Thanks db. I will be developing the tactics myself so that I trust them. Just like to know I'm using the right framework. I also like the fact that this will be cutting down on the number of trades I take, although it will require more patience. Which I don't really lack. Things are looking up. Finally.
I should point out that AMT would have been of little help during the '07-'09 market for an hourly trader. But that doesn't alter the efficacy of the SLA.
Been playing with it more over the long weekend. Had an epiphany with the SLA lines and began to see the buying pressure and selling pressure forces at work. No need for all those boxes anymore I had at the beginning. Getting pretty good at reading it without the lines too. If I do need a line, it's because it's a little too close to judge with the naked eye. Which leaves me wondering... if it's not obvious without the line, should I even take it? It's really coming together in my head now how price moves. I'm loving it.
Thinking a little more about entries and trade management now. Keeping "If it doesn't go, you don't want to be there" in my head. So I'm looking for those instances where price just goes and doesn't really look back, and the surrounding circumstances. Did it clear previous congestion? Did it clear the last swing point? How deep was the retracement? Etc...
Some preliminary observations: 1. Price needs to break the previous Supply/Demand line clearly and decisively. 2. Price needs to clear the previous swing point. 3. If the retracement is deeper than 50-75% of the initial impulse, it's usually not any good. 4. The best retracements usually offer a stop <20 points if placed behind the entry swing. Sill working on clearing congestion areas. I remember reading db saying somewhere that price has to clear congestion before it can run for daylight. Seems like once price spends two or more days ranging in the same territory, it's best to wait for the breakout and retracement of that activity.
Really only the second bullet point is significant in value. The rest is over-analyzation. Price clearing previous swing point though is of significance if the swing point is determined properly.