The SLA can be mechanical if one isn't fearful. And those who aren't succeed with it. Those who are, don't. A chief problem is that those who are fearful can't tolerate any counter-move of any sort after they've entered. Any pullback of any extent is cause for panic and a quick exit, after which, more often than not, price continues in the desired direction (determined in large part by AMT). Too many people use lines and levels and indicators and bar intervals and so forth as talismans to protect them from the consequences of not having done the work. And that course will not achieve the desired result. I'm not trying to beat anybody up, but to use one of your questions as an example, wondering if one should "exit simply because price drops by a point below a level [one] outlined or below the low of a previous bar" is a question that can be asked only by someone who hasn't spent sufficient time observing charts in replay. One who has knows the answer and needn't ask it. Trying to answer such a question by trading in real time is next to impossible since working through the smog of fear short-circuits every rational cognitive impulse. Trading what "looks good" in real time and hoping that it works is not "doing the work". Worse, it (1) is a waste of time that would be better spent in replay, since fear is not an issue in replay and more useful analysis can be done and (2) a step or two or several backward into mental chaos. If one absolutely cannot eliminate his fears, his only choice -- if he is to keep trading -- is to develop an automated system. But even there, he must do the research and testing. There's just no way around it.
Ah... you know me so well! I have fortunately learned this, albeit the hard way, so I think I've hit rock bottom already and now just trying to crawl back out of this self dug pit. I do wish you commented on my question about how firm your rules are and about "how" you exit (what constitutes an exit for you and how firm a level you have in mind), but I certainly understand that knowing how you trade, precisely what you do, won't help me in the slightest. Thanks for the replies! Looking forward to more of your NQ alerts.
If the retracement turns out to be a continuation, I exit the trade and take the opposite side. There is no "level". This is the origin of The Dog. However, if the retracement is genuine, I leave it alone and focus on the push and pull. But given the thousands of posts in my journals, I can't think of anything to add.
Funny guy! Lovely to see you around. When do I buy some NUGT for a long term hold in my TFSA account?
I have been eyeing GLD/GDX/SLV closely. When the dust clears I'll post something. Maybe soon to get current thoughts out. Gringo
Keep in mind that the particular breakout pullback setup I've been focusing on is based on the 5-min trend lines and 1-min entries. There are endless setups, entry methods and trade management methods, many of which use only a single bar interval. For example, in a well-defined trend I shift strictly to a 1-min chart and I know how to identify a sentiment shift in this environment because of years of experience. The reason I've focused on the BOPB method I've been illustrating is because it's easy to see and study, easy to develop a personal trading method around it, and very, very difficult to hurt yourself trading it!
I gotta penalize you a bit here Db. That mean line is a diagonal.. so the mean is actually higher now! tisk tisk... And once again, the easy money has been made I think you would say given that we are at the mean.