She wrote something better: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=132626&highlight=nodojis I'd say about half the people in this thread use "marketable" limit orders, i.e. they will use limit orders to avoid crazy slippage but they're willing to pay the spread. Of the other half, maybe half join the queue (sorry, "line") and the other use market orders (particularly those trading auto or semi-automated systems.
Oh no, you're reviving my personal Wizard of Oz chronicle (warning: there are chapters where you should stay under the covers and keep the lights on), including my "indicator" phase, my "counter-trend I'll hold this losing position till it dies or I die" phase, my "usual noob mistakes over and over again" phase and documented proof of what a stubborn B I was when an extremely experienced trader patiently tried to get me to see the light for the better part of a year. Finally, in the end our heroine realizes the Ruby Slippers of Price Action have been on her feet the whole time and all she had to do was click her heels together three times and say "the trend is your friend, the trend is your friend, the trend is your friend..."
If I see a potential pure signal bar forming I'll whack the bid or ask with a marketable limit order immediately upon close of the bar, or take it a few seconds before the bar closes. I've missed out at times and ended up with my LMT unfilled and price immediately 15 or more ticks away. I usually won't chase that unless the profit target zone is distant enough to make the R:R worth it. However, a move like that indicates a very strong trend could be in progress, with no 5-min bar pullbacks, so watch the 1-min chart for a second try at entry. There are so many great trading books already written. Al Brooks did it right: He made his book so complex and convoluted that only the most persistent and dedicated student would continue reading past the first chapter. If you get his book and find that you can hardly wait to read the next 3 pages after the full day of rest required from reading the last 3 pages, then you know you are the SERIOUS TRADER referred to on the cover of his book
lol, I re-read the Trendlines and Trend Channels chapter all the way through for like the 3rd or 4th time today (every single page in that book needs to be read multiple times). Also read his market commentary for 9/30 and 10/01 on his site two times each today. Its been a lazy Sunday, I am now officially sick of the words high(er), low(er), failiure, bar, and trend.
Let's put it all in proper Sunday perspective: We took the lead 1:0 early in the first half, gave it right back, then gave it all up as the opposition caught our center back off guard 3 times back to back, came back just before halftime to close out the half down 2:4. "Second half is a brand new game!" was the mantra, "We're a second half team!" Took apart the opposition with 4 goals for the 6:4 win. Moral of the story: Don't let a few early losses throw you off your game.