I am often asked about my Preparation for the coming week, and what I do to prepare for it.
The process is not complex but does take some time on the weekend.
My approach is very much a ¨Top Down¨ approach, starting with Monthly, Weekly, Daily and H4 time frames.
The majority of my analysis is done in Optuma / Market Analyst. As a straight Charting program it has a lot of flexibility that MT4 doesn’t have and is much easier to use for analysis.
I have 28 major Currency pairs, Precious Metals, Energies, 7 other Commodities including softs and grains – a Total of 41 instruments.
I Trade the following Time Frames
Weekly Precious Metals, Commodities and Energies
Daily Forex, Precious Metals, Commodities and Energies
H4 Forex, Precious Metals, Commodities and Energies
Monthly Charts
I analyse, all these instruments each week, monitoring weekly developments in the price action of the Monthly Chart.
I am looking for what the price action is doing, whether it is changing from previous analysis, or continuing, in order to make decisions from there.
I am looking for overall Trends, price action approaching Significant Resistance / Support Levels, Price consolidations etc.
I record the analysis under the code of the instrument so I can build a picture of the instrument across 4 time frames.
While I do not trade Monthly charts, I find it useful to develop a bigger picture from this time frame.
Weekly Charts
After a coffee break – to clear the mind of the monthly overviews
I find taking a break between the Analyses an aid to clearing the mind
I analyse all instruments on weekly charts after looking at the Monthly charts but am looking at the weekly without considering the monthly overview – this is to see if the analysis of the different time frames agrees or not.
With weekly charts I am looking more for specifics regarding what price action is actually doing.
Is price approaching significant resistance / support levels, are potential reversal formations appearing, are continuation formations forming.
Is price pausing, running strongly, slowing down, consolidating
What is the range of the bars – strong or weak
Where is the close in the bars of recent price action?
What is the current volatility?
This analysis is then recorded for each instrument.
It is now that I look for entry setups for Precious Metals, Energies and Commodities. Looking specifically at the price action for these instruments and then looking at the Monthly overview alongside the current Weekly price action.
I now, separately record the instruments which show entry potential
It is now that I record any stop updates that need to be applied and record any orders which need to be cancelled.
Daily Charts
After a coffee break – to clear the mind of the weekly overviews
I analyse all instruments on Daily charts after looking at the Weekly charts but am looking at the Daily without considering the Weekly overview – this is to see if the analysis of the different time frames agrees or not.
With Daily charts I am looking particularly for specifics regarding what price action is actually doing.
Is price approaching significant resistance / support levels, are potential reversal formations appearing, are continuation formations forming.
Is price pausing, running strongly, slowing down, consolidating
What is the range of the bars – strong or weak
Where is the close in the bars of recent price action?
What is the current volatility?
This analysis is then recorded for each instrument.
It is now that I look for entry setups for Forex, Precious Metals, Energies and Commodities.
Looking specifically at the price action for these instruments and then looking at the Weekly overview alongside the current Daily price action.
I also look for potential hedging opportunities for Weekly positions
I now, separately record the instruments which show entry potential
It is now that I record any stop updates that need to be applied and record any orders which need to be cancelled.
H4 Charts
Again, break time, take the dogs for a walk anything that gets me away from the screen
I analyse all instruments on H4 charts after looking at the Daily charts, but am looking at the H4 without considering the Daily overview – this is to see if the analysis of the different time frames agrees or not.
With H4 charts I am looking more for specifics regarding what price action is actually doing.
Is price approaching significant resistance / support levels, are potential reversal formations appearing, are continuation formations forming.
Is price pausing, running strongly, slowing down, consolidating
What is the range of the bars – strong or weak
Where is the close in the bars of recent price action?
What is the current volatility?
This analysis is then recorded for each instrument.
It is now that I look for entry setups for Forex, Precious Metals, Energies and Commodities. Looking specifically at the price action for these instruments and then looking at the Daily overview is alongside the current H4 price action.
I also look for potential hedging opportunities on Daily Positions
I now, separately record the instruments which show entry potential
It is now that I record any stop updates that need to be applied to H4 positions and record any orders which need to be cancelled.
Individual Chart Analysis
It is now time to analyse each individual potential entry and I do this analysis from the viewpoint of looking for reasons why the position will not work.
The thinking process here is that when you are looking for potential entries, you are actually looking for what you want to have happen. By waiting and then looking for the negatives I do tend to weed out some potential entries which would have failed.
It is now that I sort the Entry values, Stop Loss values, Trade Risk in pips and calculate the positions sizes for each potential Entry and time frame, these are then recorded with all the relevant details to enter the orders onto the platform at the Opening of the markets.
At this point in time – it is – BEER O’clock.
Practical advise for a stress free approach to trading, which doesn’t involve voodoo magic nor priceless systems. Peter’s approach can be incorporated with a basic strategy applied with common sense and patients. The message above is routine and practice. Then if unsure refer to previous comment regardless of approach.
Thanks Darren, we are happy this has been beneficial