One week not thinking about how to trade and instead starting the process of learning to read the market is the goal.Once you have a handle on reading the market then you can revisit how to trade your reads.
I think you might see a tapering off of quality advice until you decide to make some sort of change or choose a new approach to the market. Best of luck.
Sigh... Your number one problem is taking too many trades. I watch an index on a timeframe close to yours. There are wayyyyyyyyyyyyy toooooooooooo manyyyyy 1-2-3 setups to take them just on that basis. On a 500 tick chart you will be simply grinding yourself into shreds... Also, you are taking them in the wrong context. The ONLY WAY you should be taking these is (for long) the break of a bear trendline. After the break of the TL you observe a test of a prior swing low that holds and doesn't break lower, and then you want to buy above where sellers sold. I can't figure out what you are doing except you aren't doing that. This pattern is so strong of an edge because of the behavior behind it. Maybe if you understand the behavior behind the pattern so it actually makes sense will you actually change your ways? Looks like you've ignored what other's have posted so I probably wasted my time. But FYI I make money every ... single ... day... and today I'm in the 98% ($500,000 annually w/ 250 work days) income bracket in this world. Maybe now you'll change?
I think there must be a misunderstanding here. I am not trading the same as I have been previously (even though it may look the same) and suggestions have not fallen on deaf ears. I didn't start this journal just to ignore peoples suggestions, and if it appears that way because of my last couple of charts, then apologies. Its nice to get some sunlight these last couple of days, even if I am doing it 'wrong'. I agree that I probably need to start annotating charts as a means unto itself. At least it is something I have not done before - so it is definitely worth a try. In any case, I appreciate the constructive comments thus far.
Speaking only for myself it seems like you are trying to slightly modify your current approach to trading. You still have the same indicators and are still trying to short on pullbacks before they materialize. You have added a few trendlines but that is all. How are the bollinger bands benefiting your trading? What about the Gom indicator? How do either of these help you determine what price is doing? Please explain whose advice you are following and advise the followers of your thread what the first step you plan to take based on that advice. Then take that first step and see what happens. I am rooting for you. Until then you may be trading differently but you aren't following anyone's advice.
"Being wrong is something I do not deal well with in any part of my life, and I guess I am like a lot of people in this way. " you're born not being able to rollover,you try and try,fail and fail, and one day thats behind you then try to do pushups,same thing,then get up on your knees,then rock and rock ,then stand and fall a few 100 times ,then step and fall a few hundred,you get the picture ,trying and failing is how we narrow down ,smaller and smaller pic until we can eliminate bad practices and succeed, embrace being wrong ,it comes natural,just learn to say oops and do better next time and the time after that a little better and so on take the big picture and the a smaller and a smaller and zoom in ,of the market ,in that order,don't skip any of this,that discipline will teach you how to read the market,by osmossis without trying take the big picture of yourself,start with a higher being ,a creator,then a birth and death,lifespan,thats the big picture,any one day or one trade will be one of a seemingly infinite,but finite set of events. the trades and money you amass and spend lose leave behind will be of very little importance whatever job you do , the ones done well will stay with you long after the job is over and money gone with the one big down to small pic of the market under your belt , and the resolution that i will do each job well for the simple lasting gratification ,sit back and don't trade until you see a setup,one or two a month could keep you afloat take that knowledge of how to trade well and expound on how to trade those 2 setups,and 2 more and 2 more,over time the GAME becomes simpler and simpler there obviously is no holy grail, there is a lot of everything else but,
Find your niche. Sometimes, people call it "edge", but I really don't like to use that word because it feels like some kind of secret pattern that you have to find. So what is a niche? It is something that YOU are good at. It doesn't have to be some kind of chart pattern on the 1 min chart. Niche is basically becoming an expert at something, some niches are more profitable than others. Ask yourself. After 20 years of trading, what are you an expert at? Forget about profitability for a moment. Are you an expert in energy? Are you an expert in biotech? Are you an expert in macroeconomics? Trading is not all about looking at a chart. It is about using your brain to know more about a subject over other individuals...a niche. I think you have been focused on the technical aspect, but are you better than others in doing that? Are you better than others in risk vs. reward evalution? Are you better than other in statistical methods? Forget about staring at a chart all day. Just become more knowledgeable into an area that you are interested in. After awhile, you will get a better understanding on how to play the game. My background is in sciences, so naturally, I gravitated to the biotech industry. That's my niche. I follow most small biotechs, and they have clinical trials. If the clinical trials are successful, the stocks usually jump. if the clinical trials are failures, the stocks usually sink. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. But if you become an expert in this field, you will understand the follow through price movement over several days after the initial violent movement, and you can profit handsomely from that. These things don't happen on a daily basis, so there are many other things to learn. If you background is in commodities, then there are seasonal factors that can be taken advantages of. I know of a trader in Canada that rotate through her trading strategies. She once told me to start selling lumber because the seasonal effect is going to take place. So that gives her the cue for a bias that she trades with. If you are solely focused on the charts, then you are competing with a huge pool of people who are also only doing technical analysis. Chasing the holy grail pattern. Find your niche, and you will becomes much more consistent and have a fundamental input that can your guide...give you that "edge".
Of course, there is the mental aspect of trading as well. Fear and greed will always manifest itself in your trading. So successful trading is a combination of knowledge and emotions. You can be the smartest guy, but you cannot control your emotions, then you are going to lose because you can't stand to be wrong. You can be the most disciplined person, but if you don't have knowledge of what you are doing...then that discipline is misplaced. In the journals, RM posted that ADT is going to go down because several cable operators are getting into the home security market. And over the next few months, the stock went from $40 to $30. Pandora went from $35 a month ago to $26 today, but the nail in the coffin was that the royalty charges they pay the artist are going to stay the same...with more competition coming into the market like Apple Radio and Spotify. It is not always looking at a chart. Expand your mind. Keep your emotions in check.