Live Room Frequently Asked Questions and Glossary

1) How do I log in? – The direct link to access the live trade room is: http://www.alexandertrading.com/liveroom Also, once logged into our website, in the gray navigation-bar, under “Member Suite”, click “Enter Trade Room. This is simply another way to the link above.

2) How do live room comments work? - Once in the live trade room, your questions and comments are welcome! Simply type what you wish into the “Comment” field. Your comments are viewed initially, by the live trade room moderator(s) only. However, at the Moderator’s discretion, your comment may be shared. Which, then makes your comment viewable to all in the live trade room. This aids in maintaining trade-topic focus when both explaining and applying trade concepts and tactics.

3) How do I learn the terminology used in the room? - Below, you will find a glossary of terms used daily in the live trade room.

4) This style of trading is entirely new to me, may I ask questions? - Of course! All questions are approached with the attitude that if it is important to you, it is important to us. Your attendance in the live trade room is meant to reinforce the trade principles and practices we teach. However, you will be best served for long-term success, if you first build an understanding of the core premise upon which all trades in the room depend. The Introductory section of our all-new TradeBuilder series, “Elements of Trade Excellence” is recommended to those seeking to gain a solid foundation and faster pace toward proficiency.

5) About how many trades are there on an average trading day? – It depends entirely on the day. We look for specific well-defined opportunities across a large number of futures, commodity and currency markets. Regarding trade frequency, we avoid, and teach our clients to avoid, frenetic, scalp-style trading. We will be happy to show you why this is the lowest probability way to trade (we back this up with examples and the math). We look for situations that provide an outsized reward to risk opportunity.

6) Who moderates the live room and what is their experience? - The live trade room currently has two moderators. The primary moderator is Harris Landgarten. To access his bio, click here. Tom Alexander is in the room in the morning to do a pre market update and then checks in at times during the day for updates. For Tom’s bio, click here.

7) What markets are covered in the live trade room? – Almost all US domestic futures and commodities are covered, including stock index futures, Metals, Energies, Currencies, Interest rate and Grain markets. A partial list of the market’s names, exchange and trade hours can be accessed by clicking here.

8) Are there additional benefits offered to DBSA Report or DBSA Report plus Live Room members? – Yes, members receive discounts to all our other products, including seminars and webinars.

9) Do you discuss the market’s status before the open? - Yes. Both Harris and Tom, individually discuss the status of markets in Index Futures, Metals, Currency and Energies before 9:30 a.m., eastern time. These 5-15 minute pre-open announcements  are recorded and available for immediate viewing from within the OmNovia, live trade room broadcast software. To see how to access these, click here. Viewing recordings while the live trade room is “on the air” is no disruption. Also, recordings are available 24/7. Even if you miss the live presentation of the day’s pre-open updates, this enables you to get up to speed fast.

10) How do you show specific trade-related details? - A box within the live trade room window is used. Here we present trade validation conditions, entry, stop and initial profit-target prices. These appear in a “poll” format. However, no answer on your part is needed. All trade detail announcements remain visible until you close the box. To see an example, click here.

11) How do I un-subscribe? – Send a listed-subject “Unsubscribe” email to tom@alexandertrading.com.

12) What charting software is shown in the live trade room? – The charting software featured is MarketDelta. To order a 30-day free trial, click here. Occasionally, CQG charting software is used.

13) Are chart templates available so my charts can be the same as the moderator’s? – Yes, if you use MarketDelta. MarketDelta subscribers, you are welcome to download our chart Layout templates. In just a few clicks, you can use the same charts featured in the Live Trade Room! At this time, there are no CQG templates offered.

14) “I use Market Delta, do you offer training?” – Yes. Click here to access our live MD training tutorial recording.

We appreciate your interest in what Alexander Trading has to offer you! Welcome, and if you wish to enter the live room directly, here is the live room link:

http://www.alexandertrading.com/liveroom


Trade well,

Tom Alexander

Below are terms used in the room.

Auction Market Value Theory™: This is our base methodology. It is the basis for our “worldview” of how markets organize themselves. It provides a consistent, valid and robust base model for trading any asset in any timeframe.

Balance, Balance Area (BA): Synonymous with Horizontal Development (see below).
This is one of the two primary phases of Market Development

Buying Tail: Two or more Single Prints at the low extreme of a day’s range. A Key
Reference Area

Car(s): Car equals contract. Going long one car is the same as saying going long one contract.

Elevator Shaft: An area of vertical conviction, often best seen using a bar chart but occasionally obvious on a profile chart as “single prints”.

Fair Value: A general consensus between buyer and seller as to fairness of Value. It is an
area that is not too high for the buyer and not too low for the seller. The majority of
transactions and volume typically occur in the Fair Value area of a given profile unit.

Handle: Handle = point. 1 point in the ES is one handle.

High Volume Node (HVN): The smallest area of a profile unit containing the most
amount of volume. There can be multiple HVNs in any given profile unit. It is a Key
Reference Area.

Horizontal Development: One of the two primary phases of Market Development and
the one in which the market spends the most time trading, in all degrees of time. It is
synonymous with Balance and consolidation.

Initial Balance Period: Generally considered to be the first two half-hour periods of a
trading day, assuming a market is a market-place dominated market and not a market
dominated market. The US stock indices are an example of a market place dominated
market. Trading in the US stock indices is dominated by the US exchanges day sessions
hours. FX trading is an example of a market driven market. It is truly a 24-hour market
not defined by the limitations of market place time constrictions.

Key Reference Area(s) (KRA): A KRA can be a single element that comprises all
profile units – high and low extremes,  HVN,  or it can be a coincidence of one or more of those elements in a relatively tight zone. The coincidence of KRAs in a zone typically represents the best place to initiate trades. Time can be a KRA as in an Initial Balance Period trade. Often KRAs can be better seen on a bar chart than on a profile chart as with high volume on the vertical scale signifying conviction and a one-sided market.

Lean: The point that if exceeded invalidates a trade set-up.

Market Development: The basis of what we refer to as “Market Development” is based on
Auction Market Value Theory™ (AMVT). Market Profile® is the graphical representation of AMVT. The gist of AMVT is that all free markets exist for the
purpose of facilitating trade and that market participants – buyer and sellers, identify
value, or lack thereof, by their actions. An auction is a price discovery process between
buyers and sellers. Bids and offers are made between buyers and sellers until they reach
an agreement on price. Prices that are too low will not have many sellers (offers) and
prices that are two high will not have many buyers (bids). If prices are too low or high
they are generally “unfair” to the buyer or seller and will not do a good job of facilitating
trade. Price will gravitate to the area in which there is the greatest agreement on price.
Market Profile graphically displays this process. The area of greatest value is that area
where trade most easily occurs between buyers and sellers. This is usually where the
greatest volume will be and where a market spends the most time trading. Where and
how much buyers and sellers trade defines the present state of market development.

The equation that represents the above is: Time over Price = Value

The primary tenet of Auction Market Theory is one of value; markets constantly rotate
between two cycles, or phases of Market Development, either Horizontal Development or
Vertical development, or Balance and Imbalance. A market in Horizontal Development is
one in which there is general agreement among buyers and sellers as to fair value. A
market in Vertical Development is a market in search of value. The Market Profile
graphic visually displays both forms of this development. Everything about Market
Development is quite logical. The various threads that weave together to form the larger
concept of Market Development are logical, consistent and simply “make sense”.

Market Profile®: The graphical display of Market Development based TPO counts

Market Structure: Market Structure are the pieces of the market development puzzle.
Market Structure includes each individual day’s profile, the components of that profile
that include the HVN and range extremes.

Selling Tail: Two or more single prints at the high extreme of a day’s range. A Key
Reference Area

Single Prints: An area in a profile containing only one TPO. A Key Reference Area.

TPO: A TPO refers to “Time/Price Opportunity” (Steidlmayer) or “That Price Occurred” (Jones). A TPO is a letter that designates a specific time period.

Value: Agreement on buyer and seller to conduct business at a price resulting in a
transaction.

Vertical Development: One of the two primary phases of Market Development and the
one in which the market spends the least amount of time trading, but is responsible for
the greatest magnitude of net price change. It is synonymous with Imbalance and trend.

Rotation: The primary “personality” of the market. All freely traded markets “rotate” in
the price discovery process of identifying Value. Markets are dominated by the behavior
and characteristics of rotation in all degrees of time.

Unfair Value (“unfair” prices): An area where prices are considered too high by the
buyer and too low by the seller. These are low volume areas and are quickly rejected.
Price spends the least amount of time trading in an “unfair” area.

How to Most Effectively Use the Room

We call trades. We make every attempt possible to call trades that can be followed as a learning process by room members. In the interest of both intellectual honesty as well as regulatory requirement (please read carefully the CFTC required disclaimer at the end of this document) all trades are HYPOTHETICAL trades. You should only execute trades YOU understand and that are suitable for YOUR account size, experience level, risk tolerance and a number of other factors. We ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE for your trading or whether or not you make a profit or a loss. Trading is very risky business and should not be undertaken with money that you cannot afford to lose. You can lose more money than is in your account when trading futures, commodities, currencies and any derivative product.

The purpose of the hypothetical trades we call is educational – we are displaying in real time how the methodology we teach may be applied.

We do not recommend that you take the trades we call in the room.

NOTE: Trading is very, very risky. It is very difficult to make money trading. You should only trade with money you can afford to lose.