Introduction


One Student's Journey

I've had the pleasure of keeping an open dialog with the folks over at DLC Profiles and have decided to enroll in their Cognitive Learning / Continuous Education Series. For anyone unfamiliar with DLC, Jim Dalton is the 'D' in DLC. For anyone unfamiliar with Jim Dalton, he wrote Mind Over Markets and Markets In Profile. And, for anyone unfamiliar with those two books, I think it would be safe to say that these are two of the top three books in print on the Market Profile (Steidlmayer On Markets being the third). Anyone unfamiliar with Market Profile can get their hands on any of those books, make use of Google, go through Jim Dalton's presentation over at Cbot.com, or check out this thorough synopsis over at ASX.

So what's this journal all about? Good question. And to answer that I will briefly go into what this journal is and isn't, as well as what I am and am not.

This journal IS:

* a way for me to honestly record my experiences and progress through the CL/CES
* a way for me to share my honest impressions of the material and techniques presented
* a way for me to deepen my market understanding
* a way for readers to use my experiences to help them decide the potential value and applicability of what DLC has put into the CL/CES
* dynamic, which means I may be tinkering with how I update the journal
* new to me so it in itself will be a learning experience.

This journal ISN'T:

* a paid or unpaid advertisement for DLC
* a way for me to call out trades
* a way for me to advise others how or what to trade
* a way to give away any of the proprietary content of the CL/CES
* a trading setup repository

Who I AM:

* an independent trader
* a student of the markets
* a student of DLC Profiles

Who I AM NOT:

* a paid representative of DLC Profiles
* a CTA or CFA or any other licensed investment or trading advisor
* a paying sponsor to MyPivots.com

Again, this is a very organic project, and I want to thank Jim Dalton and Terry Liberman over at DLC Profiles for having the open-mindedness to let me do something like this. I also want to thank Guy for providing the platform and allowing me the opportunity to share this journey with his forum members.
I look forward to this Omni
quote:
Originally posted by BruceM

I look forward to this Omni

Bruce - Me too
Glad you'll be part of this journey.

Additional Note
I will be putting together another topic/post this weekend, but I want to add that the CL/CES is designed to be a very focused commitment, one spanning up to 12-months. It is not designed for students to 'get through' like a race. This training demands time and work. Period. This shouldn't be surprising, but I want to make sure we are all on the same page here.
Looking forward to following along. I am a big fan of Dalton's work and have wondered how some of the new material integrates with the older stuff.

I know Steidlmayer's stuff is light years away from where it began, and have wondered if Dalton has changed his ideas around much.

Thanks for starting the journal.

quote:
Originally posted by Grim Reaper Sprint

Looking forward to following along. I am a big fan of Dalton's work and have wondered how some of the new material integrates with the older stuff.

I know Steidlmayer's stuff is light years away from where it began, and have wondered if Dalton has changed his ideas around much.

Thanks for starting the journal.



Good to have you here GRS


as for Dalton's market view, I believe he still incorporates a lot of the concepts he presented in MoM and, more recently, MiP. however, it's the how that really sets this off. from what I have seen so far, DLC has collected a lot of information and feedback over the last 20 years, taken a hard look at where traders were breaking down, and created this innovative training regimen. I get the impression the guys at DLC made a very concerted effort to give traders willing to put in the work the tools necessary to get the most out of understanding Market Profile.

as for starting the journal it really is my pleasure, but I do owe a great deal of thanks to Guy, Jim, and Terry. it never could have happened without everybody being on the same page and completely comfortable with all aspects of this venture.
Omni,

Thanks for the response. I been wondering that about Dalton for a while. Lots of things about the markets have changed since he wrote the book (I think it was '93 wasn't it?) and though everything with respect to what I read in MoM still appears valid from my own observations, I was just wondering if Dalton had made any major changes to his approach like Steidlmayer did.

Thanks again.
quote:
Originally posted by Grim Reaper Sprint

Omni,

Thanks for the response. I been wondering that about Dalton for a while. Lots of things about the markets have changed since he wrote the book (I think it was '93 wasn't it?) and though everything with respect to what I read in MoM still appears valid from my own observations, I was just wondering if Dalton had made any major changes to his approach like Steidlmayer did.

Thanks again.



Reaper -

first, i apologize for such a delayed reply. i read it shortly after you posted it and could have sworn i replied then, but it appears as though i was wrong. my bad.

as to your questions, though i can't competently represent Jim, i can say that to some extent we get back to that old adage: the more things change, the more they stay the same. you are exactly right, markets change and evolve, but the general concepts remain. assigning some weight or importance to overnight activity is a relatively new development. but, what the participants do in a market is familiar. some markets have gained liquidity, while others have lost it, so you'll see different market behaviors (i.e. more efficient vs. wider spread, respectively). again, how the market works is the same, but a trader's ability to adapt to a changing market and adjust his market perspective is what strengthens his chances of survival.

hope this helps.
just some quick housekeeping notes ...

I am in the Central time zone and i start my RTH charts with the A-period. so my MP charts run from A- through N-period.

i use a lot of acronyms and try to remember to provide a definition within the journal, but some times forget; i just get so used to using them in my notes i transfer them to here without explanation ... sometimes. here are many that i use:

PD? - Previous Day (H = high, C = close, O = open, ...)
D??? - Developing (i.e. DVA, DVAL, DPOC, DVAH)
RE? - Range Extension (U = up, D = down)
IB? - Initial Balance (H = high, L = low)
ON? - Overnight (H = high, L = low)
BFL - Big Fat Level
DTT - Day Timeframe Trader
STT - Short TT
ITT - Intermediate TT
LTT - Long TT
LoLi - Long Liquidation
ShCo - Short Covering
H? - Higher (H = High, L = Low)
L? - Lower (L = Low, H = High)
OOB - Out of balance
BO? - Break Out (H = higher, L = Lower)
TF - Time frame

buncha left-brain departmentalized quantification, i know. i think a lot of them are common, but that's no excuse to be lazy on my part. as i run across others, i will update this list.
i'm lazy also,and have beeen using mp since 86, my terms are nip for the point,cleavage for the shallow zone between a double nip day and ledge for a large offer or bid holding mrkt down or up
will you be posting some charts for us?
Iowa - thx for your comments, i like the way you see things ... sounds like you got the whole-brain market view in check


Bruce - you know, i'm glad you brought that up. i was reading over my week 4 post last night and was thinking i would like to add some charts for some oomph ... and potentially reduce having to retell each day (though, that has also been helpful in nail-gunning some ideas to my mind). i refer to them all the time and would like to make use of the 'picture's worth a 1,000 words' idea. in practice i mark up my charts with all kinds of handwritten notes, so i'll tinker with it this week. like everything else in this journal, it will be a growing/learning process. it may take a few iterations, but we will have visuals soon ...

thanks again guys, i appreciate the thoughts.

have a great week.
I've been using eTrade for a while but have been looking around to see what else is out there. Coincidently, WindoTrader has come up in my search and looks like it has more potential than the various MP add on's that are out there. And, it is interesting that Dalton used WindoTrader charts in his latest book. Maybe he is on to something! I think it is definitely worth taking another look. Thanks for sharing, Mike