I worked for a high tech company - the company stock was in a big channel channel, it was instinctive to buy at support & dump at resistance - repeating over & over - figure out you could time the market. Ventured into a few more high tech stocks when the first on-line broker opened - did real good. My friend that worked as a trader for Morgan Stanley turned me on to an entry level TA book in the mid 90's, I was all in. I did venture into day trading full time for 6 years, ironically with $ made from swing trading and investing only to lose most of it. Switched back to swing trading some 15 years ago - I will never drift again! Swing trading meaning holding positions up to months.
I would rely on whatever ideas you've got from your pro-days. Lean on the knowledge you have and try some different things. When I stopped options market making, I found it very hard to change... but the fact is that lots of things will be different. I almost entirely stopped trading options and focus mainly on futures now. What I found was that I shouldn't trade too much... take your time and be patient. I used to try to trade lots, but since transaction costs were 10x that of my pro-days that meant profits where a lot smaller than it used to be. Tick-scalping is just a lot more expensive than with pro-fees. Information disadvantage is a problem at first, but you'll get used to it. The market still works the same as it used to, but your tools have changed somewhat. You just need to realize that... Also, be more focused on any losses and learn from it, losses in retail trading will have a bigger and direct impact since there's nobody to offset or hedge with on your team. Lean on your knowledge of the workings of the markets... that's your biggest advantage at the moment compared to other retail traders.
As a fellow rates guy I will give you a slightly different take. I'm a natural spreader. I look at what is cheap and expensive right now. If you have longer term views (I have them, but do all I can to suppress them haha) then you should probably trade outright.
Since you asked . . . I knew from the outset that I wanted something that was as closely tied to reality as possible. This pretty much eliminated newsletters, advisory services, opinions of whatever sort (articles, books, televised commentary and so forth), no indicators, no patterns, no candles, no other filters of any sort, just a record and display of prices paid. Eventually this led me to Wyckoff's approach, whether intraday -- which is based on tape reading -- or interday, both of which are rooted in trading price. This is not everyone's cup of tea. In fact, very few retail traders are interested in this. But it makes sense and it keeps me out of trouble. And it spots important trading opportunities, such as 1/2 and 1/16 on the NQ. Programming it is troublesome as understanding and implementing it has much to do with trading off other traders' greed and fear rather than whether or not some line crossed some other line. But it's served me well over the years, and I've never found anything else to match it. The fact that professional traders use it is also an endorsement and a plus. It is also extraordinarily simple.
One of its key strengths and reliabilities. "And so say all of us" ... well, ok: "some of us" - albeit that I'm sure I apply it somewhat differently from you - but your points are well made, and (I hope) well taken.
From my days as a market maker this approach feels like a relatively natural fit. I'm currently reading "A complete guide to Volume Price Analysis" by Anna Coulling which is exactly the approach you are talking about. It would seem this is very much @Xela wheelhouse as well. Appreciate the input.
%% Lot of stuff+ time; i would do more junk silver but local dealers have such a huge bid /ask, LOL...... And IBD end of day charts.......+ Morgan Stanley related book =Market Maker's Edge. Not that i still use all those fractions LOL. But Nasdaq Market Maker's Edge 6 month candle charts help.Yes .But I seldom daytrade, even though his job required a lot more trading. I see Anna uses 8 month candlecharts, but that's in her investing book.....
I feel that most markets trade similarly. I see the same patterns in Equities as I see in fixed income. I find that that futures are a bit easier than individual stocks, largely because of gap/earnings risk...just my opinion. The advice I would give would be time frames...Longer time frames are easier than shorter time frames in my opinion. 4hr charts are beautiful in my opinion. 5 min charts...it's just so short term, it's not for me. I would say lean towards longer time frames vs shorter if you are trying to learn. I trade Bond futures, Equity index futures, currency futures, US energy complex, Gold.... They all do the same thing over and over and over again. Time frame is most important to pick as opposed to underlying vehicle. I find that options are hardest to trade, direction ally at least. That's what I learned on, and I was below average. When I switched to futures, it became all too simple...kind of. Always hard, but easier than options in my opinion.