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As a follow-up to my previous article, “The Death of Buy-and-Hold” , Bitcoin in these last four months has demonstrated quite vividly to us the error of that outdated methodology, that Buy-and-Hold is truly dead and technical trading is superior to what is called “investing” today. In the two month period from February, 2021 through April, Bitcoin enjoyed a...

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One of the most attractive things about being a trader is that once you become proficient with your trading system you don't have to spend all day in front of your computer like an extra in the Walking Dead. There's a lot more to life than trading.  The goal is that once we have developed that skill, we can “trade to live” and not “live to trade.” I like to teach...

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One question that constantly comes up, and understandably so is, When Can I Become a Full Time Trader? Being a trader is like running a business. You are the manager / owner / operator of "You, Inc." How much capital does it take to run your business? What's your monthly P&L? How much money do you need to have in "float" in case of emergencies (like, oh, I don't...

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If you ever receive the error, "You should delete drawings to improve performance" , how can you bulk delete old drawings, say "All drawings older than 60 days" without manually going back into all your charts and deleting them one-by-one? This video will show you how to quickly delete all drawings in a layout older than a certain date. Hope you enjoy...

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Becoming a trader is not a journey for the faint of heart. Becoming a successful trader is ultimately an act of determination . Not unlike the titular character of the John Wick trilogy (Quadrology? Pentology?), we traders have to be "a man of focus, commitment, sheer will." (and I'm certainly not being sexist... this goes for you female traders as well!) We...

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Some say that trading is 10% mechanical and 90% psychological. One of my mentors once said "The simpler we make trading, the more profitable it seems to be." and it was a profound statement to me at the time... It was one of those "I heard the exact thing I needed to hear at the exact time" moments and it changed the way I traded. It is in our nature to...

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I love the new Signpost tool that was released this week... i was all set to put in a feature suggestion when I realized I could already do it: make the signpost go DOWN as well as up! I am a stickler for documenting your trades - EVERY single trade: the winners but ESPECIALLY the losers - so you can learn, reinforce, and EMBED your trading system into your...

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How do you document your trades? In a spreadsheet? In a trading journal? Directly on the chart? How much is too much? How little is not enough? I say you need to document enough to tell the story properly. Every trade tells a story. As with all good stories you have a protagonist and an antagonist. Good guys and bad guys. The hero and the villain. And then,...

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In my earlier article, " Proving Your Trading System with Backtesting ", I demonstrated how, in the Futures market, you could backtest your trading system, see what works and what doesn't, change your variables, and rinse & repeat until you have a winning trading formula. You GET this winning formula by torture-testing (ahem, *back*testing) your system under...

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Thanksgiving is a distinctly American holiday, where our nation takes pause to reflect on all the things we have to be thankful for due to the actions of a courageous band of dedicated men and women who crossed a dangerous ocean to an unknown continent for the simple hope... of freedom. As traders, I am glad that we all, regardless of our national origin, our...

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In my earlier article, " Proving Your Trading System with Backtesting ", I outlined the HOWs and WHYs of backtesting. Does your trading system work under all conditions? Under what conditions might it *not* work? Can you remove those instances from your plan? Under what conditions might you *improve* your win rate? In another article, " The Unexamined Trader ",...

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Wouldn’t it be great to see the future? To see where turning points in price will occur with a high degree of accuracy? To see if a trading system that you developed or bought or learned actually works? Well, you can, with a method called BACKTESTING.  Backtesting performs three important functions: 1: It helps you IDENTIFY the reliability / win rate of your...

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When I started trading I was extremely excited about the possibilities that lay before me… The dream of changing your work ethic from “working for your money” to “putting your money to work for you” was intoxicating. I took every class, read every book, followed every “guru” I thought would help me get that ‘edge’, that secret sauce, to make me a great trader....

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This is a companion video to my "Trade Like a Pirate" article showing how the Long & Short tool can help you manage your "aRRR" - Your Reward-to-Risk Ratio. Whether you are trading a Company, a Currency, or Commodity, you want to Consistently trade your positions in terms of Risk and Reward for consistent results and to not "blow up your account" with a bad trade.

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Ever since the invention of the Mutual Fund, then IRAs, or even going back to the ownership of individual stocks, the “common man” has been taught to “Buy and Hold” when it comes to their investments. Even today, investors are taught to put their hard earned dollars in a “lock box” and told to "let it grow"... We are told things like “Let time be on your side”…...

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This is a key pivot level where Supply and Demand keep fighting. Currently in a downtrend with decreasing RSI at each Pivot High. What was strong demand (with 3 hits) is now penetrated and became Supply. Go short on the retrace if price returns

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RTY experienced an explosive move down from a pivot level which historically has been a favorite pivot point, once being Supply, then becoming demand, etc... Looks like we are currently in Supply mode. Take the Short at supply if price has the strength to retrace Expect 3:1 profit and if possible trail it from supply level to supply level as long as we...

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ES is in an uptrend on the higher timeframe with positively correlated RSI - Higher Highs are producing higher RSIs allowing us to ride the trend. Take the retrace in a quality demand zone . Target the opposing Supply Zone for a Set-and-Forget 3R profit or use a trailing stop if you will manage the trade actively.