Tom's T20 Journal

[tombacon89]

US30
01.01.2021
NEO

Pre Session Questions:

A)Is there any red news to be aware of?

YES - 3:30 AUD RED NEWS

B) Have you identified and plotted the key HTF support and resistance levels? If NO - No TRADE until this is done.

YES 

DAILY has found support again off a key level tested numerous times over the past weeks. Daily is in a very wide range, last week we started to turn bullish off the support. D1 yesterday broke long from a micro range.

There was a lovely H1 pullback to go long. H1 is in an up-trend, but the last several candles are forming a trading range. A zone has been tested twice, might see a triple top rejection here. Or we may see it break those levels. Or just go sideways. It will do what it wants to do  

M5 is in a bullish channel but overall wide range bound within H1. 

Levels are identified and set. 

TRADE RULES

ONE) IS THERE A GOOD IMPULSE MOVE 2-3 TREND CANDLES WITH LITTLE TO NO WICKS? M5 TC CLOSES OUTSIDE OF THE RANGE. Yes - more than 2/3 candles breakout though 

TWO) IS THERE A GOOD CLEAN PULL BACK? There is a clean pull back, but it is bullish and strong. 

THREE) IS THE IMPULSE MOVE TOO CLIMATIC? No 

FOUR) IS THE PULL BACK TOO IMPULSIVE? Yes - this should have been filtered. I was aware of it before pulling the trigger. I could see the ema getting steep. But, I also saw the rejection candle. However. This was a rule breaker. The CONCEPT was absolutely correct.  

FIVE) IS THIS THE FIRST OR SECOND BREAKOUT FROM THE RANGE? First 

SIX) IS THERE A KEY S/R LEVEL NEAR THE ENTRY LEVEL? Yes H1 range low, wide range low. Stop can get to BE before. Calculated risk, part of my TP so happy to take it.   

TRADE / SESSION SUMMARY: 

a) Did you trade the plan?    No because I overlooked RULE 4 - IS THE PULLBACK TOO IMPULSIVE?

b) Did the charts look and feel clear to you during this session?  Yes 

c) Questions arising from this session? No - just learning

) How did you physically feel? 

When the trade didn’t take off, I started to analyse it again. I knew the pull back was impulsive, I could see the 10 ema becoming steep, the pullback candles were strong. The 2 signal candle lured me in rejecting off that s/r. I felt a little bit of a need to take a trade here. I have to take this as experience; I learn best from practical experience. NEXT 

BATCH 2 TRADE 5.png

 
DS For this Trade: DS0 - I was given a ds1 in discord. However, as per batch 1 I have to be super critical of myself if I want to know my weaknesses and stay disciplined. I overlooked a rule, so ds0 it is. (if I need 1DS at the end of the batch to hit 80% I will come back and re-claim this LOL!)

DS Running Total: 4/5 
 
 

[immy]

US30
01.01.2021
NEO

Pre Session Questions:

A)Is there any red news to be aware of?

YES - 3:30 AUD RED NEWS

le, so ds0 it is. (if I need 1DS at the end of the batch to hit 80% I will come back and re-claim this LOL!)

DS Running Total: 4/5 
 
 


 

Hi 

Well done on your DS1 but here are some more thoughts besides earlier comments in discord. 

What you did not realise was the fact that he TR that it broke had a range of 118 points. The move that you have considered as your first impulsive leg was 205 points. 

by the time you made your entry it had completed a strong move down. The move was CLIMACTIC. followed by an Impulsive REJECTION, not a pullback. 

Remember a a series of counter TC means, at the time of your entry, the  TREND was UP on a micro level because you had 2 VERY strong TC. 

A TC is a BREAKOUT. 
A TC is made of , underneath it, a series of trend candles or tight bull/bear channel. 

HOpe this helps... it is a DS1 though. well done. 

cheers 

https://www.screencast.com/t/ia7qyiZOoeF

 

[tombacon89]

GER40
02.02.2022
LO

Pre Session Questions:

A)Is there any red news to be aware of?
 All Day All OPEC-JMMC Meeting

B) Have you identified and plotted the key HTF support and resistance levels? YES 

DAILY candle yesterday was a lovely bullish trend candle. Price found resistance at a swing level on the h4 chart from 10th jan. Overall we are still in the wide daily range.  

 H1 has just double topped at this swing level I talk about. The level has been tested 3 times overnight on H1.So we may see a short. Or LO may give it the drive it needs to break the level, in which case it would be good to go long.

H1 is generally bullish, hence the D1 trend candle yesterday. H1 has ranged overnight so I will mark this range. 

M5 is in a bullish channel but overall wide range bound within H1. FO produced a range mid range of H1 range, so there would be room to enter long if an opportunity presented at the open.

Levels are identified and set. 

TRADE RULES

ONE) IS THERE A GOOD IMPULSE MOVE 2-3 TREND CANDLES WITH LITTLE TO NO WICKS? M5 TC CLOSES OUTSIDE OF THE RANGE. Yes - this was a break of the range low, FO low and overnight low. 

TWO) IS THERE A GOOD CLEAN PULL BACK? Yes, m1 candle again was a bullish TC. This is pretty much the situation I was in yesterday. This time I saw a cleaner stronger impulse short. With a bullish pullback candle. (or is it an impulse pullback hmm) this time I saw the EMAS as correct. Not steep. I took it. 

THREE) IS THE IMPULSE MOVE TOO CLIMATIC? Not on M1. M5 has travelled quite far…. am I saying this because it was a loser? Would I be saying this if it was a winner? 

FOUR) IS THE PULL BACK TOO IMPULSIVE? I did not see the pullback as too impulsive. I was aware it was a tc though. 

FIVE) IS THIS THE FIRST OR SECOND BREAKOUT FROM THE RANGE? First breakout from the wide range. 

SIX) IS THERE A KEY S/R LEVEL NEAR THE ENTRY LEVEL? No  

TRADE / SESSION SUMMARY: 


a) Did you trade the plan?    Yes - but it was not cute 

b) Did the charts look and feel clear to you during this session? Yes 

c) Questions arising from this session?

 The relationship between M5 distance travelled and your M1 impulse move…. not sure how to word the question… but someone might know what I am thinking. 

D) How did you physically feel? I actually felt good. I knew price was struggling whilst in the trade. It was slightly frustrating to see price stall on 1r and not tag me for a break even. BE would have been a good place to be. There was temptation to manually move stop. Price action was not good, we started going into an M1 range. Momentum was gone. At this point I accepted the likely outcome was a loss. I stuck to the trade management plan.
 

BATCH 2 TRADE 6.png

 I’m also claiming back my DS from yesterday as immy insists lol. Thanks immy.

DS For this Trade: 1 
DS Running Total: 6/6

KEEP LEARNING YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW
 

[tombacon89]

US30
02.02.22
NEO

Pre Session Questions:

A)Is there any red news to be aware of?

YES all day red news

B) Have you identified and plotted the key HTF support and resistance levels? If NO - No TRADE until this is done. YES 

DAILY is in a bullish move of a wide range. 

We are mid level of that wide range, approaching a possible resistance zone of a swing within that range. 

H1 is in an up-trend, channel, lacking momentum. Now in a tight sideways range. 

Levels are identified and set. 


  TRADE / SESSION SUMMARY: 

See screenshots. Interesting. PO MUST be outside of the range. We must wait for that proper breakout. Not just a touch out. 

a) Did you trade the plan?    Yes

b) Did the charts look and feel clear to you during this session?  Yes

c) Questions arising from this session? No - but M5 TC discussion came up again in discord. Re micro pullbacks. M5 TCs with M1 micro pb entries are GOLD STANDARD. It can be done with just an M1 impulse move to break the range. 

D) How did you physically feel? Happy - ready for some off screen time though. Day job tomorrow and Friday, I’ll be back here Monday…  

2ND FEB NEO NO TRADE.png

 
What I mean in this second screenshot is there are levels left within the wider range. Not 'range breakout' as it says in the text. Note to self Don't confuse s/r levels to the left as range highs or lows. There was a s/r level left in the way. An entry would have been right into that. That is not good; which is why I did not take it. But the correct description is...

Rule 6. IS THERE A KEY S/R LEVEL NEAR THE ENTRY LEVEL? Yes. A minor level. But it is still there.

2nd FEB NEO 2ND NO TRADE.png

 
DS For this Trade: DS Running Total: 6/6   
 
 

[tombacon89]

GER40
07.02.22
LO

Pre Session Questions:

A)Is there any red news to be aware of?

No
B) Have you identified and plotted the key HTF support and resistance levels? YES

 DAILY chart is still in the wide range, ema's are open to the down side, we have had a 3 candle impulse move short. We are just above the daily range low zone. the current forming daily candle at the LO is small and bullish at the moment. 

H1 is range bound. 

M5 FO is a small range pre market towards the top of H1 range. 

TRADE / SESSION SUMMARY:

 a) Did you trade the plan?    YES - Just do this, over and over and over and over and over again.
 
b) Did the charts look and feel clear to you during this session? YES

c) Questions arising from this session? NO 

D) How did you physically feel? Calm.  
 

BATCH 2 TRADE 7.png

  NEW CHART LAYOUT M5 MAIN CHART M1 SMALLER CHART TO FOCUS ON M5. 

PROS: good at keeping you focused on M5s movements on the bigger scale, ie break of m5 ranges and H1 levels. 

CONS: As I am on laptop, M1 was a little trickier to draw M1 s/r and levels.  Also it’s harder to see M1 when M5 is in pullback. 

THOUGHTS: This is a good screen layout when M5 is in the breakout phase, but less good when M5 is in pull back phase. 

DS For this Trade: 1 
DS Running Total: 7/7 - keep focused.    
 
TRADE 2 OF THE SESSION:

CONCEPT WAS CORRECT.

Rules were met - micro range.

M5 was within the wider range, so there was price to the left.

EMAs were open short on both m5 and m1. 

M1 was making lower highs but double bottomed. Creating a new micro range low. Filtered solid 2 because of this. Took the break and empty 2. 

It did not work out this time. 



DS0 *changed from DS1 following the next two journal entries.* 
-1R
DS 7/8 

BATCH 2 TRADE 8.png

 So this is how it played out over the following minutes.

BATCH 2 TRADE 8 REVIEW.png

My TM rules state only 2 trades per session. so that's what it is... 

My job is to trade the signals in the correct concept, and to stick to my plan. That is all. 

Back for NEO.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

[immy]

Hi Tom

The Second trade is an incorrect setup.

Where is the Impulse Move? You have to see an impulse move out of a breakout. This was a channel, if this comment does not make sense to you, then is fine. Its a ds1, if it does make sense, then its a DS0

cheers

[tombacon89]

Hi Tom

The Second trade is an incorrect setup.

Where is the Impulse Move? You have to see an impulse move out of a breakout. This was a channel, if this comment does not make sense to you, then is fine. Its a ds1, if it does make sense, then its a DS0

cheers

 

Hey immy, thank you.

I cannot say at the time of the trade and analysis I saw a channel. I did not see it. But is this because I was focused elsewhere on horizontal levels, and not seeing the bigger analysis picture of the chart? Or because I was not looking for it? Or I was making my brain only see what I wanted it to see.... aka forcing it.... I would say so. So far that I will take a DS0.

BATCH 2 TRADE 8 CHANNEL.png

 I think this is what you are referring too. Now I can see, the entry was at the bottom of the channel. 

This is what I thought was an impulse move. But, quite rightly, it is not. It is just one big bearish candle that broke the previous low. 

BATCH 2 TRADE 8 TOMS VIEW .png

 Thankyou. 


 

[tombacon89]

US30
07.02.22
NEO

Pre Session Questions:

A)Is there any red news to be aware of?

No
B) Have you identified and plotted the key HTF support and resistance levels? YES

 DAILY chart is still in the wide range, price has it’s own smaller range mid way between the daily highs and lows. 

HOURLY chart is in a wide range. 

M5 - Trending long, small period of consolidation range. Waiting to see if this breaks at NEO. My preference is for it to break long into open space. But I will be open minded. 

TRADE / SESSION SUMMARY: 

This was a quick session. 

NEO momentum broke short on what I saw as premarket m5 range. I was fully aware there was chop to the left. But this was NEO, I want fresh momentum. I thought we had that. M5 TC closed outside the range, the pull back candles were perhaps a little bigger than I like but I did not see them as impulsive rule 3, expected some bigger movements as it’s NEO.

Trade 1 was triggered, stopped out. I was fully aware that this is a possible outcome before entering the trade. I was also fully aware that a complex pull back setup was also possible BEFORE this set up. It’s in my TM plan that I will take the two legged pull backs either with a signal or a confirmation candle. This was a signal. I need exposure to learn from them, so I will take them for now; and was one of the things I wanted to improve on and learn more about in batch 2. 

Trade 2 was entered. BE. It was a rough ride to get to BE. I was a little relieved when it did get to BE. 2 rents back to back would have really sucked.  

I am not taking any further trades now. I have taken 2 trades, as part of my TM risk management plan. 

a) Did you trade the plan?    YES - I am seeing this as correct. I was aware this was into H1 range territory with levels left. But this was at the open so I was prepared to take that calculated risk. I am not seeing anything wrong with that, unless I am told otherwise. I have actually taken very few LO NEO BOT trades, usually the open doesn't produce much for me trading just one chart at a time. 

b) Did the charts look and feel clear to you during this session?

I felt like I knew what I was doing at all times. As I am writing this now, I can’t help but feel that maybe I have measured the range of M5 incorrectly…. see image. 

 
c) Questions arising from this session?

 Aware M5 ema’s were not fanned out. M1 was. 

Is it Ok to trade the immediate session open into a wider range?  

D) How did you physically feel? Suffering from post trade analysis paralysis. I cannot let the result of a trade dictate whether the entry was correct or not. I believe it was correct at the time. Am I now over thinking? Or not fully understanding the market cycle?  Time for a break, and to watch some of the videos again.  

BATCH 2 TRADES 9 AND 10.png

 

BATCH 2 TRADE 9 AND 10 RANGE .png

 
DS For this Trade: 2  DS Running Total: 9/10   

Back tomorrow for NEO. I'm not trading LO. 

[tombacon89]

So, I came back to the computer after NEOs session. I had gone out and refreshed. I came back later on, with the view of doing some active learning and going back through the day to see if I was seeing things any clearer or different now. I felt like I had a strange day. Mental side of trading defo active today. 

I have thought about whether to post this or not. But, If I don't I am not being true to myself. There is no point in hiding anything. The reason is, I wasn't sat down for a 'trading session.' I did not intend to take any trades. But, I did.

I decided to look at NAS, a fresh chart. Something my brain had not already seen today. When I opened NAS up, I saw the following. SO, I took them. 

Rightly or wrongly, as it is outside of my trading hours, and NAS is not a chart on my trading plan. I am aware I am on demo still. So that made it easier to 'just see.' Not my usual approach but anyway. It won't become habit. 

I was looking at M5 micro pull backs. I just took it for what it was. 

There was no signal on the first MPB, there was on the second. 

Technically, neither trades are DS1 because they are outside of my hours and a different chart. But I will say DS0 for the first entry and DS1 for the 2nd. Simply because the first had no signal, I know why there was no signal printed at the time, due to the breach of highs/lows. It’s a 2 legged pull back. It should show a 1. I will check tomorrow my template settings. if it shows a filled 1 it is valid.

MICRO PULL BACKS M5 M1.png

 DS 11/12

 ----------

Edit. I have checked my template. It was not showing any 1 signals. Seems when I save the template it defaults to false. Will sort that...

But, what does this tell me? It tells me I am reading price, I am paying attention to each candle, how is it pulling back, what type of pull back is it? It tells me I am not just seeing a signal and pressing buy or sell. I have to take a positive from this...


 

MICRO PULL BACK T11 AND 12.png

 
 
 
 
 
 

[tombacon89]

US30
08.02.22
NEO

Pre Session Questions:

A)Is there any red news to be aware of?

No
B) Have you identified and plotted the key HTF support and resistance levels? YES 

Daily is in a wide range, yesterday was a doji. H4 H1 are in a range. H4 has had a w3, looks to be in w4 now. EMAs Sleeping. 

H1 is in a wedge, looking to breakout of it. H1 is in a tight range. We had a big spike long this morning, I looked closer, it was formed from one random m1 candle but came with a big rejection short. So I will mark it for awareness.

M5 is in an up trend, looks to have just broken out of a tight range (m5 box). M5 pull back candle at 14:10 at time of analysis.

M5 looks to be in a bullish channel going into the open.  

KEY Levels are set, I have some marked for awareness. 

TRADE / SESSION SUMMARY:  

a) Did you trade the plan?   YES PO set but cancelled. It was valid. One more pull back candle would have been loveeelllyyy to get that bit closer to the dashed ema. I had rule 3 in my mind ready to use it. (to filter) But, it was not meant to be. NEXT.   

I waited out for the break long. We got it. Impulse move, break of range, pull back. I went long. T13 -1R. DS1 

Price then created another new impulse move long. 3 candle pull back. T14 2R, just, DS1. It Had room to get to BE before the major high, I'd taken the first break so could take the second, 2 trade max per session. so as per my TMP I took it.  

b) Did the charts look and feel clear to you during this session? 

I felt I knew where price was throughout this session. Price itself was not clear to start the session, but I was. It was awful for the first hour. But, levels were drawn, lines were drawn. It was easy to sit and wait. When it looks awful, stay away. When the levels are breached, I’m interested. 

c) Questions arising from this session? No

D) How did you physically feel? Good, chilled out, in control. A little frustrated with the first loss, I saw thinking how many DS1s do I need to take a win, when is the probability going to be on my side. I could have easily walked away after an hour. But I was patient. I did good on that front. 

I paid the rent, told myself get back in the zone. I did not use this to chase trade 2, I deleted it and moved on. Like missing the target on the shooting range, it's gone, move on.  I took trade 2 because I saw it to be a valid setup.  This is what I have to do.  Keep focused, keep taking the DS1 trades. That’s what it is. 

DS Running Total: 13/14 

8TH FEB NEO US30 SESSION.png

 

BATCH 2 TRADE 13.png

 

BATCH 2 TRADE 14.png