Trading Timeframes and Market Structure

We should have three timeframes. The trading timeframe and one higher and another lower. Aligning trend in all three time frames is not what we are trying to do.

 

The Higher Time Frame provides structure for our market by defining a framework of support and resistance which acts as barriers to our trading time frame framework.

The trading time frame is used to analyse the market trend and determine the likely path of future price action as it moves within the higher timeframe market structure.

Lower timeframe is used to fine tune the trading timeframe analysis and to time trade entry and exit.

These could be 60 min and 30 min, 3 min and 5 min, and 1 min respectively.

We trade the trading timeframe but do so by placing thee price action within the context of higher timeframe structure.

A trend in our trading timeframe may simply be a swing within a consolidation on the higher timeframe chart. A breakout on our trading timeframe may simply push us deeper into resistance on our higher timeframe chart.

Market Structure

Our Market structure principle operates in accordance with two principles

1 Price moves within a structural framework of Support and Resistance.

2 A breakout of the structural framework support or resistance will lead to movement within the next framework.

These areas define barriers to the trading timeframe trend. We’ve defined our battlefield, price moves back and forth within the framework defined by these levels. these are decision areas for price. The best SR levels are those where price moved rapidly away trapping traders.

Lance Beggs Overview

What Moves Price

Price Moves result from Supply/Demand Imbalance

Changes in Supply and demand occur as sentiment changes with market participants

Price therefore depends on the Bullish or bearish sentiment of the market participants

The Net sum of all the individual traders decisions forms the Net Order Flow

When net order flow is bullish price will rise and will continue to rise until we run out of buyers or until Sellers absorb the Buyers demand

When Net order flow is bearish price will fall and will continue to fall until we run out of sellers or until the buyers absorb the sellers supply.

Traders Making trading Decisions  – Which leads to a Net Order Flow – which leads to the effect – Price Movement.

Markets are traders making trading decisions. We need to see when they are in pain and when they are feeling good. Learn to see all price movement from the perspective of other traders and how that price movement influences their trading decisions.

The Reality of Trading and How we profit and Why Lance’s strategy Works

Profit requires Buying lower and selling higher or selling higher and buying lower. More importantly profit requires this to happen AFTER you enter your position.

So buy at areas where you know others will buy after you and sell at areas where you know others will Sell after you. These are areas of trader decisions.

Identify areas where others will be making Buying decisions and you can profit. Identify areas where others will be making selling decisions and you can profit. We analyse areas of trader decisions.

Price Movement is a result of crowd sentiment which is based on flawed analysis and irrational decisions. Price movement is therefore based on Psychology and is emotional not mathematical and cannot be predicted by such.

The Real trading game

Aim to determine where large numbers of traders are going to be wrong in their decision making. The theory being that at the point where they know they are wrong will contain an increase in their order flow as their stops are executed. I aim to profit from this order flow by entering exactly at this point, or earlier.

To put it simply I try to find the Losers on the chart. I look for areas where traders are trapped and in Pain. its a mercenary game.

An effective trading strategy is based upon the forces of Supply and Demand acting in the market and assessment of how that will affect other traders decision making.

 

On Bar A price broke below Support at B. Breakout traders will likely enter on the move down. However it broke into an area of Support from the Vol node at C and effective analysis identifies that this also occurs in a longer term uptrend. The Lower Prices into Support are Likely to bring bullish Order flow opposing the breakout. We assess that should this breakout fail those breakout traders will be forced to exit creating a bullish Surge of order flow.

Our Entry triggers at A with a stop below and an initial target at E where we expect to encounter resistance with longs taking initial profit and therefore slow or halt the rate of climb. Next Target would be F.

When price is moving higher and stops it is because of one of three things

Traders were not interested in buying at higher prices. Demand had dried up and there was no longer any urgency to get long in the market.

The Higher prices attracted sellers. longs took profits on their positions and new shorts entered the market. This increase in Supply absorbed the remaining demand.

The result of these two causes is that Bullish pressure which caused the move is no longer able to overcome bearish pressure. price will fall creating a new swing high at resistance. The converse is true for a move lower forming support.

But what causes old resistance to be respected? Its a function of how we are wired as human beings and asses value. Those Longs who didn’t take profit at the high will wish they did and place stops to get out should price get back there. new Shorts will also see this as an area of previous resistance and place short Limits. Longs who got in on the Pullback will see the High as an area of previous resistance and will take profit here. this creates an influx of sell orders that may well overcome demand.

 

Stops

Where are Stops placed?

Prior to the breakdown at point A. Longs would have been confident having had three tests of the Low. Those smart longs would have placed a sell stop below price to exit should the low fail. Breakout traders will also go short on a break of the low. So should price push through this area there will be an influx of new Supply based on these causes alone. Now after such a move down, those longs who are still holding will be in pain and will resolve to get out should price move back and place Sell Limit orders. Smart Longs who got in at the bottom after the Short profit taking will see the break point as resistance and an area to take profits. Those who got short in this area and covered at the bottom will see this as a second opportunity to get in and therefore will also sell on a move back. Who would be Buying here? Well those shorts who didn’t take profit at the low and any would be breakout traders. The odds favour more supply than Demand.

Decisions to buy or sell are made through referencing current price action against previous areas which caused significant emotional response in particular those which led to regret around missed opportunity or those areas that trapped traders in losing positions.

 

Structural Schematic Walkthrough Monday 6th August

This is a walkthrough using the Logic inherent in the Structural patterns. We would only be considering trades in Play from F1-F9 and would ignore or at least make note of NF situations which would cause us to stand off a trade.

1st OP

Market has been open for an hour and formed an F10 during the Euro IB which we test just after the London Open.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2nd OP

Following the F10 we move higher and see the seller step in at 95 and 96. This forms what looks like an F5. We are looking for a continuation trade. We have also just formed a major reversal pattern at the low.

This pattern had two trades the first bounce from the 96 step and the second was a spring of the step.

 

 

 

The Market moved higher in a stairstep fashion offering another three F5 trades the final one also being an F7 test of an earlier volume node.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Median Line

Before we dive into DOM trading Skills we should examine the Basics of the framework – the median Line.

The median line is the slope in slope analysis the center of the channel and the centre point in the application of Action and Reaction.

Babson stated that if a trader understood this theory he would be a millionaire. He also cited several different Action and Reaction Types. Rather than try to memorise these lets just look at a few examples of price action.

Above we see some uses of the median line. The entire concept of the methodology is to time a touch of a Volume profile point using the theory and to look at the DOM and Volume/Tick index during that touch.

Below we see the channel touch coincides with the vol POC. This is all we are after.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several touches below on VPOC’s

Monday 30th July Review

yesterday I identified about 10 opportunities and never made money because i pulled the trigger to late. This walkthrough will marry the two approaches of AR and SC and take every trade with a 1 point Stop Loss and 1st Target.

Above are the first of five opportunities taking during the first 90 minutes.

  1. First entry is the 1:1 reaction line at point 1 created from the move down
  2. Second we have a channel overshoot
  3. Third trade is also a channel overshoot
  4. Fourth trade is a with trend channel touch
  5. Fifth is a with trend channel touch.

So lets now look at the volume profile during each of these entries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first entry above is an F2 hitting the Vpoc of the developing distribution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Second entry is responsive buying within the wiggle room of the dist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Third entry again is an F2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fourth entry is an F2

Fifth entry below is a cookie cutter or the edge of value in the down move.

Insight on Beer

Ok an NF3 trade states we don’t fade what appears to be absorption coming off the low. People who hit the bid thinking we were going lower now need to hit the offer to get out. This causes a volume spike.

 

Question is now why doesn’t it spike through the Queue who is on the other side?

Could be first scalps for new longs! How easily does the market clear the queue on retest. Does it absorb again. On clearing the queue does the market hit the bid again?

DOM Trading

The DOM is the single  most important tool in the Prop trading World. However it’s essentially telling the same tale as the tape with the exception that as well as whats printing we have the Depth pf market.

10 Year Notes Absorption and Backtick
Price has been moving down and suddenly we see absorption on the Bid at 070. Every time the bid is cleared the buyer immediately sweeps the offer as it steps down and nothing gets through to 065.

This is our first heads up that a buyer is interested here. however the Seller takes the 070 Bid and brings 2000 down on the offer. Only 38 trade into the next price however before the buyer sweeps the offer indicating he;s still in play.
The Buyer then takes out the next offer at 075 and places size on the Bid. This is the first time he has lifted to consecutive offers and likely the start of his press. We then have a pattern of offers pulling off and the buyer sweeping and stacking the bid until we reach 085. The seller sweeps the buyers Bid at this level which is the first indication of Balance. Time to take profit if long.

 

 

 

TapeReading.guru

The following are the structural contextual patterns that define the trading plan.  Fade trades should only be taken if they match a contextual pattern.

Fade Patterns

F1:  Fade the Edge of a Distribution

The first fade pattern is playing the edge of a distribution or range. The same pattern is valid for a developing Daily Value Area Low/High or the edge of a small range formed over several minutes. The difference being the Developing value Area entries we would expect to see absorption. On micro ranges we may not and would have to consider other context for entry such as a correlated market.

With these trades we need to be aware of wiggle room, essentially we often shakeout week hands before going the expected direction.