96-ICT Mentorship Core Content - Month 10 - Bond Trading - Consolidation Days

Last modified by Drunk Monkey on 2022-10-26 08:55

00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,040 ICT: Welcome back, folks. again as a reminder, please read these disclaimers because I am not a CTA and not listen to good trade advice. And the discussions
00:00:08,040 --> 00:00:17,520 we are having pertaining to commodities and futures, we are only referring to them as paper trades only.
00:00:28,110 --> 00:00:35,520 Okay folks, June 2017, ICT mentorship, ICT bond trading, Lesson three consolidation days
00:00:42,660 --> 00:00:54,810 Okay, folks, consolidation days. Before we get into this, let me preface it by saying, I'm not teaching specific setups, I'm teaching thought process, and how
00:00:54,810 --> 00:01:07,470 this is incorporating the bond analysis into the whole grand scheme of things and trying to draw it back to Forex. When we have consolidation days, or we're
00:01:07,470 --> 00:01:17,370 anticipating consolidation day in which we'll talk more about that in a moment, we want to refer to overnight price action. Okay, and overnight price action can
00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:28,830 have seen trending environments or could be range bound, there is no specific with a precursor to overnight price action. So don't think that there's anything
00:01:28,860 --> 00:01:42,390 that leads to like dance, for instance, the London trading, whatever takes place in London doesn't always translate to future prognostication for the New York
00:01:42,390 --> 00:01:53,130 trading hours, because the market could be making a move overnight. And then during the New York session, just simply go dead. New York session news.
10 00:01:53,850 --> 00:02:08,970 Generally when there's a lack of noteworthy reports, or do the New York session vacuum, if you will, will create a dead space in the bond market. Economic
11 00:02:08,970 --> 00:02:21,030 calendars if we see high to medium impact us reports due to release on another trading day later in the week. This is going to promote the idea of a
12 00:02:21,030 --> 00:02:39,420 consolidation day. If we know that, for instance, time of this recording, we saw a FOMC. Day at 2pm in New York time. So also this same very morning, the New
13 00:02:39,420 --> 00:02:53,010 York session had a plethora of high impact news dollar based that coupled with the FOMC later in the day created a high volatility Day, which we anticipated
14 00:02:53,040 --> 00:03:05,910 before the trading week began. If we had a lack of high impact news during the New York session am session and FOMC was the only high impact news event. Then
15 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:16,650 generally, we would see a consolidation day leading up to this particular day and they would carry over into the morning session. And then we'd see a vault in
16 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:30,750 volatility in the latter latter portion of the date or the pm session. Formation characteristics of consolidation days after a higher timeframe premium or
17 00:03:30,750 --> 00:03:42,330 discount array is met. For instance, if we've been trading for a while higher moving away from a discount and we met a premium array one of two things can
18 00:03:42,330 --> 00:03:55,890 happen one, it can pause and consolidate their waiting for another point at which it can continue higher for another PDA array or it can retrace after that
19 00:03:55,890 --> 00:04:08,340 consolidation or it can simply just reverse when price hits this higher timeframe, PD array in this case, if we're assuming that price was moving up
20 00:04:08,340 --> 00:04:18,930 from a discount, reaching for premium arrays, once it hits that premium array on higher timeframe, generally what will happen is profit taking will come in and
21 00:04:19,110 --> 00:04:31,980 there'll be a pause in the advancement higher in price. It may not require a retracement but it can pause in there. So knowing that that higher timeframe
22 00:04:32,340 --> 00:04:45,660 premium arrangement hit, we can look for and anticipate a point at which the market way take a breather or pause or consolidate. Knowing this helps us with
23 00:04:45,690 --> 00:04:56,430 our forex trading. It helps us with our commodity trading and helps us obviously if we're gonna be a bond trader. It helps us with our objectivity and other
24 00:04:56,460 --> 00:05:08,220 things that goes along with all the inter market analysis. When price hits an equilibrium of a higher timeframe, price swing, or midpoint, we can anticipate a
25 00:05:08,220 --> 00:05:18,780 pause, just like we said in our example, reaching for a higher timeframe, premium array or discount array. When nice mile markers are met in price action,
26 00:05:19,140 --> 00:05:28,920 it's reasonable to expect some measure of consolidation or a pause and remember, the markets move from consolidation to expansion to consolidation to expansion.
27 00:05:29,310 --> 00:05:33,630 In the midst of all that, we will have retracements and or reversals.
28 00:05:35,460 --> 00:05:44,640 consolidations, by far and large will be the most dominant consideration when we look at price action. So if we know that there's going to be a likelihood of a
29 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:57,360 pause, or a consolidation before price makes its next move higher or lower. If it's been met by premium array or discount around higher timeframe, or it hits
30 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:07,110 the equilibrium price point of a measured move or a longer term, price swing that we think is going to unfold. Price can consolidate at that midpoint. Or if
31 00:06:07,110 --> 00:06:18,630 we retrace back to an equilibrium price point, don't always anticipate or expect immediate response and price because it can stay around equilibrium. Because the
32 00:06:18,630 --> 00:06:30,690 higher timeframe requires the larger traders to work on that timeframe. So they're going to work that level, sometimes more than one time. So that's why
33 00:06:30,690 --> 00:06:41,430 it's important that when when you look at these reference points, it's not that we anticipate equilibrium being explosive, or that we anticipate just because
34 00:06:41,430 --> 00:06:50,880 price hits our premium array for our buys or our discounted rates for ourselves. And that's the end of it. No, it can create a pause, and then it can continue
35 00:06:50,880 --> 00:07:04,740 on. When there's a bank holiday in the United States, there's going to be obviously an impact on the markets. So it's going to cause consolidation days
36 00:07:05,940 --> 00:07:15,210 ahead of holidays in the United States. For instance, we our next big holidays coming up at the time of this recording, is the fourth of July. So going into
37 00:07:15,210 --> 00:07:24,540 that holiday, if there's a trading day. That is before the Fourth of July, there's generally going to be a quiet period in the marketplace and it for me
38 00:07:24,540 --> 00:07:34,230 consolidation, that consolidation is going to reverberate throughout the marketplace. Bond auction days. So if we look at our economic calendar, and we
39 00:07:34,230 --> 00:07:44,700 see there's going to be a bond auction, the day before the bond auction could be a consolidation day and the day of that bond auction day, the eighth damn
40 00:07:44,700 --> 00:07:57,030 session of that particular day, generally is a consolidation. So I want you to think about what causes or what promotes the idea of consolidation in the bond
41 00:07:57,030 --> 00:08:06,090 market. Because if we can figure those individual conditions or characteristics out, know what they are that routinely and generically repeat themselves over
42 00:08:06,090 --> 00:08:17,280 time, we will have a game plan and also be able to incorporate these ideas in our trading. Too many times in my trading, I've been overzealous about a
43 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:28,710 specific price move. And early on, I would be frustrated because the moves wouldn't pan out or they wouldn't take place at all, they wouldn't even begin or
44 00:08:29,550 --> 00:08:37,110 just simply, you know, stay stagnant, wouldn't go anywhere, not higher low would even stop me I just wouldn't even move and it's very frustrating. And over the
45 00:08:37,110 --> 00:08:44,700 years, I've learned that obviously the incorporation of the interest rate markets and the bond market. That's that missing link. So having that in our
46 00:08:44,700 --> 00:08:55,290 analysis is paramount. So if we know that there's going to be a consolidation period in the bond market, we have to reasonably expect the same thing occurring
47 00:08:55,560 --> 00:08:56,880 and the other asset classes.
48 00:09:02,010 --> 00:09:12,030 Now when we have consolidation days, when we are looking to trade in the am session, we can scalp obviously for five to 10 ticks. And again, remember, one
49 00:09:12,030 --> 00:09:22,500 tick is $31.25. So five ticks is it doesn't sound like a lot, but you can do very well with just five ticks day trading in the bond market a couple times a
50 00:09:22,500 --> 00:09:35,280 week, but five to 10 ticks. We can see if the opening range is small. Okay, as we learned in the first lesson of this topic of bond trading, if the opening
51 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:51,990 range is small, in which small Well if you look at an opening range of 12 ticks or less, if the opening range is 12 ticks or less. Generally you'll have a an
52 00:09:51,990 --> 00:10:05,310 expansion move of some kind and it may just blow out a previous overnight high or low but If you get that small little opening range, that usually will allow
53 00:10:05,310 --> 00:10:13,320 that little bit of a squeeze at volatility squeeze. And then finally, it'll snap and move in a direction that you would have predetermined based on institutional
54 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:24,090 order flow. scalping the pm session again, in consolidation days, you can look for five to 10 tics. But there's one caveat with trading the pm session on
55 00:10:24,090 --> 00:10:36,750 consolidation days, you only want to trade the pm session. If the am session has not yet rent a stop run. In other words, if there's a liquidity pool, that has
56 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:46,980 obviously not been tapped, that's gelling of what's going to be seen in the pm session. Once it takes those stops. Don't be greedy. Just run the stops with
57 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:56,460 with the professionals can take your profits and move to the sidelines. But the pm session on consolidation days generally, that's not happening as an average
58 00:10:56,520 --> 00:11:08,280 or a general rule of thumb. When we're consolidating, or we're anticipating small ranges, do your trading in the am session before noon. Avoid trading the
59 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:19,110 am session on bond auction days, as I mentioned in the previous slide, to market usually is on hold waiting for the auction to come. Avoid trading the pm
60 00:11:19,110 --> 00:11:28,410 session, when there's interest rate drivers do usually it's two o'clock in the afternoon New York time. So simply just avoid it. Regardless of how good the
61 00:11:28,410 --> 00:11:41,100 volatility looks, trust me to avoid it would have focused on trading, the higher timeframe premium arrays are met. As I mentioned in the previous slide, when we
62 00:11:41,430 --> 00:11:52,410 reach a premium array, for instance, in a market that's been going up for a while See, we've been bullish on the market, the seasonal tendency is implied
63 00:11:52,410 --> 00:12:00,240 that the market should be trading higher, we're looking for an advancement in price. And it's been providing that for us. And maybe we've had a profitable
64 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:09,420 position. Even if we haven't had a profit position or even a position at all, when the premium arrays hit. Obviously, as I mentioned in the previous slide, we
65 00:12:09,420 --> 00:12:21,750 want to be anticipating some measure of pause or consolidation. That is when we shift our gears and don't think big moves, we think okay, well, I have to adapt
66 00:12:21,780 --> 00:12:31,050 to what price action is telling me. So either I'm going to move to the sidelines, or operate in a scalpers mentality and look for very small little
67 00:12:31,050 --> 00:12:41,310 fluctuations in the bond market. That's going to translate into small movements and all the other asset classes by having this idea, it removes that insatiable
68 00:12:41,310 --> 00:12:54,840 desire to be doing a whole lot and swinging for the fences. Recall small ranges precede large ranges on daily. So it can be frustrating when we anticipate the
69 00:12:54,840 --> 00:13:05,310 consolidation days formation, if we are action on hounds, and we want to get in here and trade like cowboys, obviously, that's going to be detrimental to your
70 00:13:05,310 --> 00:13:05,760 trading.
71 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:16,740 But we as professional minded traders, we are welcoming these consolidations because it allows us time to formulate a plan on how we can study where the next
72 00:13:16,740 --> 00:13:26,790 movement is going to be worse, the next liquidity run. All these ideas help frame our next trading opportunity. So one of the worst things we can do is
73 00:13:26,790 --> 00:13:35,580 trade on such a short term timeframe that it doesn't permit us it's an opportunity to plan our next move. So consolidation days, even for a day trader
74 00:13:35,580 --> 00:13:42,840 or scalper, they provide those little periods of time where we can take a breather, take a step back, maybe even don't even worry about trading that
75 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:50,490 particular day, wait for end of day, go back and do some analysis and figure out where the liquidity is. And then formulate an idea based on that consolidation
76 00:13:50,490 --> 00:14:00,840 day, what is price going to reach for next? Because the next move is probably going to come on the heels of a large range expansion. So consolidation days are
77 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:09,780 like big banner signs. Hello, there's a big opportunity coming. It's going to be a juicy price move, be aware of it and start doing your homework and figure out
78 00:14:09,780 --> 00:14:21,360 what it's going to be. don't cuss it's extreme and get frustrated because these pauses are these consolidation periods, or gold mines in the making. Always
79 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:29,370 allow your limit exits to exceed your targets. Because this will give you a bonus, we don't know for certain that the market is going to stay in a
80 00:14:29,370 --> 00:14:38,460 predetermined consolidation range. So when I'm looking to trade in small ranges, I will have access this is why I said if you're gonna be scalping, you want to
81 00:14:38,460 --> 00:14:47,250 be looking at the marketplace live. Have the charts right in front of you not reading, not watching TV, not watching your children you play whatever. If
82 00:14:47,250 --> 00:14:56,130 you're going to be in the marketplace and you're scalping you need to give the market your 100% undivided attention if you have an objective of making eight
83 00:14:56,130 --> 00:15:08,820 pips or eight ticks by having these can validation days, we already noted that probability is going to be lower for a big expansion move. So if we're wrong, we
84 00:15:08,820 --> 00:15:19,710 allow that that tendency to be human once in a while and say we anticipate a small range, but it takes off and blows off. Okay? Well, if we put a 16 Tick
85 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:31,770 target on the bond market, we could originally be only looking for eight but say it expands quickly, it starts to run, it can pay you for being wrong a bonus. To
86 00:15:31,770 --> 00:15:40,110 have that mindset when you're looking for a small range days, or operating in small range days as a scalper always offer your limits to be larger than you're
87 00:15:40,110 --> 00:15:46,920 really what you're trying to make. And then manage those positions according then you can always watch and see what price is doing when it gets to your
88 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:55,290 objective, because many times I've been wrong. And using this technique, it's paid me more than I would have if I just suddenly but it took my first objective
89 00:15:55,500 --> 00:16:07,860 and move to the sidelines. Keep overnight short term highs and lows in mind. For low resistance liquidity runs. As the chart here is showing. Obviously, you can
90 00:16:07,860 --> 00:16:22,050 see there is a London session high and a London session low that was rated for opportunities for that am session move in the bond market. So by knowing the
91 00:16:22,050 --> 00:16:29,310 overnight highs and lows, even the short term swings and highs and lows, that's where your liquidity is going to be. That's where the markets going to reach for
92 00:16:29,550 --> 00:16:41,220 during consolidation days during the New York session. Unless pm session news drivers are do out consolidation days typically offer setups and am session most
93 00:16:41,220 --> 00:16:53,940 of the time. So by knowing that what we need to do as a general rule of thumb, a practice that we do day by day, is when we're in a short term, small volatility,
94 00:16:54,270 --> 00:17:06,120 the very tight consolidation, environment or consolidation day, we want to avoid forcing pm session trades routinely. In other words, if we are anticipating a
95 00:17:06,120 --> 00:17:14,130 little bit of activity, not a whole lot of expansion, you need to be doing your work before noon. And before noon, all of your trading has to be done.
96 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:23,640 Preferably before 11 o'clock AM New York time be done. Move to the sidelines and don't worry about the rest of the day. There's gonna be opportunities that take
97 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:31,260 off and something happens that you didn't see coming in the pm session, let it happen. And don't be don't be worried about it. Don't be upset about it.
98 00:17:36,810 --> 00:17:47,340 Consolidation brings expansion. Now when we identify the market is likely to trade in small range or consolidation day, we should immediately note the next
99 00:17:47,370 --> 00:17:56,790 trading day or the day not long after it will produce a large range day or trending day. How do we know this? The economic calendar, we already identified
100 00:17:56,790 --> 00:18:05,760 that Wednesday of today this week and day of this actual recording was going to be a high impact day in news. And we're going to see a lot of volatility and
101 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:15,120 wild price action to to form we saw what happened. While the bond market is held in a narrow range, this will create a stranglehold on volatility for the other
102 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:25,470 asset classes on average. So just because the bond market is in consolidation doesn't mean it's going to be the wild wild west in the Japanese yen or the
103 00:18:25,470 --> 00:18:36,120 Swiss franc, or it's going to be you know, craziness in the crosses. Don't think that way. If you're going to be working with a professional mindset, that means
104 00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:47,190 that you have a faith in knowing there's a probability of the market doing this or that if we're not going to have rules, then simply don't even watch these
105 00:18:47,190 --> 00:18:54,690 videos. And don't worry about doing anything and trade how you want and be impulsive about it. But if we're going to be professional minded traders, we
106 00:18:54,690 --> 00:19:03,450 have to have role based ideas and parameters to operate in. Because if you don't have that, if you don't have parameters to work within and act as guidelines,
107 00:19:04,110 --> 00:19:12,510 you will always deviate outside that and you'll never get an accurate measurement on your development or your consistency. But if you know over a long
108 00:19:12,510 --> 00:19:21,690 period of time that operating in small range consolidation days like we're describing here, it adopts a mindset that promotes professional trading
109 00:19:21,810 --> 00:19:34,080 professional perspective, it will by default remove a lot of the anxiety as traders encounter the psychological effect on not making enough or the markets
110 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:44,700 not moving enough for me. It changes is a paradigm shift that takes place when you understand what the market as a whole should be doing. 98% of traders out
111 00:19:44,700 --> 00:19:56,670 there even professional traders get sucked into emotional and psychological effects of trading. neophytes to have no idea what's going on. They are always
112 00:19:56,670 --> 00:20:06,750 falling victim to it they end up penetrators graveyard within the first 90 gays many times in the first month, you're learning how to do what's necessary to
113 00:20:07,050 --> 00:20:17,250 cultivate a professional mindset. But also to alleviate all of the problems that every trader encounters. I encountered trade psychology issues, I encounter fear
114 00:20:17,250 --> 00:20:30,450 and greed. Many times it's greed, the, the effects of these things can't be overstated. They're just never a shortage on keeping those things in the
115 00:20:30,450 --> 00:20:40,530 forefront of your mind as a trader, because they will be your undoing. But if you focus on rule based ideas, and an expectation of what the characteristics
116 00:20:40,530 --> 00:20:51,540 are in these environments, it removes your focus on fearing and being greedy, because you're focusing on the process and the parameters you have to operate in
117 00:20:52,140 --> 00:21:06,120 your mind is a wonderful tool. It's a, it's a resource that many times because we misappropriate, our time, and our energy and our efforts and our attention on
118 00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:16,050 the worst toxic things. Our mind is so powerful, and our imagination is so powerful, it will bring things to life that aren't really there, through word of
119 00:21:16,050 --> 00:21:26,310 thinking. So by having role based ideas that you develop over time, have faith in and seeing them by case study after case study, seeing the effects of
120 00:21:26,310 --> 00:21:36,570 following this, you'll see that it's profitable for you not only monetarily, but also psychologically and emotionally, to operate in a role based idea. By having
121 00:21:36,570 --> 00:21:44,700 this process of knowing what you should be doing or how the market should behaving in consolidation periods and consolidation days in the bond market. It
122 00:21:44,700 --> 00:21:53,670 removes all of the fear and trepidation and all of the uncertainty about what you're going to do, or what's going to happen. When's the next big move going to
123 00:21:53,670 --> 00:22:03,600 happen? Well, if you know by analysis, that the bond market is predisposed to be a small range and low volatility right away, what does that tell you don't
124 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:05,430 expect a whole lot from the markets right now.
125 00:22:06,180 --> 00:22:16,050 So by having that it's very sobering, it gives you peace of mind, it doesn't force you into thinking a worse next move, and I'm afraid I'm gonna miss it. It
126 00:22:16,050 --> 00:22:26,070 gives you context. And here's the wonderful thing. When you see it working in it frames your idea and your context about how you interpret price action as a
127 00:22:26,070 --> 00:22:40,470 whole. From a macro perspective, you harness trade psychology, you harness and rein in fear and greed, you master them, you put them on a leash, where all the
128 00:22:40,470 --> 00:22:48,900 other traders are going to be drawn in and dragged by their hair into trades or out of trades because of not knowing what's going on, you're going to be calm,
129 00:22:48,900 --> 00:22:56,550 cool and collected, because you're going to know exactly what it is that you are going to do. You can't make the market do what you want to do. But you can align
130 00:22:56,550 --> 00:23:06,780 yourself with what most likely will occur based on these conditions. So it's not that we're teaching consolidation trade techniques to go in there and try to
131 00:23:06,780 --> 00:23:16,170 make a killing. It's to keep your perspective as a professional minded trader, not getting in here, like it's casino time. You know, it's it's not Las Vegas,
132 00:23:16,500 --> 00:23:27,210 we're in here, for longevity, we want to be able to hold on to our account to wait for the inevitable expansion moves where trading becomes a lot easier. And
133 00:23:27,210 --> 00:23:38,280 then we can feel the elation, not because we've mastered the markets. But because we've mastered ourself, we've operated in a clear defined realm of rural
134 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:49,800 based ideas, we have parameters, we color inside the lines, and we can measure our progress and feel good about following that process. And it's positive
135 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:58,950 feedback. When we take a loss, or we miss opportunities, we don't worry about it. Because if it wasn't in the context of our rural based ideas, it doesn't
136 00:23:58,950 --> 00:24:06,900 matter. And it's going to be lots of things that occur in the marketplace. They're going to happen outside your rural based ideas. But you already should
137 00:24:06,900 --> 00:24:16,110 have given yourself permission to miss some of them. Everybody's going to work somewhere, and everybody's making more than you. You can't worry about what
138 00:24:16,110 --> 00:24:24,450 they're making, at their job doing whatever they're doing, and worry about spending someone else's money. And that's the same thing you're doing when you
139 00:24:24,450 --> 00:24:33,210 say I missed that trade, and I wish I would have been a part of that and who knows what, who got part of that move? Who cares? Stay in the role based idea
140 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:45,060 and keep your perspective in the mindset of consolidation, low expectation across the board and all asset classes. The use of this observation serves us
141 00:24:45,060 --> 00:24:54,450 well as forex traders, and that we can reduce or limit our expectations on FX pairs movement and operate in a more reserved fashion. Sticking to low hanging
142 00:24:54,450 --> 00:25:08,130 fruit and small gains. If you've studied the bond market As I indicated today in the live session, we should be relieved, at least to know this is the reason why
143 00:25:08,130 --> 00:25:17,730 the markets have been rather fickle. Because the bond market as a whole has been in a range bound consolidation. There's going to be a move out of this
144 00:25:17,730 --> 00:25:26,370 consolidation. And when we leave consolidations, it tends to be a trending environment, the longer the consolidation, and it's been many months this year,
145 00:25:27,630 --> 00:25:37,080 we've seen consolidation take place in the bond market, when it leaves the range, it will have a protraction or a state where it moves in a trend. That's
146 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:46,140 when salad days are coming. Easy trading days. And guess what, it's a couple months away, and fall we'll be here everyone's looking to summer, because we're
147 00:25:46,140 --> 00:25:55,950 now in it at the time of this recording, but the thing I'm looking at is we've been consolidating ahead of fall, which bolsters my confidence about how well I
148 00:25:55,950 --> 00:26:08,760 believe the price action is going to be in the last four months of 2017. So when we look at consolidation, we should be elated about the future opportunities
149 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:16,860 that come after this period where everyone else is pushing really, really hard to try to get as much as they can, out of this little bit of movement that's
150 00:26:16,860 --> 00:26:26,490 being offered by the marketplace. Don't arm wrestle the market, sit back, let the market grind everybody else down. Let them wear down emotionally and
151 00:26:26,490 --> 00:26:35,970 psychologically. But we know during consolidation periods, the smart money's setting up the next big move. And if we understand that principle in the bond
152 00:26:35,970 --> 00:26:45,510 market, it's going to reverberate through all the other asset classes. And since we're primarily forex traders in this mentorship, the bond market speaks volumes
153 00:26:45,540 --> 00:26:54,990 when it's in consolidation. And when it's not in consolidation, it allows all the other markets to move more fluidly and more efficiently. And until next
154 00:26:54,990 --> 00:26:57,300 lesson, I wish you good luck and good trading