Mickey's Journal

[kiravon]

Meanwhile back to EG there is actually
only 30 pips to support on H4 so will
need to watch H1 to see how a setup
might appear

19e.jpg

[kiravon]

and on NU on further reflection even after
waiting to pass imminent resistance there is
actually only 15 pips to the next resistance level

19f.jpg

[kiravon]

So that leaves only the Dax to monitor.
I won't know if there will be a small IB
to enter under for another hour.

If there is it might be quite a nice RR
trade

but I have had a very stressful weekend
travelling around Warsaw in constant rain
and I now have a very mild head cold.

So I am not in the best mood for trading
and I want only the best setups on the
best looking charts.

Actually the Boomtown Rats might have
been right after all
--------------------------------
PS already next IB is too big

[immy]

Did you have a look at EU?
I agreed with your EJ chart. Its such a nice looking chart but no setup signal.
EG was just irresistibly hot but I just did not take it due to same reason as you mentioned. It was perfect. H4 clearly open to downside. with a cherry and a Setup 1 short on H1. yummy

[wiseambitions]

Hi Mickey
Travelling round Warsaw all the weekend?> I've been watching bits of the music competition which is being held there exactly now - Chopin 17th Piano contest - brilliant stuff, bringing together some of the world's best young pianists, whose talent is amazing, for whoever is interested in that sort of thing........ It must be a great cultural centre for the arts if not just the admiration of one of the country's greatest composers............
I read your posts with interest, thanks for all you share

Ray

[kiravon]

' The complete unabridged trading
wisdom of Mickey '
( by Kiravon, Awarded Title - 'The Rent Collector' )

No, I discounted EU for a very good reason even though
I can't remember what it was now

yes I saw all the Chopin posters but I didn't know
what they were advertising so thanks for filling
me in. I just assumed he had a gig in town

I was just a bit early for my hotel a bit out of town
so eventually I found a comfortable coffee house
in what I believe is Poland's biggest mall

I then proceeded to write an essay ( on paper )
about all I know for sure about trading with the
proposed above title

and actually no it didn't all fit on the back of a postage
stamp. I was just in a reflective mood and was just
musing over whether everything was just random
or was there anything that I personally felt sure
of in trading?

I think it was inspired by my viewing of Immy's
original but updated 'Must Watch' video the night before.

The first time I watched it I was far too distracted
by the music which at the time I enjoyed far more than
the trading content

but this time I was far more au fait with all the trading terms
so could cope with the music ok.

The video is definitely worthy of repeated viewings and really
brings home that there is indeed much to feel sure of. All the
various flavours of AIMS such as cherries and fruits and adam
apple fruits and seeds and various combinations and flavours
of these flavours such as Monarch Cherry etc may all be great
and in vogue at any given time but the underlying principles
of AIMS for me are the most important thing to focus on, in
other words I personally need to be sure of the underlying
principle behind any new strategy and wouldn't view anything
with a new name being in any way out of harmony with these
established principles.

They are more like an enhancement than anything else.

but what do I personally feel most confident about in trading?

Although subjective I wonder how helpful a thread would be
where everyone lists their top insight that time and time
again has proved to be reliable?

Probably most have already made that known but not all in one place.

Many would say, and I believe Grant is one, that the exit is key
to successful trading, far more than the entry in that the exit
is unquestionably where fortunes are made or lost, the latter
being the most common.

There are very many suggested exits both here and elsewhere
and they are probably all ok and the most important thing being
that we obey consistently whatever exit rule we choose.

I personally do not like waiting for the cross of Green because so
often you can give almost everything back, and I've found price
crossing green is just as likely to cross back again and continue in
profit and you kick yourself

My ideal close is trailing momentum bars as you invariably get out
at the right place with losing only a minimal amount.

Without momentum I found the most successful strategy is to set a TP
order. If a little before the most realistic support/resistance level it
seems to be by far the most successful strategy I've used ....

or perhaps because I use it when I have to go out it allows me
to get out of my own way?

Whatever the reason I find it to be quite reliable.

Another thing I've already written extensively about is moving the SL
as soon as possible to just below/above subsequent AIMS in order
to reduce that initial risk as soon as possible. This strategy alone
can be the difference between a seriously losing account and
a profitable one.

Trade away from Purple has been proven to be sound advice
time and time again and similarly Gators opened in same
direction on both current and HTF

Waiting for the retrace after first AO peak seems very shrewd too.

Divergence candles and Inside Bars are quite reliable at key levels.

Trading into nearby support/resistance is throwing money down
the drain more often than not.

and the overwhelmingly most important insight is that at least
80% of trading success is down to psychological factors and
that it is so easy to see what you want to see, so that the
charts can be a Psychiatrist's ink blot test

Also if you are in a negative mood nothing works out right

I now regularly address this in two ways:-

Firstly, regularly reading up in this journal section is a constant
source of motivation and encouragement along with watching
and re watching related videos

Secondly, always giving close attention to risk, never becoming
blaze with an accented 'e'.

So always try to reduce that initial risk as soon as possible

This way you can be hit with a whole string of rents and
your psychology not affected negatively, indeed I try to
focus on the salvaged pips I didn't lose so that even that
success is as encouraging as an actual win!

so success when I win and success when I salvage pips
equals a win only mentality.

I'm undecided whether to start a 'Top Insight Thread' as I
don't like cluttering up the forum although I feel I would
certainly like to read it if it existed

[kooky]

Mickey, my kids say I repeat myself so I've probably already said this, we are truly blessed to have
writers and mentors of the quality of yourself and Immy on our journey, but ohhhh to only make some money
even like Ray, little and often.

[kiravon]

After several hours of study of Michael and Grants' charts
this evening I eventually made sense of just about all
abbreviations

I have come to see that Seeds and Cherries per se are
absolutely no holy grail, not that anyone has suggested
they are. They seem to be worth noting at seriously
key levels and particularly when confluent with AO

The biggest inspiration is the way the guys and others
routinely clock up, not pips so much but % gain to their
accounts, as that's all that really matters at the end of
the day.

I have never done this partly because my micro account
doesn't allow accurate position sizing but I had a bash
tonight on my IC demo account

it was around midnight I started monitoring EU on M1
mainly to see how many Cherries I could identify without
a Cherry indicator. You don't actually need an indicator
for Seeds and Cherries although I would need one for AA's
probably, or at least it would help a lot.

I took one Cherry and two add ons which were both Box
entries ie break of AIMS levels.

I noted price had peaked twice before at a similar level
so as mentioned in the post above I set TP at a little
under that level.

I then actually fell asleep at the wheel ( not literally )
and when I woke up I found price had reversed but had
first hit the TP which was just about set at the perfect
level. I was pleased about that.

I made 1.4% total including the two add ons.

I would be more than happy if I could do that every day

Its not usually obvious why these guys select certain setups
and routinely pass over other possible setups. I would guess
there is usually some rule that prevents them.

Someone wouldn't take a Saddle SAR and I would
venture a guess why - maybe because it often doesn't end there

When price breaks out at say LO it so often is a Fake out and
then reverses, but then if you trade the reversal you can so
often find it will simply reverse again in the direction of the
original break out. Just trading the break out with the small box
and small SL can give very high profits and so a few rents don't
really matter. After all they are not all Fake outs.

To be as profitable as these guys you have to study their charts
and setups quite seriously and really try to understand what they
were actually seeing and thinking at the time of the setup.

and the other guys too, it really helps to get some kind of
cross section, there are absolutely no two guys alike on this
forum as far as I am aware

The only commonality is that the more successful seem to
be the ones that are the most meticulous in their trading
and the least impulsive

There is certainly a place for artistic licence, for hunches
and intuition, for impulsiveness even, but that place
definitely isn't when trading!

So regularly monitoring other's charts and journals really
reminds me of the need to stay focused and committed.

and it fuels the imagination, - like just how successful
are BS's? ( Box Seeds ) you know, when price breaks
out of AIMS Box and the next bar is a Momentum Seed

I haven't checked yet but I have a feeling they might
be worth waiting for and maybe one day someone will
receive the awarded title - 'Master of the BS'

What is so encouraging about these journals is to have
the ongoing proof that you can be successful at trading

Yes there is actually a lot to learn and worrying over all
the things you are not completely sure about will keep you
out of the zone

you can earn as you learn

Unfortunately Immy is right when he says 'Lazy arse traders
never succeed in trading - Fact!'

That's why so many are drawn to binary options, its always
fun and requires no real mental effort or diligence, -for example
you never have to worry about getting the exit right -thats all
taken care of for you.

so its worth doing all the research, not into more technical
analysis but into what other successful traders are doing right

just find that out and copy it exactly!

20.jpg

[immy]

"Its not usually obvious why these guys select certain setups
and routinely pass over other possible setups. I would guess
there is usually some rule that prevents them."

We teach em live in the skype room!

[kiravon]

A bit of a late start today, well lunchtime to be exact
but continuing on last night's theme

A nice impulse wave on M5 and on the M1 a healthy trend
which retraced almost to Blue giving a Seed followed by a
Cherry. RR just 1:1 as I feel with M1 I need to make just a
little and get out quickly. Not scalping exactly but the longer
I stay with M1 the sadder the outcome invariably. so I
set the TP as realistically as possible with absolutely no
expectation that the price will continue to run on and on.
In my experience it usually doesn't

As it was M1 I observed the traditional IB rule of
placing PO above the mother bar. PO was hit on the third
bar

Once again I set the TP at just under prior AIMS
which was hit whereupon price promptly reversed.
Again I am very pleased that I exited at just about
the optimum point leaving just 2.8 pips to the peak.
Of course on HTFs you have to leave something but
I find this a great exit strategy

- far from original but it does seem to work well.
1.2% made today

but if I had to make a criticism it is noteworthy
the profit that could have been made from
fresh cross of zero on AO compared to where I
entered which was where the wave was getting tired
and price has been dropping ever since immediately
after my exit. On that basis I think a zero for
discipline.

and yes, when you start calculating the actual %
it can be a bit more inhibiting. I find I am not very
inclined to give it back.

That could be very unfortunate if a really compelling
setup appeared.

20C.jpg