Continuation vs Change is slightly different than Hold or Reverse. The former refers to signals provided by the market. The latter refers to actions taken (based on one's resolution level). An expert level trader might trade through a lateral (as Swordsman did), while a beginner level trader chooses to hold through a lateral. Do I want to take this trade? Yes, because I see a change. Can I take this trade? No, because I don't yet have the finer tools down quite yet to play at this resolution level. Again, continuation / change = signals from the market (Market's Job) Hold / Reverse = Pushing Buttons (Trader's Job) - Spydertrader
Only two suggestions - use a real charting platform instead of IB's built in charting. It will help your charts to be cleaner and easier to read. Also, I can't figure out your right trend lines. They don't seem to be aligned with the points that they should be, i.e. they are going through bars and sometimes look arbitrary.
Thanks Procrast....I'm so jacked up; I can't sleep! LOL I've just downloaded Medved's platform and getting it to work with my IB feed. Yes, I find it difficult to draw lines with IB. And yes, I need to clean up my lines (for example, my last line was drawn using the 1st and 3rd bar of the "V" bottom using the bottom of the body instead of the tips and I didn't erase it as the market progressed). Thank you, I will use bars as they are definitely clearer. Thanks again for the kind comments...
it is no different than driving long distance at night... when your body tells you to take a break, you take heed. Continue driving can prove suicidal.
11-14-2007 ES Chart Nice little 20 point move in the last 45 minutes. I trust many, grabbed ahold of the run by time the Pennant showed a BO. - Spydertrader
My 5-min ES today. I only made two trades today (-0.25 and +3.75). I missed the big move at the end of the day although I watched it unfold before my very eyes!
I think I'm finally starting to get this. I was too caught up in geometry without looking at the bigger picture. RT's A-HA! moment of today: 1) Keep steady on a fixed resolution. Looking at the big picture of the day rather than the intricate geometries of each individual bar formation helps. 2) Examine the traverses of the pt3 channels of your resolution. Don't get caught in "the retrace of the retrace", spiralling down the rabbit hole of descending fractals. Again, keeping an eye on the length of the tapes / traverses relative to the width of the pt3 channel helps keep a good frame of reference. 3) Gaussians, gaussians, gaussians! Not only do they reinforce correct annotation, taping, and channeling, they help us stay on the fixed level of resolution we've chosen since the market open in the morning. By actually keeping yourself on a fixed resolution (in my case higher resolution) with these elements in mind, spotting FTTs becomes much clearer and one doesn't have to get caught up in flaw vs. ftt, WTF bar patterns, and other crap that'll drive you nuts. RT