As you all know, I have had a very busy summer and have not traded very much. I have been placing my focus on my practice and have expanded into several new areas. The outcome has been a strong increase in business and a great interest and passion in my medical research and practice.
My split focus on trading and practice these past years has had a major impact on my income, and not for the better. I have had a major drop off from a very successful practice due to my strong interest in and focus on trading. My five years experience in day trading nowhere near compares to my thirty years of experience in medicine. In other words, I am a far better doctor than a trader and thus, my income potential is far greater (at this time) as a physician.
I have decided to stop trading altogether for the time being. I am very excited to see where my one pointed focus leads me. I am letting go of my charting programs and data feeds for now. This doesn't mean that I will not miss trading or will not eventually return. I am not entirely sure how I feel about this or what will be the outcome.
I wanted to write and let you know what is going on. I hope this blog has helped you in your training as a trader. It has been a pleasure serving you and I hope to return someday.
It's been a while since I posted a chart. I have been super busy this summer with my medical work and traded very little. It's taken me two weeks to start to get my edge back as I was really rusty. One thing I did was too simplify my charts. I was having trouble managing all many charts and having a real difficult time reading them all.
One thing you will notice is that I removed my Footprint charts. It was too much to process as I was so out of practice. I kinda wanted to see how I could do without them anyway. It worked really well on Friday as I had my confidence back and read the market pretty well.
I hope this helps. I am sorry to have abandoned you for the past several months. I hope you had a great summer also.
Here is another trading class that might be of interest to you. I have had the opportunity of attending two of Kam's courses and he is the real deal. He has taken Market Profile and Market Delta and put it into a real learnable and tradable system.
Kam is a great guy and a great teacher. Most importantly: The bloke makes money consistently and can teach you how to make money at trading. I have learned more than a few things from him that have aided my trading and my bottom line. If you have an interest, I suggest you check out the link below and also take a free trial in his room. You'll get a real clear idea what Kam is all about and if his style is suited to you.
I'm back from a long summer off. I am trying to get my trading groove and timing back. As I do, I will have some new and hopefully informative posts for you.
I recently downloaded Market Delta 10 beta 4 and if offers some cool improvements. I will share some of them as I get used to the new additions. Its a really great program that keeps on getting better and better.
On the education front, Bill Duryea is presenting his week long training program. Check out the flier above. As you all know, I am a big fan of Bill and the Institute of Auction Market Theory. If you are serious about learning this work, there is no better teacher out there then Bill. No has taught me more about trading than him. He has helped me to truly (and effectively) analyze the action of the markets and to aggressively act on my inferences.
I hope to find the time to be at the class myself. I know this stuff pretty well and I always still learn something from the guy. He absolutely amazes me with his understanding.
I have had anything but a quiet summer. I started two businesses in the past month and have had a slew of guests staying with us. I haven't spent more than a few minutes watching the markets these past several weeks.
I hope to be back in action in the near future as things quiet down a bit. It should get easier, but you never know. I'll let you know. Thanks for all the support and your kind posts.
I wanted to show you the evolution of a trade I took today. I only had a few minutes to trade today and I got lucky that a good opportunity was present in my limited time. Start from the top picture to see what I was seeing and thinking and check out the pictures below to see my exits.
The top picture shows how dramatically delta momentum had faded on the move to the top. I had great certainty that we would get (at least) a small pullback, so jumped in with little concern.
Even with the big move up, and how much the day looked like it might be a trend day, I just didn't fully believe it. I scaled out after 3 pts at the 1 SD of VWAP. I wanted a profit in case this was just a small pullback. However, I really thought there would be more available on this move. I didn't really think the market would sustain a trend move following such a big gap and up move.
Here is a nice trade I took this morning. I wanted to show you all of my reasons. With all I was seeing, it didn't feel 'scary' at all to take a counter trade long even though it really looked like the sellers were in control and ready to put in a new low.
I got in at 966.50 as I really wanted to get in close to the key low of 966. I took 2 pts off (in case I was wrong). I got 4 pts each on my other two contracts near the vwap.
I have mentioned a number of times how I like Singles with volume behind them to lean on. I will be watching closely for the opportunity to go long on a retracement to these levels. I usually prefer the first Single of the day which represents the breakout point. However, the second Single has so much volume behind it, it may be very enticing.
First off, let me say that I'm sorry to have not been posting as regularly as usual. I am on a bit of a summertime schedule. I usually take a little break from regular trading in July and August. I will be trading off and on the next couple of weeks and will post anything I see that I think will be of interest to you.
A couple of posts back I mentioned a couple of classes by Kam Dhadwar. Just a reminder, he's doing a class on Trader Psychology on Wednesday. It's pretty reasonably priced and I will be attending. I hear that he is really good at this work. If you need some help in this area (and who doesn't?), you may want to check it out. Scroll down to read the posts.
Also, I just got word from Michelle at IOAMT that Bill Duryea will be doing an online 5 day intensive in September. The just confirmed dates are Sept 14-18 from Open to Closing plus a conference call at the end of each day for questions.
I have no idea of the price but I certainly hope to be there for this intensive. He constantly blows my mind with his knowledge. Hearing him speak, I am constantly reminded how much more I have to learn. I'll let you know when I have more details.
That's it for now. I hope to get a few hours of trading in tomorrow, but I have a big class to give in the evening and need to still prepare. Have a great day.
I thought I'd show you an interesting look at the market from Bill Duryea of IOAMT, using Point and Figure charts. Make a note of the levels. Don't forget about the key levels above. The market certainly didn't forget today, as you can see.
I didn't get to trade today as I had a very busy workday in my practice. I hope you did well. Here is some of my preparation work for tomorrow. Notice the levels I have marked. Also, notice the high volume clusters showing as dark blue. These are the levels I will be watching over the near future.
Also, notice that while we had a quite large cumulative delta for the day today, the big boys were not participating very vigorously. So, let's see how that bodes for tomorrow.
Here are two really interesting looking classes put on by Kam Dhadwar, who is a trader and teacher from England. You might have seen the classes he did for Market Delta recently. I really respect Kam and his work and I am very excited about these classes.
I signed up for both and am really looking forward to taking them.
Please note that the times for these classes is in Greenwich Mean Time. Translated, Chicago is GM - 6 hours. California is -8. So, the 7PM class is 11AM in California and 1PM in Chicago.
I don't have the link to register for the 2nd class (I misplaced it somehow) but I will email Kam to get it and post it here.
Here was a really nice trade. I annotated it in pretty good detail so check it out. I entered this one with a limit sell order as there was tons of confluence to give me confidence. I didn't wait to see the sellers coming in.
At levels that I really like, all I really need to see are signs of deceleration, like the divergence I showed above or tons of volume coming into my level showing that supply was present in abundance absorbing demand.
Just a reminder about Alex Benjamin's class tomorrow at IOAMT. I'll be there. Please say 'hi' via PM if you attend the class. It's free and open to all.
This was a nifty trade. I shorted the Initial Balance High (IBH) when the market 1 ticked above it during C period. I particularly liked this one because we also had Initiated Selling between 928 and 929 from 6.15.
A trading friend asked me how long I keep up the lines that I draw on the chart. The answer is: until they are violated. The market had not previously challenged and taken out this level since I drew it on 6.15. It still hasn't taken it out. It is still an active and alive level that will remain on my chart.
Check out the 30 minute chart to see what I was looking at. MD 9.2 makes this so easy to do. Notice I have buttons already set to make the process of adding a line very easy.
Here is a link (below) to the chart definition. You won't be able to use all the lines that are automatically drawn unless you set your V#'s up and Quote page. Some are set up with Custom Columns which require the Pro version. All the rest should work fine for all.
Just a reminder that IOAMT will be presenting Alex Benjamin in a free webinar on July 7. Alex is a true master of Market Profile. I plan to be there to see if I can pick up some new ideas.
I got a real nice one this am, shorting near the high at 925.50. I exited 911.50. I explained my reasons in detail in the chart annotation. I am not an early morning kind of person. The only reason I was able to be sharp enough to take this trade was my preparation. I was totally aware that 924 was a key area and that if the price probe above this failed, or if this was just a stop catching expedition, we should see a really nice move to the downside.
I had my target clearly laid out at yesterday's low. I had a clear analysis and my inferences worked out to the tee. When the trade moved in my direction, I got out of the way and let it play out.
We all know that it doesn't always work out so nicely. Today it did. Now on to tomorrow.
I was fortunate to short the HOD near the end of the day. I wanted to outline my reasons. Friday's, near the end of the trading day/week, often offer unique opportunities for large break outs or reversals. I am often aggressive at this time in the trading week if the opportunity presents itself (which it often does). This wasn't an amazing trade but I still got 4 points max out of it.
Check out the charts for my thoughts. Questions/comments are surely welcome.
Its been a week since my last post. We had a wonderful time at a wedding in FL but it was blazing hot and humid. It's so great to be back in S. California, and great to trade once again. I was a little concerned that it might be hard to get my trading groove back, but I started the day with a nice trade - without missing a beat.
I have long been preaching the value of developing your pattern recognition skills by snagging pictures of your charts and annotating them with your observations - day in and day out. Well, I started trading rather late today and as soon as I got to the screen this pattern immediately screamed to me: "SELL".
It really does become automatic in time. Bill Duryea (of IOAMT) says that you need to see a pattern 100 or more times until it just locks in what it is telling you. There is suddenly no figuring it out. The pattern just talks to you.
I have become so comfortable with my charts as I have set them up. They literally talk to me now. So, once again, I highly encourage you to set up a Chart Book and do your pattern recognition homework daily. It absolutely (and literally) pays off.
I welcome feedback and comments on how you have set up your Chart Book and how it is effecting your trading.
I hope a lot of you could make the class yesterday and that you enjoyed it. I am on the road for a short vacation and will not be able to trade or post for a few days. I will be back on Tuesday and hope to get my posting back in gear. I put a lot of time and energy into the class over the past two weeks, so my trading and posting has been far more sparse than I prefer.
See you next week. Be well and make us some money.
I wanted to remind you about my class tomorrow: Optimizing Brain Function to Improve Your Trading. Since I could only post this as a picture, the links aren't live.
I have a pretty nice chart to share with you tonight. We had clear signals on all four 'micro' charts. I wanted to go short somewhere near the 943-945 area for the reasons I outlined on the chart. This trade developed very slowly. I actually got in very early but there were lots of opportunities to get short as there was absolutely no upward momentum.
I was able to get in long near the LOD. The Footprints/Volume Breakdown really signaled a nice trade opportunity. It's always a little daunting going counter trend on such a strong downtrending day. However, when I saw that massive volume on the 6 reversal chart as the market make a new low and then could only eke out 2 ticks more, it really looked like a possible bottom to me. After a while, you just get a feeling.
I am also including a link to the chart definition for the my 1.25 Range Chart. I have removed the Delta Divergence indicator as it was coded by a friend, but it's not really hard to do if you have IRT or MD Pro. BTW, I don't really look at the signal very much and could absolutely live without it. That said, it's nice having it.
Also note, that the lines will not print for you due to the V#'s I have used and the Quote Page I created. I left it so you could get an idea of the lines I look at. They also automagically print on my 30 minute chart and Reversal Chart.
Hi guys, I have mostly been showing you trades lately and focusing on my entry level charts (1.25 range, 6 tick reversal and 10K Volume). However, these longer term charts are where most of my key levels are seen. They are crucial for my trading. The way I have them set up makes it really easy for me to see key reference areas. Only when I see the market moving toward an area of interest does my entire focus switch over to my entry level charts and do I then begin to look for signs to guide my entry or my decision to not take a trade.
I have been asked many times whether I wait for footprint confirmation to enter a trader. The answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. If I have a level that I am extremely interested in (as I have showed you many times), I just want some sign of deceleration of momentum. I will speak of this more in future posts. If I really like a level and see signs of deceleration, I will often enter very aggressively, to get in at a price where I can set a tight stop.
At other times when I feel like I need more 'evidence', I will wait for the footprint to confirm. There are also the really nice occasions when you get footprint confirmation and great location.
Hi guys, I hope these charts aren't getting boring. Its just that, if you are patient, the same type of trade sets up pretty much day in and day out. On this one, you'll see that the Initiated Buying and VAL from the prior day stopped the market in B period. The divergences indicated that the market would not likely break thru the second time down.
I added a custom indicator to the 10K Chart that paints the candles the Delta Color. This can easily be done in IRT or MD. Just create a new Signal with the only criteria of VB > 0. Then add a Paint Bar (from the Signal's drop down menu) Choose your new new custom indicator from the drop down menu and choose the colors. Mine is blue for Delta greater than 0 and red for Delta less than 0. Really simple. I think you need the Pro version to do this. BTW, I recently upgraded to Pro and I am simply loving it.
I saw Kam Dhardwar using this in the L2ST room. I don't use this info for much at this time, but it could be useful.
Hi there guys. Please join me for a free class that I will be giving for IOAMT on Tuesday, June 16 at 4:30 PM EST. You'll get to see another side of me and (I believe) pick up some really valuable information. The room will be open to all. If you have already gotten a free trial with IOAMT, just email them at support@ioamt.com to register for the class. Below is the PR piece describing the class. I hope to see you there.
MG
Optimizing Brain Function to Improve YourTrading
Trading is a very demanding activity. ** Traders need the ability to stay focused, with high-level cognitive function and balanced emotional states for many hours at a time. *** Healthy brains and balanced brain chemistry are absolutely essential to perform at the highest level. **** The Institute of Auction Market Theory is happy to announce another FREE presentation. It is our goal to provide the best in education and in this quest we are excited to have Dr. Bryan Stern as our next guest speaker. Dr. Stern is a physician with 30 years experience specializing in Functional Medicine and also a day trader.
He is well known through his trading blog as MGTrader. He will be discussing how our brain function has a direct effect on our trading outcomes.
Many traders have brains that are functioning far below optimal levels. The brain can abnormally age and deteriorate and brain chemicals known as neurotransmitters can become imbalanced. The result is a whole slew of cognitive and emotional symptoms. These can include (to name only a few):
· Memory noticeably declining · Focus noticeably declining · Reduced attention span endurance · Reduced pattern recognition skills · Slower mental response · Difficulty learning new things · More fatigue from trading · Anxiety and panic · Inability to handle stress · Increased bouts of anger and frustration
This class will teach you how to reverse brain deterioration, balance brain chemistry, dramatically improve cognitive function and balance your emotions utilizing cutting-edge nutritional supplementation, diet and lifestyle modification.
Each participant will have the opportunity to complete a Brain Questionnaire to assess their own brain status.
This important presentation will be completely FREE! Knowing how to keep your brain strong and in top physical condition will support you in eliminating emotional blocks and sustaining the energy necessary to get the most from your cognitive abilities.
Join us on 6/16/09 at 1:30pm PST. The class will last about 1.5 hours and include time for your questions at the end. To insure your spot at this event, simply register for IOAMT's Free 5 day trial at www.ioamt.com.
I have shown you several times now how divergence of Delta Momentum at key levels is quite an amazing indicator. Here is an example from today. I forgot to annotate that I exited at the VWAP at 932, a good high probability level.
When the market failed to get strongly above the VWAP and instead broke down, my perspective went strongly bearish and I stopped looking for long trades (until near the end of the day). Unfortunately, I had some things to do and couldn't get in on the reversal late in the day.
Hi there guys, Here was a really nice trade opportunity. I hope that a lot of you took it. Check out the charts.
I have a few thoughts that I want to share with you today. I really try to keep it simple. I wait for my set up and if I get confirmation like this on my micro charts, I jump in. I am constantly experimenting with my charts, making them more complex in the thought that more data is better. Most stuff doesn't stick though. More isn't always better. I want nothing to slow me down. I have a few patterns I look at and they are second nature.
I want my platform setup to be a lean, mean, money-making machine. My advice to you is to get rid of anything on your charts that isn't consistently effective, anything you don't really use or anything that slows you down or makes you hesitate. Master everything on your screen. I don't show you lots of the things I try and throw out. I want to show you stuff that works for me.
Its taken me years of hard work and study. But, at last, I have a style of trading that works for me. Now, I just work on refining it. I hope I am helping you, in this blog, to find your own successful style.
Hi guys, I wanted to show you guys some of the new functionality in Market Delta and Investor/RT 9.2.13. There have been some cool improvements made to the Session Statistics Indicator. Check out the chart. The way I have it set up, it will now project the relative volume and relative range of each 30 minute bar compared to the last X number bars on a specific day. (I've included the settings).
Here is what's going on in this chart example. After 5 minutes (for example), the indicator will now essentially multiply the volume or range x 6 and compare the volume and range of the 30 minute bar to the similar time period on the same day of the week. So, as Monday's A period bar opens, the software can look at and compare Monday's A period to the past 12 Monday A periods. This gives a much more accurate projection of what is happening with volume and range, so far, on the uncompleted bar.
BTW, the readings oscillate around 100% of average. +120 relative range means the range is 20 % above the average for the time period. - 150 means the range is 50% less than the average.
This is so useful because as the bar opens, it is now projecting volume and range based on the amount of time that has transpired on that bar so far.
Note that you will have to download one additional day of data beyond the look back period. If you are looking back 60 days (for example), you will need 61 days of data.
Hi guys, I had to give a big presentation this evening, so I didn't have time to prepare anything for you. I have lots of things on my mind that I am looking for to share though.
Tonight's post is a view 5 day market prepared by Bill Duryea of IOAMT. Thanks Bill. I think it gives a really nice look at the current market condition. I added the Single print at 904.50 from today. It was the first (and most important) breakout. It also has some nice Supply above it. As I have mentioned many times before, these are the ones I really like and watch out for. Let's see what happens.
Hi Guys, I have received several comments/questions about getting with-the-trend opportunities on trend days. Obviously we had a trend day today and trading to the long side was where the big money was. There were very small pullbacks making it difficult to take a long position. We all hate buying at the high. Here is an example of a long trade on a small pullback with good location. On day's like today, you gotta take what you can get.
At some point we need to get the idea that the market is likely going up. Even if you are looking for counter trend opportunities, like I was, you need to find good locations to go with the move.
Hi Guys, I didn't have much time to trade today. But, here was a really nice one. One like this one is enough. We had a great long from the Value Area Low from Thursday. We also had great volume to lean on. The market gave you plenty of time to enter.
These are the ones you can be more aggressive on. There were lots of possible entries. The keys are to have your charts set up so you can see this stuff real easily and to be prepared. I knew the VAL was there and a possible trade op. I knew there was Initiated Buying from Thursday right beneath it - just like I like it. I knew that if the Footprints and the Delta Momentum supported the trade, I would jump in aggressively.
I added two additional filtered Volume Breakdown indicators (>24, >99, >199). As you know, I have had an additional VB filtered for trades >199. I added these today after seeing a chart set up with 3 VB's by a great chap named Howard in the IOAMT room today. Is three filtered VB's better than one? We'll see.
Have a great holiday weekend. I'll catch you all on Tuesday.
Hi guys, I mentioned in my last post about the webinar: 'Using the Market Delta Footprint for Evidence and Execution' with Kam Dhadwar given yesterday by Market Delta . If you missed it, its totally worthwhile watching. The first half was on the 'basics'. If you are new to Market Delta or unclear on any on the theory behind the Footprints, you'll get a good intro on the subject.
The second half of the webinar covered some of the ways that Kam Dhadwar (http://www.l2st.co.uk/) uses the footprint to aid his trade execution. He goes over his charts and settings in some detail.
Hi guys, I have two really nice charts to show you today. I added a new chart yesterday. I got the idea from the webinar at Market Delta yesterday with Kam Dhadwar. The new chart is a 10000 Volume Candle Chart. MD will have the video posted shortly on their web site and I will also post a link. Totally worth watching.
Check out the video for the specifics on the chart. It is just a Volume Breakdown set to a 3 bar average of Delta (Histogram) and a 2nd VB set to 5 bars (line).
It seems like a useful addition to my screen set up especially to make it easier to see divergences. I have used it to my benefit several times today. It is just a different view. It is very easy to read and I already feel quite comfortable with it already.
Multiple views of Delta are very useful. Sometimes one chart tells the story more clearly than the others.
Hi guys, I have told you several times how I love trading a Single with volume behind it to lean on. Well, we had one today and it worked really well. We had a Single from yesterday at 904.25 where the market took off in M period. We also had initiated buying from yesterday in the 903-904 area. We also had the Volume Value Area High at 904.25
I probably would have taken this trade without the footprint chart knocking me over the head to go long. But, the footprint was absolutely brilliant. Check it out. I hope many of you took this trade.
Hi guys, Here are some of the levels I am looking at. I scrunched the chart so you could see further out levels. I also look at the dark blue areas of heavy volume concentration. Note that the bars over 10 days old show thinned data as I only have the tick set to look back 10 days.
I also have a 10 day FPPS and a 20 and 60 day Profile on the chart. They are set up as buttons. I have these so that I can look at the high and low volume areas. I also look for Singles that haven't been filled like at 886 on my Market Profile Chart (not shown). I also track past and current areas of initiated buying and selling on my 30 minute Footprint Chart.
With practice, and this excellent Market Delta software, it gets very easy to track and see these levels.
I hope this gives you some ideas on how you might want to set up your own charts.
Hi guys, I got a question the other day whether I ever have a losing trade. I have been guilty of mostly focusing on the times I was right. Like all of you, I have losing trades and losing days. I got to trading late today, after the major down move and walked away with two losing trades and a small and manageable loss.
I took a long trade at 878.50 and got stopped at 877. The market went one tick lower and moved up around 7 points. As irritating as that can be, I feel like I was reading the market correctly. I had clear reasons for taking the trade where I did. I had reasons why I placed my stop where I did. It just didn't work out for me.
Check out the chart for my reasons. One thing that you will notice is that I didn't wait for Footprint confirmation before entering. In retrospect, I believe I wasn't patient enough. I wanted a winner. So, even though I didn't see what I was looking for in the footprints, I went for it anyway.
In trading, we need to make decisions. Every day, analyze your trades. See, in retrospect, what you were seeing and the inferences you were making. Notice if you missed any information that might have clarified the picture. Evaluate you strengths and weaknesses and work on those weaknesses. In this way, you will grow every day as a trader and as a person.
Hi guys, Today, I wanted to show you some more nuance in my trade (or no trade) decisions. I have enclosed a 30 minute chart so you could see why I was interested in the 894 level. You can also see the Initiated Selling at the 889 area which I also shorted. The 1.25 Range Chart showed a pretty similar picture, so I didn't include it here. These two trades set up really nicely.
I snag shots throughout the day whenever I see anything interesting. I constantly analyze what I am seeing (or think I am seeing). Then I note what actually occurred. I also snag shots of stuff I missed in real time, so I can be more aware of it.
Hi guys, I wanted to show you an example of how I interplay the 1.25 Range and the 6 Reversal Charts. They both play their roles. It takes a while to become adept at reading one chart, let alone two. So, I suggest, you keep it simple until you master one chart setup.
Hi guys, For those of you not in the IOAMT room, I thought I would post the Daily Recap from Bill Duryea (with Bill's kind permission). There are a lot of important ideas to mull over. I thought it was a really good lesson.
For those of you in Bill's room, I suggest you read it over again and make sure you understand every concept he puts forward. Mark the levels on your own charts so you will be prepared for tomorrow. If you have a different take on the markets, that's totally cool too. These are just one man's ideas. We need to be clear on our own analysis and our own ideas of what has occurred and what 'evidence' we will be observing tomorrow to make our 'real time' analysis and trade decisions.
I have practiced Functional Medicine for 30 years. It is something I love and am passionate about.
I have been an avid Day Trader for the past 5 years. It is a serious hobby for me (with benefits). I am equally passionate about trading.
The focus of this blog is on Auction Market Theory. In my posts, I share my observations, analysis and charting ideas.
Please remember, I am just a student like you. Don't believe anything I teach here. Check it all out for yourselves. Discover what works for you. It is my pleasure to share this blog with you.
