Label More than one S/D Level on M30 Charts

Intro: All in the title really.  Today I planned my primary trades(trades off long term levels) well but needed to prep my secondary trades (short term trades into long term levels) a little better.

Thoughts: Because of yesterday's confusion I came in with almost a disregard for secondary trades, obviously there's a line I need to find. Today I only labeled one level of interest for secondary trades on all pairs this obviously was a quite short sighted.

Summary: I believe the "line" mentioned above can be met by simply labeling a few more levels of interest (high momentum areas) on the M30 chart to aid in not missing too many moves.

Morning Prep...

Afternoon Recap...

No Trades as No Edge

Very long video basically imparting that "if in doubt, wait" for a level you're more confident in to get hit.

And...

an observation regarding price action: Big bars reveal supply/demand imbalance...

Entries Need Work

Intro: So got my directional bias sorted and was looking to get short the EJ and EU on Friday morning as price has most recently touched H4 supply on both so I wanted to get short into an H4 demand level below.  I labeled an M30 supply level I was interested in getting short on both pairs and placed an alert there... The alert triggered and I just didn't know how to enter, whether to use candle confirmation or sell limits around the level. Good news is I got the direction right but didn't get in.
Here's a video from Friday morning before the move.... and a screenshot in the afternoon after the move.

Summary: got to work on my entries, John left me a comment last week with a good link to a entries topic on a forum so going to start there (thanks John)...

EU missed trade:

EJ missed trade:

R-0.5: 3 Failed Shorts

Intro:Can't help seeing that I got the direction wrong on the GU and EJ but still like my trade plans because they were logical and objective.  However the fact is I should have been long with the very strong trend today...Whats the answer? Honestly wrote the answer in a post last month ....Today I did the exact opposite to what it says, that being trading away from the last H4 level that has been hit. In both the GU and EJ the last H4 level that was touched was a demand level so I should have been looking for longs into H4 supply in both pairs.

GU Trade: GU price action had rallied to D1, H4 and M30 supply, I drilled down to the M5 and shorted on a Bearish engulfing pattern, after 3 bars of no downward progress I exited as momentum clearly wasn't showing up.

EJ Trade 1: Got impatient waiting for price to reach H4 supply and traded off a M30 supply level alone, once I realised I was wrong I closed out for a small loss.

here's a video about it...

EJ Trade 2: With the updated M30 supply level (from the pivot high this AM) just overlapping H4 supply I felt I'd have another go at shorting the EJ, again momentum didn't step in so got out on a time/momentum stop. 

Missed Convergence of Supply on GU

Into: Actually a little under the weather so not beating myself up too hard for this but wanted to document this observation as I would love to capitalize on something similar in the future.

Idea: GU H4 trend down, price rallied to H4 supply (even D1 supply level), M30 price put in a top creating M30 supply then M5 price rallied to this M30 top/supply level (in an H4 supply level!) for a strong M5 short. see below...

Missed EJ opportunity

Don't plan on doing too many of these but figured it might make it easier to explain my mess up...

R-1.3 Some Failed Shorts

Plan: H4 trend was down on both the EJ and GU,  labeled overhead levels of H4 supply and initiated shorts when price reached these levels on the EJ and GU....

Thoughts: Small losses all round. EJ trade was off a fairly well used level of supply so in my opinion had less chance of working as there was likely not that greater a supply /demand imbalance there any longer.
The GU trades I were happier with as actually they originate from a previously untested supply level but we can see momentum never stepped in and price shot up to the next level.  c'est la vie...

Summary:  Not remotely bothered by any of these trades.  I objectively identified places where I thought there would be a supply/demand imbalance (edge) and waited for price to reach them before trading. Price moved against me which has only further heightened my interest in getting short tomorrow at higher levels where there will be an even greater supply/demand imbalance.

NB: quite wanted to move my stop to BE on all these trades, but resisted the urge.... kind of wish i hadn't but kind of know I shouldn't ha.

R+3.8 EJ M30 Short (R+2) and EU short (R+1)

Really liked this trade (EJ) but almost didn't get it... I was quite baffled by M30 direction this morning, being bang in the middle of H4 S&D and was in the process of getting some thoughts out (prior post) that were very constipated.

Once I got clear in my mind that I wanted to trade away from the H4 S/D level that had most recently been touched (and into the next level below or above it) I knew how to act... On realizing this I saw a late entry to what Brian might have called "the trade of the day".  Having watched a video of his last night in which he had the right idea but couldn't get filled on limit orders he surmised that what he learnt was that "if you want in,  click in". This all this converged in my mind and I hit sell and got the move so thank you Brian for that video. If you don't know Brian's blog it's worth a look, he's a CL trader....http://www.thetradingquest.com/2015/01/scratch-day.html

EJ Trade: The best entry would have been shorting at the M30 supply level rather than the LOHP, but beggars can't be choosers!

EU Trade: just like EJ trade.

R+0.2 GU short a la Seiden

Intro: Had to go out so didn't have time to wait for a LOHP so just had a go like Seiden would. Fucked it because I trailed too quick on a bear trend bar rather than on each pivot high (just like Brian was saying in his vid yesterday)...

Lesson: don't trail too quick

Trade

R-0.5 Missing M5 trades

Just want to get this down while it's fresh.

Issues
1. missed some good EU trades this AM because I got up at 0830 (late)
2. Honestly when I start day I find it difficult to get right down into the M5 action first thing. It moves faster than I can think! I prefer starting on the M30 chart it's slower and clearer to me.
3. Missed an easy EJ short as I gave up on an M30 supply level too soon.  There was a false break, I assumed the level had no potency left so drilled out to the M30 again to look for a fresher/higher level of supply.
4. Looking at 3 pairs EU, EJ and GU on the M5 is too much for my brain and objectivity to handle.

Solutions
1. get up earlier!
2. After prep spend most of day on M30 chart only drilling down to M5 (with M30 and H4) when a level alert is hit.
3. Have more patience around levels especially on breaks of them!
4. Going to cut out the GU M5 chart for the time being (it's super choppy anyway) and just trade it on the M30.

Charts: all details within...
EU Trades 

EJ Trades

R-0.8: EURJPY Shorts

H4 was in downtrend so labeled H4 supply. Price retraced to this level so took a short off it initially on the M30 and then on the H1. Both failed but did manage to keep losses small, -0.2R and -0.6R respectively due to trailing stop on trend bars (nearly a time stop on the H1 chart). 

Trade 1

Trade 2

Summary: Happy with first trade as this was in the plan,  unhappy with second trade as this is not what my plan dictates, I'm not even meant to be trading off the H1 chart! However today did highlight a flaw/hole in my plan = what action to take when a trade fails as in trade 1. Let's be honest trade failure is no rarity so this is quite an oversight, in the past I have SAR'd (stop and reversed) the position but this is a little harder to plan on longer timeframes and keep decent RRR's. 

NB: after 2.5 bars the H1 trade was still at break even,  despite it inherently being wrong I feel a time stop could really have started to have been entertained by that sort of time not the full 3 bars as usual. Something to add to rules. 

The fact is as I am trading off longerterm S&D, so when a trade fails it can be quite confusing as short term price action is floating on it, which looks a mess. It also stands to reason that when I am taking a long term (H4) trend the medium term trend (M30) will be counter to it, as it has had to retrace to a H4 S/D level.  So if i'm going to look  to take the other side of a long term trade (H4trend) I should be looking on the medium term chart (M30 trend) for entry levels. AND so the following rule I am now going to add to my trade plan: should a Long term trade fail (m30 price off H4 S/D) update M30 levels and drill down to M5 to perhaps get in on a SAR (stop and reverse) of the long term trend.

Example SAR

TO DO's

1.time stop can be introduced from around 2.5 - 3 bars of price action.

2. labeling M30 S&D a different colour than H4 is helpful.

3. Add SAR rule: should a Long term trade fail (m30 price off H4 S/D) update M30 levels and drill down to M5 to perhaps get in on a SAR (stop and reverse) of the long term trend.

R-0.8 Didn't Trail Stop When I Could Have

Very simple took this trade as M30 trend was down and price had returned to an M30 supply level. Drilled down to M5 and took a short off this level on a doji at this level using LOHP, with a standard stop.
Fault:  did have to go out but I was about and could have trailed stop at TS2 but "didn't like it". Blatant disregard for the rules!

EU trade.

R+0.1: One Loss , One Win

Both of these trades were taken on the M30 chart. However the major diffrence was that the loss(1) was based off a supply level originating on the same time frame (M30). While the win (2) was based from a supply level originating from a higher time frame (H4).
EU Trades

R+1.4 M5 Long off M30 Trend and Demand

Long-term: Long term (H4) trend is down and I'm looking to short at the next level of H4 supply on an M30 chart.
Short-term: As mentioned noticed price is currently retracing to the next level of H4 supply. The M30 chart is trending up and had pulled back to a level of (M30) demand so I drilled down to the M5 chart for an entry with the M30 trend to take advantage of the long-term trend retracement.

EJ Long

Basic Method Idea: Trade with the higher time frame trend and supply/demand levels but enter on a lower timeframe. IE M30 trend down = label M30 supply levels then drill down to the M5 for shorts at those levels.  IE2 H4 trend up = label H4 demand levels then drill down to the M30 for longs at those levels.

R+0.2 GU 20EMA trades 1 win (rejected demand), 1 loss (respected demand)

Why do some trades respect a demand level while another rejects it?  God knows. Guess I could have reversed 2nd trade when it went against me into overhead supply, just to recoup the loss. This would have been a more manageable trade than it has been in the past, as with these trailing stops I've been using recently I can offset risk quickly... but had plans so went out.

Think there might be something in the order of the pivot highs and lows...
Just prior to "1" price had made a lower low and "1"s entry was on a lower high (down trend)
While on "2" price had made a higher high and higher low just prior to it (uptrend)

R+0.6 Just Shorting The Trend

Kind lost the love at moment but was just watching a pretty simple and rare orderly downtrend on the EU, so took setups off the 20EMA. Couldn't be bothered to work out the risk for each trade so just kept betting 50p a point (I'm spread betting), profit should of been higher.  Reintroduced a trailing stop, tracking the highs of each bear trend bar, which I liked as it got me risk free quickly...

R-1.2: Bought at Supply, then Discretionary Exit created Over Trading!

Started okay then went to shit...

• Don't buy at supply / sell at demand ever!
• Don't discretionary exit,  let trade plan play out!

EU Trades:

R-0.5 Missed Getting in after BO of R.

FYI the number at the start of the post title is the amount my account is up or down for the day. Guess it could be written as a percent. I risk 1% on all trades,  today I lost 0.5% of risk, so my account is down 0.5%. 

• Happy with trades 1&2 wouldn't have traded them any differently. 
• Glad I got out of 3 early on realisation that I was buying at R,  would've been nice to just not trading it. 
• Shame I missed B, not very upset but I guess the longer term R was broken and that was my entry.

EU Trades

R+0.1: In and Out Day (physically)

Very long weekend meant I slept in a little this AM and missed a couple of trades.  Missed another later due to having to go out.  However the 3 I did take I'm happy with.

• Got the size a little low on my first trade meaning not the best PL return.
• 2nd trade long I was dubious of, as I had just seen a short setup on M30. This is something I should add to checklist.
• 3rd trade a SAR of "2"  was absolutely correct. I'm still a little bemused by selling at demand, however I guess it had broken down.

EU Trades: 

M30 trade

R-0.8: Selling at Demand and Failing to SAR

Quite a good read today despite being in the red.  Fixed mistake early (shorting at demand). Also was figuring what I want to do around major data. Traded it initially like Brooks would (with disregard to it) but it is very choppy so think I will most likely avoid it in the future.  To be clear the only data I will avoid (regard as major) and as such are days off are...

• BOE IR /policy and ECB IR/policy: fall on first Thursday of month = off
• US NFPS: fall first Friday of month = off
• FED IR / policy: 3rd Wednesday of month = off
• BOJ IR/policy: happen over night GMT = not an issue

Morning Price Action Note:  condensing PA at the start of the day when MT4 automatically expands it during low volatility actually makes it easier to read. Moves can often look huge and "unlikely" when expanded, where as condensed they can be seen and interpreted with greater clarity.

                                        over-expanded                                        condensed

EU Trades: Actually happy with all of this (inc the mistake at 1) however wish I'd SAR'd 2