Did Tom C ever start a blog? I think it’d be a more successful spinoff than, say, Joey.
(no, this isn’t the article I said I might write in my last video!)
I’ve been reading through the OONR7 blog this morning, and it looks pretty enjoyable.
Unlike a lot of you out there, I’ve never (to my knowledge) taken a “Trader-X” trade. I’ve just never had it in me… the profit targets always seemed too lofty (and when I saw new traders try it, they usually didn’t hit the extension with any consistency). More importantly, I’m just plain too lazy to draw the fib lines (and because I rarely do it, I can never remember whether I’m supposed to drag the line up or down–and I always guess wrong and have to redo it!). Sad, but true.
But, OONR7’s spin on this style looks a little better to me. He tends to use faster charts, and uses smaller intraday fibs. I may try this out next week, for laughs. I have a theory that the only real “strategy” is a feel for price-action, and all the rest is just a framework to help grab your attention at promising times. For instance, I’ve gone from daily breakouts to intraday reversal plays these last couple weeks, and my win rate and expectancy is pretty much the same. I went from time charts to volume charts to PnF charts a while back, and my win rate and expectancy are pretty much the same. To me, this means that the strategy you use and the charts you look at really aren’t what determines your results. Just find what’s comfortable for you to look at, and what most readily shows you what you want to see… at the end of the day, you’ve still got to guess which way price is going to go.
(this is still not the article… that’s still coming… probably tomorrow… I’m tired at the moment… netflix promised that Weeds, Season 2 will be in my mailbox if I can drag my ass out there to check… if so, watching those discs will be my main activity today.)
July 28th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
This is probably true if you’re a scalper looking for 5 cents- 25 cents per trade, but if you’re looking for a more substantial win, you probably need a system, whatever it may be. But as a scalper, you’re right on, reading price action is really it. Now if you’re making 1-2 points per trade, then I stand corrected (I do daily break-outs and often make 1-2 points).
July 28th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
I get confused when people focus on points per trade. To me, 25 cents on a $25 stock is the same as a $1 move on a $100 stock. And, getting 25 cents by risking 5 cents is the same to me as getting $5 by risking $1. It’s just a matter of scale, isn’t it?
July 28th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
i love that show…btw, when i draw the fib. lines on QT, i end up doing math, because i invariably draw the lines from the wrong direction…i’m becoming an expert in subtracting 38 from 100…at least the 50% RT is easy to spot every time :-)
July 28th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
There should definitely be a right-click option to flip a set of fib retracements, so you only have to draw it once. Or, have two fib studies, one for up and one for down, which always plots in the right direction no matter which way you drag.
July 28th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
you love Joey or Weeds? If weeds, I really enjoyed the first season… season 2 just came out on DVD, and I’m going to watch them today.
July 29th, 2007 at 7:08 am
weeds…lol
July 29th, 2007 at 10:56 am
Ok, am all ready for Season 3 now, in just a couple weeks! Hopefully it will be on iTunes this time, which is how I prefer to get my TV shows.
July 29th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
In QT, I set my fibs to draw the 119 and 138, as well as the -19 and -38, so whether I draw them right or not, I still have the levels and I know which is which by their visual juxtaposition. I don’t care if my 0 or 100% are facing the right direction or not. I also have QT place the prices at those levels, and I look at the price labels more than the percentage labels. Unless I’m missing the point, I don’t see the problem?
July 29th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
yeah, I see oonr7 do that with the negatives, as well. I prefer to have as few lines on my chart as possible, but I agree it’s better than having to get it right. I think interfaces that people consistently mess up need to be fixed, rather than worked around.
July 30th, 2007 at 9:34 am
It might be a matter of scale but the reality of it is that you can’t really ever risk 5 cents on most stocks that most traders trade…. (unless you trade GE and friends exclusively). The spread on a lot of stocks I see you trade are greater than 5 cents, so the 5 cent risk is really not realistic. Most likely risk is around .2-.3% for most stocks trading around 1mil shares. You seem to be just a scalper but that seems fine, but no big money can be made in scalping imho, but maybe a good lifestyle, esp if you’re single and no kids, etc. whatever gets you by man….
July 30th, 2007 at 10:43 am
I think you are focusing on 5 cents because you don’t really have a point to make. Change it to 15 cents, 30 cents, whatever. The measure of trading performance is return compared to planned risk. Not “I got 2 points.”
And, if the spread on my scalping trades were larger than 5 cents I would have wiped out long ago.
December 7th, 2007 at 11:34 am
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