expansion that comes after a contraction. Gaps will show us a significant area of buyers/sellers that take control and when they lose that control. In the video, I discuss and define a Wide Range Bar (WRB) Gap and show how...
In this video, I set up a trading plan and introduce a trend line exercise you can practice in any market and in any time frame. There is no one right way to draw a trend line, it's a matter of function and what you are trying to see. We will be drawing a trend line off two relative (same size swings). This will identify the footprints of organized volatility on a...
There are several ways to trade gaps but first, there should be a solid understanding of what Gaps are and how they show up. Markets aren't that hard to read if we have some simple ways to see them that adhere to the principles of movement. All markets move in contraction and expansion. A Gap is the sudden supply/demand imbalance that comes out of the contraction...
There are 5 basic ways to trade a Gap or any line. In this video, I discuss two ways to enter the market using a Gap before I make the trade plan. The Gap entry techniques by themselves are of little use, but if we make a few distinctions in market structure and the process of a swing cycle, they can become functional. Swing cycles have a process that they go...
Position sizing is one of the components of a trading plan, and it's important to be just as disciplined and consistent with this as with all other parts of the plan. Position sizing is defining how much we will risk for each and our objective is to consistently get the most profit with the least amount of risk. So, how much should you risk per trade? There is...
The trade plan is broken up into parts. We have an objective and consistent entry, stop, and exit plan. Here I will be talking about the exit plan and setting targets that will give you a particular risk/reward ratio. There are no absolutes when it comes to what risk/reward you should be aiming for, a lot has to do with how you handle risk and loss and your...
One of the hardest things for traders, or anyone for that matter, is to adapt to change. Mostly we get stuck when things change, which makes trading difficult since the very nature of markets is change. This is where the cliché 'going with the flow' originates, but simply understanding the cliché isn't enough; we must internalize and practice it and get it in our...
Markets move in contraction/expansion. Small swings can be thought of as a form of contraction and the bigger swing is a form of expansion. An Expanded Swing is simply a reaction leg that is bigger than the previous reaction leg or legs. Its minor swings growing up to be major swings. This represents a change in behavior that often causes confusion among the...
We can break up the review section of the trading into several distinct sections. 1. Review for discipline and personal insight 2. Review for performance (statistics) 3. Review for market insight 4. Review for method development I'm going to do the first section "Review For Discipline". We can keep this simple and ask 2 questions. 1. Did you make a clear and...
Market Structure is simply making distinctions in price flow. its putting structure around what looks like chaos so that we have a way to measure and orient ourselves to any market in any timeframe. When I look at a market, I want to see objectively in swings. Swings are the common thread that weaves through all markets and timeframes, providing a clear...
Patience in trading is the discipline of being with your restless energy when things aren't happening they way you want them to. If we are to be patient, we must know what it is we are being patient for. That is part of what making a trade plan is all about. I know I’m being patient for the conditions of my setup to line up. After that i know I’m being patient...