Hey you know what SoCalTrader619 I'm sorry if we've given you too much information here. The truth of the matter is that you have to find whatever allows you to look at price action and have it jump out at you clear as day what you should or should not do. Once you do that, you can begin the process of learning how to read price action.
Funny that you say that. I think I'm in the "range bar" phase right now. It's easier to see movement, vice all the long consolidation and periods of no movement. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong direction. I don't see why time is neccesarily a factor. It's all about "price action" and stock movement.
No, by all means. Lets keep discussing this. It's what I need to help me decide how I can finally learn price action. I appreciate all the generous responses thus far.
I know what you mean, but I think the reason is that people do not know why such things work. In your case you follow it probably because you know it worked for you (proof of the pudding is in the eating), but for someone else who does not see it the way you see it, he will never follow it consistently. He needs proof (not trading proof, but another proof). There is one for the stocks you suggest. It is just not provided/understood. Learning to trade is harder than swimming. First the person has no reason to trust that winning in trading is possible (he does not see others making it, he has just words). Once he sees it (like swimming), he still needs to believe that there are fundamental laws that make it work. These laws are usually not known to the new trader, and he does not know what to look for (the thread poster is an example). It is not his fault. Trader do not write their laws and why they work. Then the new trader has to internalized the laws, and deeply understand them. Finally he has to apply them consistently. So it is long process, and it needs many things to work right for the whole thing to work right.
I had a long drawn out response then I realized it wouldn't answer your question. Go here instead. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=99283&perpage=40&pagenumber=1 To answer your question in my humble opinion you are looking for a trend, you want to enter and ride the trend forever if possible. a 50/200 period moving average cossover would be an example.
SoCalTrader619: Search the "dbphoenix" old posts: He wrote a very good e-book on Price Action. Or PM me your email & I'll send the pdf's.
I always anticipate the next move of the market (ER) after the last candle is formed. Base on the last few bars, what would the market do to hurt the most traders in the next few bars? Sometimes the patterns are obvious and I would hit it hard and add to the ER when I am correct. Other times I wait for a minor pullback and jump in with a small position riding the rest of the trend since I already miss the first big move. The key is to figure out which stops are to fade and which are the real moves. My feeling about the ER is it's all about taking out stops and hurting the mom and pop traders. I used T&S, Ticks, charts of 1, 5, 20, 60 mins and daily. After a while, the ER is pretty predictable, other times, you got stops.
Oh, I know. I just wanted to post a comparable chart so you could see how YOUR entries and exits matched up.
Those are my S&P trade this afternoon. I strictly trade the eGrains (Wheat & Soybeans) in the morning and then switch to the eMini S&P or eMini DOW after 3 pm EST. Those labels (programmed & computer generated) show me strong trading Support & Resistance oscillations and when a failure (HL or LH) is being created, where is am able to trade back toward a Breach (HH or LL), I look for specific objective triggers where I execute or exit trades.