Tutorials

We are increasingly crafting trade set-ups that avoid familiar places, particularly ‘D’ targets and midpoint pivots of too-obvious ABCD patterns. To further distance ourselves from the herd, we’ve literally turned the pattern upside down and inside out to produce x, p and p2 levels unlikely to be widely observed. Watch how it’s done here, along with a detailed explanation of ‘dynamic’ trailing stops that avoid giving back most of our gains if a target is not quite reached.

The radically revised course on leveraging Hidden Pivot levels x, p, p2 and D to trade will emphasize purely visual/intuitive tactics for crafting precise set-ups and triggers. The course will not be available before mid-December, but in this tutorial session I preview some of the new techniques you’ll have at your disposal when calculating entry points for the reverse-pattern (rABC) trades that have become our workhorse.

We pondered subtleties and further refinements in ‘rABC’ set-ups during this hour together. It has become routine to combine this pattern with ‘mechanical’ triggers when initiating trades. This yields set-ups that can be used practically at will in any vehicle. Moreover, the process can reduce initial risk to literal pocket change, which can be especially useful to novice traders trying to sharpen their technique without paying a heavy tuition.

This session wades more deeply into reverse-pattern (rABC) trades than we’ve gone before, delving into the thought process concerning how much risk to take. Tailoring the length of the ‘a-b’ segment addresses this question, and the answer can be somewhat subjective. However, you’ll be surprised at how it’s possible to tighten ‘a-b’ to inches, reducing risk to a practical minimum, without sacrificing opportunity. There is also some material concerning the ‘voodoo’ numbers I’ve been using to initiate trades precisely at swing points without using Hidden Pivots. This subject will be covered in detail in the radically revised Hidden Pivot course due out in November, but here’s a preview if you’re curious.

This session is packed with information concerning the rABC, or 'reverse-pattern', trade. If you've been uncertain about how to choose the prefect ‘a-b segment when creating a trade trigger, this recording contains all of the information you need. It also offers details containing the upcoming, radically revised Hidden Pivot Course that will be offered this fall to subscribers who have been with Rick's Picks for at least six months.

Long-time subscriber Dave Isham (DJI) brings deep and broad technical experience to the chat room. In this one-hour presentation, he explains how to use 'fair value gaps' to improve trade entries and exits. A brief Q&A, also recorded, follows Dave's talk..

The E-Mini S&Ps occupied our attention, since they were all fired up over a report that consumer inflation was running at 'only' at 8.5 percent last month. Was there a way to get ahead of the lunatic leap the futures took when the 'news' hit the tape an hour before the opening bell? As is so often the case, diligent attention to 'mechanical' levels on the lesser charts would have done the trick -- with no guesswork and no pain.

We spent most of the hour stalking a trade in August Crude. The first attempt got stopped out, but the reason for this and the ways in which it could easily have been avoided made for an illuminating lesson. A key concept received more attention than usual here: setting up ‘mechanical’ entries at the tail end of rABC patterns. There is also a discussion of the ‘discomfort zone’ that will sharpen your ability to exploit it.

  There are some hidden gems here. As usual, we looked for trades that could be forced, and we found them in plentiful supply. Most of the time we were a step or two behind the trigger but still close enough to see the choices we made justified in real time. The 15-minute chart continues to be the best vehicle for day-trading. We used mostly ‘mechanical’ set-ups, sometimes in conjunction with ‘reverse’ patterns, to fashion triggers and stops.