Look at this 5-minute chart of the Russel 2k. From open till 11:00 AM there was high-volume & persistent selling which took the markets steadily lower with no successful pullbacks. Then it went flat. This is totally normal after such a move not to mention during the lunchtime hours.

Price stayed in a very tight and controlled upward channel with low volume. I have highlighted the volume and traced out the channel that I used for my entry (marked by the red arrow).

At the close of the 12:15 bar the 5-minute TRIX turned red, that was signal # 1. The following bar triggered my Sell-Stop as price broke down below the channel; This was signal #2. The close of this bar fired off a Vol- confirmation for signal #3.

The next 60-minute support level wasn’t until 708 so I settled in and played a game of cards while I waited. A couple hours later I took profits as my target was hit and in 1 play made back twice as much as I lost during the whole of my horrible day yesterady.

You gotta love this job!
 
 

Atomic Clock Sync

For traders out there who rely heavily on short-term candlestick & bar chart patterns, it is easy to become conflicted sometimes about whether or not to enter a trade now or wait until the bar/candle closes. We’ve always been told to wait until it closes for confirmation but sometimes it is possible to get a head start on a move if you enter a few seconds earlier before the next candle opens.

My problem was that I could never keep my computer clock’s time in sync with the exchange time so I never knew how much time was really left until the next 1, 2, or 5 minute bar opened; It was a chronic guessing game.

But then I talked to my friend Bill over at Viper Speed Trading and he recommended I download the Atomic Clock Sync utility. Its a very small (and FREE) program that allows you to ping the world-time server and automatically adjust your PC’s clock to the millisecond so that it matches the exchanges around the world.

I can’t recommend the utility enough as now my charts are always up to date & I don’t have to do any more guessing!

You can learn more about it and download it from WorldTimeServer.com

Enjoy!
 
 
Topmost Clock

So after I stopped having to worry about my clock being on time I ran into a different problem. It just seemed as if my clock’s location wasn’t very convenient for quick glances in the midst of scanning charting setups on multiple monitors. So I did a quick search and found this handy little program called Topmost Clock.

What it does is allow you to put a little transparent clock anywere you’d like on your computer. I place mine on my main computer up at the top of my monitor right in between the 2 charts that I spend the majority of my time watching during the day. This has greatly reduced my eye strain when making multiple quick glances at the time as it is now in the same field of view as the charts I spend most of my time watching anyway.

This program is also free. You can learn more about it and Downloaded It Here via Download.com.