In one of my post yesterday I stated that protracted laterals are the source of my mis-analysis and costly mistakes. This proved true again today with the protracted lateral of 10:45 to 11:20. Although these scenarios prove very confusing for me to navigate, the reason for the confusion is not. Quite simply I find these areas confusing and difficult to navigate because I do not yet have the correct perspective of when to accept an overriding signal of change and when to ignore such signals. The example I cited yesterday and Spyder was kind enough to explain is a prime example of the source of my confusion. Today's lateral again provided several opportunities for confusion for me and per usual, chewed up a lot of money and frayed some nerves on the way. As I write this we are in another lateral (11:30 to present) and I have to determine if the 11:50 bar w/ IBV w/ close inside the range of the previous bar is a traverse level signal of change, or are we still in a lateral so it needs to be ignored and I should just hold tight? I am choosing to get out of the trade with some profit and see what happens. Such protracted laterals have been and continue to be the primary source of my inability to move my trading abilities to a profitable pursuit. It appears to me the means to determine when to take a signal of change is mostly an art form than strict rule application.
Have you ever constructed one of those 1000 piece puzzles? You have all these pieces spread out across a dining room or kitchen table slowing connecting pieces until the picture gradually begins to take shape. Do you say to yourself after placing piece number 562, "Oh, hey. Look there. I just realized. My puzzle isn't finished yet!" Or, do you think, "I haven't finished the puzzle until the final piece is placed within the picture." Every Bar says, "Sequence not complete" until the final sequence arrives just as every puzzle piece says, "Picture not complete" until you place the final piece of the puzzle on the table. For you, the area which appears to require attention is differentiating between Dominant and Non-Dominant Price Movement. Once you know where Dominance ends and Non-Dominance begins (as well as the converse), I believe you'll have the ability to 'see' that which currently evades your grasp. - Spydertrader
Subtle difference here. Part of this specific lateral exists after Point Three (Note where the Number three sits on the clip, and note where increasing Volume comes into the picture). In other words, we have arrived at Point Three and started to head off into the channel. However, the market hasn't exited the Lateral just yet. In the other example (supplied by guavaman), the market is still moving Point Two to Point Three, and as such, remains in the non-dominant portion of the sequence. - Spydertrader
Sounds like you are asking for trading advice. When these questions arise in your head, time to switch from 'trading mode' to 'learning mode'. Switching modes has been posted recently.