First Low 1492.50. First swing high 1503.75. Last swing low before the pop 1496.00. I fail to see how I could have gone long, averaged up, protected profits and still been in for the big pop higher. It is 1523 currently after the Fed. Lets say I bought 1494--- a great entry just 1.50 off the low. If I subsequently averaged up, the 1496 subsequent low pre Fed would surely of stopped me out.
Pre-fed, pre fed was a regular morning I'm talking post fed add on retracements once that double top was broken, technical and fundamental bullish sign. Anek
Again, if I traded like that everytime a 1 minute double top broke in the SP, then I would be a loser. Hell if you know when its going to trend or not going to trend going forward you don't even need a chart. That is not something you can teach and not much to do with technicals I don't think. Quite a gift. All the best going forward.
You don't, which is why you can start small with a simple reversal pattern formation and add at confirmation points. Then examine price action, buying/selling pressure in the tape, with close examinations of your surroundings, support/resistance, intraday and multiday. How strong are the retracements, how quickly are the buyers jumping in. Is there are any area that is causing complacency ? All these tips matter. Look at my last add, that was not optimal and the retracement barely held only to continue and make new highs. When it does not want to sell, it won't. Anek
Anek, you mentioned the importance of screentime a few times. How long do you think it takes to become aware enough of the priceaction in a way to trade it well. I understand this can differ from one person to another but how long did it take for you to become profitable? Right now i've been daytrading YM for about a year and am currently trading breakeven. I am really at a point that I don't know if I should pursue this or try another way. My biggest problem is sticking with my strategies, which are profitable most of the time. Usually I give it all back by a few mistakes. The market is unforgivable in this respect. Another question I have is: what are your thoughts about automating certain setups on the index futures. Have you ever considered this? And if you think this is a no-go can you please explain why? (slippage, too many variables, impossible to implement priceaction etc.) Further, I know you are really trading priceaction. From your chart I can tell you are using a candlestick chart with volume and stochastics. Why do you use stochastics? I also assume you use tapereading for orderflow. If this is correct are there some strategies you use that are worth while mentioning? Thanks in advance!
Ray, As you said it differs from person to person. It takes years of screen time to polish your pattern recognition skills and possibly a bit more to get your discipline to above average levels which is exactly what you need. As far as automation I've never succeeded in that area although I've never given it my best efforts. Anek
Just want to say thanks to Anekdoten and Duref for starthing this thread. I was about to give AHG (in journals) a miss but now won't .