Volatility is growing up. Somebody knows something. Mostly it is signaling more downside. Last retraction until now is just fart in the wind like we say here.
LF, I'm just now reading this, was busy with CL all day, but it appears around the time you shorted, some reversal signals were put in (I'm not sure about the time stamp of your post and my chart, but looks that way). 1190.50 previous resistance was to be tested after higher lows and a close above the 20 EMA (5-min chart). I switched sides in CL once price made higher lows AND closed above the 20. It's difficult to switch gears after a good trend has been running, but once higher lows and a close above the 20, I'd look for long entries. Day trading and waiting for confirmation seem mutually exclusive at times
NoDoji, You`re absolutely right and I thank you for your analysis Do you find that the 20-EMA aids you a lot in reading price action? I know that both you and Brooks use it, but I have never really used it myself. The good thing about the day is that I learned a lot today. The bad thing is that it cost me more money than I would like (I did not honor my first stop loss since I was trading at minimum size and reasoned that I would still risk a small monetary amount if I moved my stop). Note to self: I`m a trader, not an investor. Further, higher time frames did not confirm my decision to go short. There really is no excuse for my poor trading today. I fought the trend, no doubt about it. What happened to my nice trading last week? Now I`ll just have to clean my slate and prepare for tomorrow. Congratulations to everyone who read the market and profited today.
I find it to be helpful because a lot of patterns tend to repeat around it. After a strong trend in one direction, when price finally bottoms/tops and closes above/below it for the first time, the next pullback in the new trend is often one of the best entries. Today for example, after a strong selloff, ES finally closed above the 20 EMA on the 5-min chart on the 1:30pm ET bar. The pullback to it was a prime entry point for the new uptrend. If price failed to make a higher high and then broke back down through the 20, you can reverse short and assume continuation of the previous trend. Earlier this morning, the pullback to it after price finally closed above it failed to break the previous high, and allowed you to get out for b/e or a small loss and reverse short for continuation of the previous down trend. I also use it as an initial profit target on counter-trend trades, when price pulls a long way from it. It acts like a magnet, especially after a trend has run for several legs already. I had a bad day a couple weeks ago using a 1-min chart to trade against the prevailing trend. I think it's a requirement to lose one's mind now and then to prevent too much cockiness