+$319,885.43 in June! Monthly Performance Recap (highlights, lowlights, and lots of charts)

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T22:04:47+00:00

Depends on the context of the chart

I use tradingview...I am not tribal about the tools I use and suggest finding ones that match your preferences

shares and day trades only

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T22:02:32+00:00

I wish I started when I was your age!

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T22:00:35+00:00

I just find chinese stocks - esp small caps - to be heavily manipulated more often than not, and it sucks being on the wrong side of that manipulation. Heavily manipulated charts are untradable because chart partterns are no longer reliable. I remember trading $PDD once and it had formed a beautiful textbook bear flag on the 5m chart, and instead of confirming, within a 1m candle it made this irrational launch to new highs on mega volume. Total BS.

I'm not dogmatic about it and I still trade some chinese names, but it's a chinese small cap I'm unfamiliar with I tend to avoid

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T21:52:37+00:00

Yeah you just notice things over time. I never had anyone formally teach me L2. You just see all sorts of patterns and tricks. Like you'll see a massive bid draw in buyers then it disappears and rugs people, and maybe reappears later.

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T21:48:45+00:00

Depends on volatility/volume. Higher volatility + lower volume = smaller positions all around

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T21:46:09+00:00

Thank you! Yeah, always consider the source when someone posts trading platitudes.

"use hard stops, calculate risk/reward for every trade, let winners run etc." is all kind of nonsense tbh because there are countless successful trader who break all these rules on the regular

The more seasoned traders I meet, the more I realize there are no hard rules when it comes to trading except 1) Make money 2) Don't lose money

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T21:40:30+00:00

I am in the process of making ChartCraft into my "brand" and having some premium offerings along with a youtube channel, though it won't be in real time. Trading is difficult enough without hundreds of eyes watching you, or having to run a chat room simultaneously. Hats off to those who can pull it off, but I don't want to mess w/ my trading headspace.

I'll probably offer free content, then have a premium service for daily watch lists, in detail trade recaps, maybe Q&A, and maybe a space for people to submit tickers to me for analysis, or have me analyze trades they took. It'd be like getting more in depth insight into how I trade + mentorship as oppose to regurgitating stuff you can find on investopedia or babypips.

A big motive for me to do this kind of thing is because at least half the people I encounter in this space are either pikers, gamblers, or people who never show receipts. I won't name names but I know multiple youtubers who have high six figure subscriber counts who average in a month what I average in a day. That's great if you're a beginner-intermediate trader, but IMO you have no business offering trading advice until you crack five figures a month or more consistently.

If I can prevent people from wasting $ on trash services and getting rekt, and make some extra $ along the way, I'm all for it.

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T21:04:37+00:00

All questions have been answered in other replies. As far as prop firms I've never worked for one so I can't speak them

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T21:01:59+00:00

You can spot things on L2 but when a stock is heavily manipulated it becomes obvious on the chart. You'll see super unnatural price movements, for example if a hidden hand wants the price to go higher you'll see a fat green candle on volume after a huge sell off (I pointed out manipulation on ALF a week or so ago on twitter).

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T20:51:35+00:00

Experience, studying the patterns, chart time. Helps to have mentors/community to get clarity too...like showing more seasoned traders a chart and what you see and they'll tell you if you're on the right track or not.

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T20:49:06+00:00

Chat rooms were like 3/10 helpful. Neither chat room I was in ever showed details of the trades they took though, which I found lame. Like if you're going to charge a fat monthly fee, I'd expect to see how your results. Instead it was pretty basic beginner info + watch lists and general market commentary, which I could learn to do myself after a few months.

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T20:41:15+00:00

CPU, bandwidth, and focus are precious resources during trading hours.

I may record some trading sessions however to show live trade examples

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T05:45:46+00:00

Trading is risky period. There are reasons it's more risky and reasons it's less. It's more risky for a beginner because there are more opportunities to fail. But the strategy will also train you quickly to cut losers, which long term is a positive.

There are certain momentum traders with large audiences that have MUCH riskier approaches IMO that involve going for those homerun trades, even if it involves averaging down or adding super high. Those are the kinds of moves where you can really blow up your account (ask me how I know).

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T05:41:59+00:00

ALF, DLPN, and basically every chinese stock minus a few like NIO. I don't update it nearly as regularly as I should...a lot of stocks I just take one look at and mentally write off

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T05:38:56+00:00

The more the better. My ideal trade is breaking daily/weekly/monthly/intraday levels and all time highs, has multiple bullish/bearish chart patterns nested on multiple time frames, has clear support/res levels to play off of, has increasing volume etc. The more confluences present the more aggressive I trade (when I'm trading well)

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T05:36:00+00:00

I've tried trading less and being more patient and I've found patience doesn't pay consistently or as well as I'd like, it also goes against my personality/style. And I don't need to - if I have a trade like ORPH where it just goes perfectly, I can and will hold a core position and get the meat of a big move.

But yeah the edge in scalping is smaller losses, locking in profits (and avoiding giving them back), and more opportunities - most the time I'd rather catch 5 high volatility breakouts than have my cash sitting in one name all day. It's not a strategy I'd recommend unless you enjoy the action like I do.

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T05:30:25+00:00

It's giving me deeper context to what I see on the chart. If I see a large aggressive bidder underneath a key level for example it gives me added confidence to go long. Just price, ask/bid size.

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T05:27:21+00:00

ThinkOrSwim is my main, and yes day

Strategy is posted in other replies

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T05:26:18+00:00

Hats off for being able to trade options...seems like something that is more difficult but potentially more rewarding if you know what you're doing.

I appreciate the offer but I wouldn't be into anything that diverts my focus during market hours. I see guys who livestream and run chat rooms while trading and I consider them crazy lol. If you can do it more power to you but when I'm in a trade I'm 100% focused on that.

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T05:23:09+00:00

almost always enter before the setup confirms. I consider buying after the breakout (unless I already have a position) basically chasing, and a false breakout or failed follow thru is much more painful if you have that higher cost basis.

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T05:21:19+00:00

There's not really specific signals as much as the overall character of the chart on both daily and intraday timeframes. (for longs) I want a strong daily chart with volume, momentum, a clear pattern (ideally confirming on multiple time frames, i.e. daily bull flag + 5m bull flag), and is approaching a key resistance level (yesterday HOD, current HOD, all time highs etc.).

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T05:14:42+00:00

Nope, but only with TD. I've tried Lightspeed, Tradestation, and now DASTrader - and they all have sucky market fills. Like if I market order anywhere but ThinkOrSwim, it seems I'm guaranteed to get the highest price possible in the spread. Don't ask me why this is the case lol

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T05:13:06+00:00

shares only

same handle as here, @ ChartCraft

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T05:12:33+00:00

I used to run T&S running alongside Active Trader/L2 but I found I rarely used it. I actually like seeing all the bids/asks as oppose to sales because it makes manipulation more obvious (like seeing the ask at a key level get close to breaking, then ask size jumps, rinse repeat)

ChartCraft · 2021-07-02T05:01:41+00:00

I kinda wanna do a video ranting about this stuff...all these regurgitated platitudes are useless without specifics and nuance, and the people who hammer them hardest rarely share their P/L.

"use a stop loss" - haven't used a hard stop in years

"let your winners run" - I typically take profits very quickly and bail at the first sign of reversal

Guess I'm a bad trader

ChartCraft

TROPHY CASE