Moving Average Plots, Charts, Scans For ThinkOrSwim

[MBF]

Hi anyone and everyone,

I am getting a little confused and overwhelmed here and this has been an ongoing problem for me. I am trying to figure out which MAs are more eyeballed as entries and exits. Lately, I have been using the hourly 50 and 200 for day trading targets. I shouldn't say using, but more like experimenting. I'm having a hard time with this. I use premarket as signals with other stuff but honestly, I am trying very hard to be as simple as possible and learn without all the bells and whistles and then integrate them later on. I guess what I am trying to say is, what do you guys use when charting out lower time frames? There are so many choices, how do you know which ones are the most reliable? Is it different for each symbol? Do you look at all the MAs on the hourly and just use the ones that specific symbol seems to follow or is there a rigid set of MAs? I don't know, I think I'm overwhelmed. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I don't know if this is the right place to ask this as this might be just TOS script stuff but thought I'd give it a go.

 

[MBF]

And just to add more meat. ever seen this:

https://imgur.com/a/FiZsL1H

Now think how moving average behave and often they are lying about true nature of a move. And how often your fib/support/resistance would fail in this. They would be right - sometimes! But think about all the other times where its "a breakout" - ups not. Or that is a new trend! - gotcha!

I trade patterns on smaller TF, but how do you plan a trade without targets? Thats where I am. Im trying to plan a trade for day trading or long scalps. Day trading i suppose is the wrong term. 15 - 30 minute scalps.

 

[skynetgen]

I trade patterns on smaller TF, but how do you plan a trade without targets? Thats where I am. Im trying to plan a trade for day trading or long scalps. Day trading i suppose is the wrong term. 15 - 30 minute scalps.

I do have targets. Based on support resistance - which I base on fractals/ volume profiles. But also on ATR and Expectedmove (this also has to be combined with presence or absence of catalyst and overall market behaviour). In addition once one I am in a trade I do trail and move stops( in most conservative way - based on pivots- every higher hihg , lower low I move stop there). And I watch like a hawk for relative volume and Range expansion/contraction

 

[MBF]

I do have targets. Based on support resistance - which I base on fractals/ volume profiles. But also on ATR and Expectedmove. In addition once one I am in a trade I do trail and move stops( in most conservative way - based on pivots- every higher hihg , lower low I move stop there). And I watch like a hawk for relative volume and Range expansion/contraction

I see. Fractals? Profiles? I tried the profile thing, I couldnt see it. It fades way off to the right on my TOS chart and just frustrates me. Fractals make me think of Einstein and Im far removed in relation to him. Unfortunately.
You have targets based on S/R. I wonder if I used ATR with those? Lemme look. Maybe hourly S/R. I found when I used S/R sometimes I would have a ton of lines all over. I cant with ADD. My whiskers start twitching like Bugs B. Thats the thing. Which time frames S/R? GAH!

 

[skynetgen]

here is example of friday intraday trade. I highlighted with green circles signals I used .The setup was on 30m - continuation down

https://imgur.com/a/sbD8312

My ultimate target was daily ATR (2)/ daily support. The 30m broke down and I entered on 5m at 1025 on inside candle.
breaking previous low on 1035 was confirmation trade is good. After 1100 washout ( wide range bar with low volume) I moved stop to the pivot it created. At 1115 I tightened stop on range expansion bar and rvol spike (tightening was on 1m chart which is not visible her). I got stopped out and thats it .

 

[MBF]

I do have targets. Based on support resistance - which I base on fractals/ volume profiles. But also on ATR and Expectedmove (this also has to be combined with presence or absence of catalyst and overall market behaviour). In addition once one I am in a trade I do trail and move stops( in most conservative way - based on pivots- every higher hihg , lower low I move stop there). And I watch like a hawk for relative volume and Range expansion/contraction

Also, I don't use stops. I trade naked options and I am not even sure you can use stops on an option.
When I do live trading I usually trade little dudes like AMD and MU. Im no longer losing money and now I am a little past the stage of breaking even and into making money. Not a lot though because i mostly moved to real money when I want to work on my emotions while Im trading regardless of the outcome but naturally with management, which I am pretty good at. Just need to relax a bit and hold on. Im getting better at that. The first time I traded, I traded NVDA, AAPL and NFLX like a moron. I have a small account. I nearly *** myself and couldnt steady my hand to save my life. That was an experience. I managed them well but that little experiment had me back in paper and looking at ways to manage my emotions. I realized the only real way to do that was to trade smaller stocks and use real money.

 

[markos]

Slow down.

There's no commissions. Trade just 2 shares. Sell one share when you get a feeling and let the second share run, sell on your next cipherin'. Analyze what you've done. Make adjustments. Rinse, repeat. If you are trading options without understanding Expected Move, you may be flying blind. Don't buy small stocks, the Bid-Ask will cut you up.
Now, please take 10 minutes and watch this:

Brian Wrote the book Technical Analysis Using Multiple Timeframes.

 

[MBF]

here is example of friday intraday trade. I highlighted with green circles signals I used .The setup was on 30m - continuation down

https://imgur.com/a/sbD8312

My ultimate target was daily ATR (2)/ daily support. The 30m broke down and I entered on 5m at 1025 on inside candle.
breaking previous low on 1035 was confirmation trade is good. After 1100 washout ( wide range bar with low volume) I moved stop to the pivot it created. At 1115 I tightened stop on range expansion bar and rvol spike (tightening was on 1m chart which is not visible her). I got stopped out and thats it .

Thank you!
To parse it out a bit. You saw a pin bar that breached a support of the two former bars and a close of the pin bar within the lower third of the bar before it on the daily. it also breached a significant whole number so you thought short. correct?

 

[skynetgen]

Thank you!
To parse it out a bit. You saw a pin bar that breached a support of the two former bars and a close of the pin bar within the lower third of the bar before it on the daily. it also breached a significant whole number so you thought short. correct?

Not exactly. first the setup on daily is bearish with price action under point of control and void support till 80 (thats why this ticker got into radar first place) . The first two 30m bars on the day are bearish and 2nd bar is bearish with above average volume (thats what I circled on 30m lower indicator) - that was price action intraday at ten - when I look for setups after initial bell shakeouts.
The final check - where when I was pulling trigger: on 5m there are clear rejection under vwap and 1025 is breach of 5m range. - perfect entry with nearby stop at 82.35. Everything is in confluence - daily, 30m and 5m. Good risk reward. I dont use whole numbers except for like additional convenience (and only for exits)

It also didnt hit my ultimate price target but the management I used allowed good exit.

 

[skynetgen]

Slow down.

There's no commissions. Trade just 2 shares. Sell one share when you get a feeling and let the second share run, sell on your next cipherin'. Analyze what you've done. Make adjustments. Rinse, repeat. If you are trading options without understanding Expected Move, you may be flying blind. Don't buy small stocks, the Bid-Ask will cut you up.
Now, please take 10 minutes and watch this:

Brian Wrote the book Technical Analysis Using Multiple Timeframes.

Great book! I highly recommend it as well

 

[MBF]

I kind of understand EM because I watch Don and Cory all week ad Don does it a lot.
If i trade two shares do you recommend OCO? Or just stops or Trailing stops. I'll OnDemand for an hour tonight and try it out.

 

[markos]

I kind of understand EM because I watch Don and Cory all week ad Don does it a lot.
If i trade two shares do you recommend OCO? Or just stops or Trailing stops. I'll OnDemand for an hour tonight and try it out.

If you're scalping, IMO, just watch it. Trade manually. You'll brain print the action and learn faster. Don was a great help to me. Good deal.

 

[MBF]

Thank you @skynetgen! I see it.
What is that chart in the upper right corner? Is that a tick chart for an equity?
I got into the Profile indicator because of Raschke, she also spoke of "caves". I should try to place it on the chart instead of off to the side. I was so busy studying other things that sometimes things I am interested in or see, gets pushed to the side. Its a lot of stuff to study.

 

[skynetgen]

Thank you @skynetgen! I see it.
What is that chart in the upper right corner? Is that a tick chart for an equity?
I got into the Profile indicator because of Raschke, she also spoke of "caves". I should try to place it on the chart instead of off to the side. I was so busy studying other things that sometimes things I am interested in or see, gets pushed to the side. Its a lot of stuff to study.

yeah exactly put them on the chart instead of sides ( for daily chart I use monthly profile). "caves" - I call them voids. You can see it on daily chart
The tick chart on upper right is something I am playing with. You can see my charts are quite overloaded. But not all signals I use - many of them are for testing and experimentation

 

[samks_30]

@MBF: Start with using MA's on market (like /ES), some stocks trade along with the market. This gives you plenty of clues on whether things are working or not. Then you can drill down to things that are working and continue the process. It takes time to finally drill into the things that work for you. Stick to them, develop a strategy, and keep following it.

For market i use: 1m, 15min, and 4hr, D charts with 5sma, 10sma, 13ema, 50ema, 200sma. On weekend/month end use W/M charts.

 

[MBF]

@MBF: Start with using MA's on market (like /ES), some stocks trade along with the market. This gives you plenty of clues on whether things are working or not. Then you can drill down to things that are working and continue the process. It takes time to finally drill into the things that work for you. Stick to them, develop a strategy, and keep following it.

For market i use: 1m, 15min, and 4hr, D charts with 5sma, 10sma, 13ema, 50ema, 200sma. On weekend/month end use W/M charts.

I sometimes trade SPY with TVIX. I trade AMD, NVDA etc with SMH. I dont really like it but I do like trade families and was also looking at those. I listened to a Chat with Traders today, an older one and the guy traded families. Jason Leavitt was his name. It was interesting. I just have to be careful because honestly I have quite the arsenal of ideas and I can swiftly find myself down unnecessary rabbit holes. Very easy for me. Focus is something I’m after. I don’t like the feelings I’m getting at the moment of swinging in the wind with a million ideas and not nailing one down because one might be better than the other. I’m telling you I’m in the throes of trouble at the moment. I guess this might be a stage all traders go through but it’s uncomfortable. Kind of know what you’re supposed to do, have some pieces and now just need to put them together to make something work. You know?
I have the feeling I’m turning something simple into a web.
Sorry for the rant. Excited and frustrated.
Yes that’s a good idea to stick to the family ETF for research and experiment.

 

[markos]

@MBF When you're in the theochat in the morning, ask Brian Ap. what he would look at.

 

[MBF]

@MBF When you're in the theochat in the morning, ask Brian Ap. what he would look at.

Is there a morning chat I’m missing out on? On discord?

 

[skynetgen]

I have the feeling I’m turning something simple into a web.
Sorry for the rant. Excited and frustrated.
Yes that’s a good idea to stick to the family ETF for research and experiment.

I know precisely what you are talking about. Too many ideas, too many indicators, too many strategies, too many confluences and things to take care of.

However if you are humble and and content to get in quick, take profit and get out quicker the strategies become simpler. Like scalping gappers on 1m timeframe at the open is probably simplest in terms of stock selection, signals and execution.
Bigger the move you want to capture - harder it gets

 

[markos]

I sometimes trade SPY with TVIX. I trade AMD, NVDA etc with SMH. I dont really like it but I do like trade families and was also looking at those. I listened to a Chat with Traders today, an older one and the guy traded families. Jason Leavitt was his name. It was interesting. I just have to be careful because honestly I have quite the arsenal of ideas and I can swiftly find myself down unnecessary rabbit holes. Very easy for me. Focus is something I’m after. I don’t like the feelings I’m getting at the moment of swinging in the wind with a million ideas and not nailing one down because one might be better than the other. I’m telling you I’m in the throes of trouble at the moment. I guess this might be a stage all traders go through but it’s uncomfortable. Kind of know what you’re supposed to do, have some pieces and now just need to put them together to make something work. You know?
I have the feeling I’m turning something simple into a web.
Sorry for the rant. Excited and frustrated.
Yes that’s a good idea to stick to the family ETF for research and experiment.

You got this. It will take time for all of the Nuances to come into view. It may be years. Don't expect that it should be different than any other profession. Consider my advice about buying 2 shares and selling one when you feel you need to. You'll then have skin in the game but if it's trashed out in a 20% down day, your one share at $50 bucks is now at $40. Big deal! Keep your perspective.

 

[markos]

Is there a morning chat I’m missing out on? On discord?

You said you listened to Don and Cory during the Day, didn't you? That's where.