Whipsaws suck of course. I've noticed that I'm getting a bit better at avoiding them. It helps a lot to avoid trades when moving averages are converging and sandwiching the candle sticks, and even when that doesn't happen, I've noticed that generally my winning trades are always in a decent trend. Something subconsciously is helping me perhaps after staring at so many charts for so many days.. but I don't know what it is, but there is definitely room for improvement. I would like to know what methods others on here are using to avoid them.
One trader's misery is another trader's glory. Think about that for a moment, and perhaps you will know what to do.
1. Ring broker and close account. 2. Uninstall trading software. 3. Never return to trading. = Complete avoidance of choppy markets
I don't know the answer to nonlinear5's riddle. Personally I don't try to anticipate what the market will do, but I try to understand its current behavior by noting how related things are moving at the same time. On what time frame do you trade?
The occasional intraday trade if the stock moves 7 or 8% in a couple of hours, but usually a few days.
Constantly think about 2 -- the two sides of the market that are constantly fighting each other It's kind of more profound then it may seem.
HP EliteBook 8540w, 2011 model. i7 2.80Ghz, 4GB memory, 750GB hard drive, 1GB video card. Windows 7 Pro
===How do you avoid choppy markets?=== you don't avoid them, you should profit from them by switching to lower (or higher) time frame and trading off the supports and resistances.