Ok, very interesting day, still having troubles, but at least I know what the troubles are. Adding red diamonds to point exits. 1. This is the one I missed at the open, now I can see the channel bottom Db was talking about and of course the fact that we were finding rejection at 68 was a thing to account for at the time. 2. As I said, this was the first visible RET for me, the one higher just past by me, perhaps a 30 sec chart would help, but not for now. 3. As the SL was in danger I was thinking about a possible SAR, but that did not activate 4. This long was taken assuming I was in the same situation as in the open, this would have been a painful trade as prices went against me 2.5 points. Still need to differentiate between 1 and 4. 5. This one was not taken, because I was distracted, but after the fact I couldn't stop thinking about this short (yellow square), but as I did not see this one in Db´s post, so I guess I am missing something here. 6. Well, once i start imagining stuff things get complicated , as there is not diagonal chop this trade really sucked. Taking into account what was said about the need for a strong run away from the chop, this kind of entry will be avoided in the future.
Since by now I have seen your charts many times, I just wanted to suggest something that may be of help. You are often very early on Reversals because you are not letting price REVERSE and then retrace. The big fall from 3385 to 3360 demands a strong Reversal wave. It is not a minor swing that is being Reversed here. You are using the small poke at 10:04 as the Reversal thrust. But if you use the more substantial move from 1008 to 1009 as your Reversal signal, you will not be chopped up so much. I bet that if you review this specific situation on all your past trades, you will find that you either went counter trend or missed the actual Reversal move because you were too early. At times, such early entries will work out very well - but SAR is for a very compelling situation - such as when there is clear failure against major S/R or a low price risk trend continuation move.
"Diagonal chop" is a trend. If one is already in before it begins, best to find ways to stay in. Otherwise the only person who benefits is one's broker.
Let's see... On Niko's chart I missed his #1 trade, but entered on the next retrace. In his #2 circle I saw both the entry's marked but to late to trade them. So missed out today. I actually tried a re-entry short at the bottom of his #4 circle, and exited quickly. After that suspected chop and stopped. My lines look virtually identical to Niko's. So some synchronicity! Just wasn't fast enough today.
No need to be fast. Most of your time should be spent waiting. If you're not waiting, you're not anticipating. If you're not anticipating, then you're missing the trades. This of course is one of the outcomes of trying to trade while doing something else, which is why trying to trade intraday -- much less trying to learn how to do so -- while working or going to school or whatever is essentially a waste of time.
All I have to do is wait for that idea to soak in! Not clear on if not waiting, not anticipating... If you are not waiting you are anticipating? assuming anticipating generally associated with overthinking
Regardless of how it looks like is not about being fast, I am quite slow. But you have to be waiting for what you are looking for to happen, or else you will miss the move. As a rule, you have to cut on any distractions, although in front of your computer waiting for something to happen looks like an eternity, once you look somewhere else in your (house, office, I don´t know) time starts running faster and by the time you put your focus in the market again, the opportunity is lost, and if you try to chase it you will probably be too late and then frustration and other emotions take over. It is only 90 minutes (9:30 to 11:00) so forget about everything else and focus, you will see that it is not a matter of speed.
Thank you. Just to make sure I am in the same page. Here, after the break of the SL at 10:10 and the failure of the short below the 50% level (if one took it), the chop area would be between 60 and 71?. I see 60, because unless sellers manage to make a LL below 60 the downtrend is over.