7-22-2013

Pre Trading Notes:

1.  Draw the smaller trend lines and look for the break of the small trend, then the 2 legs up to a new high or down to a new low which signals a change in direction.
2.  When price overshoots a trend channel or S/R area look for it to overshoot it the other way.3.  Keep looking for failed 2nd entries to confirm 2nd entry trades. 

Post Trading Notes:

Brutal day at the beginning.  I knew I was wrong on the first trade when the failed 2nd entry long formed and I looked up and could have gotten out with a 3 tick loss but I held on "hoping" price would go back up.  When you start hoping then you are on the wrong side of the trade.
For the 2nd loss I got in right when a 2nd entry long formed and I was taking a short.  I should have waited for a failed 2nd entry long to signal and when it didn't then I would not have taken this trade.  

Two bad trades but trades to learn from.
Once I figured out that price was in a range then I went 100%.  The problem was taking the two bad trades and not getting out when I knew I was wrong.

Mack's Notes:

Watch for the 2 legged moves in each direction.
A low volume day today, you have to be patient.
You have to learn to buy the lows and sell the highs.  It goes against your natural instinct to buy the lows and sell the highs.  

You will see it over and over again, 2 legged moves and then a change in price pattern.

Always ask yourself, "Is this a trap setting up?"
You are always better to miss a trade than to get trapped on the wrong side.  
Bad entry points are where there is a lot of congestion and dojis.
Always draw your short term trend lines b/c you usually will get a break and then a test or a new low/high.

Your 1st step in learning Mack's rules is to learn to spot the trades after the day is over.  You have to be able to spot all of the trades and explain why they are valid trades after the day is over. When you can do this then you work on spotting them in sim using the market replayer.
We enter on the corrections, not on the moves.

This takes time and experience to learn and to get better.  You won't be successful using Mack's rules right away.

Trades:

1.  7:36 - 2nd entry long.  Turned about to be a failed 2nd entry long.  Should have gotten out when the failed 2nd entry long formed for a small loss.
2.  9:02 - 2nd entry short.  Turned out to be a failed 2nd entry short.  A 2nd entry long formed right after it.  The 2nd of 2 bad trades I took today.
3.  9:38 - 2nd entry long and a failed 2nd entry off of the EMA and the lower trend channel.  I got out near the top of the measured move.  Obviously I wish I had held on until the top of the range.
4.  12:04 - Failed 2nd entry long and a 2nd entry short.  I was also looking for price to complete the 2nd leg of the measured move.
5.  1:57 - 2nd entry short.

Missed Trades:

1.  7:50 - Failed 2nd entry long.
2.  8:31 - Double top pullback to the upper channel.
3.  8:42 - 2nd entry short off of the upper trend channel.
4.  9:04 - 2nd entry long off of the EMA and support level.  There was also a failed 2nd entry short.

7-19-2013

Pre Trading Notes:

1.  Draw the smaller trend lines and look for the break of the small trend, then the 2 legs up to a new high or down to a new low which signals a change in direction.
2.  When price overshoots a trend channel or S/R area look for it to overshoot it the other way.
3.  Keep looking for failed 2nd entries to confirm 2nd entry trades.

Post Trading Notes:

Good trading today.  Once I found the trend line then I knew to only go long.  Today I did well of having a trend within a range but only trading on the support areas.  I just felt like I did a good job of finding the range and measuring it up for the 2nd move.  Then finding the trend within the range but still making sure to only trade going long once I found it.

I am still thinking about just scalping everything.  Even today I would have been up if I had scalped every trade rather than try to have runners.  I think having runners is good for now but it looks like when I go live that I can make more money by scalping every contract rather than worrying about having runners.

Draw your short term trend lines.  You are not doing this and you need to.

Mack's Notes:

Slow day where you had to be patient.  Even he made some mistakes today and got shook out of some trades.

At 16:00 in the review video he goes over how to enter into the trades.  Good review on signal bars and how to enter.
At 18:00 in the review video he goes over traps and what they look like.

Trades:

1.  8:27 - 2nd entry long off of the support level.  I knew price wasn't in a down ward trend b/c none of the lines matched up so I figured price was probably in a range and was looking for a 2nd entry long b/c wherever it triggered was probably a support level.

2.  8:33 - 2nd entry short off of resistance level.  Was also a failed 2nd entry long if counting from the SL.

3.  9:08 - 2nd entry long and a failed 2nd entry short off of the EMA.  Price had made a couple of dojis and was up against resistance so I dropped a limit order in off the EMA which made for an easy scalp.  Was looking for a measured range move up which was where my 2nd lot was located.

4.  9:53 - 2nd entry long off of the EMA.  Should have waited for the failed 2nd entry short to confirm the entry and could have gotten in 2-3 ticks better.  Should have gotten in better since there were dojis and congestion.

5.  11:05 - 2nd entry long off of the lower trend line.  There were two dojis so I got in 2 ticks better which made for an easy scalp.

6.  12:01 - Failed 2nd entry short and a 2nd entry long off of the lower trend line and the resistance turned support area.  My 2nd lot was near the upper trend line and it hit.

Missed Trades:

1.  8:41 - 2nd entry long and a 2 legged move at the bottom of the trend line.
2.  9:31 - 2nd entry long off of the lower trend line.  There was also a short trap.
3.  2:33 - 2nd entry long and a failed 2nd entry short off of the EMA.

7-18-2013

Pre Trading Notes:

1.  Continue to look for 2nd entries and failed 2nd entries complimenting each other.
2.  Keep drawing all of your trend lines and S/R lines.
3.  If it is a good setup bouncing off of the trend lines, S/R lines or the EMA then take the trade.  Do not hesitate if you recognize and know it is a good trade.
4.  Plan in advance what setup you are looking for depending on what price is doing.  Always try to be prepared and have the setup in your mind for what you are looking for.

Post Trading Notes:

I made the mistake again of trying to force a trend into a range and trade off the trend when price is bouncing off of one of the ends of the support or resistance.  You can have a trend in a range but when price bounces off of the S/R area then trade off of that and not the range.  Only until price breaks out of the range and shows it is in a trend, then that is when you switch over and trade the trend lanes.

Mack's Notes:

An overshoot of a channel that is the end of a 2 legged move will usually mean it will go to the other side and there will be an overshoot on the other side as well.
You want to get in cheap and use a real small stop when you can.  You do not want to get stopped out for your max 2 point stop every time.  When there is congestion wait for the setup to signal an entry then drop a limit order back in congestion.

Your stop always have to go above the signal bar at minimum.
Always make sure you have room to at least scalp out of a trade.
Make sure you draw the short term trend lines b/c they really do help.

Mack's lines are in black.

Trades:

1.  8:38 - 2nd entry long off of the EMA and what would be the lower trend line.  It also was a failed 2nd entry short that triggered a couple of bars before.  I didn't have the green lines drawn correctly at first, other wise I would have gotten out at 1682 rather than 1681.50.

2.  9:07 - 2nd entry long and a failed 2nd entry short off of the lower trend line.  Had the 2nd lot close to the top of the upper trend line.

3.  11:34 - 2nd entry short and a failed 2nd entry long off of the EMA.  My 2nd lot was a tick up from the end of the measured range move.

4.  12:52 - Tried to force a trend into a range.  This is a problem I have at the moment.  I knew it was a range and had it labeled correctly but I stuck some trend lines on there and tried to trade off of them.  You can have trends in ranges but when it hits one end of the range then that trend is more than likely over.

5.  1:35 - Failed 2nd entry short off of the EMA.  Was looking for price to go up and retest the highs for the 2nd lot.

6.  2:45 - 2nd entry long off of the support.


Missed Trades:

1.  11:06 - 2nd entry long which is also a 2 legged move back to the support area.
2.  12:19 - 2nd entry short off of the EMA and also was a failed 2nd entry long that never went 4 ticks.

7-17-2013

Pre Trading Notes:

1.  If price creates a 1st entry that forms a double top or double bottom by only going up or down by 1 tick then do not count it as a 1st entry.  It seems Mack's charts do not show these bars being first entries but only double tops or double bottoms.  If it goes 2 ticks or more to create a double top or double bottom then you can count it as a 1st entry.
2.  Continue to use failed 2nd entries to confirm 2nd entries and to trade them on their own against the trend lines and the EMA.
3.  If price is against a trend line and bumping against a S/R line then go with the trend line to trade off of and not the S/R line.  If price is in a trend within a range, has come off of a S/R area and is in the midpoint of the range but bouncing off of the trend line then do not use the trend line because price is probably going back to the opposite side of the range.

Post Trading Notes:

I learned a very important lesson today or rather it was nailed home in me.  For some reason I try to make everything a trend, even on range days I like to have trend lines within ranges.  For whatever reason I gravitate towards drawing trend lines and give those more weigh then S/R lines.  In reality they are the same thing except one is diagonal and the other is flat.  That is what happened to me today.  I was so hell bent on making price into a trend whether up or down that I took two bad trades b/c I was going to be damned if my trend line didn't work.  As soon as I realized this and traded off the S/R lines my win rate went to 100%.

For some reason I do not trust S/R lines as much as I do trend lines which is why I think I always try to fit ranges into trends.
Once I saw that the two legged big move was not going to happen I should have realized that it was going to be a range day.  That is what usually happens.  When the 2nd leg doesn't form then that means it is usually going to be a range day.

I went ahead a put back on the trend lines in pink so I can look back on this and see my mistake.

(Edit:  After watching Mack's video I had the pink line drawn correctly, I was just trading off of it incorrectly and not counting the 2nd entries correctly)

Mack's Notes:

Draw the short term trend lines b/c you need to expect a break of the trend line and then a new low if in a downtrend or a new high if in an uptrend before price reverses.
In an uptrend you only want to enter off of support and/or the EMA.  In a downtrend you only want to enter off of resistance and/or the EMA.

You want to buy the lows and sell the highs which is why you draw your trend lines and S/R lines b/c you trade off of those.  You are looking for a reason to go long at suppport and short at resistance.
You can't enter late and you can't hold on too long.  These trades are designed for scalps, not swing trading so I need to scalp out more on both contracts.

After the 1st major break of a trend line price will usually go back and retest the highs or create a new high if in an uptrend and will retest the lows or create a new low if in a downtrend before going into a range or reversing the other way.

A lot of the time when you get an overshoot of the trend channel on one side price will come back and overshoot it on the other side.

When you get a break of a trend line you will get 2 legs up to a new high or down to a new low a lot of the time so it is a setup to expect.

Trades:

1.  8:36 - 2nd entry long and failed 2nd entry short off of the EMA.  I put my entry 2 ticks below the entry price b/c there were some overlapping bars previously.

2.  9:08 - Failed 2nd entry short off of the EMA.  I could have gotten a better entry but I still had my 2 tick cushion on my 2 point stop loss so it fit my entry criteria.  There were 3 overlapping bars so in that aspect I probably should have dropped a limit order instead of using a stop order.  Was looking for price to follow the big green trend channel up or at least hit the resistance level which it did.

3.  9:35 - 2nd entry long off of the lower trend line and the EMA.

4.  10:18 - Thought it was a failed 2nd entry short and was looking for price to head to the other side of the trend line.

5.  10:43 - Thought it was a 2nd entry long off of the lower trend line and a double bottom.  Obviously I am reading the charts incorrectly.

6.  12:07 - 2nd entry short off of the resistance area.

7.  1:27 - 2nd entry short off of the resistance area.

8.  1:52 - 2nd entry long off of the support area.

Missed Trades:

1.  He said it was a failed 2nd entry short off of the trend line but price went 4 ticks so I'm not sure.

2.  Breakout pullback long off of the trend line.

3.  2nd entry long off of the lower trend line.

7-16-2013

Pre Trade Notes:

1.  Focus on looking for failed 2nd entries.  These help confirm 2nd entries.
2.  Keep drawing all of your lines and re-drawing them if they do not match up.
3.  Identify if price is in a range or a trend.  A trend can be in a range and a range can be in a trend.
4.  Know your exit for your 2nd lot before you enter the trade.

Post Trade Notes:

Interesting day today.  I was running the replayer too fast at 9:57 because I had a limit sell order at 1675.00 but price didn't come back a 2nd time.  Even thought he long I took at 12:30 worked it is a horrible trade I should never take.  Going against the overall trend is a way to my account so don't start doing this.  I think I did it b/c I felt frustrated b/c I got of a trade early that would have been a winner, then I had a losing trade and lastly I couldn't get in on the big move of the day.  I could feel the frustration building inside of me. 

I think that when price creates a 1st entry against the SH or SL then I am not going to count it as a 1st entry when it is only for 1 tick b/c in looking at Mack's charts he doesn't have a 1st entry there.  Just a double top or a double bottom.  In my first missed trade you can see what I am talking about.  I have a 1st entry while Mack just has a double top on his charts.

Mack's Notes:

Not too many trades today. 
The market moves in 2's and moves in measured moves.

Trades:

1.  8:45 - 2nd entry long off of the support area.  I got out at BE when higher highs started forming against the EMA.  I got out right before price skyrocketed up.

2.  9:27 - 2nd entry long and what at that point was a failed 2nd entry short.  Was looking for the 2nd leg up to the resistance area.  Obviously this was not a good trade.


Missed Trades:

1.  7:52 - 2nd entry long.  Mack had it off a support level but my bars formed differently than his so that same supoprt level wasn't fairly obvious.

2.  8:35 - 2nd entry short off of resistance level.

3.  9:31 - Failed 2nd entry long off of the upper trend line and the EMA.  This is where I took the wrong side of the trade.  This was a really bad trade to go long since price had just made a very strong move down and was struggling to go up.  That is one thing to keep in mind.....How fast does price move into a certain area?  Is it going faster in a downtrend or in an uptrend?

4.  9:55 - 2nd entry short and a failed 2nd entry long with a 2 legged measured move completed.  It was also against the upper trend line and the EMA.  This is where I tried to get in but I was running the replayer too fast and price did not come back up again.  Good job in trying to get in this trade but bad job in running the replayer too fast.

5.  10:41 - Failed 2nd entry long.

6.  11:47 - 2nd entry short.

7.  1:00 - Failed 2nd entry short off of the EMA and am expecting price to go up to the upper trend channel.

7-15-2013

Pre Trading Notes:

1.  Focus on failed 2nd entries.
2.  If in a range you can have a trend but make sure you are trading on the right side of the trend.  If price has bounced off of resistance then only look to take short trades in the trend until it reaches support.  If price has bounced off of support then only look to take long trades in the channel until it hits the resistance level.
3.  Draw your lines and trends, better too many than not enough. 

Post Trading Notes:

I am extremely please with how I traded today.  I drew the correct overall trend line and I had the correct S/R areas drawn which made trading so much easier today.  I could see the setups and whether or not I wanted to take them.  Today was another slow grinding day.  One way to get better is to really focus on where I want my 2nd lot exit to be located.  I am getting stopped out too much on my 2nd lot.  A good example of this is my 1st trade where I should have used the end of the measured move as my exit but I was greedy and had it by the upper trend line.  I could have had another 1.50 points. 

Mack's Notes:

Another slow low volume choppy day.
If there is overlap in the bars when you are looking for a 2nd entry then he likes to drop a limit order to get a better entry price after the 2nd entry signals.
You don't want to go long after price has made a big move up and has hit resistance.  You want to go long after price has gone down and hit support.

If you find yourself hoping and praying that price will come back then you know you are on the wrong side of the trade and need to exit immediately.  If you find yourself getting frustrated and having losing trades then get up, go take a break and come back and re-evaluate what price is doing.

Trades:

1.  8:51 - 2nd entry long off of the lower trend line.  Should have gotten out where the end of the 2nd leg of the measured move was located.  Was getting greedy and tried to get the 2nd lot at the top of the trend channel.

2.   9:43 - 2nd entry long off of the lower trend channel and the EMA.  Got in 2 ticks better b/c the signal bar was a doji. 

3.  12:25 - 2nd entry long off of the support level.  My 2nd lot was one tick below the next resistance level and by the upper trend line. 

4.  2:46 - Failed 2nd entry long off of the EMA.  If live I would never take this trade so close to the close of the day so I shouldn't do it in sim.


Missed Trades:

1.  8:24 - 2nd entry long and a failed 2nd entry short off of the EMA.  (My data was messed up from not loading so in skewed my EMA)
2.  9:06 - 2nd entry long off of the lower trend line and looking for the 2nd leg up.
3.  10:21 - Failed 2nd entry short and a short trap off of the EMA.  I was going to take this but since it was so close to the resistance level that I wanted to wait and see what happened with price hitting off the level. 

7-12-2013

Pre Trading Notes:

1.  Be watchful of when price is making higher highs or higher lows.
2.  Keep looking for 2nd entries.
3.  Keep drawing all of the trend lines.  Better to draw too many than not enough.  Be on the constant lookout for new trend lines.
4.  You exit your 2nd lot by either scalping it in a choppy day, a set target based on the chart or you use the yellow line and when price breaks and retests it you then get out.

Post Trading Notes:

Started confusing range rules with trend rules.  Tried to fit a trend into a range when I should have just traded the range.  You can have trends within ranges but you have to make sure you are on the right side of the trend.  My bad trade I was not on the right side of the trade.  The trend channel was correct but you have to realize when you are in a range that price goes from one side to the other.  You do not have a true trend that will keep going since price gravitates to the opposite side after it has hit one side.

Overall I think I did well in another range day.  I am understanding them better but it is a process. 
Mack's lines from his review video are in black.
Mack's Notes:

This stuff works.  This is basic price action.
Another range day, follow the range rules.
You don't learn this stuff overnight.  It's like learning to be a doctor who goes to school for years and learns under other doctors before they become successful.  It is the same way with trading.  It can take years to learn and it is hard work but when you reach the point of being successful it is worth it.
If you think this is get rich quick you will be dissapointed.


Trades:

1.  8:25 - 2nd entry long off of the support level.  2nd contract exited when price broke the yellow line and retested the high.
2.   8:42 - Failed 2nd entry long off of a triple top.  Had my 2nd contract way down at where I thought the lower trend line was but price bounced up off of the support level.
3.  10:14 - Thought it was a 2nd entry long off of the lower trend line.  Should have just used the range rules but I was convinced it was in a trend within the range.
4.  10:29 - Failed 2nd entry long off of the EMA.  After I saw I was on the wrong side and the failed 2nd entry long formed I went short for a scalp. 
5.  11:54 - 2nd entry long and a failed 2nd entry short off of the support area.  I missed the original entry but it came back and got my limit order for a scalp.
6.  1:47 - 2nd entry long and a failed 2nd entry short off of the EMA and the trend line where I was expecting price to continue its upward move to the top.  I should have had my 2nd lot near the high of the day, could of at least made another point.

Missed Trades:

1.  8:14 - Failed 2nd entry long off of the EMA.
2.  9:13 - 2nd entry long and a double bottom off of the lower trend channel.  I saw this trade and should have pulled the trigger but hesitated and missed out. 
3.  11:42 - 2nd entry long and failed 2nd entry short with a double bottom off of the support level.  I got in when price came back and touched my limit order.
4.  12:18 - This isn't a 2nd entry but is a triple bottom off of the support level and price had made a higher high.