Fri May 29 Trade Summy

20150529
Short 2 NQ 4533.75, 4533.75, +2.0, +3.0
Long 1 YM 18042, +20
Long 1 TF 1245.8, +2.0
Long 1 TF 1244.1, +1.2
Total YM +20
Total NQ +5.0
Total TF +3.2

Wed May 27 Trade Summary

20150527
Long 1 TF 1234.6, +1.5
Long 1 TF 1233.9, +1.0
Short 3 TF 1239.1, 1239.9, 1239.8, -1.4, -1.4, -1.4
Short 2 YM 18132, 18132, +20, +20
Long 3 TF 1237.3, 1237.3, 1237.3, +0.7, +1.2, +2.6
Total YM +40
Total TF +2.8

Tues May 26 Trade Summary

20150526
Long 1 TF 1244.6, -0.5
Long 1 NQ 4404.5, -3.0
Long 2 TF 1240.0, 1240.3, 1240.7, -0.0, +1.2, -0.7
Long 2 TF 1239.0, 1237.9, -1.4, -0.4
Long 2 TF 1234.5, 1234.5, +2.0, +2.0
Long 1 TF 1235.5, -1.0
Long 1 ES 2110.25, -1.25
Long 2 NQ 4479.0, 4479.0, -2.0, -2.0
Long 1 TF 1234.7, -0.7
Long 1 TF 1233.9, +1.5
Short 2 TF 1235.4, 1236.0, 1235.7, -0.0, +0.7, +1.5
Short 2 TF 1237.5, 1237.8, +0.5, +1.2
Short 1 TF 1237.5, +1.8
Long 2 TF 1231.1, 1230.7, +0.7, +1.0
Short 1 TF 1234.4, +1.2
Total ES -1.25
Total NQ -8.0
Total +10.6

Fri May 22 Trades & Journal

20150522
Short 2 NQ 4536.75, 4535.75, +2.0, +4.0
Long 2 YM 18247, 18247, -7, -7
Short 1 TF 1255.5, -0.2
Long 1 TF 1256.1, -0.5
Long 3 YM 18240, 18241, 18237, +7, -0, +7
Long 2 TF 1253.2, 1253.5, +0.7, +1.3
Total YM -0
Total NQ +6.0
Total TF +1.3

Just want to wish all a peaceful memorial day. ...and to tip my hat to all those who made the ultimate sacrifice on the altar of freedom, that the rest of us might live to enjoy the fruits of this great country. I salute them all ..and shout Freedom First !!! There is no peace without it. Semper Fidelis.

Thurs May 21 Trades & Journal

20150521
Short 2 TF 1257.7, 1258.1, +1.3, +0.7
Long 2 NQ 4498.75, 4499.0, +2.0, +5.0
Long 1 TF 1253.7, +1.5
Total NQ +7.0
Total TF +3.5

The news can inject a shot of adrenaline into the action of the market, and without a pending economic number release, there often seems less commitment to the little trend wars that appear as swings in the 1st Frame of the day. The trick is to play what's on your screen regardless of how the news is interpreted. Make use of the volatility, but don't give the underlying fundamentals even a cursory thought. The truth is, the fundamentals are not underlying. Market structure is underlying, and plays out its destiny regardless of the news. ...or as my mentor, the cotton trader Randolf Newman use to say... "The news is is meant to confuse. Follow the news and you will lose."

Wed May 20 Trade Summary

20150520
Long 2 NQ 4483.25, 4484.0, +5.0, +2.0
Short 1 TF 1251.8, -0.5
Short 2 TF 1252.6, 1252.6, +0.5, +1.2
Short 1 TF 1253.0, -0.5
Short 1 NQ 4499.0, +5.0
Short 2 TF 1254.2, 1254.5, -0.0, -0.0
Short 1 TF 1254.1, -0.0
Short 2 TF 1254.6, 1254.1, +0.5, +0.4
Total NQ +12
Total TF +1.6

Tues May 19 Trade Summary

20150519
Short 2 NQ 4518.0, 4517.75, +2.0, +7.0
Short 1 YM 18259, -7
Long 2 NQ 4509.5, 4508.25, -0.0, -2.0
Short 3 NQ 4513.75, 4512.75, 4512.0, +2.0, +5.0, +2.0
Short 3 TF 1252.4, 1252.2, 1252.4, +0.7, +2.0, +0.8
Total YM -7
Total NQ +16.0
Total TF +3.5

Mon May 18 Trades & Journal

20150518
Short 2 TF 1240.3, 1241.0, -0.0, -0.7
Long 1 YM 18239, -0
Short 1 TF 1242.2, -0.7
Short 2 TF 1245.9, 1245.6, +0.7, +1.8
Long 1 YM 18221, +20
Long 1 TF 1241.8, -0.8
Long 1 TF 1240.9, -0.7
Long 1 NQ 4483.75, +3.0
Total YM +20
Total NQ +3.0
Total TF -0.4

Committing to just a part of the 3-frame day for a trading window lends itself better to control and perhaps a better endurance over the long haul. The first frame of the day tends to be the most volatile, and if your methods serve to capture volatility, this is usually the best window in which to place your best energy. However, sometimes the market doesn't always agree. The auto-bot in the valhallafutures trade room posts these lines at the end of the 1s Frame each day: "Mon May18 11:15 AM End of 1st Frame. If price has shown distinct trend, look for some consolidation and/or reversal. If volatile so far, could now become choppy. Further price extremes to initial direction signal possibility of Persistent Trend. Otherwise, if price has only consolidated so far, most likely will begin trending soon." ...and sure enough, the TF finally came out of the pullback base almost as if on cue, pushing fresh volatility into a Noon Hour High. You can't catch all moves all the time, but if this Yang-to-Ying flip were more the daily norm than the exception, I'd have to consider extending my trading window more into the 2nd Frame in order to include it. You have to be willing to go the market, in all aspects. The market will not accommodate by coming to you.

Fri May 15 Trades & Journal

20150515
Long 2 TF 1239.8, 1239.6, +0.4, -0.6
Short 1 TF 1238.6, +1.0
Long 1 YM 18183, +20
Short 1 TF 1239.2, -0.6
Short 2 NQ 4490.5, 4491.0, -1.5, +2.0
Short 1 TF 1241.4, -0.3
Short 1 NQ 4492.75, -2.0
Short 1 TF 1241.4, +2.0
Total YM +20
Total NQ -1.5
Total TF +1.9

Trading takes patience, and yet paradoxically, you must be prepared at every moment to strike. Playing the outfield in baseball makes a good comparison. But in trading, a lack of patience leads directly to mistakes. Today, towards the end of the frame, I showed decent patience in waiting for bear reaction while still in a short that wouldn't roll over from its short entry level. I got stopped out and thought that was about the end of my day. ...and then the YM and NQ added in with short signals of their own, and the TF's stp-out proved to be nothing but a false breakout. What to do, as now the selling is underway across the board, but you're out of all positions...? Wait to see if the YM and NQ sell signals hold while TF makes a retest of its most recent breakout high. They did, and the TF did a sweet little retest to the breaklap, just enough to get me back into the short I was made to look so stupid getting stopped out of. Don't worry about looking the stupid. The market is always smarter than you. Accept your stop-outs. Trade what's in front of you, swallow your pride, and if the signal is still there, just get back into the trade you got knocked out of. ..and a good weekend to all....

Thurs May 13 Trade Summary

20150514
Long 2 TF 1230.5, 1230.8, -0.5, -0.8
Long 2 TF 1230.0, 1230.0, +1.5, +2.0
Long 1 TF 1231.0, +1.0
Short 1 NQ 4454.0, +5.0
Short 1 TF 1233.1, +1.2
Short 1 TF 1236.3, -1.0
Short 2 NQ 4466.25, 4467.25, +3.0, +2.0
Short 1 TF 1238.7, +1.2
Total NQ +10.0
Total TF +4.6

Wed May 13 Trade Summary

20150513
Short 1 TF 1236.4, +1.5
Long 1 TF 1234.8, -0.2
Long 1 TF 1235.5, -0.0
Long 2 TF 1234.7, 1234.1, +0.4, +2.0
Long 2 TF 1233.9, 1232.9, -0.3, -0.5
Long 2 TF 1231.6, 1231.6, +1.0, +3.0
Total TF +6.9

Tues May 12 Trades & Journal

20150512
Short 1 NQ 4385.5, -1.0
Long 1 TF 1215.4, -0.5
Short 2 TF 1217.5, 1217.5, +1.0, +1.8
Short 1 TF 1218.2, +2.0
Short 1 TF 1219.1, -0.5
Short 2 TF 1221.2, -0.5
Short 2 TF 1223.6, 1223.6, -0.5, -0.5
Short 2 TF 1223.8, 1223.8, -0.5, -0.5
Short 4 TF 1227.2, 1227.2, 1227.2, 1226.8, +0.7, +0.7, -0.3, -0.0
Short 2 TF 1227.5, 1226.8, +2.0, +0.7
Short 1 TF 1229.8, -0.4
Short 1 TF 1230.0, +1.7
Total NQ -1.0
Total TF +6.4

Have seen a few of these types of reversals of late, coming without a full buy model at the lows, and then exploding on the way back up after a complex congestion pattern. That pattern at the lows came today as a well disguised continuation pattern, and my bearish trend prejudice wouldn't let me get my head around the clear breakout levels established by the YM and NQ. Instead, I let myself be mesmerized by the TF bearish divergence and general heaviness. Not only did it keep me from buy the breakout levels offered so nicely by YM and NQ, it got shorting the TF too early on the way back up, as if unable to acknowledge the TF's occasional propensity to play catch-up when in disguise. Take the trades as you see them. Forget your trend prejudice... or better yet, acknowledge that you have a distinct bias which is no doubt reflected by a predominance of traders in kind, thus putting yourself on the wrong side of the market, the majority opinion side. Acknowledge your trend prejudice as a 'tell', and consider what that could cause if the market gets pushed in the opposite direction. Remember Corollary #2., that "....most of the opportunity in the markets is missed by the traders who couldn't concede that the market could go the expected distance, but in the opposite direction."

Mon May 11 Trade Summary

20150511
Long 1 NQ 4451.5, +6.0
Long 1 YM 18123, +18
Short 1 TF 1237.9, +2.0
Short 1 TF 1239.0, -1.4
Short 3 TF 1240.4, 1240.4, 1240.4, +1.0, +1.0, +1.0
Long 1 TF 1238.2, +0.7
Long 1 TF 1237.3, -0.4
Long 1 TF 1233.1, +1.2
Total YM +20
Total NQ +6.0
Total TF +5.1

Tues May 5 Trade Summary

20150505
Long 1 TF 1229.5, -0.7
Long 1 YM 17971, -0
Long 2 TF 1223.1, 1223.1, +0.7, -1.0
Long 2 TF 1222.3, 1222.5, +1.0, -1.1
Long 2 NQ 4435.5, 4435.5, +2.0, -2.0
Long 2 NQ 4434.0, 4434.0, -3.0, -3.0
Long 2 NQ 4432.25, 4432.25, +2.0, -2.0
Long 2 TF 1218.2, 1218.2, +1.3, +2.0
Long 1 TF 1217.6, -0.3
Long 1 TF 1217.9, +1.8
Total YM -0
Total NQ -6.0
Total TF +3.7

Mon May 4 Trade Summary

20150504
Short 1 TF 1227.6, -0.7
Short 3 NQ 4493.75, 4495.75, 4496.0, -3.0, -0.0, +3.0
Short 2 TF 1233.5, 1233.5, +1.2, +2.0
Short 2 TF 1237.3, 1237.5, +1.0, +0.7
Long 2 YM 18029, 18028, -0, -0
Long 2 YM 18020, 18020, +7, +3
Long 2 TF 1232.8, 1232.8, -0.5, -0.5
Long 3 TF 1231.9, 1231.9, 1231.6, +3.0, +0.7, +0.7
Total YM +10
Total NQ -0.0
Total TF +7.6

Fri May 1 Trade Summary

20150501
Short 1 NQ 4438.75, +3.0
Short 1 NQ 4439.75, -2.0
Short 1 TF 1225.5, +3.5
Long 2 TF 1219.3, 1219.0, +2.5, +0.7
Total NQ +1.0
Total TF +6.7

Thur Apr 30 Trade Summary

0150430
Long 2 TF 1235.4, 1234.5, -0.0, -0.4
Long 3 YM 17880, 17873, 17870, -12, +15, -7
Long 2 TF 1232.2, 1231.5, +0.3, -0.5
Long 1 TF 1231.5, -0.9
Long 3 TF 1225.9, 1225.0, 1225.2, -1.4, +2.0, +4.0
Short 2 YM 17841, 17837, +7, +15
Short 1 YM 17853, +20
Total YM +38
Total TF +3.1