As it is your will to win the trade you enter, the actual fact of being wilful is often what makes you lose the trade. In this article I am referring particularly to short term trades (scalps) and I often take between 100 – 300 a day depending on my level of wakefulness.
The market breaths the same way that we do and it is imperative to enter the market rhythm in order pull the trigger at the right time and more importantly to exit at the right time.
By all means read all your favourite commentators and get a feel for the market sentiment, but when you start trading leave all opinions and biases behind you. During the first hour of trading (I trade both the European and US opens), the market is looking for direction and prices swing, often quite wildly, giving an incredible opportunity to gather 4-9 ticks at a time, many times.
The way I handle this is by becoming one with the market, in actual fact there is no market, there is just your consciousness, and the more of YOU there is the less you are conscious and therefore out of tune. This is an old Zen principle (Check 'Zen in the Art of Archery' by Eugen \herrigel for an in depth explanation).
So, prior to trading I always meditate for at least 45 minutes, once before the European open and once before the US open, adjusting and calming the mind and getting rid of all prejudices and ideas. When the markets open I consciously take control of my breathing and while watching both the 1 minutes charts and the tick charts allow myself to actually feel the rhythm. I am not conscious of actually pulling the trigger, the trigger is pulled by a the subconscious and the trade is exited in the same way. What we call I is not present, and can therefore not interfere. This requires some practice but is easily achievable when the state is reached. No Stop loss orders are entered as if the trade goes against me by 3-4 ticks I automatically close it and look for a better entry, I use the Bollinger bands and the 10 ema as visual aids only.
The market breaths the same way that we do and it is imperative to enter the market rhythm in order pull the trigger at the right time and more importantly to exit at the right time.
By all means read all your favourite commentators and get a feel for the market sentiment, but when you start trading leave all opinions and biases behind you. During the first hour of trading (I trade both the European and US opens), the market is looking for direction and prices swing, often quite wildly, giving an incredible opportunity to gather 4-9 ticks at a time, many times.
The way I handle this is by becoming one with the market, in actual fact there is no market, there is just your consciousness, and the more of YOU there is the less you are conscious and therefore out of tune. This is an old Zen principle (Check 'Zen in the Art of Archery' by Eugen \herrigel for an in depth explanation).
So, prior to trading I always meditate for at least 45 minutes, once before the European open and once before the US open, adjusting and calming the mind and getting rid of all prejudices and ideas. When the markets open I consciously take control of my breathing and while watching both the 1 minutes charts and the tick charts allow myself to actually feel the rhythm. I am not conscious of actually pulling the trigger, the trigger is pulled by a the subconscious and the trade is exited in the same way. What we call I is not present, and can therefore not interfere. This requires some practice but is easily achievable when the state is reached. No Stop loss orders are entered as if the trade goes against me by 3-4 ticks I automatically close it and look for a better entry, I use the Bollinger bands and the 10 ema as visual aids only.
