Holy Grail & Hard Truths

This section may take some time. I'll place a TLDR at the top here.

TLDR

There is no specific "Holy Grail" - it's what you make it. Your trading style resonates with you - and you may find others similar. Once you find what works for you - that's your "Holy Grail". Can a purchased system end up becoming that for you? Yes. Can it be an automated thing? Yes. But YOU as an individual will need to put in the work and find what works for you.

If you find that trading doesn't work out for you - get out. Find something else. Don't keep throwing money away. Find something or develop something and stick to it, or stop and find something else that can make you money.

THE INTRO

So we all know - there are hundreds, thousands and maybe hundreds of thousands of trading systems. IMO - they all work. I say that because, regardless of how outlandish it may seem to YOU or ME - it works for SOMEONE. I think I've said before - one of the more outlandish ones to me would be the lunar cycle trading. Not bashing anyone's system - but I find it to be outlandish. Does it work? Obviously it does for those who use it - and if you resonate with that system or some other system - then fine. Go with it. Which brings me to the "Holy Grail" section.

THE "HOLY GRAIL"

With trading, it exists - and yet it doesn't. I say this and I need to qualify it. As I said above - there are LOTS of systems. There is almost guaranteed to be SOME system out there that fits your trading style, lifestyle, risk appetite, etc... As a result - that system is YOUR "Holy Grail" - but not mine. So let me quickly get into some information about the system.

The System

What I do is pretty simple. It may be complex for some, mid for some or too easy for some.

1. BTMM
2. Quarter's Theory
3. PVSRA

Not in any particular order. Let me give a quick rundown of each.

QUARTERS THEORY

This is - I think - the "father" of them all. You'll find an example of that attached.

Here is a EURUSD chart taken as of 2023-09-03 with the quarters zoomed in on. The price levels of 1.00000 and 1.10000 are zoomed in as well. Yes - you may click on it for the full image.

If you look between 1.10000 and 1.00000 you'll notice there are 4 separations - basically multiples of 25 into 100. So 4 quarters make a dollar - 4x $25 = $100. Between each major zone there are 4 major quarters. There are minor quarters between those, but Quarter's Theory (QT) basically says price moves from one area to another. There are tells for reversals, and there will be retracements - but the move is inevitable. Once a reversal is confirmed - price will move to the next quarter. Price will always want to move to the next major zone, but it will have multiple moves within the major/minor quarters first.

More information on QT can be found online, but also in this book: https://a.co/d/93r4kTB

There are other books available as well - but that's the primary one. You can also do some research online - YouTube or otherwise - and gather more details on QT if you'd like.

BTMM

BTMM is short for "Beat The Market Maker". This is something that I first heard about being taught by Mr. Steve Mauro. You can see that website here: https://beatthemarketmaker.com/.

There are a lot of free resources online that get into details of the course, and there are others that have based their teachings/methods off his - but I believe that's the original site.

BTMM shows the "dark side" of the forex markets. It shows that there are persons on the other side of your trades that want to take your money - and shows you how to beat them. That's the general gist of it - and I will not be going into any details that I found online on forums or sites that have ripped copies of his content. While expensive, I believe that credit is due to him for pointing things out. Not necessarily revolutionary - but it helps to point things out. I'll give a quick analogy.

I've had to write things on clipboards for some time now due to my job. Everything has gone paperless I know - but back when I had to. So I always had an issue with signing at the bottom of the page. Every time I got to that part, it was a pain to write and sign at the bottom. Then one day - someone I worked with simply curled the page up to the middle of the clipboard and signed. I saw. I copied. It's a simple thing that you may figure out over an extended time, but seeing someone do it an easier, faster or more efficient way helps with your own process.

From the analogy above, I hope you get where I'm going. Mr. Steve Mauro gives great insight into how the market works - but people take things too literal and dogmatic. As an example - one of the "rules" given in BTMM that I've seen posted in a lot of places online would be the market cycle. The market apparently has levels where it will move in one direction - up or down - for three levels and then reverse. Persons following BTMM apparently take this as law, while I believe Mr. Steve Mauro gave this as a GUIDELINE. Anyone that has traded the markets long enough will tell you that the market has phases where it will go in one direction for days...weeks...even months. There are minimal reversals at times. Is BTMM then wrong? No. But the information is given as a GUIDE. Not a STRICT RULE as persons have taken it.

From what I've seen/read - the market phases in BTMM are a better explanation of the movements in QT. As a result - IMO - BTMM is a refining of QT. They compliment each other and are not mutually exclusive. There is a large online community built on BTMM, and if you've paid for the course you apparently get support from a community. As with all things - some of it didn't resonate with some persons. Some persons paid for the course - think it's USD$5,000 - and then decided they didn't like it. They couldn't grasp it. Some persons decided that they wanted to share the information, hence you can find forums and threads dedicated to it.

If you end up successful and can credit BTMM to your gains, I recommend that you pay for the course even if you don't sit into it. Credit is due to Mr. Steve Mauro for simplifying the process for many traders.

PVSRA

This means:

P - PRICE

V - VOLUME

S - SUPPORT

R - RESISTANCE

A - ANALYSIS

IMO - it's based on either BTMM or QT. I've found some similarities with the way the system works - but PVSRA simplifies things even further and capitalizes on more safe entries. PVSRA postulates:

1. The markets are volatile and rigged somewhat.
2. You cannot predict accurately what price will do.
3. Find the wave created by the large institutions.
4. Ride the wave.

In a nutshell.

I'd like to give credit where it's due. Of all the methods, PVSRA is the only one that I've seen and tested that works, has an active community/forum and has persons willing to help. The main person involved that replies (TAH) is a bit abrasive at times, but it's all backed by good intentions. You need to learn the method and stick to it in order to see the results.

You can visit their site at https://pvsrainternationalwithtraderathome.com/.

They can get a bit draconian with the posting - you should only post a PVSRA chart - but it's all in order to ensure that everyone follows the rules and can be on the same page. If you all use the same template then you'll be able to "see" what the other person did - theoretically. It will also enable the more seasoned traders to view and note where your mistakes were made, or praise your good analysis.

Conclusion Of The 3

Regardless of the strategies employed, there are statements that hold true. The most common one heard in MANY different lessons would be "The Trend Is Your Friend" and you should follow the trend. Price will move in a direction on the higher timeframe. Find a retracement on the lower timeframe and enter in the direction that you've identified. Price will use specific areas for support/resistance. Price will use QT zones, MAs (Moving Averages) or established S/R zones for support/resistance. S/R = Support/Resistance. Your job as a trader is to find your rhythm and get into it. Ride the wave.

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All of the info above in the quick info about each system was already posted by me elsewhere. It's crude - it may even be inaccurate - but it's what I use. Let me try and give a summary.

1. Any pattern - price action or otherwise - must be taken in context.
2. Find the trend direction on the H4 or higher and trade in that direction.
3. Use BTMM for reversals. I've found it to be more of a reversal strategy.
4. Use PVSRA for trend continuation. I've found it to be a safe trend strategy based loosely off BTMM.
5. Use QT for identifying zones of potential retracements and next move breaks.