Actually I do use S&R for instance on the SPY chart I posted above I saw the crossing of 2 trend lines with the price action consolidating into a corner. So which one will it follow? I waited for one or the other to break for entry but looking at minor support around 131 that is probably about where I will get out. Did I leave a little money on the table? Sure but I don't see a strategy that looks to make me about $3.50/share in a couple of days as a bad thing.
Hello Maverickz and Mercor, this question seems to be like the question about which one is first: the egg or the chiken? Break of one trendline or bounce from another. Jsu one point Maverickz, in your trades do you zoom in the breakout in order to "perfect" the trade? You say that you hdve no problem with leaving money on the table. So I guess that you do not go into the lower timeframe. Right? I think that going into lower time frame has the advantage to precise the trade, but has one big disadvantage - one can miss the whole move, waiting for a minor pullback. Especially for the great moves. Mercor, would you mind to put one or two examples of your trades with the trend. I'm curious to look at it. Thanks.
I will post 4 commnets based on a chart and your thoughts. After that I will wrap up the series with another post. The chart I will use as a reference was not done as events happened and there are some TL's that are off so much I coluldn't use them. Comment 1 chart. Look at the red boxes. This is money once made and then slowly left on the table. think about it.
Comment 2 shows a chart with TL having a clone in pink, thus forming a channel. At some point the channel widens; see second pink line when this volatility expansion happens.
Notice that after the volatility expansion the price retraces to the trend line. See the yellow circle. Now you see the following: 1. TL's overlap. 2. TL's can be used to form channels 3. Channels have volatility expansions (VE) 4. After VE the price retraces to the TL. 5. After the TL is hit price bounces off and goes to where the red box starts to begin the TL overlaping. 6. the price retraces to the TL and goes through the TL at the end of the red box.
The person who put the chart up failed to put in the TL after the last one he did put in. 1. put it in. 2. Put in the red box. 3. put in a pink line 4. estimate where the double pink line starts 5. Estimate where the yellow circle goes. 6. estimate where the next red box goes.
Subtract the time of my first post from the time of this post. This is the time, approximately that you have had to spend to make several new places in trading to make money. Here are the new ways you can make money over the old BO trading that the original chart may do. 1. Take a trade at the beginning of the red box to the point where the double pink begins. 2. Reverse on the double pink and hold to the TL. 3. reverse on the yellow circle on the TL and hold to the beginning of the red box. 4. go to 1. and take the trade by reversing. 5. add a trade each time you go from the TL to the single pink line. 6. Add a trade each time you go form the single pink line to the TL. 7. Add a trade each time you go from the TL to the second (double pink line. 8. hold if price breaks through (advances) the double pink line. 9. if and when another volatility expansion occurs, reverse on the additional pink link beginning and hold to the TL. Here you see how to learn and add rules to move from beginner to advanced beginner. This one post of a few improveements will double your profits at least every few bars. The next step is to trade each bar about 10 to 15 times by moving to the proper fractal for making money. The result is about 3 times the length of every bar on this chart per year of trading. There are five more doubling available to you after this. You need to add some leading indicators of price for ths. So far you have never seen the market. consider getting organized so that you can see the market. Attached is a post I made on 31JAN2007 for 2008. It is also annotated. Notice the market turning points that you have seen so far this year correspond to what is on the chart. Notice the volume is also projected.
Print the charts print the comments On a five minute chart do the same for 42 days and trade the TL, pink, yellow circles, the start of the red box and the VE's. Annotate and project lines into the future Log all trading. Debrief all trading. In these efforts (in a three ring binder, reverse chron) you will know why everything happens and long before it happens that it is going to happen. WMCN is the why of everthing in trading. NB: This stuff is all choices that a person makes. Form this point on it will be fairly clear on future charts that everyone, almost, will still sit on thier asses and watch the trades passthem by day after day week after week and month after month. That is the reality of not trading.
Yes I did this quickly and late at night as an example. This thread is not titled "how do you trade trade trend lines?" or "What is the best way to use trend lines?", it's called "Do trend lines work?". My example was simply to show that using trend lines only, and some of them even poorly drawn can yield a profit over a year. Do I think the lines I have drawn and trading them and only them is an optimal way of trading? Hell no. Do I trade using trend lines only? No. But to answer the OP: yes they can and do work.