Yes you can trade the NQ without watching the ES or the YM, especially during the morning. But in this case that was a HH in the current Session, unless you are referencing the level from 8/13 and calling it a Held Offer in the Daily or 300m chart.
As I said, it was a FAILED higher high after four attempts to make one. Therefore a short. The failure is more important than the higher high itself. Edit: In case there's some confusion, the four attempts are 1244, 1255, 1300, and 1306. The fifth attempt is at 1311. The failure is at 1313. Resistance at this level was established from the first through the 13th.
I think, horton, you are not understanding the focus of this thread and the interests of we who are participating in it. You might find a more rewarding, less frustrating experience for yourself if you were to initiate a thread discussing your particular views and approach, rather than trying to introduce them here. This is a discussion about a particular approach to trading, after all, and not a contest between competing approaches. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MjoMQJf5vKI?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Price did roughly the same thing around 0930 CT and 1030 CT in the 1m chart so nobody is going to understand "this way" with respect to why 12:14 CT is so different unless you enlighten us with a chart showing how the lines make more sense there.
Third try at that level fails to make a higher high, and there is now a demand line we can watch for clues.
If one is looking for a peek at the future, it doesn't hurt to look at the underlying stocks which, after all, are the basis for the NDX and SPX. If they are in trouble, then it follows that the indexes will be in trouble as well. GOOG, ORCL, INTC, and CSCO in particular are a drag on the NDX. The SPX has its own problems.
Thanks to the posts you and Gringo have made with respect to the NDX components over the past few days, this has finally dawned on me - yet another "aha" moment! I have come to appreciate this over the past few days, and I have resolved to make myself an "NDXpert," of sorts. At least I am now going to make becomeing familiar with the price behavior and trends of the more heavily weighted individual stock issue components. I do have a nagging question, and any help from you, Gringo, or anyone else familiar with this would be appreciated. If trading the NDX on an EOD basis, using a days to weeks time frame and the daily and hourly bar intervals, I can see that trading the QQQ's from the long side is a reasonable choice. For short side trades, would it also be wise to stick with the QQQ's, and short them; or should I instead look to one of those "inverse" ETF's, like QID or TECS?