Im trading crude, but am having trouble adapting to the wide bars that are produced on a constant basis..at least today on the 5min my trading style is PA only, waiting for pullbacks on fib levels then taking the break of highs or lows from the previous candle The first trade was perfect, but entry wasnt based off fibs, but rather a gut feeling... + 1,000 the other trades however were losers, and because the bars are so big, and stops are below last candle lows, im experiencing big PL swings...is this just normal for a oil trader? thanks
I would argue PA and fibs are not compatible together. Meaning if you are truly into price action, you don't NEED fibs, price will signal on it's own where it will stop or reverse etc. It may or may not correspond with fibs but it would seem having fibs in there would be a distraction to true PA trading. Just my opinion though.
I dont NEED them either, but it does help to see where price will retrace, and the fib extension tool is useful to guage targets and price momentum....do you trade just with PA?, and if so how?...show me a chart of crude, and where, you'd be in (from the right hand side of the chart)
Try experimenting with bars based on ticks or a constant number of contracts rather than time increments and see if that helps.
I'm not sure you caught my point. If you know PA well, price will show you the levels its operating on without some predetermined fibs in there. It would seem to be a conflict of interest to a trader to be in the moment with PA yet also be operating with fib levels that are from old data (even a day old may not be accurate anymore). I don't trade crude, just ES, so I can't just pull up a chart and tell you exactly what I would have done. I don't know that market like the back of my hand and it would take me some time to learn its nuances to give you an accurate assessment from my perspective.
Try looking at price action through the same multiples of differnt time fractals (2, 10, 50, etc., minutes). The fractal you place trades on and monitor will be dependent on your money and risk management levels. I noticed a long time ago that when you confluence across the board in the differnt time-frames you will generate high probability trades. Good trading
show me an example...what are you talking about?..like triangles, pennants, wedges?. Fibs work for s/r, but not all the time. Nothing always works. its not the fibs that are the root of my problem, its how i trade the price action. If my trades takes place on a tall bar, then my stop has to be farther away. My trading method is consistant, but im at the mercy of volalitity.
here is es on a 10min showing resistance at 61.8, so im looking for shorts, and take the break of the last low...no problem, now the other trade in purple, shows the same type of trade but this time long, however my stop is too far...because of my style of putting stops below last candles low, im screwing myself if i get stopped...sometimes its not a big deal, but you get one trade like this and it can easly cut your PL bu 1/2.
I can't show you an example of PA because its not an isolated event. Its the culmination of all that is happening as price is moving. Once the market opens, the day starts for me and keeping track of all I see and all that happens leads to an eventual signals to get long or short (based on my approach). It isn't based on one wedge or one pennant. Which is why discussing PA with people who trade differently is nearly impossible. The market prints repeatable patterns like H&S and cup and handle and sometimes they work and other times they don't. But to a PA trader, the chart can print one thing but tell an entirely different story. Which leads many to believe TA is crap. But my contention is that they just don't understand how to get to the nitty gritty.