Entry into Trades

There are many important elements that play a role in determining which markets to enter, where and when. Our systems and indicators define the mechanics for establishing positions in the market, while our personal observations and experience help guide us in making our individual trading decisions. Trading in itself is a very personal and private business, requiring individual judgment and decision making.

Experience is our best friend in this business. Carefully and dutifully observing and logging patterns in price behavior over time shapes our understanding of market behavior and helps make us more aware of subtle changes that take place in a market prior to a significant change in price or trend. This is what we refer to as “feel” or “intuition”. It’s important.

All entry’s should start with some level of mechanics as the foundation for the trade. For example, certain predetermined conditions should exist before one considers an entry. The entry itself however is a combination of mechanical input and logical judgment, based on observations and experience with each individual market.

All market’s possess elements of randomness. No single entry stands out as superior under all conditions. However, one thing we know for sure is that some people (traders) are better at determining optimal points of entry than others. Some are able to buy the lows and sell the highs (swings or otherwise) with a relatively high level of consistency. How do they do it? It’s a combination of ‘feel’, perception and intuition arrived at by observing and tracking price movement with the aid of graphs and various technical indicators. Over time these observations train the mind, providing traders with an edge over new traders whom are unaware of the power of such observations and what they mean to the trained eye. This is something that every successful trader eventually must develop and learn to some degree. One must eventually be able to implement trades based upon independent observations in conjunction with mechanical signals from a system (IMPA as the foundation for instance). Successfully acting on this information and making good decisions is what builds individual confidence. In the beginning there may be issues with second-guessing or hesitating, but this can be overcome in time.

When trading longer-term systems, such as the IMPA system, many entries are often available or acceptable. If we miss an entry at the turning point, using our methods, other entry’s may still exist in the future as the market corrects, pulls back or bounces to areas of neutrality, most notably, the key 18dma! However, because of the leverage involved and the risk associated with trading futures contracts, optimum entries are always highly desirable, and will frequently play a crucial role in determining whether or not a trader is stopped out prematurely.

NO TRADING SYSTEM CAN GUARANTEE PROFITS

No guarantees can be made for success. Past performance is not a guarantee of future profits.
Futures trading is NOT our only means of income. We also invest in stocks, real estate as well as
generate income from other businesses. We have both winning trades and losing trades. We trade professionally, but not daily. We wait for what we believe to be ideal trading opportunities.