Learn To Trade, Market Commentary. Scalping The Markets

Market Content 7-20-09

Once again the rules we follow for the James Wave set-ups have saved us from losses and allowed us to keep our profits. In a low volume market such as we have in these summer months, today PATIENCE was the key to our success.
Our first trade came at 10:12am EST in the form of a picture perfect wave short on the E-Mini Russell 2000 (Symbol TF). Our entry price got us in the market at 521.20 where we saw volume increase and momentum turn in our favor, we took profits at +3 points, +6 points, and on our third and final contract we closed out at a scratch for a total of 9 ticks in profit ($10/T). One of the main reasons our third profit target ended in a scratch was because we didn’t trail our final stop, a small mental mistake on our part. No trader is perfect, and we at least walked away a winner!

The second trade for the day came on the Gold Futures (Symbol GC) at 10:19am EST. This trade structure developed into a 2-Step long where we were able to enter the market at 952.0. Once in the trade we quickly checked our market indicators and saw price action on the tape slowing down, this combined with overhead resistance allowed us to cut the trade early, saving some losses, and getting out at -6 ticks (-18 ticks total on 3 contracts @ $10/tick) instead of -8 ticks. Our ability to view market sentiment changing while watching our trade saved us money and allowed us to exit the trade at the correct time.

The third trade for the day was another set-up on the Gold Futures market (Symbol GC). We entered the market at 10:58am with a basis price of 947.8 to the long side. This was yet another 2-step trade and as we watched price action on the tape closely we were able to stay in this trade for a profit. We also took a look at some of our slower time frames to decide a good price to exit the trade, after taking profit at +3 points, and + 3 points, our final target we let run for a profit of +7 totaling 13 ticks ($10/T). The reason we were able to squeeze some more profits out of this trade was our use of multiple timeframe charts, when referencing these, it is easy to see overhead resistance or support below you to exit the trade.

The final trade of the day came just before lunch in the US markets on Crude Oil (Symbol CL). We took this 2-step trade long at 11:14am EST with a basis price of 64.43. Volume was the key for crude oil today; early on we noticed that the contracts had changed months and now more volume was trading on the Crude Oil September contracts instead of August. We were able to take profit at +3 points, +6 points, and then once again trailed the final stop to lock in another 18 ticks! Giving us a total of 27 Ticks ($10/tick) for the trade and keeping us profitable for the day.

Today we went 3 for 4 on our trades, for a total profit of $310.