NQurious: excellent advice. I suppose you did 1a,; did you do 1a when you just started to learn trading or after you have learned how to trade for some time? Somebody suggested this 1a to you or you figured it out by yourself? Thank you very much.
I'd answer but that would only tell you about me. And my answer might lead you to believe you must do it as I did. The best time to do it is when you are ready to do it. Let me show you what I mean by answering your second question. It was suggested as the first step toward coming up with a trading plan by @dbphoenix. I found this quote from him here from 2014. I found him elsewhere on the internet years before this post (he's been around for quite a while), and it was easier for me to to find something from him here on ET. Whether one is brand new to trading or has been at it for years, the exercise of observation "is analogous to meditation in that if one finds himself thinking about entries rather than focusing on price behavior, he should start over from the beginning. Eventually he will get tired of doing this and focus on the behavior in order to get through it." The key is to observe the market as it is an not as something to be "entered" and "exited" in the hope of earning a profit. You will note that 1A is accompanied by 1B: "Read Zen and the Markets by Edward Toppel. Start the meditation exercises now. It will augment your fitness for the mental and emotional pressures of trading." It will also help you with the exercise of observing. As meditation involves clearing your mind of extraneous thoughts and distractions. "Where to enter" is a thought that you must allow simply to drift away and then get right back to the exercise of simply observing the market's behavior. Whether one is brand new or has traded for years, the exercise is the same: "observe in order to find those "tells" which show the market's hand. In broad categories, these tells will manifest themselves in reversals, breakouts, retracements." I remember dbphoenix said of all those to whom he had suggested it over the years very few ever did it. I think he once said he could count on one hand the number of people who took his advice with fingers left over. I am one of those few.
Glad to see you drop back by was wondering what you were up to the last few days. Great observations as usual! Nice target IB!
catching up - Looks like you guys all killed it today! Well done! I got beaten up and called it a day early lol Hopefully more luck tomorrow!
For those of you that are just developing your methodology & in process of self discovery... as well as those whom have been in the game a while... these are Golden Nuggets given to you as a gift! Utilize it...