The transition to Futures trading

[>Apocalypto<]

Spent a number of hours today analysing opening setups and reading Al Brooks.

I've gotta say in terms of futures trading, Al Brooks Reversals book is hands down the best I've read. Specifically reading about trading the open (about 100 pages), amazing. Much of his work confirms exactly what I've discovered through studying price action, and much has opened my eyes to even more.

As has been stated before, it's quite a heavy read, but as my understanding grows it becomes much easier to understand. I have highlighted and underlined so much and made plenty of notes. I will be referring to this many many times. An absolute gem.

View attachment 57918


His two other books are Trends and Trading Ranges, but in terms of what I am doing with the FTSE, I think Reversals will be far and away the most beneficial. If I could choose one book it for futures trading education it would be this one.

agree Pav I have book his book Reading Price Charts Bar by Bar and have read it 5 times... I use a lot of his ideas in my trading.

good Al Brooks preso on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXuTMFne6Yg

 

[Newt]

Reversals resonated with me so well I went straight back to the beginning to get "Trends". I haven't regretted that either. There's just so much to absorb. The info on trend lines and trends really made me rethink what I was doing. Love reading his descriptions of a day's price action, but for me its still about developing a few high probability setups and learning to stay out the rest of the time.

 

[MichaelD]

Back in the saddle this week. Couldn't get my head away from a very bad place (for trading) last weekend, so took the week off. Rarin' to go come tomorrow morning.

 

[pavilion103]

agree Pav I have book his book Reading Price Charts Bar by Bar and have read it 5 times... I use a lot of his ideas in my trading. good Al Brooks preso on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXuTMFne6Yg

Gee 5 times. That's great. Looks like another big book. I might have to order that one too.

 

[pavilion103]

Reversals resonated with me so well I went straight back to the beginning to get "Trends". I haven't regretted that either. There's just so much to absorb. The info on trend lines and trends really made me rethink what I was doing. Love reading his descriptions of a day's price action, but for me its still about developing a few high probability setups and learning to stay out the rest of the time.

Yeh get those strong setups happening. Once you have those you as your bread and butter you can come up with new ideas/methods if you feel the need.

Like with how I trade. Brooks talks about the importance of setups on the open. Totally agree. Cornerstone of my strategy.

 

[>Apocalypto<]

Gee 5 times. That's great. Looks like another big book. I might have to order that one too.

I'm big on Al Brooks...

another YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU3VM87eBAg

He's got a few good webinares on YouTube

 

[CanOz]

Hi guys, I'm back after a little tour of you great country. I'll hang around for a couple of weeks before i go back to work again. For full disclosure I'm back to sim, having cleaned out all my funds for property investment, except for enough left to get the data of course....I still want to keep my skills fresh with screen time so I'll practice whenever i can.

Will post some DAX charts today...

 

[CanOz]

Interesting brackets on muliple time frames. I think the UKR could be keeping a lid on the market. Any bullish news out of this region could see shorts running for cover. At the same time we need to see how bearish news is taken when the price tests the bottom of the brackets. No doubt allot of long stops there as well. We are due for a trend day soon...

 

[ftw129]

Hi guys, I'm back after a little tour of you great country. I'll hang around for a couple of weeks before i go back to work again. For full disclosure I'm back to sim, having cleaned out all my funds for property investment, except for enough left to get the data of course....I still want to keep my skills fresh with screen time so I'll practice whenever i can.

Will post some DAX charts today...

Hi Canoz,

(sorry off topic question here)

Where have you been purchasing property out of interest?

 

[CanOz]

Hi Canoz,

(sorry off topic question here)

Where have you been purchasing property out of interest?

Brisbane.....within 10 Kms of the CBD.

 

[VSntchr]

Brisbane.....within 10 Kms of the CBD.

I might have even seen you wandering about Can

FTSE trended decently last night. I watched it for a bit early but checked it this morning and saw the run up. The sell-in-may crew are so far treading water...

 

[CanOz]

I might have even seen you wandering about Can

FTSE trended decently last night. I watched it for a bit early but checked it this morning and saw the run up. The sell-in-may crew are so far treading water...

We were on the Gold Coast as well for four nights, at the Hilton residences. Great place, awesome view from the 30th floor!

I got caught in the churn on the dax but then got on before the break higher when shorts got cleaned out....getting some nice fills on sim...

 

[cynic]

I got caught in the churn on the dax...

Somebody just made EUR20k trading that damned beast of a bourse and it wasn't me!!! (Grrr!!!)

 

[MichaelD]

Thought I'd post up an interesting chart snapshot to illustrate one of the differences between trading the Australia 200 Cash CFD and the SPI.

At 4pm, there is an adjustment made to the value of the CFD to account for stocks going ex-dividend. i.e. there's a gap. Mostly this gap is non-existent or trivial. Occasionally, it is substantial. Today, WBC and NAB went ex-dividend, producing a 15 point gap.

 

[CanOz]

Is that a trade opportunity Michael? As in an spread type Arb trade?

 

[DeepState]

Is that a trade opportunity Michael? As in an spread type Arb trade?

I understand that the adjustment value is added to your account.

 

[MichaelD]

Is that a trade opportunity Michael?

No, it's a risk to be managed.

Issues;

1. Gapping through stops can turn a profitable trade into a losing trade.
2. Gapping can lead to bad fills/slippage for short trades.

If long, $ get added to your account.
If short, $ get deducted from your account.

 

[CanOz]

No, it's a risk to be managed.

Issues;

1. Gapping through stops can turn a profitable trade into a losing trade.
2. Gapping can lead to bad fills/slippage for short trades.

If long, $ get added to your account.
If short, $ get deducted from your account.

Nah, i was thinking more of if the adjustment was mispriced and the CFD had to align with the SPI, since it would be the only relevant proxy trading, it may provide a quick opportunity to take advantage of the mispricing. Obviously not...

 

[beachlife]

Thought I'd post up an interesting chart snapshot to illustrate one of the differences between trading the Australia 200 Cash CFD and the SPI.

At 4pm, there is an adjustment made to the value of the CFD to account for stocks going ex-dividend. i.e. there's a gap. Mostly this gap is non-existent or trivial. Occasionally, it is substantial. Today, WBC and NAB went ex-dividend, producing a 15 point gap.

If this happens often why dont you trade a cfd that follows the spi instead of the cash market?

 

[MichaelD]

If this happens often why dont you trade a cfd that follows the spi instead of the cash market?

I know the instrument I trade very well. I like it. Gaps are rare and big dividend gaps are completely foreseeable.