It might surprise you to know that many days I trade I really don’t pay attention to whether the market goes up or down. Does that sound crazy to you? How can you trade and not follow where the market stands at a given moment?

I am scalper, that’s why. I am looking for very short fluctuations in the markets to exploit and earn 12 ticks, or three points. It’s my only goal in trading. I don’t care if the market it going up or down as I am as comfortable being long as I am being short the ES Emini contract. All I seek is movement and the ability to ascertain which way the market may move for the next ten minutes.

I don’t let any trades go overnight, ever.

I don’t let a winning trade turn into a losing trade. (This is sometimes easier said than done)

I have a system, and I never “guess” what the market might be going to do. The variables in my system must meet certain criteria before I trade.

If I don’t feel good about a potential trade, I don’t take it.

I use an 89 period SMA and if the price action is significantly above the average, I only take long trades and, conversely, if the price action is significantly below the average I take only short trades.

I avoid counter-trend trades like the plague, yet I find myself taking the occasional counter-trend trade.   Don’t ask me why, I do not know why.

I use the MACD, CCI, Average True Range, DecisonBar and Stochastic indicators in combination to select my trade.

The entry points for the CCI and Stochastic indicators must be in agreement for me to take a trade.

I never break my entry rules.

I pay close attention to pivot points, and Fibonacci Retracement levels.  I use these tools as background information, not primary indicators.

I recommend most people start with the YM contract, and then only after a month or so of paper trading where the trader can consistently profit on a daily basis.

There are no born traders, there are well trained, intuitive traders.

My mother thinks trading is for idiots.  (I hope she is wrong, on this one)

On the CCI, pay careful attention to the +100 and -100 levels, they are your entry points.

On the stochastic indicator, pay careful attention to long and short crosses.

Never trade without stops, ever.  Never trade without stops, ever.

Have a target profit point, too.

I sometimes let trades run, but you often risk giving back all your gains when you implement this strategy.  Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.

Decision Bar has kept me out of more terrible trades than I care to think of.

A change in the direction of the divergence line on the MACD might be a good reason to consider exiting a trade.

I never double down on a losing trade.

I’ve never been able to make head or tail of chart formations, as they make no sense to me.  They may work for some people, I ignore them.  To me, Head and Shoulders is shampoo, not a potential entry point.

While you should profit most days, there will be days when you don’t.   That’s okay.