Out of the box

Range bars show ..the range much better than candlesticks. 4,9 easy pips here, just by putting a buy order above the rectangle. BUT, if I wanted more, I would be kicked off with a loss. That is the edge of the scalper : he needs a few pips only, he is modest. Otherwise, he's lost.

Ascending support vs. breakout

The trades who gave 12,4 and 5,1 pips on this chart were entered when an ascending support (after retracement) was observed, while (almost all of) the rest of the entries were at (local) breakouts. Look how more relaxed and easier are the former.

Fibo line

A double bottom AND a strong rebound on fibo line 50% (pink line) gave the longer shot at the finish of my day/week. Time for my music and my family now..

Local support (double bottom)

On this, many trades session (again), the easiest was the last trade: an instant local support, something like a mini double bottom, gave the easiest pips at the end of my time slot.

Choosing a pair

A friend commented in a previous post : "Most of the time you trade EJ sometimes you trade EU. Do you watch both pair at the same time? When you trade EU how is that experience different from trading EJ? Isn't it that EU is very slow, unpredictable and spikes too much?"

I always have open charts of both pairs and examine the setups on both. I usually choose the pair with the bigger volatility. I have an ADX indicator (1 min) on a Market Analyzer in Ninja Trader which calculates the volatility of the two pairs for me. I choose the pair with the bigger ADX reading, if I can "feel" the corresponding setup. I also avoid trading when the pair has ADX<20. I "discovered" that, most of the times, when one of these two pairs ranges, the other one trends , and vice versa. This is due to the triangular correlation and fixing between euro, usd and yen.

When euro/yen stutters, euro/usd is FASTER, in most situations. No pair is unpredictable in the (very) short term, no one is predictable in the long term. Hope this helps.

Trend line trading

A good session with smooth moves and decent volatility. The last trade was taken at the trend line and price resistance there.

9 o' clock

The nice and smooth breakout happened at 9:00 precisely (8:00 CET), at Frankfurt opening. Trading is easy! lol. Second trade at fibo 50% of previous and new support line.