I can’t understand why there is so much content here all just to identify a trend. If you can’t see it, use a bigger time frame to identify. Use 5min, 30, 60 and 240. If you can’t see the major and minor trends from that, you need to look at a lot more charts until it becomes second nature. So forget all the crap above cause no one has time for that. Keep it simple. Don’t get sucked into the noise of advise and indicators, just use one or two or maybe 3.
can see, can't see, all the problems because most talkers do not have the clear, precise definition of the trend, usable as a part of the method can u provide one? but remember: the whole truth, and nothing but(t).... he-he
If you have come to this forum (or any other) for "trading strategy 101 in a box" you're going to be disappointed. If you've come for a little bit of entertainment mixed with some educational wisdom or questions that you may be able to take back to your own strategy/style you are in the right place. Just watch out for the bozos !
Which of these two instruments has a definite trend? Crude oil? http://www.macrotrends.net/1369/crude-oil-price-history-chart Or S&P? http://www.macrotrends.net/2324/sp-500-historical-chart-data It is clear that going long-term up in S&P is a good bet, while WTI is a bit more dicey to choose a long-term direction.
You're right, naming a trend is easy, but you stop short of what's really useful for traders - evaluating which trend to go with first out of 38 charts.
I would suggest that trend recognition is similar to pornography - difficult to to define precisely but one knows it when one sees it. Just scanning for "higher highs and higher lows" is not sufficient. More context is required in the search unless of course one can be content with very short and perhaps artificial relationships. To separate out the longer term trend possibilities one might consider the environment in which the highs and lows are occurring. In addition to on-chart support and resistance and the "force and momentum" indicators, one might also look at the "strength within group," stuff and even do some (gasp!) analysis of fundamentals all the way up to "how is this chart's sector going to behave" for the next month/quarter/year?" So perhaps the best response to "does this constitute a trend?" is "how long of a trend possibility are you looking for?"
What if "one" across a thousand trades is not as good as "two" across a thousand trades. Or, are we talking your personal sun,moon and stars aligning for this special"one". Isnt "one" different after capitulation followed by strong momentum vs. "one" after the "dead cat bounce" What if "one" occurs in gold as well as EMarkets while bonds and USD do not "one" ??? One? Really.
It takes one bar for a trend to identify itself. Learn to see that bar. If wrong , have a close stop. Risk management is your only edge in this business.