Hey it is ME Darcy!

I couldn't remeber my password and i am on my lap top hundreds of miles from home on family matters. Will be here for @ least a week.

Seems like we have a lot of TOSer's encouraging some of you to join other types of charts and I want to offer my opinion.... if you jump from every platform thinking that is the key to good trading you haven't studied enough. Sorry to be blunt but do not chase rainbows, Settle down and use what it is that works for you.

Using Gary's info and using the "E" charts I have made $51,000.00 in 39 days. S/O made $45,000.00 in 38 days. I am not kidding and am not joking or bragging. I want you to know you can do it also if you put in the work. We trade our limit...$2,500 - $3,500. That's it!

We do not trade if Gary's 55 and 21 do not line up with our 2 "E" charts no if' ands or buts!

I have studied and practiced since 2004. I said to myself: "if you can't put in the time to learn you will never get to where you want to go in trading."

I would work 8 hours a day for the new company my S/O started and @ 5PM I began to study until 3 or 4 AM. Our company had every single dime we had invested in it. We spent part of our 3 weeks pay check taking Gary's 1-5. I have never regretted it not ever. We had to build a trading account because as self-employed folks you do not have a 401 K to use.

I hope that any of you are successful at any of the things that work for you. Qcharts works for me and SD works for my S/O. We have no intention of ever changing.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2013 05:26PM by Darcy2.

My 2 cents about a trading platform....

I swtiched from Qcharts to Strategy Desk about 5 or 6 months ago. Qcharts was too expensive. SD is free. I was able to set my charts up exactly like my Qcharts. I will probably be with SD for the duration of my life. I am trading well, and a lot of that success is due to having charts that I can trust.

Hey Darcy,

Congrats on being a successful trader. That's awesome. I hope you don't mind if I ask questions.

-what are E charts?

-when you say $2500-3500 is your trading limit, do you mean that is what you use in each trade (same dollar trading)?

-are the 55 & 21 the only charts you use

-what options do you use - out in time or this month's

-what do you trade (a personal basket of stocks, RTT stocks with seasonal/earnings trends, stocks with current news/events -like earnings/splits, etc)

-how often do you trade

-are you in today, out today, or in trades longer

I'm new to the site, so I hope I'm not asking repeat questions of you, & also don't want to be a pest, but when someone is successful, there is much to be learned from that. Even Gary said when talking about Warren Buffett - find someone who is having success & do what they're doing. Duh

Thanks for your time.

fencepost

"-what are E charts? "

Hey Darcy,

I have TAD 2nd edition and pages 220-222 talk about moving averages crossing and the MACD. I couldn't find anything on the "E" signal. What edition book do you have. I just can't seem to find that signal.

Thanks

My TAD is first edition but they are the same.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2015 01:51PM by Darcy2.

Darcy,

WHich chart first alerts you to trade? When you are alerted, are you analyzing both GW 55, 21 and TAD 10 and 21? DO they all have to coincide with each other?

BCT

The "E" is powerful! If it forms, and Dow, Nas, ADX and Money Flow are going in same direction, it is screaming at you. The "E" works perfectly on my 13 chart as well. Well, this is where I look for my "E". I had a great trade on AAPL yesterday, but was forced to sit on the sidelines today. My 9-5 has me humping.

I dont mean to be cumbersome but are you saying you have a 10 and 21 minute to see the E trade with money flow. And then you identify a trade chart (GW) such as a 13 to enter?

I check 55 GW chart looking for FP or HRFP.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2015 01:52PM by Darcy2.

Thanks Darcy,

You are a REALLY great help on here. I appreciate the time you take to explain this to everyone. I have been at this 3+ years and will not give up. It is people like you and Rookie30 that keep me going. I refuse to give up on this as I know it works.

Good stuff Darcy! I use much of the same process, with a few twists. You are such a technician who has developed excellent strategies.

When the market opens, I first look at my expert stocks and look for a break on the previous day's high or low. I do not trade well without having this peice in place, although I have pulled the trigger before a break.

I check the Dow, Nas and futures. They must go in the direction of my trade or no trade-period. A small side note. If the dow and/or nas futures are lower than where the dow or nas are running, I am leary of a trade. That tells me the broad is losing steam. If the futures are above where the present dow or nas, I am more confident that my trade is going to run for a decent profit on a call. The opposite on a Put.

I flip from my 55 to my 13 and look for short lived strength within the 55 or some might say the 21. I do not look at the 21, but it is the next chart after 13. I only use the 13 because I can see my stock turn very quickly. About 90% of the time, I am in and out of my trades in usually 3 hours or less, so a small chart works well for me. Sometimes I will stay in Put positions a little longer because usually from lunch until about 2;30ish, my stocks usually continue declining.

I look to make sure my candles are running above my 8MA on my 13.

I look for strength or weakness in the 3rd candle-10:09. I never enter a trade before amateur hour.

If I find strength/weakness, I take a look at the ADX line for a trend analysis.

I look at money flow, looking for more confirmation that the stock will continue in the direction I anticipate.

I next look at my MA chart, consisting of 5, 10, 20 MAs (TAD). Again, I am still on my 13. My "E" has usually formed if the above elements are in place. The things I look for regarding my "E" is, the 5 must be above the 10, and the 10 must be above the 20. When I have those 3 MA's in concert and that perfect "E" has formed, I look for entry.

Lately, I have been a little smarter and started to enter from my 8 opposed to 13.

The 13 is a clear guide for me. I run call positions up my 8ma (on top) or puts below my 13-8ma. Again, it works better for me than any chart I have ever used. I developed this process because I did or do not understand when to get out of a position. The 13-8ma makes that a pretty easy process.

My mentor and I are meeting this weekend. He will teach me more about holding positions and riding on bigger profits. I will teach him how I use my system to trade well from intraday.

Quick example: This morning AMZN looked like a potential trade. I had a FP on my 13. The 55 showed strength, money flow looked good, ADX was flat, the 10:09 candle looked good on my 13, but I did not enter the position because I did not have a clear "E" forming on my MA chart from my 13. AMZN was not a terrible trade for traders, but I did not see profits to take within the window I trade. I had minimal confidence that AMZN would continue to rise.

I wrote several months ago about the need to find consistencies that will bring profits almost EVERYTIME elements line up. I have also always dwelled on Gary's statement, "I make money in the stock market as easy as I breath". I believed him and want to experience that level of success. I am not there, but the work is not nearly as hard as it once was, and I make money almost everyday in the market.

New traders, keep studying and listening to 2-5. He says something different everytime you listen to him. He is truly a brilliant taecher. He gives you enough to wake up the salivary glands, but you have to hunt for the food.

Darcy/Rookie,

Thanks - your perspective is really fascinating. I had never even noticed the ADX line on Gary's charts before but will be giving it some attention now. One thing that bothers me, and I say it with the greatest respect for your success and knowledge, is that you seem to have deviated quite a way from some of Gary's teaching which seems to advise against day trading. You have 'baked your own cake' so to speak.

I'm so programmed to do exactly what Gary teaches that the thought of ME doing this disturbs me. I can see the charts during the day so day trading would not be out of the question for me but I rarely even trade off of a 55 minute chart.

I'm interested on your take on this

Eternal Sunshine:

Gary only recommends trading using big charts. He identifies small chart and day trading as a "job" but never condemns it as he actually drops down the chart scale in some particular areas of the calendar. In WSB he offers trading techniques that COULD be successful. All the info that Darcy has indentified are in books that Gary recommends. Me personally, I dont analyze all the factors that Darcy and Rookie do but I am of the opinion that if it makes you more confident in what you are doing then so be it. My trades last a little longer and I dont need to anaylze the same data they do because going overnight or the weekend doesnt rattle me. I waiti for a 55 "trade" and make sure I am running with the 233 and daily. If I am then I birth it and exit on the 233 usually giving me a trade duration of 1 day to 5 days. There are many ways to do this and as long as you find your way and find success then I think Gary would be satisfied in your method.


BigChart

eternal sunshine



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2015 01:52PM by Darcy2.

Darcy,

DO you make at least one trade, every day?

BigChart

Very well said BigCharts...

All of us used WSB as our baseline to our strategies, techniques and approaches to trading. After hundreds of hours of reading, study, practicing, and thinking about ways to make this work, I found a couple of things that forced me to trade a little differently.

When I followed all the rules as I understood them, and traded no more than 1/2 my basket ($1250), the reward for being right was much less valuable than the financial pounding for being wrong. A lot of that had to do with inexperience and fear. If you trade and you are not broke, you have limited levels of fear. When you trade and you are broke, you are shaking in your boots when you push that button. This is a dangerous way of trading.

I knew my financial situation would not change, so the mentality and fear associated with being broke, were not going anywhere. The question was, how do I trade and settle my nerves, so that I am not fearful of every trade? The clear answer to that question was, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! When you are right enough in practice, you will have more confidence than you ever dreamed when you start with real money. Remember, when you are new at this, patience is tough. It is really, really hard to practice for a year-REALLY HARD! I could not do it, and got "creamed" a few times, losing nearly $10,000 in my first year.

I quit trading real money and started practicing. I got obsessed with practicing. I refused to go back into the market without knowing I am going to be right more time than being wrong. This is when I started leaning on Darcy because my mentor trades Big Charts (mirror image of Gary's teachings)! Darcy talks about techniques in her postings that are very complex for young traders, but I was intrigued by the amount of time she spent in trades. She recommended books to read. She gave specific pages to study and learn. I had no problems doing the work. I just needed a little direction and guidance. Well, my dream started to come true. I worked as hard trying to get in Darcy's head and understand how she thinks about trading. I read Market Makers Edge (she recommended). She continues to talk about TAD, so I have read that book. She mentioned Money Flow and the "faded ADX line". I printed off every, single posting and studied them until I could backtest and see results. Can you imagine how long that took? First, I had to understand her terminology. Then I had to disect her trades. I finally started to take a peek into her thinking. What I found was, Darcy's entire base/foundation derived from Gary's concepts, techniques, and recommended readings discussed in 2-5 and WSB. God knows I studied his concepts, so my base was from Gary and WSB as was Darcy's. She has been a wonderful mentor who changed my life and probably does not know it. Just know, if you do not do the work, read the books and understand 2-5, you will have hard time getting that peek inside.

My mind is pretty basic and I am hyperactive, so for me, I want to be in and out of trades. I cannot stomach overnight trades. I commend those who can. I lose money everytime. It is obvious that I am not good at that. I had to develop a more elementary style of trading that allowed me to make money during a "fat" period of the day. I am on the charts and in the market at 9:00AM and in a trade by 10:25 and usually out by 12:00. It is that simple for me. If I am not in by 11:00 or 11:30, I generally do not enter. So far, there are four distinct different styles that are presented on this forum. You have the Big Chart trades. You have the technical precision trader. You have the "Gunslinger" trader. You have the W&O trader. You can build a decent foundation, while still under Gary's processes by taking a peek in the head of either of these traders- Just my opinion. Wow! The market opens in a minute- Have a good day!

BCT

No. I do not trade every day. I seldom trade Mon or Tues after expiration Fri. The options are too nuts. This week didn't see anything on Mon.

I do not trade unless I see a reason to trade.

Thank you for the comment Rookie. I am so happy that what I have shared has helped.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/2013 09:15AM by Darcy2.

Thanks so much for your comments. I hope my reference to day trading didn't come across as disparaging - wrong terminology I guess. You wouldn't believe the amount of respect I have for your hard work and success.

I just did the online RTP course last year and there is so much focus on big charts that I was intrigued by the short chart trades that you are doing. I can definitely see the advantages of the short chart trades, trading this months options and doing higher numbers of trades. I just never was very successful at short chart trades to this point. I think I might focus on them in my practice and test some of the techniques as Rookie suggested.

I will read those books you mentioned. I'm certainly not happy yet with my results and definitely want to improve and become the best trader I can be.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2013 04:58AM by eternal sunshine.

Darcy,

I wanted to thank you as well for your postings. I greatly appreciate it! I am in the "practice for a year" phase after a return to trading after a few years.

I was wondering, will you be adjusting the time frames on your four main charts for the summer trading zone?

jslavell



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2015 01:53PM by Darcy2.

Hi Darcy:
I am new to the site, and this is my first post. I am intrigued by your trading process here on this thread and wanted to ask you:

When you see the FP on the 55 and the FP on the 21 do you also look to see a E separation right at that time to trade? (or does the E occur afterwards.) I was trying to go back and look at some trades and it seems to me that the E occurs after - for the MA's to line up correctly (say 20/10/5 (bottom to top) for an up move)

I recently created a work-space with the chart set up like you suggested and am currently practice trading this way now trying to get a feel for it.

Also- another question: DO you actually scan the work-space every hour if you are looking at the 55 chart (first- I am assuming) for the FP then look at the 21- then look for the E? Is this the process you follow?

Thank you very much in advance !

@NMR

"When you see the FP on the 55 and the FP on the 21 do you also look to see a E separation right at that time to trade? (or does the E occur afterwards.)"



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2015 01:53PM by Darcy2.

Darcy,

When you mention adding Moneyflow, are you referring to the Money Flow Index (standard indicator)? If so, would you mind sharing what settings you use for Length and Thickness? Thanks!

#RaleighTrader:
I believe it is the standard setting of 14. the thickness can be anything you want. usually a 3 or 4 setting. and then color it any color you want too.

Darcy:
I have to say THANK YOU so much for spending the time to write up the response to my questions. I am going to review now.

I do have another question / regarding the chart set up:

I have mine set up like this now:


55 GW (standard chart with BB, MA, RSI, MACD, DM/ADX)
21 GW (s/a)
21 "E" chart (has only the 3 MA's 5/10/20 and the MoneyFlow)
10 "E" chart (has only the 3 MA's 5/10/20 and the MoneyFlow)

I use TOS so I have mine set landscape across the screens. Does this make sense? Should I have any other timeframes in there that I am looking at?

Thank you !!!

@Raleigh Trader



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2015 01:54PM by Darcy2.

I traded today with NO FUTURES. I left home without the drive I needed to access TOS. My laptop is so old until I do not have the space to load the program to run TOS, so I access it from a thumb drive.

Anyway, I still had my charts, so I could see it all-accept futures, so trading was more difficult today. I cued in on AAPL early. Again, I am primarily trading off the 13. I noticed a nice push from yesterday pointing in the direction to go down. RTT also confirmed the Trend as being down this week. The stock opened below yesterday's low also. It was below the 8MA. Most of my entries are off the 9:56 or 10:09 candle using the 13 chart.

I had good fuel squeezing from the 1st candle off the 55, and yesterday's strength from the 55 solidified a solid push down, so for me, that was an adequate trend. Money Flow and ADX also provided additional confidence and confirmation in the trade. The E had formed and was present for several bars, so I knew I was going to pull the trigger. AT about 10:05ish, I bought puts off the 13 chart-10:09 candle. I was in the trade for only about 30 minutes and sold off the 10:35 candle. It had extended outside the BB, so I was out. As Gary said, "There is no Oxygen outside the BB. They can not breathe very long". I picked up a $4 run off AAPL and was HIS (Happy in Seattle).

I promised I would share the good trades and the bad ones. I want help anyone who wants wants to become a better trader, but I hope I am not discussing any bad trades with you-lol!.

I am 43 and on track to retire from this game before I am 48- Goal is to be at home trading NLT than 50. Keep studying and trading hard!

Good information and trade Rookie30 !
I also use TOS and also had QCharts. You can set up TOS to be completely web-based and all settings are on their server. If you have an older laptop I would consider just removing all symbols that you dont need so not as much data is flowing. Maybe just futures and your handful of stocks you are watching ?
Retiring by 50 sounds good !