Vacation post

Flowtastical made a comment that motivated me to check in from my vacation and re-post it here because it is so critical and true.

He said:

"Grove,

What people fail to understand is that your return can be infinite in trading just like in life. You are only limited by your own beliefs.

I'm at a prop desk in nyc. My goal to to increase my financial value to infinity. How much percent return is that? Plenty of guys I know make millions. Who cares? They're aren't you, you aren't them. They have no idea what its like to walk in your shoes. Their value has zero to do with you.

Study your pnl. Copy your best setups. Forget the bad ones. Make your best trades better. Make yourself better. Eat better. Sleep better. Trade better. Constantly work on increasing your own value to infinity. Do it a little at a time and it will add up. I lost so much money in the beginning of my career and wasted so much time trying to be a million dollar trader on day one. I kid you not when I say ALOT of money.

You have the potential to make more than anyone else on any desk. Study your pnl."

There is a lot of wisdom packed into those words. "You are only limited by your own beliefs." So true - I read the quote below from Steve Jobs on The T.A.D Principle blog earlier this week, and it really drives the point home (by the way, if you need to change the way you think, read my post (from five years ago) on The T.A.D. Principle here):

"Remembering you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." - Steve Jobs.

Flowtastical also wrote "Make yourself better. Eat better. Sleep better. Trade better. Constantly work on increasing your own value to infinity. Do it a little at a time and it will add up." Earlier this year I made a post on meditating, and it stimulated a lot of good conversation. Developing positive habits/practices like meditating daily is a great way to start down the path to improving yourself.

Nice comments!

_______________

Mid-week post

Posted by Admin:

X is going to be off on vacation for the rest of June (and early July). He asked that I make a post a few times a week to facilitate anyone who wanted to make comments or discuss trades/setups.

Here is a photo of a dog that looks like I do in the morning as I drink my coffee:



_______________

Post for the new week

Posted by Admin:

X is going to be off on vacation for the rest of June (and early July). He asked that I make a post a few times a week to facilitate anyone who wanted to make comments or discuss trades/setups.

Here is a photo of a dog wearing a hoodie:



_______________

Mid-week post

Posted by Admin:

X is going to be off on vacation for the rest of June (and early July). He asked that I make a post a few times a week to facilitate anyone who wanted to make comments or discuss trades/setups.

Here is a photo of a squirrel striking a pose:



_______________

Make it your own

I saw this (non-trading related) quote today that articulated everything I have tried to say on this blog over the years, and my constant mantra of take what others show (whether it is me, TRADEthemove.com, Dr. Brett, all the other bloggers, writers, trading partners, et cetera) and "make it your own".

"The teacher may make a suggestion that will open up a line of thought for you, or he may point out a way that has proved of value to him; and thus save you much time and trouble. But you must do the real work yourself."

- William Atkinson

_______________

COG - 060811

We talked about "quality of the pullback" last week. COG rallied from the open. The rally was three bars, and the pullback to the 50% retracement was three bars. It was what I call "orderly" - lower highs and lower lows, and the seventh bar offset the sixth and created the trigger for a nice setup. It also had support from a rising 8EMA. Entry was a break of the seventh bar high, exit was the Fibonacci extension. Notice how price never broke below the 8EMA before reaching the target.



I am getting ready for a multi-week vacation. I have made arrangements with my nephew (aka, the blog administrator) and Tom C. to make a post now and then so reader's can post comments if they want. Hopefully I will have another post or two before I depart!

_______________

Reader comment - AAPL

Here is a setup for those of you trading the 15-minute timeframe, and for those of you looking for trades later in the day.

Doug R. posted:

"I traded AAPL on Tue with my Fib lines drawn from the opening range high to the previous day's swing low put in around 3:00EST. This was a 15-minute timeframe. I entered on a break of the 1:45EST bar. Why? Price broke through the opening range high and had solid support from the 5EMA. I rode it to the Fib extension."



_______________

Catching up

I was originally going to use the short week to kick off a vacation that would last most of June, but due to the passing of my family member I have had to rearrange some plans. I'll be here for a few weeks, and with any luck will be able to take my vacation at the end of June/beginning of July.

Last Friday I talked about the quality of a pullback in relation to setups in BRCM, MCP, and MTL. Below are the charts so you can judge for yourself. In future postings I will try to provide more analysis on this topic, but if you study the charts I think the differences are apparent.



Several readers traded BRCM and stated it didn't work out. I offered the two setups below in comparison.



Entry was a break of the ninth bar's high.



Entry was a break of the fifth bar's high.

_______________