Thursday was a quiet trading day without much to push prices in either direction although; the bias did end up being to the downside.  So I thought it would be a good day to employ a simple strategy that would keep me engaged in the markets and paying attention.   I traded the ES and NQ using the Falcon and the Eagle from Indicator Warehouse. I also traded the ZB (30-year bond) ZN (10-year note), and GC (gold).  Plenty for everyone.

Here is the set up for today – I began trading from the US open and finished approximately 10 minutes before the US close.  The tools I used were the Falcon in the indexes, the Eagle also within the NQ and ES, the Hawk for the bonds, and the Falcon for Gold,  to which I added (and depend on) the ATR Trail indicator.  Trades were entered on generated signals by the Falcon and confirmed by the ATR.  The number of contracts was 15 in the ES and 5 for the NQ and the exit strategy was the ATR trail indicator inverting from ‘long to short’ or vice versa.  There were several times that the Falcon did generate a signal that was not confirmed by the ATR and therefor not necessarily taken.

Check out the charts of the Falcon included today on the NQ and ES for trades and discussion.

Although the day was on the slow side there were plenty of opportunities within the various futures markets.  Outside of the NQ and ES, which I chart and discuss within today’s post, the Treasuries were very active with the 30 year producing some solid 2- way trading and great moves.  It is a large contract ($31.25) per tick, which can be somewhat daunting, but once you become accustom to the moves and what makes it tick it can provide a very viable trading instrument.  Gold at $10 a tick can also be a bit wild to trade, and there are plenty of days I leave it to the bigger players as it can take a direction and completely wipe out an entire day’s work in less than a few minutes.  But here again, once you understand what makes the market ‘tick’ work the signals generated by the Hawk, Falcon, or Eagle become very dependable and using Trade Manager keeps a solid balance between position sizing and risk management.

Friday will again be a weekly expiration for many equities, ETFs and indexes.  Economic figures early and any FOMC word should keep things on the active side.  Corrections are usually more volatile and thus far the one in the broader indexes has held to that.  Also bear in mind we continue to have many world “hot spots’ that continue to feed the fear factor and keep markets on their toes.  Volatility traders will continue to be active as these indexes react to each day.  Good trading all around to start the month of August – the balance tends to keep the pace – let’s hope so and steer the course to profitability.

Steer the course and don’t compare yourself to everyone else.  You are not they and they are not you.  Remember to trust and believe what makes you unique at this moment in time and in this situation and allow others to choose for themselves.  Don’t be swallowed up by the chaos and false emotions swirling around.  Remember it’s just a number.

Trading the number remains key to being able to reduce and separate the “noise” from opportunity.  This takes knowing and executing a well-defined strategy and allows you to see opportunities amongst the “chaos” and by trusting the mechanics of your strategy, be able to take advantage of them.

Opportunity continues to knock on our doors.  While it doesn’t come without risk, risk can be defined and more manageable. Volatility and broad moves are exactly what a day trader desires and being able to respond without questioning is a luxury many are unaware of.