I'd like to thank everyone who reads the blog for their support over the last year and those with blogs that have recommended my site.

Today the site had it's 15000th visit over the past 12 months with over 40000 page views which I find quite remarkable as I am quite low key.

One of the comments in the previous blog asked about structure.

As I developed my trading skills I picked up on support and resistance areas and how to trade some setups from these areas depending on price action.

I began to get a feel for when selling strength moved to equilibrium and then to buying strength through hours spent in front of the computer.

Anticipating these areas is pretty much what is required to make profits through trading.

The importance of structure in market trading really became apparent to me when I worked with Alexander at Pride Trading.

His trades are primarily based on structure with zones of support/resistance providing targets with a high degree of accuracy.

I learned about inside bid and ask zones and how they skew odds for directional moves.

I have marked up the current Euro fx futures showing basic structure areas.

Structure EUR.jpg (182.43 kb)

Once the structure is clear, entries can be based on a successful test or failure of these zones.

We can ascertain if the market is trending or range bound and adjust targets accordingly.

On the euro at present if the inside bid zone holds my potential trades are biased to trading the long side.

If we break through the inside bid to the down side I can look for a retest fail of the zone to give me a high probability low risk trade down.

Understanding structure in the market alows us to trade a plan that fits changing odds in real time.

With the start of the new year I have decided to concentrate on trading forex for a new challenge.

I am looking for more flexibility with my lifestyle this year so I can do more of the important things such as surfing.

The past month has been about refining my technique for the EUR/USD and defining my trading plan template.

The template is based on 3 core principles: Market Structure, Trend, Retracement.

No doubt I will fiddle around the edges as I always do with entry/exits.

I have changed my tick bars to range bars after viewing an ex floor traders chart setup.

This has helped avoid whipsaws that I've experienced with time & tick charts.

The range bars also help with entry timing as I can put limit buy or sell orders at a pre determined area a point above/below a range bar close.

These are the first of my trades yesterday and this evening.

As long as my win/loss ratio's are consistent I am aiming to raise my contract size as I progress.

The charts are the EUR/USD futures with a range bar of 5.

The start has been good with all 4 trades working in my favour.

The losing trades as they arrive will be posted.

6E jan12.jpg (99.31 kb)

6E jan13.jpg (114.18 kb)

With the first trade, I traded manually through Interactive brokers.

So the trades are on screen but I've had to draw the area I entered and exited the trade.

The second trade I entered through Ninjatrader and are printed correctly.

Alan Farley has a very good book called the master swing trader.

He is bringing out a new book in the near future.

I learned some great techniques as I was progressing my trading and would recommend it for intermediate to experienced traders.

I invited him over to Australia for a Super Trader Retreat I held with Chris Shea which was for traders that were successful (made $100,000+ each year).

This is an article on trading shares on a swing trading basis and the benefits of holding overnight.

http://hardrightedge.com/daily/

There is a few ideas I have formed from watching trading screens and executing thousands of trades over the last 10 years.

To me it seems that markets trend when the majority least expect it.

This creates the fuel for a directional move as traders caught in losing positions cover and momentum traders jump on the trend.

For a group of traders to be caught out a sudden directional move is required which requires a re-adjustment to the new reality.

The past 2 posts illustrate such a move with the "failed probe".

There are other patterns like the tap pattern, pump fake and inside bar failures that create this cause and effect.

It may be worthwhile with trading to think in terms of boxing.

The advantage is gained in trading by hitting with a counter punch when your opponent is off balance.

Alexander at www.tradewithpride.com has been a great help in creating a trading structure around various setups and some proprietary parameters that I have adapted to fit my style.

A Real Trader VS the pretenders

It frustrates me that many traders and investors seek out education from gurus and investment advisers that don't make profits themselves.

If you are forking out money to improve your trading I think it is important to do your research.

Although I don't regularly post my results. (I don't have the time to teach and I think Alexander does a good job) you can see my past results on my old blog at http://davinstradingreport.blogspot.com/ on the right hand side.

Since this time my results are still what most regard as excellent returns. (I think it is important to show I am a profitable trader because many in this game don't walk the talk)

I will get my last few months results once they're audited.