i wouldnt walk away from the computer, but when im reading the tape looking to scalp this is how i trade. indicators are obviously worthless imo. i dont claim to be a great trader, although i am profitable. i focus on finding inflection points/ reversals. when i see a move like above example, actually a stupid bad example really i ask myself >WWJAD what would John Arnold do? although i doubt he ever was a scalper
i highlighted some points that further my observations. in hindsight its very easy, but i like to keep reminding myself that the big money players that are driving the market constantly need to fake-out the fish for more depth. i circled the points that look very obvious by textbook TA pointing to one direction but the market goes against it. looking at this chart, there are some areas (not highlighted) that offered some decent risk/reward trades by the book, a few hours into 1/7 the up trend breaks from the beginning of the chart breaks down signaling a downtrend good for 40 pips but for scalpers / EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!
my opinion on the 1st/2nd chart..formations, supports and resistances don't always pivot to the T. i mean there are many instances where they do, but not always. the close of the candle and opening of the next are very important, along with volume, when confirming plays like that.
i agree open and close of candles are important on daily/weekly/monthly bars for STOCKS but for hour/min/sec in stocks/ fx/futures bars very ambiguous. one trader might be looking at 1 hour bar, another at 15min bar. when does the day begin? asia/ny? trendlines are important, intraday chart patterns are for fish. in my humble opinion
Intraday price movements are particularly important to short-term traders looking to make many trades over the course of a single trading session. Trendline are patterns that use by position traders to help them to choose what particular stocks they will buy and hold for a period of time. Each has its own style, its own system, its own methods, but it all depends how they execute it and how they improve if needed. This may help to understand more... http://stockmarketnotebook.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/the-path-to-successful-trading/ Just my 2 cents...