Extremely simple hotkey for scalping like a pro

[James H. 14]

I have a hotkey setup that's extremely simple. I have used this simple hotkey to scalp stocks between the price range of 30 to 80 dollars. It's so simple that you may even laugh at it. The probability of a stock price moving 20 cents after an engulfing pattern or anticipation ABCD pattern is quite high. However, this strategy does go against the risk reward ratio. Due to its high probability nature, the small wins will out number the occasional lost.

This strategy is called scalping, so please take care when using it. When the market is choppy at the open but strong such as today, I deploy this strategy to get several small gains.

First right click on the title of your Montage to open the Frame Window Configure popup. Give your window the name MONTAGE. Next assign a BUY and SELL hotkey for the commands below. (Note: Change your share size to something other than 500).

FocusWindow MONTAGE;Route=SMRTL;Price=Last+0.2;Price=Round2;Share=500;Sell=Send
FocusWindow MONTAGE;Route=SMRTL;Price=Last-0.2;Price=Round2;Share=500;Buy=Send

Scalping requires fast execution so the FocusWindow command is crucial because it immediately puts your Montage into focus. With newer versions of DAS (5.4.3), this hotkey behaves slightly different. If your Montage is not already in focus, pressing this hotkey will only put it into focus, and pressing it again will execute the order. If you still running an older version of DAS such as 5.2.021, this hotkey will put the Montage window into focus and also execute the order. Just be careful if you have different versions of DAS installed on a laptop and desktop. 

The way this strategy works is to enter on an opening range breakout, engulfing pattern or anticipation ABCD pattern, then immediately place a Buy/Sell order 20 cents ahead of the price. Then find another stock that's producing a similar pattern and repeat the process. Number is the game.

Rules:

1. Only scalp long when the price is above all the moving averages
2. Only scalp short when the price is below all the moving averages
3. Scalp long when the SPY is up more than 0.3% (Optional)
4. Scalp short when the SPY is down more than -0.3% (Optional)
5. Only trade with small share size. Try to convert the setup into an anticipation ABCD Pattern.
6. Set stop to 30 cents or low/high of the opening range on large gaps.
7. Set stop to 30 cents or below/above all the moving averages on small gaps.
8. Price range must be between 30 to 60 dollars average

Study Case 1: WDC scalp with a 1 to 1 risk reward ratio.

Study Case 2: C scalp trade with a 1 to 1 risk reward ratio

Study Case 3. SQ scalp failed. Waited to add on an ABCD anticipation. Scalp 20 cents on the add, and got the 20 cents after new highs. Risk reward skewed in favor of high probability setup.

Study Case 4: TWTR scalp 20 cents. Risk reward skewed in favor of high probability setup.

Study Case 5: MU scalp failed. Added on engulfing for scalp failed. Anticipation ABCD. Tried adding on engulfing at 49.50. No BP. First scalp hit, sold after low of green candle. Risk reward skewed in favor of high probability setup.

Study Case 6: GILD First scalp attempt failed (forgot to place order due to trading too many stocks at the same time). Added on engulfing. Second scalp got hit, and I sold rest after candle didn't hold. Risk reward skewed in favor of high probability setup.

Study Case 7: JD First scalp failed. Added on engulfing. First trade hit 20 cents, and second trade stop out after green candle failed to continue.

Study Case 8: (Oh boy) AMD. First trade scalp failed. (I made an error by adding too early). So I waited for the anticipation ABCD pattern and added, it failed. I tried adding again, failed. Stopped out after 30 cents.

Then 1 hour later... (*face palm*) Red to Green....Setting my stop below all the moving averages would had saved this trade.

Results:

I made a total of 14 trades. Out of the 14 trades, I lost four of them. The AMD lost took away profits made from JD and SQ, if added together. However, C, GILD, MU, TWTR and WDC were all net profit. 

Disclaimer, I trade AMD, JD, SQ, C, GILD, MU, TWTR and WDC almost everyday using my own money. For me, I found that trading the same stocks everyday gives me an edge. With that said, my win rate with these stocks are on the higher side. Also, trading 8 stocks at the same time can go wrong very fast, so I do not recommend it. This strategy is not for everyone because anticipation ABCD Pattern strategy requires adding size to a position with a negative P&L. To learn more about this strategy, I wrote a post about it.

 

Edited November 14, 2019 by James H.

[James H. 14]

If you don't have a trading plan currently, I would suggest giving this strategy a try. The odds of profiting on a 3R, 2R or 1R trade can be less than 50%, if entering on an open range. If you are trading stocks in play, this statistic may not apply. When trading pull backs, your chances of profiting on trades with 1R or greater increases a lot. If you're starting and struggling with achieving 2R with every trade, you could be chasing your tail. I would suggest going for high probable trades with smaller wins first. Before trying to achieve 2R trades. Set your target at 20 or 10 cents and place your target before hand.

Adding liquidity to the market also increases your odds of getting filled. Trading this strategy in a simulator may be challenging because unlike live orders your broker can't fill you pennies or a spread away from your target. It's almost like magic. This is why you should never use hard stops.

Note: Putting your target at or below 10 cents gets tricky because the commission, BID/ASK spread and limit order spread will eat away at your profits. Anyways, if going long, I would suggest buying at the ASK price plus 2 cents (short is  BID - 0.02) and send orders through different routes.

For example, when going long with 1000 shares, I use IEXL, AMEXL, EDGXL, ARCAL and SMRTL. Smart routing does this already but the goal is to take advantage of Level II through arbitrage. I found EDGX, BYX and NSX trades slightly behind the market price which can result into better prices. NSX doesn't work for me. The major downside with this hot key are the fees and commission. When exiting, use a basic limit order and the SMRT route.

Price=Ask+0.02;Share=200;ROUTE=IEXL;BUY=Send;ROUTE=AMEXL;BUY=Send;ROUTE=EDGXL;BUY=Send;ROUTE=ARCAL;BUY=Send;ROUTE=SMRTL;BUY=Send

1) Open Range Breakout: When trading an opening range breakout, set your target at 20 cents (or 10 cents for amazing higher odds). By reducing your target distance, you odds dramatically increases.

After a 2 or 5 minutes ORB, enter the trade with your smaller share size per trade, and immediately put a limit order 20 cents ahead of the price. There are two scenarios, the price immediately hits your target or the price starting to pull back. If the your target is hit immediately, wait to enter a new trade on a flag.

For example, my trade with GILD.

I entered on a 5 minutes ORB and 5 minutes later my 20 cents target was hit. I waited for another flag, and I entered a new trade with a 20 cents target. I continued the process until the low/high of the previous candle breaks. For example, on my third trade, I entered on a flag but the low of the candle stopped me out. If I've never stopped out, I would have profitable another 20 cents or profited after a candle break.

The downside to this strategy is shown in the trade I've made today in SQ. I entered on a 2 minutes ORB and my target was immediately, but the price just kept dropping. With this trade, I completely missed a very profitable short opportunity.

2) When trading pullbacks, trying entering the trade near a moving average: 9ma, 20ma, 50ma or 200ma. As a result, the odds of the trade working increases in your favor. For example, I made a trade on C with a late entry today near the 20ma after a strong reversal pattern. The stock popped up and missed my target by a penny. I killed the trade after seeing the low of the red candle have broken before. The odds of a continuation increases when a pull back rebounds off a moving average, so I was able to get a second trade on a flag into new highs.

3) ORB + Pullback = Anticipation ABCD. This was not a pretty trade because the drop caught me off guard. I entered on an ORB, added on the tail twice near the 20ma and added again twice on a 5 ORB. The price popped up and hit my three targets. I exited the trade early to regain BP.

4) When to stop out. Set stop to 30 cents or low/high of the opening range on large gaps. Set stop to 30 cents or below/above all the moving averages on small gaps. WDC was a trade I made today which I broke even. My stop was under the moving average. I went long, the price dropped under the moving average. I took the lost. After the following candle closed, I made a new trade short with double size. After the first target hit, I rode the price down until I hit close to breakeven. 

If the stock at any time produces a flag, reversal and engulfing signal in the opposite direction twice, stop out. For example, MU today. I went short on a 2 minutes ORB. Then, it produced a bullish tail and bullish engulfing pattern. Strike 1. I added on the bearish reversal. Next, it produced another bullish engulfing pattern. Strike 2. That's when I killed the trade.

Conclusion:

Congratulations! I just gave you my complete trading plan for trading the first hour. Without showing you hours of my trading tapes, posting hundreds of charts or boring you with math of backtesting with excel and python, all you have to do is practice. What's hidden in plain view are only trading setups with very high odds, scaling into high odd setups and stopping out during high odd events.  You will definitely increase your chances of becoming profitable. 

More suggests:

1) Opening Range breakout has lower odds of reaching 1R or greater. Try setting your target at 10 cents. When your target is reached, remove half your position. After 10 cents is hit, let the rest or until breakeven.

2) ABCD Pattern has higher odds of reaching 1R or greater. Set your target at 20 cents. When target is hit, take half position and let the rest ride or breakeven.

3) Opening range breakout, engulfing and reversal pattern near moving averages has the highest odds. The larger the moving average, the higher the odds of achieving greater than 1R. The 200ma has the highest . While the 9ma has the lowest odd. 

4) Stop place near moving averages decrease the odds of a fake out. Smaller moving averages have less margin of error for the reversal signal. Larger moving averages have larger margin of error for the reversal signal. If the 9ma breaks, or the price starts crossing over this moving average, the trend is more likely to reverse immediately near the ma price. If the 200ma breaks, or the price starts crossing over this moving average, the trend is less likely to reverse near the ma price. At times, a reversal signal can be delayed by occurring above or below the 200 ma.

Disclosure: My other trades from today.  AMD breakeven. TWTR breakeven.

Disclaimer, I trade AMD, JD, SQ, C, GILD, MU, TWTR and WDC almost everyday using my own money. Also, I can not guarantee you will become profitable using this trading plan. I'm in the Bear Bull Trading chatroom sometimes, but I mostly trade independently. I found a niche style of trading that's working for me. I do trade with Pre-market data, Volume, VWAP, 9ma and 50ma on other charts. On my main chart, I removed all indicators that I found distracting.

Edited November 14, 2019 by James H.

[Kevin K 1]

This is cool - I am guessing you only have one montage open? I have 4 open so I would have to maybe close 3 so the focus montage command works best, right?

[James H. 14]

You can have multiple montages open at the same time. Each montage can have a different name. For example, CTRL + 1 could control MONTAGE_ONE while CTRL + 2 control MONTAGE_TWO.

FocusWindow MONTAGE_ONE;Route=SMRTL;Price=Last+0.2;Price=Round2;Share=500;Sell=Send -> CTRL + 1
FocusWindow MONTAGE_TWO;Route=SMRTL;Price=Last+0.2;Price=Round2;Share=500;Sell=Send -> CTRL + 2

I was playing around with DAS 5.4.3, I finally got the focus and order execution to work together. First, the window can not be a pop-up nor grouped together with another window. For this hotkey to work, the Montage has to be a standalone "MDI" window.

Edited December 8, 2019 by James H.

[Kevin K 1]

Thanks, how many montages do you have open when you do it?