Hello Encantador/Steve, welcome aboard! I'm really hoping your real name is Encantador, and you just use Steve on forums!
Many thanks to Nigel for what looks like a great strategy.
No worries, thanks for the kind words
I have been playing at this trading game a few years on and off but never settled on a decent strategy, or made any money unfortunately.
I think that description applies to almost all retail traders at some point Steve. I've never come across anyone who has been successful straight off the bat. Retail trading is a process of discovery.
We all usually start out with get rich quick stuff, scams, then on to mechanical technical systems and their application, then expert advisors and robots and then finally, if you make it through all that, you eventually realise that successful trading is a combination of risk management and opportunity exploitation. Unfortunately, it is a damn hard slog to get through all the rubbish before you come to that realisation, and many abandon ship along the way.
Recently I have been concentrating on my own swing strategy using the daily chart on the DOW. Although only demo trading this, it has made me realise that I am more comfortable on the longer time frames.
Longer timeframes are where the big business and the big moves take place. It makes total sense for us to be active there too. If you are driving off to a destination and you are not sure of where you are going, you don't start with google maps zoomed right in on your final destination. You start zoomed out, you get a feel for your surroundings, get a feel for general direction. Only after that do you zoom right in and look at the minutiae - the individual streets, landmarks to look out for, etc.
Same applies for trading. Don't confine yourself to one or a couple of timeframes. Your google map doesn't change depending on far in or out you have zoomed. It's simply a different way of looking at the same information. Same with trading - flick around all the timeframes, zoom out, take in your surroundings, mark the direction you would like to see price go, and then mark where you know, if price gets there, it will have taken a wrong turn.
There are some similarities between this and PAST, the main one being is that you have to accept a few losers in the hope of getting the big moves.
I have read the PAST strategy a couple of times and think it could well suit me perfectly.
You don't need to try to apply my rules strictly Steve, take the bits you like from it and incorporate them into your own style. As long as you are trading in a way that strictly controls risk and exploits opportunities, you could be using tea leaves in the bottom of your cup to get in and out of the market, it doesn't matter
I have not yet read this whole thread, but have read enough to know there is a lot of knowlege here and even more friendly helpful people, which is refreshing to see.
We are privileged here to have a little band of such courteous, helpful and smart contributors to this thread. That is not normal in the world of trading forums. Long may it continue.
I spread bet (never understood the `LOT` business). My brain needs things to be simple.
Best way to be, no need to over-think or over-complicate matters.
I mainly use IG or ETX but also have demo and live accounts with GKFX. The live account starts at 10p per point, so ideal for testing ideas with real money.
Just make sure that you have enough to comfortably withstand a lot of losers Steve. And I don't necessarily mean looking at the maths of "well with my account I can withstand 50 losers in a row" type of reasoning, I mean being aware of how you
feel. If you are getting uncomfortable with how fast your account is diminishing, lower the lot size or even go demo. There is no rush, there is no advantage to starting big. Start small, way smaller than you think you should, and work your way up. It's far better to build the confidence from the ground up, go through a few losing streaks, weather a few storms, and then gradually scale up.
Rejoice in the losers, you are learning every time a stop gets hit. Learn to thrive on that discomfort - with every loser you are one step closer to a big winner. It's a good feeling after you get used to it.
I have a lot of questions about the strategy, I will post a couple shortly.
I see Stuart has already jumped in there - I can't really add anything further
I think I am going to need a better charting package to follow this system, I put lines on IG`s advanced charts and they often just disappear. If anyone can recommend one that would be great.
I love
TradingView. It's free, works on your browser, is easy to use and looks fantastic. I usually chart there and then just enter my orders on MT4.
When I was starting out as a lawyer, I was always encouraged to dress for the part. When you are going into court and you feel good, you definitely act more confidently and you perform better. You are walking just that little fraction taller, head held just a tiny bit higher, and trust me, it matters. Don't underestimate how important it is to be happy with your charts. You can change practically everything on them, so get a combination of colours and styles that you really like and are a pleasure for you to look at. Take pride in them, tweak them, and make them look good. A good mechanic always has a tidy workbench, everything in its place and all of his socket sets tidily filed away. A mechanic who has the place covered in oil, all of his sockets lost or missing, will generally treat his work, and your car's engine, with the same approach.
No worries Steve, thanks for your post
