I am looking for help learning the fundamentals of trading using price action. I have been testing out several strategies on demo accounts some good for a while then not so good. I am moving to live trading this week with a full account and micro account using a mix of EA's while learning my own strategies. I am taking this very serious and am looking to do this full time. I am a very quick study but need some direction on building a good strong foundation of a strategy. Any help out here would be greatly appreciated, just feeling a little lost on a direction.

Thanks

Good to have you on the forum !

I also like to use EA's and discretionary trading as well. There is nothing better than an EA that runs around the clock and can make some serious pips while you sleep !

In regards to discretionary trading, I like to use 2hr and 15m charts. Typically Im looking for trend lines and using fibs and candles to help out with my entry and exit points. I did an event a few days back, you may want to replay it.

Short Term Trading Tips with Walker E. on *09/21 @ 11:00 EDT*

Let me know what you think. Didnt you also mention that you were interested in the Niles Fuller analysis ? If you want paste some examples of your setups, Id be glad to take a look !


Walker

Also , I like using 200 ma's to determine the direction of the overall trend .


Walker

A couple of questions for you. Do you use longer time frames to plot your trend lines and fib and then trade to a shorter time chart? Also what is the easiest way to post a screen shot on here. I know how to copy my screen, but not sure how to get it on here.

Thanks

Lets get you placing charts up on the forum.

First you have two options of placing images on the forum.

You may put up images on the web by using the setting found here



You will be prompted to put in the link of your image and once thats done your set. This is good if you are using a image hosting site such as tinypic.com , imageshack.us or photobucket.com .

If you are uploading attachments directly from your computer use this option down below your reply .



Please let me know if you have any questions.

Walker

Great, glad that you can get charts up now. What are you looking for in those charts to determine your entry points ? In your usd.chf chart it looks like you have a trendline drawn. If you are long in that trade, I would recommend placing your stops under the trend line and getting your entry points as close to the trend line as possible. This will help decrease the risk on your trades.


Walker

I dont normally look at USD.CHF on 15min but here is an example of a setup that I look for.




We have a trend line supported by three touches. On the third touch, price matches up with our 50% fib ration. This is a great entry point. Stops hold below the trend line


Walker

On the GBP/USD I first started off by determining trend which to me looked like the fast uptick was fading with the long wicks. Then I set my own suport and resistance levels which honestly I don't know if I am even on the right track for this. I put a resistance line at the close of the high up before it stalled, then in this case I watched as the candles hit once, twice, three times but did not close above that line. Then I waited for the extreme down bar to clear out the three lows that hit my resistance line and put in my sell order. I set my stop loss just above the prior highs, and set my take profit at a 2:1 risk reward ratio. My stop loss was about 35 pips so my take profit was 70 pips. At one point in the trade I was up 40 pips so I moved my stop to break even, but then it started to climb back up, afraid of being stopped out I moved my stop back to my original stop and the trade is at about break even.

On the USD/CHF I determined it was an up trend so I set my support lines at the close of the down bars. I saw it hit once and close above, missed the second one but closed above, and hit the third one and closed above. I waited for it to clear the previous three highs and went long. I set my stop loss at just below the previous low which was 38 pips and set my take profit at 76 pips 2:1 risk reward, right now I am sitting at around -26 pips.

I am not sure if this is even a valid strategy for me or not, which is what I have been struggling with for the past two months hopping from one strategy to another either because I am not understanding enough about my strategies or I feel that they are not good startegies. This has kept me from starting to trade with real money which I was hoping to do this week. I have read tons of books, and theories and strategies, I believe I was meant to do this and have no problem putting in the efforts to learn it, but feel more conflicted on direction each day.

Generally speaking , you want to make a list or a set of rules to follow when you are trading. This way when a chart meets your criteria you are set to trade .

As you stated earlier, time frame may influence your strategy. How many trades are you making a day ? Are all of your trades on a 15 min chart ? If you already have a checklist for entry points do you mind sharing ?



Walker

If you had more than 1 lot in the trade, maybe you could have sold half your lots at the one-third-profit point and then adjusted the stop-loss to a bit on the profit side of breakeven. (I think you'd need to remove and reenter the OCO entry orders to do this on US platform). This way your risk is now less than 0 (i.e. you are definitely in the profit and at about 11% of your original total profit in the worst case), but at the cost of your total upside being about 67% the original plan. Limiting profit slightly to promise no loss is worth the trade for me.

I'm starting out too and am only making 1 lot trades now, so if you're doing the same maybe this plan is just something to think about for the future.

Glad to see you posting!

As far as number of trades, hard to judge because I just started trading this way. I started with the 15 minute chart, just a shot in the dark as far as time frames. As far as my entry points I look for the following. I identify if it is an up trend or down trend, but dont use trend line as entry point. I look for draw back zig zag up and down. On an up trend I use the last down on a zig and draw a support line at the close of that bar, and keep doing that as it zigs and zags. Once my support lines are drawn I look for the following to happen for an entry.

1. Three touches of support line, but closes above

2. Next bar following the three touches must clear the last three bars high which I use as an entry.

3. Stop Loss I set just below the last real low

4. Take Profit I set at 2:1 risk reward ratio.

Again I am not sure if this is strong enough strategy.

Any input would be appreciated.

I like to do this as well, and go a two lot route. Ill set an initial target and an extended target . Once target 1 is hit , ill take profit and bump stops on order two to break even.

Walker

great advice guys I will work that into my trading strategy. If I am trading 2 lots any suggestion on where to take my profit on first target and when to move stop loss on 2nd lot?

I really like to have a technical target in place as opposed to just using a 2-1 risk reward ratio. If you always go with 2-1 you may be placing your limits outside of support or resistance unnecessarily . I personally like to use fib lines in my trading , along with viewing historical lows and highs. Ill throw up some chart later in the day with some examples as time allows.

Hope your trading is going well. What did you think of CHF intervention today ! That REALLY caught me off guard.

Walker