Trading Futures and Options on Futures involves
substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all
investors. You should carefully consider whether
trading is suitable for you in light of your
circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources.
You may lose all or more of your initial investment.
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subject to change at any time. CME Group is the
trademark of CME Group, Inc. The Globe logo® and
CME® are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile
Exchange, Inc. CBOT® is the trademark of the
Board of Trade of the City of Chicago. NYMEX is a
trademark of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.
1) Trade Markets that move.
2) Use a Trading Journal
3) A Platform that Allows Multiple Order
Brackets (Infinity Futures)
4) Disciplined Trading and Money Management
Rules
5) Specific trade setups and How the market
moves in reoccurring patterns and how to
profit in the new age of high frequency
trading.
There are three types of traders that need to use a trading journal.
Optimistic traders
They trade everything they see,
Fail to use rules to filter their opportunities
They don’t care about price, only participating in a trade.
They are afraid that the trade they don’t take is going to be the big winner.
They do not remember what doesn’t work ( they need a Journal)
Pessimistic traders
They use rules to filter their trades
They fail to pull the trigger on the setups they know they should be taking.
They care about price, and won’t participate in a trade if they can’t get that price.
They do remember what doesn’t work, but need to be reminded what does. (They Need a
journal)
Realistic Traders
They use rules to filter their trades
They pull the trigger on the setups they know they should be taking based on their journal
They care about price, they will not chase a trade
They are realistic about the outcome of a trade based on it’s risk reward ratio.
They know what works based on their journaling.
Every single trade should be recorded and analyzed.
We must always record the following information
about the trades we take.
What types of setups have been the most successful?
What days are our most successful?
What times of the day produces the most profitable
trades?
Are there any times of the day that we should avoid
trading based on past performance?
A journal is the key to developing our own set of
trading rules.
Identify trading periods in which we are most
successful is the key.
There are times in the market that regularly produce trades on a
consistent basis.
◦ 2am EST: The German open. This begins the trading day, and breaks the
slow choppy price action that is the result of the Asian session.
◦ 3am EST: The London open. This is often an exact reversal of the German
open.
◦ 8am and 8:30am EST: One and one-half hour before the open is the
attempt into the gap fill for the open. You will witness volume at these
specific times.
◦ 10am EST: Most big money will wait for the first half-hour after the bell to
place their trades.
This timeframe produces more trade entries than any other.
◦ 11:30am EST: 30 minutes before the European close
This is often called the 11:30 reversal period. We witness profit taking from
Europe from what ever the main trend of the morning was. It is also the
beginning of the daily doldrums
◦ 1:30pm to 2:00pm EST: The end of the daily doldrums, many times a stop
run from the consolidation during the lunch time trade.
◦ 3:30pm to 3:45pm EST: An attempt at a run toward the daily pivot for the
next day.
Multiple bracket orders allow you to set up
reduced risk trades.
When an order is filled a stop, first target, and
profit target are automatically placed.
This leaves no room for emotion.
You trade size and risk are predefined based on
your account size before the order is filled. (There
are no surprises)
2 Contract stop placement
6 tick stop and a +2 tick first target. Stop moves
from -6 to -4 after first target is hit.
Full stop out is 150 dollars, - slippage and
commissions
1 contract stop placement
6 tick stop. Stop is manually moved from -6 to -4
after a +2 first target is hit.
Full stop out is 75 dollars. After +6 is hit the stop is
moved from -4 to breakeven.
Stops may be moved to 61.8 lines; never against a
trade though, and never more than 6 ticks.
2 Contract stop placement
12 pip stop and a +4 pip first target. Stop moves
from -12 to -4 after first target is hit.
Full stop out is 300 dollars, and after first target is hit
is a free trade - slippage and commissions
1 contract stop placement
12 pip stop. Stop moves from -12 to -4 after a +4
first target is hit.
Full stop out is 150. After +4 is hit the stop is -50 -
slippage and commissions
Stops may be moved to reduce risk on trades to 61.8
lines; never against a trade though, and never more
than 12 pips.
This is a strategy for picking turning points. The trend must be identified
first.
It is for buying or selling 50% retracements on the daily and 15 min level.
You will have already seen participation at a support previous resistance
levels.
Knowing where we are on the weekly and daily charts is imperative. What
trend is the 15 minute on? Is it with trend, or against it? If you don't know
what the trend is, don't trade it.
Dangerous or low probability times of the day – when not to trade
The 50 percent trade to -23 percent target
The extension trade to -23% target
The 61 percent failure trade
Identify a series of measured moves already
in process
Wait for price to come to your setup
Use limit orders to sell 50% lines
Place targets 4 pips ahead of -23% or 123.6%
lines
If price ever breaks a 61.8% line in trend the
trend can change.
Be picky about price. Others traders and
programs are picky, and we should be too.
Extensions happen when a -23% target is blown
out.
To draw an extension draw your fib from the
bottom of the last pull that has blown out.
It is evidence of extremely bullish or bearish
conditions.
Most extensions happen when we are breaking
new highs or new lows for a market.
Each extension has its own -23% target and can
resume its series of normal measured moves
after completion.
If an extension ever breaks out of its 61.8
percent line, the trend can change.
This trade setup occurs after a 61.8% line of a
identified trend fails
When it is pierced programs will flip from
selling 50% shorts to buying 50% longs and
vice versa
We pull the retracement and wait for price to
come back into its 50%
Use limit orders and be picky about the price
you get.
In this example, we will note that the daily
trend is in a series of measured moves and is
coming into the top of its next 50%
retracement. Next, we go to a smaller time
frame (a 15 minute chart) to get a closer look
at the trend.
The 15 minute chart is in a series of
measured moves long. It's coming up into the
next daily 50% short. The series of measured
moves has not failed on a 15 minute chart.
The micros inside of the 15 minute chart have
failed a series of measured moves long. They
are immediately sold into at a 50% short. We
are anticipating now that the micros will fail
their halfway back, the 15 minute will fail its
halfway back, and the daily trend will
continue to its next -23% target.
Congratulations… You have just entered a
daily trend.