Oh, I certainly plan to keep looking. Optimizing the candlesticks isn't effective. I've coded all of this, forcing the code to look for certain candle patterns. This doesn't work. The simplistic approach is most effective. Green:Long; Red: short; hold for 2.5 candles. Greatest draw down occurs, of course, on a long pattern of: red, green, red, green, red, green .... Anyhow, BWOL, there is a certain entertainment value to trading now, even if I am losing, it adds a little color to the learning process and my greater research. Be patient with me; I'll get there. You've been at this for many years. I'm just getting started.
FreakOfNature, honest advise: trade small if you are trying to figure out what your nitche is. Trade very very small until you can consinstently make money. Again. Very.. very small. -gariki
Unless you are already set with a 7-8 figure account, who cares about percentage. Can anyone here who quoted their gains in percentage terms actually claim to live soley off their trading gains? More likely a side investment account before they go "full time"? You do this on your own coin, you can only think in terms of absolute dollars and income. Bills don't get paid on percentages.
Care to wager? The loser drinks one quart of gasoline. I don't care if you/i vomit it out, but you/i need to swallow the entire thing. Failure to do so results in removal of one limb. And the process/event will be video recorded and made available right here.
Don't take this the wrong way, but there's no reason to trade unless you are making money. What's Warren Buffet's Second Rule of Investing? If you know it then there isn't any point to trade for entertainment value. The only reason to trade is to make money, so do not think the loons who claim to hold stock for 20 years then lose it all when the bankruptcy hits aren't crazy, because they are. No matter how entertaining there's not enough pizaz for me to go on tilt on every trade unless I know I have an edge. If it's entertainment then forget the entertainment of losing money and pick up books to entertain you about daytrading. You'll probably find a lot of the topics you've discussed in threads on ET have already been discussed ad nauseum.