- Dollar index futures dropped and then retraced off those lows, trading sideways
o News @ 830am made the market jump, but we expect the price to trickle back down to the opening of the day
We want to avoid trading around the OPEN, and when the dollar is at the open, we expect the rest of the markets to be very sideways.
o Speed is slow (RED P.O.T.)
o Average true range was RISING, which means we may see an improvement in price action
- Euro Futures are trading sideways, very quiet day so far in the euro
o Pace of tape has very little speed
o Trading at the open (zero line)
o Average true range = rising, so we SHOULD see some moves today!
945am EST
- Just ahead of the 955 and 1000am news we notice that all the markets (Gold, Crude, Russell, Euro) are trading at their OPEN of the day
o We need to use caution when we see trading at the open
Trigger Line:
- Support and resistance
- Watch the SLOPE of the trigger line for the breaker and the wave pattern
- Watch the medium and slow charts for the trigger lines as well
5 trades today, 5 Winners
+37ticks, $395 usd
Only 4 contracts needed to achieve this today!
See you tomorrow @ 745am EST for the live trade room session!
June 10, 2010
159 Ticks Live! Trade Management Strategies
Blog Image:
820am EST
- Dollar index futures are trading sideways, after they dropped the past 24 hours
o We notice that we only have 1 double-top, and we have 4 double-bottoms on our slower chart
o Tells me we have very little resistance, and lots of support
o Negative correlation with the dollar and everything else we trade
o Dollar support = resistance on everything else
o Higher % trades today may be the short side
Fast chart confirms sideways market today
Speed of the tape is very slow < 100
Average true range has been dropping, and its at the lowest point of the week.
- Euro Futures are trading slowly above the very important number of 2000
o Fast chart shows price trading at its open, so we aren’t too excited about the current location, we need to wait for the market to start to move.
o Average true range is very low, the lowest all week
- Gold Futures are very concerning this morning
o Very slow speed of the tape < 50 today
o We are trading in the middle on BOTH the slow and fast timeframe charts
We want to avoid trading in the MIDDLE of the chart b/c we call this the ‘zero-line’
930am EST
- Dollar index futures trading through their lows, making new lows and continuing down
o We need the lows to hold if we want to take the DX-Pattern
o If we see those lows broken, we can then look for other markets to be getting more volatile
o The dollar is the perfect hedge against a slow day
If the dollar is moving, everything else moves so we have lots of trades to take
If the dollar isn’t moving, we look for the DX-pattern, which is VERY high %
Make sure you use the correct trade management for the chart you’re trading:
- Scalpers will use the same trade management every single time they execute
o 4/8/Runner
- Day Traders / Position Trader
o Use the market’s support and resistance to plan our trade management
o Most common ways to place your stops and targets:
Swing-High/Low
Trigger Line (thin yellow)
Cheat Sheet (entry/exit rules)
- Breaker
o Be more than 5 ticks away from the big round number (75.00, 1.2000, 56.000)
o Must see a breakout first, above/below the RED LINE
o Swing Low for short trade, swing high for a long trade
o 6-ticks from the swing-high/low to the next level of support/resistance
Uses your trade management as a guide
Scalper = 4/8/Runner
• 6 ticks = 4 + 2 slippage = 6ticks
Day Trader (13-range)
• 8/16
• 10-tick rule (8 +2)
o Steep slope to the trigger line
Avoid trading a breaker pattern when we see a flat trigger line
You don’t need to worry about the slope on a 2-step pattern
• b/c it’s a trend reversal
• use the trigger line as support/resistance for a 2-step
o Momentum must be pointed down for a short, or up for a long
Be careful around overbought, or oversold momentum
o Size of the orders (larger the better)
o Speed of the orders coming into the market
Pace of tape indicator
Faster the better to confirm your entry.
Exit Rules:
- Green or Yellow POT = use my mechanical trade management
o Pink line on Trade Man Chart
- RED Pot I use a discretionary
o Red POT = slow speed
o MACD against my position
Long = macd below the zero line
Short = macd above the zero
o Momentum curls against my trade
5 trades today, 5 Winners
+159ticks, $1,590 usd
Only 4 contracts needed to achieve this today!
See you tomorrow @ 745am EST for the live trade room session!
June 09, 2010
123 Ticks Live! Trade Management Strategies
Blog Image:
820am EST
- Dollar index futures have just broken their sideways range from earlier this week to the downside
o Slow speed of the tape
o Average true range is rising off its lowest levels of the week
o We just broke the up-trend-line and now we wait to see where this move to the downside ends up going.
How do you draw the best trend lines?
- Start with a slower timeframe so you can see it all
- Zoom out on your chart and push the price together as much as possible so you can see as much as possible.
- Cover the edges of the price action
o High to high
o Low to low
- Look for the previous swing high/lows
- Double-check my work
840am EST
- Gold futures trading sideways
o Long term trend is down
o Short term trend is flat
o Average true range is rising
o Speed of the tape is VERY slow < 100 = very slow
1045am est
- We’ve grabbed 60 ticks out of crude oil futures contracts today
- We’ve notices that the reason we’re so profitable is because of the following:
o Simple patterns
o Simple entry rules
o Any timeframe will work
o Any market will work
o We use the best trade management strategy
Never let a winner turn into a loser
Profit on a 4-tick move as well as a 40-tick move
However, I want to make sure I keep my profit and my confidence along the way
o We all want to take HUGE winning trades, but we need to be IN THE MARKET to make that money!
Get in with a tight stop
Take a quick profit
Eliminate the risk (stop to entry)
Wait to see if the market gives you anything more
10 trades today, 9 Winners
+123ticks, $1,230 usd
Only 4 contracts needed to achieve this today!
See you tomorrow @ 745am EST for the live trade room session!
June 08, 2010
151 Ticks Live. Day Trading Russell Futures contracts
Blog Image:
800am EST
Locating double-tops and double-bottoms are easy:
- Start with the current price on your chart
- Move up looking for the first swing high
o Is that a double-top?
- Then move to the next swing high?
o Is that a double-top?
- When you’re done to the upside, then move to the downside
- Move down to the first swing low
o Is that a double-bottom?
- Repeat as necessary all the way down
- Then look for HIDDEN double-tops and bottoms and double-check that you didn’t miss anything.
820am EST
Dollar Index Futures are trading sideways in the same trading range from Monday
- Slow timeframe is sideways
- Fast timeframe is sideways
- Speed of the market is very slow
- Very low average true range
- This information tells us to expect a slow market today. The dollar the leads the way, and a slow, sideways dollar is going to mean slow, sideways markets for us to trade today.
830am est
- Crude Oil futures are confirming what we were expecting to see b/c of the dollar index
o Slow and sluggish price movement
o Low average true range
o Sideways market, same trading range from Monday
o All signs point to ‘be careful’ because these markets are clearly looking for some direction this week.
900AM EST
- Gold futures gave us a nice winner on a breaker long for a scalp entry on a 4 range chart for +21 ticks
- Now we’re watching a slower timeframe, 13range, for a 2-step long above 45
o Stop = 12 ticks, and targets = 8/16/Runner
o 6-tick rule needs to be 10-ticks now b/c I have a 8 tick first target and add 2 ticks for slippage
o Now check our medium and slow timeframes to make sure IF this trade triggers we have enough room for the trade to run
What are the green and blue colored charts in your workspace?
- Our medium timeframes, we use the thin yellow line (trigger Line) as support/resistance to consider when we take trades
Pace of Tape Indicator:
- measures the speed of the orders coming into the market
- available open-code to our advanced members, you OWN this indicator
- three colors
o Red = slow speed
o Yellow = moderate speed
o Green = fast speed
- We want to avoid trading during the SLOW times in the market and we look to enter trades when we see FAST speed in the market
o You don’t always need green POT
o Its ok using RED POT
As long as the RED POT is not DECREASING
- The best ways to use the pace of tape
o To define market sentiment
If the speed is rising, that confirms the move
If speed is falling, we expect a reversal
o To trigger our entry
o To tell me when to take profit
Our first gold trade today we watched for RED pace of tape, which told us we needed to take profit early, and it worked!
1115am EST
- Watching Gold futures, but we’re starting to see signs of lunch…
o Slow speed of the tape, < 100 very slow
o Flat trigger line on slower charts
o Almost all the trigger lines are the same price level
o Momentum has not been able to confirm the entry on the last 3 potential trades
When momentum cant confirm (pointed up for a long trade, or down for a short) it tells us that the market is losing its power, its becoming very weak, fewer people in the market, and its not going to show us those strong moves.
What is the 6 tick rule?
- Applies to the scalps (10-tick rule for the slower charts)
- We want to make sure the trade has enough room to run
- We use a 4 tick target, and we add 2 ticks for slippage = 6 ticks
- If you have a 10-tick target (1st target) this will now be a 12-tick rule (10 +2 = 12ticks)
- If I don’t have enough room for the trade to work, I risk getting stopped out.
7 trades today, 7 Winners
+151 ticks, $1,510usd
Only 4 contracts needed to achieve this today!
See you tomorrow @ 745am EST for the live trade room session!
June 07, 2010
Multiple Timeframes help locate easy Futures Trading Patterns
Blog Image:
830am EST
- Dollar Index Futures trading at their highs, and trading sideways, looking for more information on what to do next
o Average true range is VERY low, but the strange part is that it was VERY high early this morning
As day traders, we can take hours to find out WHY, but we really don’t care WHY the ATR spiked like this, we just react to it.
o WE notice the dollar is trading at the OPEN of the day, which causes us concern b/c we know the OPEN means there is not very much pressure moving the price around.
If the market is at the open, we need to wait to see where we go next
- Euro futures are very similar to the dollar, they are at the lows and trading sideways
o Average true range is very low as well, giving us concern about trading at this time.
o The speed of the tape, pace of tape indicator is very slow, and usually the euro has decent speed, but today we do not.
o The euro also trading at its OPEN of the day, which tells us to be careful as well.
900am EST
- Crude oil futures made a $4.00 drop this morning, and now trading sideways
o We noticed how slow the speed of the market is this morning
o We also notice the drop in crude was around the red line on our trigger zones, which tells us this is a very important potential place for a reversal, so lets waits for a little more info from the crude market
1030am EST
- Watching gold futures as they break their high of day, and this now disqualifies our 2-step short on the 60-minute chart we’ve been watching all morning
o Now lets look at our 13 range and our 21 range charts for a long term breaker LONG pattern to take us up to the next overhead resistance level.
1045am est
- Crude oil futures are trading in the middle of a sideways range, and we need to wait to get out of the chop zone
o We also notice that right below is the open of the day, so we need to stay away from that level as well.
o The overall trend is flat, while the short term trend is also flat.
5 trades today, 5 Winners
+55 ticks, $550usd
Only 4 contracts needed to achieve this today!
See you tomorrow @ 745am EST for the live trade room session!
June 04, 2010
180+ Ticks LIVE Today! Day Trading Futures last day in Mexico!
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815am EST
Question from a member…
“should I follow along with every step of the morning routine?”
Yes! Every step is vital to being prepared for the day ahead, and most importantly, this process is designed to build a HABIT, to develop a simple ROUTINE that YOU can follow on your own.
JJ will be here every day, but you want to have the knowledge yourself.
- Identifying the news events
- Setting your alarm clock
- Setting up your charts
- Looking for S/R levels
- Watching for patterns
- Taking notes
- Learning from your experiences
820am EST:
- Dollar index futures are trading sideways at their extremes (highs) after they jumped up and tested those new highs.
o Moving dollar = moving markets for us to day trade
o Average true range is rising, better than previous 2 days this week
o Non-farm payrolls @ 830am est today, this is expected to be the cause.
o We have a DX-pattern setting up on the dollar below 87.710
We have our 15 ticks of room
Our medium and slow timeframes allow us the opportunity to get this trade if it breaks
However, we’re looking at the highs being broken now after the NFP news release
• New highs on the dollar will disqualify this trade pattern
The DX Pattern is the PERFECT trade pattern:
- The dollar is the fundamental reason why other markets move
- If the markets are sideways, we see the dx pattern set up, and we can profit from a sideways market
o If the dollar can’t break its highs, and goes back to the downside
- If the dollar disqualifies the dx-pattern by making new highs, that means the OTHER markets we trade will also be breaking out, making new highs, and trending markets
- We call this pattern the perfect hedge because no matter what type of trading day we see, we can make money
930am EST
- WE took our first trade this morning on crude oil futures, just as we expected a 2-step pattern off the lows in this sideways market. We grabbed 20 ticks off that winner, and then we had to wait until 935am to get thru the US open
- Gold futures are sideways, and most importantly, they are trading at the open of the day
o The open of the day is the ZERO LINE, which means nothing has changed, so we don’t want to trade where we don’t expect any movement
o Around the open we don’t expect to see the market move very far b/c there is clearly some missing interest in the market
1015am est
- Gold setting up for the 2nd leg down on that 2-step pattern from last night’s winning trade
- We need to get below 98.1 for a breaker pattern to the downside
- I will look for the pattern on my 60-minute chart
- I will then take the trade on the 13-range chart (faster)
o Faster chart will enable me to see a better point of entry
- No matter what timeframe you trade, your stop and your targets will always use the same low risk/reward ratio
o Slower timeframes require wider stops, but they also use much wider targets
o 13-range = 12-tick stop, targets 8/16/Runner
5 trades today, 5 winners!
180+ ticks, + $1,800usd
Only 4 contracts needed to achieve this today!
See you tomorrow @ 745am EST for the live trade room session!
June 03, 2010
100+ Ticks LIVE Today. Easy way to AVOID this Chop in the market.
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830am EST
- We start each day with the dollar index, and we can see the dollar index is trading in a tight, sideways trading range with trend lines converging in the center, creating a wedge pattern
o Average true range has been dropping since early this week so we have a very big concern that the OTHER MARKETS we trade may be slow and sluggish b/c of this ATR reading
- WE see the dollar index futures at their highs, so we look for a DX pattern to the short side on the dollar but we have multiple levels of support to worry about.
o We have less than 15 ticks of room for the dollar to move down, so we will wait for the dollar to test the HOD again and look for an entry trigger closer to the highs
845am EST
- Gold futures are also trading sideways with trend lines converging at the center of the range, creating a wedge pattern
o We will want to wait for this market to wake up and break above/below the wedge pattern in order for us to see the highest percentage patterns
900am EST
- Crude oil futures are also trading sideways with a wedge pattern formed from our trend lines
o Average true range is rising off its lows, however, its still lower than it was earlier this week
o We noticed that we have lots of support as far down as 71.65, so look for us to break below that level for the highest percentage trades.
Today’s market environment is choppy, sideways, range-bound, so how should we trade it?
- Use a slower timeframe to avoid the ‘noise’ that comes with a choppy market
o Trending days = faster timeframe
o Choppy days = slower timeframe
When its choppy we want to be more selective and only take the best trades
950AM EST
- Watching gold futures set up for a breaker pattern on both the 4 range (fast for scalpers) and a 13-range (little slower for day traders) however, the speed in the market is VERY slow, POT < 100
o We will wait to see the 13 range pattern trigger for a longer term hold.
- I’m scanning the markets looking for patterns
o Slowest charts (34 range) show me where the most important levels are
o Then look at the faster charts for different patterns, they are the SAME patterns on ANY market, ANY timeframe, ANYTHING goes
o Start with my faster charts first…
4-range….nothing there…
8-range….nothing there…
13-range…nothing there…
30-min…
60-MIN…we notice we are right in the middle, and our perfect pattern needs to occur NOT in the middle, but rather at the extremes.
When the volume is low, we see people seeking to fill our stops, and then the market turns around and goes in our direction
- Lower volume = opportunity for manipulation
- Without the BIG MONEY in the market today, the sneaky large day traders can EASILY move a small market like crude/gold/Russell around wherever they want
- This is why we don’t trade lunch
- “while the BIG MONEY is away, the market manipulators will play”
o b/c they aren’t there to move the market fundamentally, it opens the door for other traders with LARGE accounts to move the markets simply to fool the other traders.
1045AM EST
- we took a nice big winner on the gold futures with a 2-step long off the low of day
- we then looked for a 2-step short off the new highs looking to take the market right back down, but we fell victim to some low volume and market manipulation
o the 2nd trade was considered very high risk for 2 reasons
very slow speed, very low volume on the gold futures at the time of entry
we had support from our medium timeframes directly below us, so we had to get below that first.
• The trade would have worked out, except for the volume was so slow.
• This is why we don’t trade this type of environment very often (too slow)
4 trades today, 1 winner, 1 loss
100+ ticks, + $1,000usd
Only 4 contracts needed to achieve this today!
See you tomorrow @ 745am EST for the live trade room session!
June 02, 2010
50+ Ticks LIVE Today from Mexico! Check out the Mobile trading computer!
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Market Gave us clues today…
845am EST
- Start with the Dollar Index Futures, trading at their highs, in a somewhat tight trading range.
o Dollar is setting up for a DX pattern, but we have a few things to concern us:
Pattern trigger is at the previous close of day
• We consider to be the ZERO Line (nothing has changed)
Pattern trigger is at the middle of the trading range.
• We call this the chop zone, and we want to ONLY take trades at the extremes.
915am est
- Crude oil futures set up for 2-step short and a breaker long
o 2-step short trigger first, and we had oversold momentum and red pot
Avoid trading when we see DECREASING red POT
Also be careful if the Momentum is oversold for a short trade
o Breaker long set up 2nd, but we didn’t see the big money enter at our trigger location
- Crude oil futures trading sideways, and we are right in the middle of the trading range
o ‘Don’t trade the middle’ so watch your 34-range chart for the big picture to show us where we are.
- We saw another nice 2 step short on the crude oil @ 937 am est
o We liked this pattern for three reasons
At the high of day, perfect spot for a 2-step short
Momentum was NOT oversold, but in a perfect spot, pointing down
Saw big money sellers on our filtered time & sales window
1000am est
- Don’t forget, im demonstrating this on a fast timeframe, when YOU may want to use a slower timeframe
o Last week we had 4 nice BIG winners off slower timeframes
60-minute
34-range
13-range
Lots of potential for EVERYONE! Fast or slow, these patterns don’t care
- Slower timeframe
o USE different ATM strategies
Log into your adv course, and watch the members training from may 15 2010 on Slower timeframe entries
o Benefits = less chop and less noise
More potent set-ups, each trade will be higher %
Same LOW risk/reward ratio
o Downside = fewer patterns
Still have the same low Risk/reward ratio
Different charts use different trade management:
Scalping Method – always the same, we set it and forget it
- Automated trade management takes care of everything for us
Slower Timeframe Method (Wave)
- Use slightly different trade management depending on the trade
o Once you enter the trade, place your stops and targets according to your rules.
What made us so successful today was our ability to AVOID the bad trades, which allowed us to preserve the CONFIDENCE we needed to keep focused on the best patterns.
Congrats to a few of our members who joined today!
4 trades today, 4 winners
+50 ticks, $500usd
Only 4 contracts needed to achieve this today!
See you tomorrow @ 745am EST for the live trade room session!
June 01, 2010
98 Ticks Live Today! $17,000 4 Lots in May
Next week’s schedule:
• Trade room is closed Monday & Tuesday
• (the markets are OPEN on Tuesday)
• Sales & Support office is closed Monday
• Sales & Support is open Tuesday and the rest of the week.
The Market Gives us clues today…
830am EST
- Dollar Index Futures are trading sideways at their highs from late last week
o Speed is very slow,
o Average true range is very low, and has been dropping this morning
o This tells us that today, a Friday before a long weekend, we may not see much activity from the dollar, which means the other markets may not either
o Keep checking back every 20 mins to see if this improving.
- Euro Futures are the opposite of the dollar this morning
o Sideways market at their lows
o Decent speed, little green and yellow POT, so no worried about speed
o Average true range is not very exciting, its at the lowest point of the passed week, but we’ll check back and see if its improved.
1000am EST
- Gold futures, we defined a narrow downward channel, appears gold is trying to sell off today
Remember, this is a UNIVERSAL method of trading
- Any market
- Any timeframe
- Anything goes, as long as the pattern fits our simple rules
- We’ve made 50 ticks on scalping entries
o 4-range chart
o 6 tick stop
o Targets = +4, +8, runner
- Watch the blog
o 200 ticks in 24 hours on long term trade calls
o Buy here, sell there
o You don’t need to be a member to READ the blog
o Our members are trained on how to execute those entries
o Wave Pattern
o DX-Pattern
Slower timeframe trades
• 10-minute, 10 hours
1045am EST
- We noticed the market looks to be falling asleep, but lets confirm with the vital signs of the market
o Average true range
Gold = dropping from its recent highs
Crude Oil dropping
Euro starting to drop
We don’t watch the READING of the indicator, we look at the comparison of what the ATR was previously
o Speed of the Tape (pace of tape indicator)
Gold < 100 (very slow)
Everything we watch right now has RED (slow) pace of the tape
o Big MONEY
Larger-sized traders as they come into the market
Filtered time & sales window
• Filtered for 5/10/20 contracts
Look closely for the BIG MONEY in the market, and if they aren’t there, we need to trade with caution.
5 trades today, 5 Winners
+98 ticks, $980usd
Only 4 contracts needed to achieve this today!
See you tomorrow @ 745am EST for the live trade room session!
