Tag Archives: Entry

The Other Trader (5)

Posted in: Trading Process and Strategy | September 15, 2017 at 12:24 pm , by Lance Beggs

Let's continue with a series we started last year – the metagame – trading AGAINST other traders who find themselves on the wrong side of the market.

Because…

If I can't feel someone on the other side of the market getting it really wrong, there is no trade.

You can see the prior articles here if you missed them – One – Two – Three – Four.

Let's set up the scenario…

(Source: YTC Price Action Trader Vol 2 Ch 3 P99-102)

(Source: YTC Price Action Trader Vol 2 Ch 3 P145-153)

From a metagame perspective, this is the scenario we're looking at. We aim to place ourselves in the mindset of any trader who bought late in the move, at or soon after the breakout. Feel their stress build as price stalls. And stalls. And stalls. Feel their pain as their "sure thing" collapses back below the stall region. And find a way to profit from their pain.

Let's zoom in a bit. And take on the mindset of the novice retail trader who entered late in the move (let's say right on the break).

Trading the metagame…

If I can't feel someone on the other side of the market getting it really wrong, there is no trade.

Fast, sudden price moves don't always continue.

Quite often, someone is getting trapped.

And that… is opportunity.

Go get 'em,

Lance Beggs

Trading Alongside the Uncertainty and Fear

Posted in: Trader | September 1, 2017 at 4:22 pm , by Lance Beggs

No comments

I shared the following post via social media on Wednesday:

<image: What if it's ok to feel uncertain?>

Without doubt, this is one of the key lessons we must learn on the way to becoming a professional trader.

And so I was incredibly pleased to get the following reply:

<image: What if instead we learn to operate alongside the uncertainty and fear?>

Brilliant!

Thanks A.H.

This is exactly the right approach to the presence of the fear and doubt.

1. Recognise the emotion.

Just briefly, bring your focus back from the external (charts) to the internal (your body and mind). Notice what you're feeling.

2. Acknowledge the emotion.

Accept it. You can't fight it. You may as well welcome it.

If it helps… verbalise it.

3. Understand the emotion.

What is it trying to tell you? There is information there. Find it!

4. Review the trade premise.

Often you will find that steps one to three will significantly reduce the severity of emotion.

So the final step – review the trade premise from an objective chart-based perspective.

With the emotion acknowledged and diminished, does the trade premise actually contain edge?

If so, go for it.

<image: What if instead we learn to operate alongside the uncertainty and fear?>

If it helps, consider creating a "pre-entry mantra" to shift your focus inside and recognise, acknowledge and understand any emotion that may impact upon your trading decisions and actions.

With experience (and of course proper risk control) fear and emotion will reduce. But it never completely goes away.

You can't fight it.

Accept it. And learn to work alongside it.

Happy trading,

Lance Beggs

Let It Fail First – Then Get In

Posted in: Trading Process and Strategy | August 25, 2017 at 3:35 pm , by Lance Beggs

9 comments

Although we trade very differently, I am quite a fan of Al Brooks first book, "Reading Price Charts Bar by Bar".

One of his quotes which has stuck with me over the years is the following:

Countertrend setups in strong trends almost always fail and become great With Trend setups.

This quote came to mind earlier in the week, as I took a counter-trend entry against a strong trend, despite my predominant thought prior to entry being "This is too obvious. It has to be a trap!".

The drop from point 2 was just over 30pts (120 ticks) in 15 minutes. Ok, it's maybe not the strongest trend. But there was very little opportunity in the way of pullback entries SHORT. And bears still felt in control.

And that's when the Al Brooks quote came to mind.

Countertrend setups in strong trends almost always fail and become great With Trend setups.

The outcome:

Happy trading,

Lance Beggs

Trade Opportunity at Spike Highs

Posted in: Trading Process and Strategy | May 26, 2017 at 3:16 pm , by Lance Beggs

2 comments

The market has opened and rallied. Not with great strength. In fact it's quite slow. But it rallies with a clear bullish bias.

It's clear of all S/R levels, above the prior day's high resistance (now support) and well short of the next higher timeframe resistance level.

Trade Opportunity at Spike Highs

Trade opportunity in such a case is ideally sought in the bullish direction.

YTC Price Action Trader readers – the first and second principles apply here and we're looking ideally for PB/CPB opportunity, with the trend.

However, there are times when I'll also look to take counter-trend opportunity, within this market environment.

Not always. But sometimes it's just screaming out to be traded. This is one of those times.

And not with any intention of catching a reversal. Just a scalp from the edges back to the mean.

Here's what I was seeing. We'll look at the TTF first, but we'll follow that up with the HTF chart, because it stands out better there and is much easier to see.

Trade Opportunity at Spike Highs

Keep watch on the charts for anything unusual. Anything that is different.

It may just provide trade opportunity.

Happy trading,

Lance Beggs

Opportunity Exists where you find Frustrated Traders – Part 2

Posted in: Trading Process and Strategy | May 19, 2017 at 4:49 pm , by Lance Beggs

No comments

Feedback suggests that people got a lot out of last week's article, so let's continue with that topic one more time.

Check it out here if you missed it – http://yourtradingcoach.com/trading-process-and-strategy/opportunity-exists-where-you-find-frustrated-traders/

This was the general idea though –

I'm always looking at the market from the perspective of "the other trader".

In particular, seeking out the places on the chart where others might become frustrated.

Where is someone stuck out of a trade they wished they were in?

Where is someone stuck in a trade they wished they weren't in?

That's where I want to trade!

This concept can be applied on any timeframe. You can use it on the Trading Timeframe to find quality trade locations. You can use it on the Lower Timeframe to time your entry.

It's this Lower Timeframe application that I want to look at today.

Timing an entry at the point of maximum frustration for our poor friend, "the other trader".

Let's start with the general trade idea.

Opportunity exists where you find frustrated traders

And so let's now step through the data to see how this trade idea unfolded.

Opportunity exists where you find frustrated traders

Happy trading,

Lance Beggs

Opportunity Exists where you find Frustrated Traders

Posted in: Trading Process and Strategy | May 12, 2017 at 1:45 pm , by Lance Beggs

No comments

I'm always looking at the market from the perspective of "the other trader".

In particular, seeking out the places on the chart where others might become frustrated.

Where is someone stuck out of a trade they wished they were in?

Where is someone stuck in a trade they wished they weren't in?

That's where I want to trade!

Opportunity exists where you find frustrated traders

Happy trading,

Lance Beggs

An Entry Mindset with a Whole Lot Less Fear

Posted in: Trader | May 5, 2017 at 4:01 pm , by Lance Beggs

6 comments

The whole analysis process for a novice trader is aimed towards finding a winning trade.

Sure, they know intellectually that not all trades will win.

But surely this one… the one they worked so hard for… the one that all their analysis says is a good trade… it's just got to win!

And then they enter the trade…

An Entry Mindset with a Whole Lot Less Fear

Gripped by the fear that comes with every tick of price movement, they increase the risk of mismanaging the trade. They increase the likelihood of underperforming. And they risk potential damage to their self-belief.

What if there was another way?

What if you had a different mindset?

What if you stopped trying to find winners?

An Entry Mindset with a Whole Lot Less Fear

That's a key difference.

A novice is trying to find a trade that will win.

I'm trying to find an entry that is worthy of being one of twenty.

I don't need a winner.

I place all the odds in my favour. And I take the trade.

An Entry Mindset with a Whole Lot Less Fear

This is an entry that is worthy of being one of 20 within the group.

It doesn't need to be a winner.

The whole group of 20 needs to win.

So this trade just needs to get me off to a good start – profiting if it can, and just minimising the damage if it can't.

A slightly different mindset…. but with a whole lot less fear.

Happy trading,

Lance Beggs

Wrong Wrong Wrong Right

Posted in: Trading Process and Strategy | April 21, 2017 at 4:01 pm , by Lance Beggs

No comments

This was an interesting sequence of trades – three which I got completely wrong, followed by one which I finally got right.

The key takeaways:

You won’t always get it right. Sometimes your timing is out. Other times, like in this sequence, your assessment of bias is just wrong.
Good entry location and good active trade management can ensure that even when you get it wrong, you still don’t lose much. Or, as in this sequence, you don’t lose anything.
One right trade can more than make up for numerous wrong trades.
Profits come from a series of trades. Not from individual trades. In this business, individual trade results are irrelevant (assuming they do not break your money and risk management limits).

Market open

The plan

Wrong

Note importantly on the Trading Timeframe that the entry was very much near the low. There was absolutely NO waiting for confirmation of price moving higher. Instead, entry was taken when price showed it could not move lower.

Note also how active trade management allowed the trade to profit, with half taken off at the first target area and the remainder scratched for a smaller loss once it was clear this trade was wrong.

Good decision making with regards to entry and trade management ensured that I did not lose here, despite being wrong about the direction of the market.

Let's try again

Wrong

Again…

Note also how active trade management allowed the trade to profit, with some risk taken off when I wasn’t happy with the post-entry stall. This turned out premature, but it’s a good decision. Price should have moved quicker. Of the remainder of the position, half is taken off at the next stall area and the remainder scratched for a smaller loss once it was clear this trade was wrong.

Good decision making with regards to entry and trade management ensured that I did not lose here, despite being wrong about the direction of the market.

One more time... cause it's working so well so far!!!

Wrong

Yes, the temptation to not show bad trading is GREAT. But sometimes there are good lessons.

Once more for effect…

Note also how active trade management allowed the trade to profit, with some risk taken off early (in the area of the prior pullback lows) and the remainder scratched for a smaller loss once it was clear this trade was wrong.

Good decision making with regards to entry and trade management ensured that I did not lose here, despite being wrong about the direction of the market.

A better plan

Right

Repeating the key takeaways:

You won’t always get it right. Sometimes your timing is out. Other times, like in this sequence, your assessment of bias is just wrong.
Good entry location and good active trade management can ensure that even when you get it wrong, you still don’t lose much. Or, as in this sequence, you don’t lose anything.
One right trade can more than make up for numerous wrong trades.
Profits come from a series of trades. Not from individual trades. In this business, individual trade results are irrelevant (assuming they do not break your money and risk management limits).

Happy trading,

Lance Beggs

How Do You Find Time to Plan a Trade on a 1-Minute Timeframe?

Posted in: Trading Process and Strategy | April 7, 2017 at 4:18 pm , by Lance Beggs

5 comments

This is a question I get from time to time.

Quite a reasonable question, I guess, for anyone used to trading on much longer timeframes.

The answer is simple. And if you do it right you'll find that there is plenty of time. Even on a 1-minute chart.

How Do You Find Time to Plan a Trade on a 1-Minute Timeframe?

Let's repeat that for effect…

Lower timeframes require that you see the trade setup in your mind, well before it shows up on the chart.

In fact, I'd suggest that this is good practice, regardless of your trading timeframe.

It's a matter of visualisation – plotting in your mind the most likely path for the next couple of price swings. And becoming clear in your mind about EXACTLY what you need to see if these price swings could offer a trade.

Think of it like a visual form of an IF-THEN statement. "IF price goes here and looks like (this) THEN I will have potential trade opportunity."

How Do You Find Time to Plan a Trade on a 1-Minute Timeframe?

Focus is always kept AHEAD OF PRICE.

In this case, the trade planning was carried out 2-3 minutes prior to the setup actually occurring. That's quick. Often a trade idea might be visualised 5 or even 10 minutes before price sets up for entry.

Either way, it's plenty of time.

Trade entry should not be a 100% reactive process. It should be forward looking. Pre-considered and pre-planned. And only acted upon if price should subsequently prove your forward planning to be correct.

The same goes for trade management. Keep your focus and planning ahead of price.

Where is price going if the trade premise is still valid? How will this look on the charts? How will you manage your stop and target orders if this happens?

And where is price going if the trade premise is no longer valid? How will this look on the charts? How will you react if that happens?

Keep your focus and planning ahead of price.

If you can do that, then there is PLENTY of time to plan your trades, well before price actually gets to the entry point.

Happy trading,

Lance Beggs