The attached chart is referenced in Post 48 and chart notations show how I define rejections of support areas.
My experience, short term trading is counterproductive for the following reasons. The best moves and opportunities happen (seen after the fact) by the least obvious signals. Breaking this down: Volume as an example which I've studied alot, often gives conflicting signals. You can have good price moves on both low and high volume. Price breakouts and breakdown can move at any time with no warning. What I've experienced time and again, the mkt always does what is least expected. I've repeated this phrase numerous times on ET. If you are not in a trade, one cannot profit from it. If you chase a trade, often it pulls back and then what to do? Hold? Thats not day trading. Sell? Ya for a loss! For all the decades of my trading, I still cannot predict a move, all I can do is work on probabilities and those probabilities take time to form. Day trading is good if you want to burn energy.
All retracement levels are eligible. The 61.8% is the most critical as it determines if an uptrend is still in play. The 23.6% is important as it is a good place to enter a dip in an uptrend as that will usually hold or not get touched. In other words never take a counter trend trade if the 23.6% retracement does not get broken unless you want a high risk trade taking it down to the 23.6%
Day trading is good when you're young, but its a bad investment for growing old. Sports people all burn out, they need another different career to carry on with. Try day trading when you're old, probably you will not stay married.
Are any retracement levels Not eligible for trading? Do you use pinbar exclusively to define rejections?
I do not disagree with anything you just said. I know you have developed your swing trading methodology that pays off for you. Successful day-trading is nigh impossible -- I agree with that as well. I am just trying to be the rare exception. As I said earlier for now I am just trying to make $250 before I lose $250. It is me against the market.
All retracement levels are eligible for trading. A pinbar adds probability to the trade but is somewhat rare and not necessary. All retracement levels are eligible and often times you will see a reaction of two levels like the chart of today's action where price rejected the 50% and when straight to the 23.6% and rejected it. Everything I have learned about Fibs comes from John Carter and Henry Gamble of Simpler Options. They apply it to the daily charts and I am experimenting to see if it can work for me on shorter timeframe charts for daytrading.
As long as I don't try to sneak more funds into TOS to keep it above the 25K PDT level I get to stay married. I burned out in my professional career. This is what keeps my young at 77.