How I Trade and What We Do

What is Trading Doggy Style and is it Complicated?

Imagine you are training to be a chef. For $35 per month a master chef gives you a recipe each day and is on zoom with you walking you through that recipe for 8 of more hours. You might choose just to take the recipes and cook the meal, or you might choose to engage in the screen time and learn to understand the master chef’s thought process and style. In both scenarios you probably end up preparing a pretty good meal. In the latter scenario you perhaps become a master chef yourself. The choice would be yours.

My analysis can come off rather complicated to newer readers, and in particular to those newer to trading. The reason for this is there is a wide range of trading experience and interest in learning among subscribers. Some just want to cook a decent meal that day, and others are looking to become a master chef. I choose to share the more complicated aspects of my thought process for those that are more advanced and interested in learning. Other readers just want the trade setups and aren’t looking to master the understanding. That is completely fine. I very clearly (in too much detail for many) describe a specific price at which I am looking to engage, along with a description of the circumstances that would ideally be present in order to initiate the trade. I give letter grades to the trade setups and describe what situations may exist where those ratings should be upgraded or downgraded. One could simply ignore the additional commentary and take the trade setup that presents for them and matches with their own bias.

Newer readers and members of the Discord (free with the paid Substack subscription) will almost certainly find themselves overwhelmed at first. Existing members will tell you that they all experienced the same for the first couple of weeks. Fortunately, many of the members are extremely helpful and willing to share and support their fellow members. Here are a couple of recent posts from members reflecting this:

Here is an example, and how different readers may choose to engage with a trade setup:

Example 1: One who just wants the trade idea might see this long idea from the plan for 1/19/24:

The chart from cash hours on Friday 1/19 with the arrow pointing to the open. Gap up at open, hold 4815 on a pullback, then price runs all day. A successful trade.

Example 2: One who is interested in applying the context to assess for themself if they want to take the trade:

Price opens, tests 4825.5 exactly, pulls back to 4815 and holds. A higher high is made, followed by a slightly higher low at 4815.5 and then price runs all day. A successful trade.

Discord access is free to paid Substack members, and I provide real time commentary nearly the entire session nearly every day. The commentary is intended to help members to manage their trades and is also intended to serve as “collaborative screen time” where members get to see my thought process as they watch price regardless of if I am in a trade or not. I am not aware of ANY service that offers this. This is analogous to the zoom session with the master chef each day. We are often told we “Need more screen time to get better.” This is completely true, so imagine how much more quickly learning can be facilitated with collaborative screen time. Here are a few examples of the commentary from 1/19/24 associated with the above trade. Times are EST-2

What DOES go into my trading style?

Ultimately there is nothing new in trading. It is supply and demand that drive price. There are many different underlying reasons for that supply and demand but understanding them needn’t matter to one trying to profit from financial markets. There are numerous different ways that traders analyze the movements of price and many indicators (most always lagging) that can be used, but they are all seeking to represent the current and near future positioning of market participants.

I have personally taken aspects of different trading styles to make a style of my own. I believe the combination makes me effective in identifying highly probable trade and investment setups with minimal risk of drawdown. I use Volume Profile and Market Profile concepts to assess the direction and strength of a trend, and to understand in which areas one group of participants is likely to be offsides and the other side is likely to defend.

I use supply and demand the way I see it (this is something specific to supply and demand at price, not to be confused with broader concept of supply and demand) to refine these areas and setups and to execute many of my trades. I additionally use price action and concepts of balance ranges to execute an entry. I use price action and some limited volume profile to monitor the progression of the trade and to understand if any changes in character may cause me to either hold my position longer or close it early.

As I prepare my setups, I am seeking to take positions that trade against the participants that are offsides. By doing so I know that the onsides participants will provide supportive flows at the areas in which I engage, making a stop out less likely and far less likely to be a large stop out. As the offsides participants get further offsides, their stop-outs provide additional fuel to the directional move, and I get more range out of the trade. Because of this, the reward to risk ratio of the trades I take is extremely high. This is why I am highly selective in my trades.