Best Day Trading Strategy / Indicators For ThinkorSwim

[Zedd]

Can someone share me with a day trading strategy that has worked for them. I have tried many strategies and used many indicators but ended up losing trades or the strategy didn't work good enough backtesting.

 

[Prison Mike]

So let’s define “profitable.”

Over the last 4 months, averaged out, your profit/loss is positive.

For those experienced, full time traders, 4 months probably feels a little generous and too short of a timeframe. Feel free to share your definition of “profitable.” I said 4 months because it demonstrated a little more consistency than one quarter of being in the green.

You can have a 85% win rate and still not be profitable. Or vice verse, you can take small losses but have a few good trades and end up in the green for the month.

Always hear about the 90/90/90 rule. 90% of traders loses 90% of their capital in the first 90. While that might not be exactly right would guess it’s close. Curious to see the results.

“Votes displayed publicly” is unchecked so assuming this poll will be anonymous.

 

[MerryDay]

@Prison Mike, I agree a definition of profitable is key. Less than 50% of my trades are 'profitable' but my losses are <90% of my profits, thanks to stop-loss, exit strategies. So, I maintain consistent overall profits.

Also as a swing trader, I can wait for my profit. I admire scalpers. They have it tougher maintaining a consistent profit and need so much fortitude for handling the losses.

 

[Prison Mike]

Thanks for y’all input. Interesting results so far, but only 10 votes to go on.

@Alex eye on the prize. Consistency and patients.

@MerryDay thanks for sharing. I assume you are trading commons? Yea very rarely do I hold an option overnight. Don’t really swing trade, but that did get me thinking “wow sounds more stress free!”

 

[Alex]

@Prison Mike without a doubt. I definitely recommend any starting trader to backtest their strategy / indicator a lot before putting any real money on the line. This was my main set back to becoming consistently profitable.

 

[codydog]

@Prison Mike -
I've done this going on 40 years and can share my experiences but when I've offered this to others in the past, mostly they dont believe me or I end up being told I'm stupid or how much smarter, faster and better they are. And I'm not saying my experience will be anyone elses or they're not better than I am, just saying its a tough conversation for many to have given that if many gave their money to Vanguard in a low cost fund, they would make more, be happier and have more free time - ego and pride are a downfall for many traders.

 

[scott69]

Being pretty much an anonymous discussion board, people can say anything they want. Whether the viewer believes it or not is another matter. Some of us have been doing this for 20 - 40 years. Either we are profitable enough to justify our time spent, or we are fools. I'm pretty sure that most "seasoned" traders can tell who is making money and who isn't just by the questions asked, the responses, and the comments. As far as how you look at yourself in the mirror, your net worth will tell you if you are a successful investor or not. Just my deux centimes....

 

[Prison Mike]

Thank for both the responses. I think there is a lot of wisdom with what both y’all said. Here are two things that stuck out.

@scott69

Either we are profitable enough to justify our time spent, or we are fools.

@codydog

..I am just saying its a tough conversation for many to have given that if many gave their money to Vanguard in a low cost fund, they would make more...

Unrelated:Since I have your ear I posted this question in a discord and haven’t got an answer that satisfies yet. Maybe bc I’m looking for the simple answer and it isn’t that cut and dry.

As related to day trading, all things equal, how do you determine that one stock has a higher potential for reward vs another?

Asked another way...

What makes you believe one ticker will “run” vs another?

 

[codydog]

@codydog


What makes you believe one ticker will “run” vs another?

imo, I think just picking a few stocks, like amzn/nflx/sq and stay focused is a lot easier than scanning hundreds of names and hoping you're right.

I also stay away from anything i can't unwind in 1 click or dont understand how it works

 

[tjlizwelicha]

I am looking for some knowledge/advice on my trading skills. One big problem is not knowing how to avoid fake downtrends and selling too soon because it rebounded. I was a paying member of another site that shared when they enter the call, strike price, and expiration date. Even when the market would continue downtrend, he knew it was temporary and would rebound. I admire that; however, that's a goal to learn those techniques. Can someone suggest thinkscripts that will help me to accomplish this?

 

[BenTen]

If there is a defined definition of "fake dowtrends," we can develop an indicator to help you identify it. Other than that, no thinkscripts will help you spot such a pattern.

I think it's more important to understand the market's sentiment, the current condition that a specific stock is trading in, and knowing where support/resistance levels are.

Some recommended resources to help you get started:

• https://school.stockcharts.com/doku.php?id=chart_analysis:support_and_resistance
• https://www.investopedia.com/articles/trading/09/what-factors-create-trends.asp
• https://www.investopedia.com/articles/technical/03/060303.asp

You can also check out my personal setup, watchlist, and the indicator I'm using here: https://usethinkscript.com/threads/bentens-watchlist-setup-trade-recaps.4925/

Trading takes time. Learning how to trade also takes time. Go at your own pace. Learn to watch price action and how the stock reacts when it hit certain levels. I hope that helps

 

[tjlizwelicha]

Thank you so much. There are many knowledgable followers to include yourself, and I am sure I will be a much better trader. Thanks again.

 

[germanburrito]

@tjlizwelicha One method i like to point to people to is try to look at different time frames, there's a strategy that really makes this easier, although its not perfect, its called THE STRAT, there's notes here on indicators that they use all the time on this site, and they also have a Facebook page. This might help you with price action.

 

[tjlizwelicha]

@germanburrito Thank you so much, I will definitely study the start. I appreciate it.

 

[scott69]

@tjlizwelicha I am a firm believer in reading, studying, research and practice. I'm not sure what your level of experience is, as you only asked for help on trading skills, but may I suggest either buying books or borrowing books from the library on subjects on which that you need improvement. I still, after many years of trading and investing, read books from the "dummies" series. Look at those first for intros into different subjects. One of my favorites was "Technical Analysis for Dummies" by Barbara Rockefeller. I also liked Trading Options for Dummies" by Joe Duarte. If you are real new, may I suggest Stock Trading or Day Trading for Dummies, although I have not read those. I think that all on this board would agree that the most important thing to determine is what type of trader you will be, i.e. short day trading, swing trader, position trader or long term trader. And, what instrument you wil be trading. Futures are probably the most dangerous for the beginner. Options also have higher risks. Stocks and ETFs are smaller moves with smaller losses. Each has very particular needs for knowledge and skills. Then create a "plan" of action, like a business plan, because to be successful, you need to treat your pursuit as a business. If you are to be a technical trader like many here are, you need to master technical analysis, so focus on that. If you use indicators, always know exactly what they are doing and what they measure....I hope this helps, as the road to success in long and sometimes bumpy.

 

[tjlizwelicha]

@scott69 Thank you. I have ordered some books to be delivered. A plan of action is a good start too.

 

[geremyh]

I am looking for some knowledge/advice on my trading skills. One big problem is not knowing how to avoid fake downtrends and selling too soon because it rebounded. I was a paying member of another site that shared when they enter the call, strike price, and expiration date. Even when the market would continue downtrend, he knew it was temporary and would rebound. I admire that; however, that's a goal to learn those techniques. Can someone suggest thinkscripts that will help me to accomplish this?

What platform do you use to trade with? Thinkorswim has chatrooms where they still do that, announce trades, positions, news, and worthy stock analysis. I personally use MACD and stochasticslow...ive gone through a whole bunch of indicators and scripts looking for the secret sauce and imo those 2 are all i need. Im messing with fibonacci levels now but honestly i see myself discarding that also in the future and just sticking with stochastic+MACD.

 

[tjlizwelicha]

What platform do you use to trade with? Thinkorswim has chatrooms where they still do that, announce trades, positions, news, and worthy stock analysis. I personally use MACD and stochasticslow...ive gone through a whole bunch of indicators and scripts looking for the secret sauce and imo those 2 are all i need. Im messing with fibonacci levels now but honestly i see myself discarding that also in the future and just sticking with stochastic+MACD.

I am actually using Robin Hood now, but I am getting ready to switch to TOS. I wasn't aware that they had a chat room. I will definitely follow up with that. I usually used MACD and Stochastics as well. I also used RSI, and the Squeeze. Thanks for sharing.

 

[lostmarxbro]

Can someone share me with a day trading strategy that has worked for them. I have tried many strategies and used many indicators but ended up losing trades or the strategy didn't work good enough backtesting.

I started around the last market crash. I started real slow by buying small shares and holding regardless of what happened. Point is that I learned about several different strategies, news, delistings, price action, etc. Don't use any money you can't afford to lose, I took some hits but I made it this far and still have a lot to learn

 

[tjlizwelicha]

I started around the last market crash. I started real slow by buying small shares and holding regardless of what happened. Point is that I learned about several different strategies, news, delistings, price action, etc. Don't use any money you can't afford to lose, I took some hits but I made it this far and still have a lot to learn

Thank you. I actually made money under Robin Hood, but I have to say that was all due to luck. lol. I want to really learn the correct way.

 

[s1111]

@Zedd I follow @Hypoluxa techniques. Here is his post https://usethinkscript.com/threads/...ands-indicator-for-thinkorswim.287/post-43308

The only thing I need to learn is to have more patience. I use 9 and20 ema crossover to take trades. Hope this helps