Dave from Sydney's Journal [Awarded Title: the Box-Trader]

[Dave]

Couple trades to start the week but in and out before the drop a few of you took...

EU short for -1.2 (10.4 SL, -0.12%)

Screen Shot 2012-07-16 at 6.29.41 PM.jpg

GU short for 4.3 (9.3 SL, 0.46%)

Screen Shot 2012-07-16 at 7.12.46 PM.jpg

Both trades were showing hesitation at previous M5 lows so got out without any damage, good short term result. But then failed to take EU on the break of that M5 low. I am annoyed at myself for taking these entries though, neither showing double arrows (set at M5 and M60). Discipline is an every day and every trade thing.

Dave

[Dave]

Hi all, not much chart time again, work getting in the way, but managed the following...

EJ long above M5 high for 6.5 and an add on of 3.8 pips, total 10.3 pips (10 pip SL, 1.03%). I didn't set a PO when the arrow first showed but the new M1 AIMS high which was much closer to the M5 high made it look a lot better (especially now the SL could be under that little bit of sideways movement which later became an M1 AIMS low) so really a type 2 on M1. Targeting the 60 min high which corresponded almost exactly with the main weekly pivot point.

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 5.45.20 PM.jpg

My broker enforces minimum stop distances which for EJ is 10 pips, hence my 10 pip SL. This means that when I see a new M1 AIMS level low I can't move my SL to be under that low unless it's >10 pips. In this case (with Richard's words of accepting small retraces in overall larger moves - M5 alli freshly opened/with M60 alli) I was happy to see the retracement but would have exited had the red line not held as support. Price really spiked to the 60 min high so I exited manually ASAP worried about a retracement and knowing my SL was now 16.5 pips behind. Good result though, happy with the 1% and my patience to hold the trade and wait for either target or grounded exit.

Dave

Edit: realised my line drawing on the charts isn't too accurate, but you get the idea!

[Grant]

Nice trading Dave,

i took the same trade as an m5 set up after the double arrows and targeted the same place (weekly central pivot and H1 aims). Would love to trade this pair on m1 but i dont like the high spread it has on my broker.

well done again
Grant

ps. a pic of how i saw it is in my journal, didnt want to post here as its your journal

[Dave]

Wednesday 18/7/12

Two trades for today, neither of which led to a great result....

EU sell from M1 for 0.6 pips (SL 14.2, 0.04%). Trade showed +5 so I wasn't going to let a small winner become rent, closed manually on the retracement when platform showed <1. Was originally targeting the 15min low.

Screen Shot 2012-07-18 at 10.51.12 PM.jpg

GU sell from M5 for -11.4 pips (SL 11.4, -1%). Stop placed above the high of the trigger candle. Still feel that the setup was alright but it just didn't work out. Happy to field comments on this one. I don't ordinarily take entries from the M5, and this was a breakout, although was with the H1 (small red arrow) which was freshly opened to the downside.

Screen Shot 2012-07-18 at 11.14.11 PM.jpg

Screen Shot 2012-07-18 at 11.14.35 PM.jpg

I haven't had much chart time this last week or so and my trades reflect that. I know that when I sit at the charts and have all evening/night to wait for a good setup that I am patient. But when I have an hour or two, knowing that if I don't take a trade then I won't have another chance for the day, then I force it, don't take A+ setups. I know this and I'm aware of it so now is the time to change it.

Dave

[Grant]

Hi Dave,

I have a couple of observations on that GU M5 trade :

1. What is the pip buffer you use on entries? I like to see the bid AND ask price out of AIMS before my PO is triggered, so a PO where you got tagged would not have triggered for me.

2. I only use green/red alli lines and at the time of the dot you traded they were in the process of crossing, so neither asleep nor awake in the direction of the intended trade. I'm not sure if you read my trade analysis' but in that case its a set up 1 dot with a set up 2 entry once a new AIMS low forms after the dot prints. Thus in this case the candle that triggered you in formed the new AIMS low and a PO under that AIMS would not have been triggered.

Once in the trade well done on sticking to your management plan and exiting on the candle SL....

I hope all that made sense

Grant

[Dave]

HI Grant,

I don't trade with the MT4 - I just use a demo with all the AIMS stuff on it - so my entries vary slightly from what appears on my screen shots. My charts display an average line rather than the bid/ask, so I just add the higher of the spread fluctuations (for GU it's either 1 or 2.5 pips, so I add or subtract 2.5 to the high/low) which means price has to beat the low + half of the spread. In this case I just got tagged.

Re: the red/green lines. I hope I've interpreted this as you meant. Does this mean that you only take the entry when the lines cross back to the correct orientation for a buy/sell after sleeping? Even on M1? Or if the alli is still sleeping and lines haven't crossed to be open, but the higher time frame has an open alli in the correct direction then you still set the PO? There's probably also three ways to interpret the lines; asleep and interwound, in the correct orientation but not really open; and then open.

I suppose this all comes back to not targeting breakout trades but waiting for the higher time frame to trend and then trading the pullbacks on the lower timeframe.

Thanks, Dave

[Grant]

Hi Dave,

i have attached a pic of the red/green alli to my eye sleeping. the lines are as near as damn it horizontal and touching either other... i would trade using this alli if the other criteria are met

comparing that to the GU m5 green/red you will see that they are seperated and just about to cross... in this case i would wait for them to open in the direction of the trade which normally but not always coincides with a fresh AIMS low. Once that low prints and if the other rules are in agreement then i'll trade.... Doing this reduces my potential set ups BUT does mean the set ups i trdae have a higher probabilty...

Of course it does mean that with less set ups more P&D is required and yes sometimes i'll be on the sidelines whilst a trend developes...

hope this helps
Grant

[Dave]

Makes perfect sense, thanks Grant!

[Grant]

Hi Dave,

apologies for hogging you journal with my pics but here is a GU sleeping alli in real time...

Dot candle stayed in AIMS so was a perfect set up 1 trade...

cheers
Grant

ps was also the same on EU m1 as well

[Dave]

You're welcome to hog my journal as much as you like Grant! We're all here to learn. Found this one from today with almost the identical setup.... obviously didn't take the trade as the arrows weren't with the setup, but price action is the same. These really do look nice when they correspond with the break of AIMS for the first time since crossing the purple.

Screen Shot 2012-07-19 at 9.10.12 PM.jpg