12/20/2011 Intraday Watering

[L_T]

Cobra have you ever considered picking a day for this intraday forum to be "Al Brooks setups" day and see what we can see on a 5-minute chart with just the EMA 20?

Also has anyone read the new book by Al Brooks? I'm wondering if it's worth picking up.

I bought his new book but haven't read it. His first book, I read only the first 90 pages, I couldn't keep reading more. But I heard his 2nd book is way better, well hopefully.

The funny thing is, I was trying to find AI Brooks forum last night, so I googled AI Boooks + forum, guess what, google didn't find AI Brooks, the master's forum, only found our forum here, we're the 3rd on the list.
http://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chr ... =955&ion=1

i spent 10 days full time on the book/reading/thinking/trying out--insane mostly turned off the screens and went over it. as cobra notes the style of writing is tricky. the bad news is it's hell to read. the good news is for the determined (or insane) reader--that he is dragged kicking and screaming though the ideas in insane detail. so after looking at 200+ charts 3 times each--and reading every line relating to them 3 times each you get it. but it's not much fun. brook's style has to be influenced by his time in teaching and ophthalmology where insane detail is the order of the day.

since you all know the method--here are a few issues that stuck out at me.

1. he likes to be in the market as much as possible and says each price bar tells a story--yet he also notes various times that you can make more money just taking the good moves (trends) and holding them. Now reading the book and getting this all this detail is one thing. but the best thing i got was "if the trend is strong take it any way you can". if you take this idea and the other idea of only taking good moves you might only get 3-5 trades a week but each one of them could make 20-70%

the glitch with watching every bar and playing mostly all day one way or another is that it takes energy. the number one problem most traders have is over trading and not holding good trades long enough. clearly there is a relationship between being almost hyper vigilant--and this sort of thing. but it can be more subtle--the energy you use up can take your edge. you have less intent (yi chinese readers) and your efforts can be blunted. once you are good enough--this blunting is sort of minor each event--that is you never lose track of things or crash and burn. but never the less this intent issue can cause you to sell a trending position early--or very slightly over trade. again not a huge issue in a way--but it's like hyper drive--if you are off an inch at start you are off light years after trading for 5 years.

and this idea is often not really considered deeply by traders. many traders at best only check the win to loss ratio--not the quality of the trades. (quality on all levels such as how much they made--how hard were they to take--was the trade even required--and esp--what happened exactly inside the trader and outside on the charts--when a trade failed or worked but was not timed right.

2. he likes a lap top and only 1 time frame--yet also trades other stocks to be "in touch with the market". he admits this is less profitable--but it's sort of fun. i admire his idea about focus and a simple approach--but trading is visual. having a 5 min chart on a 30 inch screen--with the chart stretched just right--makes a huge difference to me. it lets you see the value of .15 to .30 moves far better. on time frames focusing on 1 is good but if you are confused or whatever--i find it useful to scale up or down in time till i get a clue and then go back to the key chart. brooks does this a bit--but is really down on 1 min charting. i spent 6 months on 1 min charts and it about killed me. but again at the right time they are very handy.

3. the number of actions he describes as tops bottoms etc--is crazy. brooks himself notes (really like this) "if it looks like it--it will likely act like it". this is a gem of a statement--and the reader should take this sucker and run with it.

4. the exact bar for entry stuff is great--you gotta love that detail.

5. brooks does a decent job of altering the reader to the idea that the market has modes depending on the day etc--and that you want to go with these--fast moves fast in--slo moves take 2nd entry etc. i came away liking that he did this--but not feeling like it was done . . loud enough.

6. as usual there was little reference to what people call trading psych--which is fine--but since that is about 90% of the game something to keep in mind if you use the book.

7. record keeping (by the trader) is noted--but not really pushed hard. again could just be me--but i think the record thing is key--it shows you how to isolate what you are good at and delete the rest (if you just want to trade simple) or inversely where you need to put time in to get the rough spots take out.

8. the idea that there are often 2 or 3 moves inside a larger move is valuable--but the reader really has to work on this. Brooks himself notes that it is often subjective--but it works. So because the second or third moves are not always that clear the reader should take some time putting this idea to work--like 6 months to 12 months.

after maybe 80 hours reading (i usually read fairly quickly) and another 80 hours testing thinking about this stuff--my sense is it needs to be in 2 forms--one is the 375 page book--and the other is about a 10 page outline of it. the outline should be included in the book or given as a study guide.

if you guys do get the other books--please post something about what you think of them.

Wow great summary. Thanks. That's the kind of review I was looking for!

[Cobra]

now everybody knows this phantom bar secret, I figured that it should stop working one day.

Too bad, I'm not the one who found the Phantom bar rule, If I were the one, I should charge for good money.

[BBFinance]

You said today at intraday.I checked spy wkly/daily/hrly 15 min chart, don't see any hint.
"if we close strong today aka MAD, then we might have a down day tomorrow. The selling isn't over yet. NORMALLY, I mean of course."

Oh, this is because MAD follow a MDD, so usually the next day is red and the MDD day low will get revisited. Of course given the strength of today (assuming we close right here which I think we'll, if not higher), you might not believe this rule anymore.

How about the SPY up six (9) hourly bar and huge reversal next day rule?

if it manages a 7 green red bar today, it still only proves that yesterday's low will be revisited. not 100% chances but good chances I think.

Green red bar ??? Can you please explain

[mac769]

HUGE bad tick on SPY, pointing to yesterday's close.

Who sells 3.5 mio SPYs and the price virtually stays flat??

Things like this make me go and think hmmmm....

[Cobra]

You said today at intraday.I checked spy wkly/daily/hrly 15 min chart, don't see any hint.
"if we close strong today aka MAD, then we might have a down day tomorrow. The selling isn't over yet. NORMALLY, I mean of course."

Oh, this is because MAD follow a MDD, so usually the next day is red and the MDD day low will get revisited. Of course given the strength of today (assuming we close right here which I think we'll, if not higher), you might not believe this rule anymore.

How about the SPY up six (9) hourly bar and huge reversal next day rule?

if it manages a 7 green red bar today, it still only proves that yesterday's low will be revisited. not 100% chances but good chances I think.

Green red bar ??? Can you please explain

green bar I mean.

[iggintegrin]

hi Cobra,

I missed the p-bar secret,

would you please guide us to the secret one more time?:)
thanks

now everybody knows this phantom bar secret, I figured that it should stop working one day.

Too bad, I'm not the one who found the Phantom bar rule, If I were the one, I should charge for good money.

[taggard]

L_T

please understand that what i wrote only notes a few points. mostly i tried to stick to the stuff i think was weak or at least should be considered. So there is a lot more to brooks stuff and it's well worth reading. or scanning at least if you are short on time. this is one of the best books i have seen in 15 years of trading.

[BullBear52x]

OK, now you know why I said the MDD day low will be revisited. The Phantom bar doesn't want you guys to doubt my conclusion, so it jumps out to back me up.

Anyway, see dashed blue lines? Now you can clearly see who's leading today's rebound: a few heavy weighted stocks. so the quality of this rebound is suspicious.

That said, as some of you already guessed, yes, I longed at open and now keep my break even stop loss. I don't argue with the market. The only one could be wrong is myself. But I won't hold overnight too at least not without hedge.

Cobra is doubtful on long side, I am doubtful in long side, the worst I lose money if I held my couple hundred shorts in FAS and SSO through the night, well....I see DBV suggest sell the rally still too, this is untested method so just look, internals still telling me buyers is getting tired.

[BullTart]

My first and last post for the day.

Another look from another platform of that HUGE pbar.

I really hate pbars and they scare me because... they somehow always freaking work!!!

[chocobee]

Cougar,

What is your take on gold here? TIA

[L_T]

L_T

please understand that what i wrote only notes a few points. mostly i tried to stick to the stuff i think was weak or at least should be considered. So there is a lot more to brooks stuff and it's well worth reading. or scanning at least if you are short on time. this is one of the best books i have seen in 15 years of trading.

OK thanks.

Just from the stuff Cobra has up about the first book it looked like the real deal i.e. he actually gets into super-fine detail. That's the kind of thing I was looking for. Looks like you are giving the thumbs up to the 2nd book (with 2 more on the way correct?) so I'll probably pick up a copy. Thanks.

[waverider]

There is no buyable dip... Will shorts cover at EOD?

Great observation!
When Da Boyz start an impulsive “UP TRIP”, they want you to pay a significant baksheesh to get in .
So, what you see is a significant symptom and the diagnosis could be: a trade-able trend is starting, via an impulsive first wave up…
=============
….all IMHO.

Bull trap here, don't buy it!

[CognitiveDissonance]

Cobra have you ever considered picking a day for this intraday forum to be "Al Brooks setups" day and see what we can see on a 5-minute chart with just the EMA 20?

Also has anyone read the new book by Al Brooks? I'm wondering if it's worth picking up.

I bought his new book but haven't read it. His first book, I read only the first 90 pages, I couldn't keep reading more. But I heard his 2nd book is way better, well hopefully.

The funny thing is, I was trying to find AI Brooks forum last night, so I googled AI Boooks + forum, guess what, google didn't find AI Brooks, the master's forum, only found our forum here, we're the 3rd on the list.
http://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chr ... =955&ion=1

i spent 10 days full time on the book/reading/thinking/trying out--insane mostly turned off the screens and went over it. as cobra notes the style of writing is tricky. the bad news is it's hell to read. the good news is for the determined (or insane) reader--that he is dragged kicking and screaming though the ideas in insane detail. so after looking at 200+ charts 3 times each--and reading every line relating to them 3 times each you get it. but it's not much fun. brook's style has to be influenced by his time in teaching and ophthalmology where insane detail is the order of the day.

since you all know the method--here are a few issues that stuck out at me.

1. he likes to be in the market as much as possible and says each price bar tells a story--yet he also notes various times that you can make more money just taking the good moves (trends) and holding them. Now reading the book and getting this all this detail is one thing. but the best thing i got was "if the trend is strong take it any way you can". if you take this idea and the other idea of only taking good moves you might only get 3-5 trades a week but each one of them could make 20-70%

the glitch with watching every bar and playing mostly all day one way or another is that it takes energy. the number one problem most traders have is over trading and not holding good trades long enough. clearly there is a relationship between being almost hyper vigilant--and this sort of thing. but it can be more subtle--the energy you use up can take your edge. you have less intent (yi chinese readers) and your efforts can be blunted. once you are good enough--this blunting is sort of minor each event--that is you never lose track of things or crash and burn. but never the less this intent issue can cause you to sell a trending position early--or very slightly over trade. again not a huge issue in a way--but it's like hyper drive--if you are off an inch at start you are off light years after trading for 5 years.

and this idea is often not really considered deeply by traders. many traders at best only check the win to loss ratio--not the quality of the trades. (quality on all levels such as how much they made--how hard were they to take--was the trade even required--and esp--what happened exactly inside the trader and outside on the charts--when a trade failed or worked but was not timed right.

2. he likes a lap top and only 1 time frame--yet also trades other stocks to be "in touch with the market". he admits this is less profitable--but it's sort of fun. i admire his idea about focus and a simple approach--but trading is visual. having a 5 min chart on a 30 inch screen--with the chart stretched just right--makes a huge difference to me. it lets you see the value of .15 to .30 moves far better. on time frames focusing on 1 is good but if you are confused or whatever--i find it useful to scale up or down in time till i get a clue and then go back to the key chart. brooks does this a bit--but is really down on 1 min charting. i spent 6 months on 1 min charts and it about killed me. but again at the right time they are very handy.

3. the number of actions he describes as tops bottoms etc--is crazy. brooks himself notes (really like this) "if it looks like it--it will likely act like it". this is a gem of a statement--and the reader should take this sucker and run with it.

4. the exact bar for entry stuff is great--you gotta love that detail.

5. brooks does a decent job of altering the reader to the idea that the market has modes depending on the day etc--and that you want to go with these--fast moves fast in--slo moves take 2nd entry etc. i came away liking that he did this--but not feeling like it was done . . loud enough.

6. as usual there was little reference to what people call trading psych--which is fine--but since that is about 90% of the game something to keep in mind if you use the book.

7. record keeping (by the trader) is noted--but not really pushed hard. again could just be me--but i think the record thing is key--it shows you how to isolate what you are good at and delete the rest (if you just want to trade simple) or inversely where you need to put time in to get the rough spots take out.

8. the idea that there are often 2 or 3 moves inside a larger move is valuable--but the reader really has to work on this. Brooks himself notes that it is often subjective--but it works. So because the second or third moves are not always that clear the reader should take some time putting this idea to work--like 6 months to 12 months.

after maybe 80 hours reading (i usually read fairly quickly) and another 80 hours testing thinking about this stuff--my sense is it needs to be in 2 forms--one is the 375 page book--and the other is about a 10 page outline of it. the outline should be included in the book or given as a study guide.

if you guys do get the other books--please post something about what you think of them.

Wow great summary. Thanks. That's the kind of review I was looking for!

Yes, definitely thanks for that. I have the trading price action book and the reading price action books but haven't read through them yet. Now I know how much time to dedicate to it.

[Cobra]

hi Cobra,

I missed the p-bar secret,

would you please guide us to the secret one more time?:)
thanks

now everybody knows this phantom bar secret, I figured that it should stop working one day.

Too bad, I'm not the one who found the Phantom bar rule, If I were the one, I should charge for good money.

that Phantom bar target most likely be the target in the next few days. I don't remember when it failed to work. It's just a theory, saying the Phantom bar isn't a wrong trade, big guys did trade to that level in the dark pool (behind us) so the target is almost guaranteed to be met. I won't read too much into this of course, for fun only.

[stucap]

My first and last post for the day.

Another look from another platform of that HUGE pbar.

I really hate pbars and they scare me because... they somehow always freaking work!!!

Anyone have any stats on pbars? Seems like the % are similar to tech patterns i.e. bullish pbars = 100% and bearish = 25%

[iggintegrin]

thank u so much Cobra

I am a newbie to this forum, but I am so glad to be allowed to enter here to learn from you guys

hi Cobra,

I missed the p-bar secret,

would you please guide us to the secret one more time?:)
thanks

now everybody knows this phantom bar secret, I figured that it should stop working one day.

Too bad, I'm not the one who found the Phantom bar rule, If I were the one, I should charge for good money.

that Phantom bar target most likely be the target in the next few days. I don't remember when it failed to work. It's just a theory, saying the Phantom bar isn't a wrong trade, big guys did trade to that level in the dark pool (behind us) so the target is almost guaranteed to be met. I won't read too much into this of course, for fun only.

[uempel]

Crazy day, SPX keeps on overriding my signals. Apparently Santa took some kind of euphoriant. Weekly chart is still kind of normal

[jarbo456]

My first and last post for the day.

Another look from another platform of that HUGE pbar.

I really hate pbars and they scare me because... they somehow always freaking work!!!

Anyone have any stats on pbars? Seems like the % are similar to tech patterns i.e. bullish pbars = 100% and bearish = 25%

yeah, someone should start keeping track of these. i remember at least one or two bearish pbars that weren't met...and several more that have taken more than a week or two to get to.

[waverider]

Here's spy with bad tick and DBV[attachment=0]spy.png

[CognitiveDissonance]

Here's the latest VIX action...