Just some things I have learned over the years....(Originally I posted it in my Telegram Channel to help those still learning this game.)
Relative to only those who are wanting to increase BTC, not USD positions.
Note: These are good habits to get into even if you are only using a small amount of money. It is a hard habit to break when you are used to moving 100% in and out of a position. So starting good habits now prepares you for a better future.
1.So BTC OR USD: Pick one, and ignore the other. Seriously, you are going to get way to emotional if you try to manage both. Emotional Trading is honestly the worst thing you can do, and any pro trader or AI takes advantage of that fact. So stop doing it. I want more BTC long term so I trade to increase that, and more USD comes long term.
Dumb Zone: You know those 0 volume .1% Movements, yeah dont trade there, if anything on each top of flag move a little into into USD awaiting confirmation of up or down, whether or not its a bull flag, bear flag, wedge or pennant you are playing. Wait for confirmation of a move up or down. Losing a little BTC value if it goes up is worth it, every single time, because what if it doesn't?
Sure if it does you may lose 1% of what you sold off re entering, but if it fails, you lost a major opportunity to increase your position.Price Averaging and Staggering in and out: This is a HUGE one, trying to risk your whole portfolio catching a falling knife is heartbreaking when you don't. Sometimes making a larger buy/sell in a different area as we see it, but still making those scaled entries and exits to mitigate risk and exposure to a break down, as well as a possible breakout in case we aren't watching. While sure if we sell our entire portfolio and it drops 10% thats an awesome position increase, but the risk to reward is exponentially higher than when we take a modest average of 3% gain overall without exposing ourselves to a massive change.
Stop Worrying: If you are wrong and some buys / sells do not hit. or you did not exit in time, or anything crazy like that. There is always another day, and if you aren't completely exposed, your loss is not that great. You can always make it back tomorrow or a week from now, or a month. it does not matter. Focus on the next trade and ignore the losses.
Most of the best hedge fund managers lose 80% of their trades, but they are mitigating risk properly so they are not losing a lot of money just more trades, while the 20% they win make the entire year of their profits.
Playing the ranges: While some traders will wait for the end of a count to re enter, and play the long, even while bleeding heavily in BTC(IE sold at 11500 saw the 7300 wave down, and now being back at 9k they see a massive loss on their portfolio, but they are waiting for true bottom before rentry) which is FINE, by all means do that if you are confident in the market going your way, absolutely, just dont play your whole stack like that incase it doesn't. Trying to catch a falling knife will get you rekt everytime.
Personally I play these waves. staggering in and out, and gaining a little BTC overall while these things play out.
Example, let's say we continue upwards and only hit 9.2k before starting a 5th wave down, or even lets say we hit 9.8k and it is flagging. in the former we have BTC we have not sold, and in the latter we completely exited.
If we start going down before you exit, hold onto those, and stagger your exits around your entries. You have buys at X set a sell a little above and make a tad bit of profit there. while being confident the next wave down will hit. so you are still increasing your position marginally as the market moves downward.
Now lets say we exited completely at 9600 and we have no BTC and our buys are 1000below because we have not moved them up when market conditions changed. Well if it is flagging at the higher price grab a partial re entry at the bottom of those flags. and maybe scale in a bit more if we have some sell offs, making small buys below where you sold. while waiting for your large buys at the bottom.
If we have a massive change, wait for pull back each time to re enter, if there is an impulse from 9800 to 10k wait for the waves to pull back and grab a little. there will always be some. Mitigate losses. Because losses happen, and it is fine. If you staggered out correctly you don't really have much of a loss on a 1% increase. it just feels like a lot, because the candles are scary.Don't over trade: Just wait ,I know it is tough when you see it isnt going your way, but rushing in and being maybe right, is much worse than waiting for confirmation at a small loss to your portfolio and being right.
This is a long game, and forcing trades will get you rekt and you will lose hope, which is exactly how this is designed. Money moves from those who dont get it to those who do. Lower Gains is better than massive losses when you screw up.
7, Top 20 Alt Coins or High Daily Volume: day trading has solid algos, Every day there is a wave, chart it, and set buys and sells accordingly. If BTC is uncertain keep half the stack with a stop loss, and half with sells at your targets. Set buys at bottom of waves and deeper for over corrections which happen frequently on high volume coins. If it crashes and you are stuck hold the half you have until you see a better position elsewhere, your stoploss will save your other half.
I generally only use 1% of Daily Volume as the max amount of BTC i play on an alt, liquidity is important, and getting stuck with the bag sucks.
Another Major thing is Stick to your Profit taking: Do not freak out if it keeps going up, if the pattern changes, adjust. You havent lost any money by you taking your profits, you can always re enter. You have mitgated exposure and risk by selling at a profit, just re enter and play the next range. Who cares if you missed out on an extra X % you are being safe, buy back in and play that range.
Important Moment /Points to Watch: In these areas ensure you're exposure is low. 4hr closes on BTC, watch for a sudden drop in volume, after a slight move up before the candle closed, usually a sign of a major move, if you arent fully exposed, either way you are still making profits, whether its up or down.
Pay attention to RSI on 4 hr and Daily charts for Alts the most. Bots play that the most, waiting for RSI cooldown is valuble for making the next play.
One thing to always remember when doing TA, the Higher TF wins. You have an uptrend on the hour but a major downtrend on the 4. Play assuming you are in a major downtrend, but play the range.
Have a golden cross on the 4 but a death cross on the daily, play preparing for the daily, but make the gains on the lower TF.
Prepare for what the Higher TF says, but play the range you are given.
So much more I'll put together, maybe go in detail once I go over cloud, and the ranges i play on BTC and how i play a tad differently on alts.
As well as how i do short holds, swings, and mid-terms. And why I rarely do longs unless I am taking profits a long the way.