bundlemaker, regarding the "spike" bar and your video: I recommend mentally splitting the bar lengthwise and imagining two very skinny bars, one red, one black, each the SAME LENGTH as the actual bar. When you split the bar into two SHORTER bars, the volume information ("extreme") is LOST. I had been doing the same thing, and it was very confusing. I hope that helps a little.
Since I am looking for pt3 channels, one thing I do during the day is I draw a RTL where I am anticipating a pt 3 channel to form. I use the volume to do a best guess as to where the line should be. Generally I am pretty close. This gives me a visual reminder of what I am anticipating. Attached is a video clip recored at 16x from around 3:40pm this afternoon. This has been the closest I have been, with the pt 3 forming almost right at the line I put in about 2 bars earlier. As the price was getting close to my line, I was watching the DOM and picked a price based on a wall that I thought was going to be the turn, price went 2 ticks below the wall and bounced. I am still not very good at reading the DOM. Was this sheer luck? I think not. Pretty neat when you use the volume to guage the kind of price movement we can expect. Just a question on entering a trade here, should I wait for the bounce before entering into a position or try to enter when price is at the wall? Video link http://rapidshare.com/files/58076367/9_24snap.avi.html
thanks for the video. That was great. regarding your question, look up Mak's posts. He talked about it in a few of his recent posts. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=1981623
IMHO entering on the DOM in this manner is the lowest risk thing you can do. Obviously, I'm stating this through my own filters and beliefs, and without benefit of actual success (yet). I was just reading Jack last night and was reminded about how the market moves from high s/n ratio to low s/n. At lower s/n ratios the DOM dominates over the Jokari window concept (basic P/V relationship). Any increase in PRV which breaks out from the then current DOM range (which by definition is an increase in s/n ratio) is your change or continuation signal, depending on which way price moves. I think you nailed it as pretty as it gets.