I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. I don't know what indicators you use or how you use them, so I can't be of any help there. I don't pay any attention to T&S, so "odd" price action would have no influence on me. Nor do I pay any attention to ARMS or TRIN, much less why certain activities are taking place or who is responsible. The first question I'd ask, therefore, knowing nothing of your strategy, is what the outcome would have been if you had not allowed the psychological issues to interfere. If the outcome would have been satisfactory, then you have at least a partial answer and a partial fix. However, if the outcome would have been unsatisfactory regardless of whether or not you allowed the psychological issues to gain the upper hand, then you need to talk to somebody who knows what your strategy is. If you got it from Hershey, then his MSN group is the more likely place. On the other hand, if you're not satisfied with the strategy either, then all sorts of possibilities present themselves. I, for one, play divergences, and yesterday was not the easiest day to do so, but the divergences were there, and playable (I'm sure there were other strategies to play as well, but I don't follow more than two or three strategies simultaneously, so I can't be of any help there, unless you want to adopt a divergence strategy). I could give you a bunch of bumper-sticker advice, as with stops or price targets or whatever, but none of that would address any of the central issues. If you think about the three questions I've posed, you'll at least have a beginning.
Yesterday's morning action looked like some beta-chasers were just piling into SMH and BBH -- imagine if these ETF's were popular during the late 90's!
I added the stochastic over the weekend based on your reply to this thread, and found a similar set up today as the one you outlined in your charts. I'm not sure if this was a textbook set up (if there is such a thing) like the example you posted as the price uptrend was not quite as pronounced, but nonetheless I think it is a good example of how contributors such as yourself make ET a worthwhile place to visit! Thanks
dbphoenix, i agree with most of your points above, except that macd hist is not an oscillator in my understading. an osc should be oscillating ..eheh.. between 2 constant values, like stos swing back and forth between 0 and 100, cci between -200 to 200, etc... macd hist was fluctuating because macd lines are roping, that's all... anyway it's just semantic, i'm bored here so just picking on ppl..
The MACDh doesn't "fluctuate" because the MACD lines are roping; it varies according to the distance between them.