My Dax Trading Journey Using 123, 2b and Market Structure

I will be using this thread to document all my trades on the Dax (German30) Index. I may also take trades on Dow, EU, GU and UJ but my main focus is on the Dax.

My strategy is a TREND FOLLOWING Strategy and has 3 main entry types:

1. 123 Pattern in direction of trend (Pattern confirms then I look for pullback to enter)
2. 2b Pattern in direction of trend (Pattern confirms then I look for pullback to enter)
3. Momentum Pullback (Market structure HH's LL's etc then I look for a pullback to enter)

The patterns are all based on my interpretation of them, if they do not conform to some kind of standard, frankly i don't care - my journal, my trades, my rules.

Trend is determined by price making Lower Lows or Higher Highs with the addition of the Ichimoku Cloud and Kijun Sen to assist in Trend determination (I used to use a 20LWMA and 240LWMA but changed to using Ichimoku).

I use Mean Renko bars overlayed with Heiken Ashi and analyse the 1 pip , 2 pip and 3 pip variants for trade entries.

Trades are normally taken from London Open for the next 2 hours (that's the plan anyway)

I must give recognition to Harold aka 'Divergence' on this forum for his unselfish sharing of his knowledge of 123 and 2b patterns and how to trade them. Harold is no longer active on FF which is a real shame, i feel blessed that i was able to learn from him before the haters drove him away.

On Chart Arrows/Circles/Boxes:
You will see on any chart i post little arrows/circles and boxes - these are alerts for my 123 and 2b chart patterns:
Arrows = 123 Pattern Alerts
Circles/Boxes = 2b Pattern Alerts

Wednesday April 13th 2017

Here is the chart of my 2 trades this morning - i have also marked up a couple of missed trades for future reference.

Trade types taken:
1st Trade = MR1 - MS Momentum trade with Pullback to Equilibrium Line

2nd Trade = MR1 - MS Momentum trade with Pullback to Equilibrium Line

8.2 Pips Banked

Tuesday April 12th 2017 (This should have been before Wednesday 13th oops):

Here is the chart of my 2 trades this morning.

Trade types taken:
1st Trade = MR1 - 123 Long Pattern Pullback Entry - was counter to the 24LWMA but good distance between them plus the 123 formed at a Pivot level which was also at a 50 level.

2nd Trade = MR1 - 123 Short Pattern Pullback Entry - right at the 240LWMA so a bit risky but ended BE - missed an immediate 2b Long entry right after this one as i was not paying attention (this is why i am doing the Journal so i can learn from my mistakes)

11.2 Pips Banked

No trading on Friday 14th and Monday 17th April due the Dax market being closed for Easter.

Wednesday April 19th 2017:

Here are today's trades

Trade #1:
2b Trade - 2b alert followed by Retrace to my Equilibrium line then entry and exit just short of the BRN.

6.8 Pips Banked

Thursday April 20th 2017:

Here are today's trades

Trade #1:
2b Trade - 2b alert followed by Retrace to my Equilibrium line. Trade moved against me so i moved my stop loss to reduce my risk, big mistake. My stop loss is set to allow a move against then continuation. The bottom line is i bottled it, should have followed my own rules as it turned again and went on to what would have been a 9 pip winner.

NOTE TO SELF - FOLLOW THE RULES - DUMP THE EMOTION.

A Good Trade to Learn a Lesson From!

7.2 Pips Lost

Friday April 21st 2017:

Here are today's trades

Trade #1:
123 Trade - 123 alert in a downtrend followed by Retrace to my Equilibrium line. Exit is on the first Blue Heiken Ashi candle.

5.9 Pips Banked

Monday April 24th 2017:

Here are today's trades

Trade #1:
123 Trade - 123 alert in a uptrend followed by Retrace to my Equilibrium line. Exit is on the first Red Heiken Ashi candle.

5.7 Pips Banked



I Missed 2 further trades while on the school run so i include images of them here simply from a learning perspective.

Tuesday April 25th 2017:

Here are today's trades

Trade #1:
123 Trade - 123 alert in a downtrend followed by Retrace to my Equilibrium line then entry and exit on first profitable HA candle.

Trade #2:
2b Trade - 2b alert in a downtrend followed by 3 Candle Retrace then entry. Price reversed and closed at stop loss.



Trade #3:
123 Trade - 123 alert in a uptrend followed by Retrace to my Equilibrium line then entry. Price reversed and closed at stop loss.



19.5 Pips Lost

Wednesday April 26th 2017:

Here are today's trades

Trade #1:
MS Trade - good MS trade although my BE settings took me out so i have reviewed those settings, also missed the follow on trade from this which can clearly be seen from the charts (the re entry at the VAL line)

Trade #2:
MS Trade - All rules followed from entry thru to exit so happy with this result

6 Pips Banked