Attached a pic for some clarity. Re your second question: Because I am an incompetent trader that is setting profit targets based on points..... :-( Edit: I know about measured moves, but is that something you would recommend for someone struggling with the random wins of a gambling trader?
lol. Is it really that stupid? I am hopeless at entries. I am not entering on BO's, but today is clearly a day when doing so makes a great deal of sense. when am I wrong? When price goes against me by x points.
No, not stupid. But you appear to be continuing to enter long even though price is in a downtrend. Starting over is difficult. And you're getting a lot of input here. You really ought to focus on just one voice. Best of luck to you.
OK, so you're assuming the pullback will be a pullback and support (demand line) will hold. You don't have to do that; you're not trading massive size where you need to scale in on pullbacks and you're hedged and it's other people's money so who cares what happens as long as you don't lose more than your peers... You can watch price pull back to the demand line and then use a buy stop to get long IF price hangs out there and doesn't close below it or break down altogether. Look at a 1-min chart and connect the 9:44 low and the 10:02 low and notice how that LTL (demand line) is honored during the 10:08 bar and price makes a higher high. So price then pulls back as is normal in a trend, but when it reaches the line it drops further and closes below it. The long trade is off the table for now. Wait for clarity. Price pulls back to the underside of the line during the 10:18 bar and breaks down further. Breakout Pullback (BOPB) short setup now in play. And, yes, when you're shorting in a downtrend (as opposed to shorting in a range from the range extreme), your minimum expected result is a lower low, preferably a measured move if the context to the left of your entry indicates that possibility.
Thank you Workwithus, I can see that you, ND, and DBP all seem to be pointing to the same path. Does trying to trade, even in sim, affect the ability to just try and learn what the PA is doing? Does it make that much of an impact? Its a difficult concept to consider doing this without having a goal - to trade - I can see myself clicking the buy/sell button. That said, this journal is about developing new ideas since the old ones are not working for me.
As usual DBP has cut through it. Pick one approach to the market that you believe fits your personality (I recommend looking at EITHER NoDoji or DBP). Try and throw out everything you "know" about trading and start fresh. As for entries if you are trying to enter on a pullback when is a pullback confirmed?When is it blown? What happens when you enter after a pullback is confirmed? What happens when you enter before a pullback is confirmed?