8-11-2014

Pre Trading Notes:
1.  Draw the trend lines.  Really look for the bigger trend line channels and/or S/R areas.
2.  Your trades will come off of the trend lines.
3.  If you are confused, no big deal, just don't trade until you recognize the setups and know that you have your trend lines drawn correctly.

Post Trading Notes:
1.  Improving!  I still have a couple of mis-drawn lines but progress has been made.
2.  The 15 min Welly opening range indicator is very accurate of having price bouncing off of it and it being a S/R area.  It happens almost every single day at least once.
3.  Mack's trend line is in black

Mack's Notes:
1.  You do not want to enter a trade when there are a bunch of overlapping bars with dojis.

8-8-2014

Pre Trading Notes:
1.  Still just observing until I am fully confident and can spot the setups to trade while they are happening. Right now I am confusing and frustrating myself looking for trades so I am still taking a step back.
2.  Draw the mid-trend channel (dotted) line in bigger channels.
3.  Draw your line from the 1st two swings.

Post Trading Notes:
1.  Right now the thing to focus on for me is drawing the correct trend lines and spotting the 1st two swings right when they happen in order to get the initial swing line drawn.  That is the key to knowing which side of the trade to take.
2.  I get really confused when I do not have a greater trend line drawn.  When I get confused then I guess at 2nd entries and they are always losers.


Mack's Notes:
1.  The short term trend lines are generally right off of the closes and they should fit both sides.

This is an excerpt from one of Mack's articles in his premium section that I really liked:  "The only difference between you and a profitable day trader is time, experience and dedication, so never forget that!"

8-7-2014

Pre Trading Notes:
1.  Keep grinding away one day at a time
2.  Right now I a going to run the replay and only take trades if I am 100% sure in the setup.  Otherwise I am going to just mark the good trades.  I am getting too hung up and confused.  I will take a step back for awhile and look for trades after the fact until I get better to where I can see them as they setup.

Post Trading Notes:
1.  My trades I saw are in black.  Mack's are in maroon.  His lines are in black.

Mack's Notes:
1.  Prices usually break out and fail out of a trading range.
2.  Congestion is just a small trading range.
3.  A great short setup is when price breaks out of the small trend channel to the downside, retraces and then goes back up to make a double top or a small new high.....look for the 2nd entries to go short once that double top or new high has been made.
4.  Draw the mid-channel lines in a bigger channel.

8-6-2014

Pre Trading Notes:
1.  Focusing on 2nd entries and the breakout of trend line ones
2.  Always predict where you think price is going.   If it doesn't then re-evaluate your view b/c you are wrong.

Post Trading Notes:
1.  Look for taking failed 2nd entries.  Put your order one tick below/above the previous candle when you are looking for them at the trend line areas or at the EMA.  Don't do them blind.
2.  Focus on areas where you expect price to move in a direction and look for the 2nd entries and failed 2nd entries there

Mack's Notes:
1.  You want to price attempt to go down and fail before you go long.
2.  Failed 2nd entries are excellent trades.
3.  2nd entries are not enough, you have to pay attention to the price action and what it is doing.
4.  Drawing your short term trend lines and understand what price is doing within and when it goes outside the trend lines is how you get your successful trading ratio up to 100%.

8-5-2014

Pre Trading Notes:

1.  Besides the standard 2nd entries at trend channel lines and the EMA I am focusing on another trade.  It is where you wait for price to break out of the channel (if price was heading up) to the downside.  It seems to retrace to the EMA or at least to a support area and will form 3 or so candles.  This is when you get long near the bottom of it.  Do the opposite for when in a down trend.  After price makes the new high then look for it to reverse.  Do not take 2nd entries until price has tried to make a new high after breaking out of the trend channel and then you would more than likely be looking to go short b/c price is probably going to sell off.
2.  If price breaks out of the channel far away, for example if price is going lower and breaks out of the channel even further to the downside then look for a big correction to happen soon when price moves back up or even a new trend to the upside.

Post Trading Notes:

1.  Still working on learning.  Watch Mack's videos and read an article a day from the premium section.

2.  If price (when going up) breaks out of the trend channel to the downside then goes back up to create a new high AND THEN continues to go up and not reverse to the downside......then you have a 2 legged measured move and we are about 55% through it.

Mack's Notes:

1.  Remember to draw your S/R measured line areas.  Measure the areas b/c when price breaks out of one area a lot of the time it moves a measured distance to the other way.
2.

8-4-2014

[B][U]Pre Trading Notes:[/U][/B]

1.  Taking Mack's 2nd entry trades.  Looking for trades off the EMA, S/R and trend lines as the main setups.
2.  Taking the Vince/Welly type of trades during those times when I have a good feeling that price is moving in a direction but there isn't a 2nd entry enabling me to get in.
3.  Drawing trend lines and really focusing on the direction of the trend.

[B][U]Post Trading Notes:[/U][/B]

1.  I am still using Mack's rules and trades.  From past experience there have been plenty of times when price was moving strong in one direction but there were not 2nd entry signals to get in.  The Welly/Vince type of trades help eliminate that and get in at those areas.  I've done some back testing and and this seems like what works best for me
2.  I draw the trend line off of the 1st 3 candles for the most part.
3.  One main trade I am looking at is when price breaks out of the trend channel and then retraces back to the nearest support...b/c then it usually goes up to either make a double top or a new high before reversing and this is good for a scalp.  Look for price to for 3 or so candles in a row b/c that is where it seems to pivot off of when making it's return when making a new low or going up to make a new high before reversing.

Mack's Notes:

4-29-2014

Pre Trading Notes:

1.  For reversals you only start looking to take trades the other way after price has been going one direction when (assuming price has been in a downtrend) price breaks out of the downtrend channel to the upside and a clear close outside of the downward channel.  Then price resumes the downtrend and creates a new low.
2.  DRAW YOUR TREND LINES SO THAT PRICE TOUCHES OFF OF BOTH SIDES.  If price is not touching on one side then you do not have it drawn correctly.  Draw it off of the first couple of bars in the move.
3.  When price breaks out of the trend channel to the downside (in an uptrend) and then goes on to make a new high then that can signal the move is over.  Especially if there is a 2 legged move up to a new high.

Post Trading Notes:

1.  My experiment with drawing 2nd entries on the close rather than if any part of the bar goes past the previous bar (Mack's way) is over.  It took me a day and a half to realize that trying to "improve" Mack's method does not work.  So now back to the Mack way of counting 2nd entries.  Lesson learned that Mack's rules work and mine do not.
2.  I tried changing my bar type and it messed up all my lines.  Also an hour and a half in I realized my "new" method of counting 2nd entries was not working so I just went back and started marking trades and drawing the correct trend lines until 9:37 and then started sim trading again.
3. I am still going to do the 0,1,2 count for entries.  It really helps me out.
4.  Getting destroyed trying to figure out which way price is going on 2nd entries. Have to work on that.

Mack's Notes:

1.  Will review tomorrow