I'm a price-only guy, too. Even so. Just curious, does your method allow for a full setup before bar completion? And approximately what size were your intial protective stops on the 17th?
Yes, entry and exit are made before a bar completes......always. The market tells me when I should be in and out. The market also tells me what my stops should be......different everyday trade because volatility is always changing......
How do you know whether to go long or short? In other words, how do you determine when a bar is a top and when it is a bottom? There is no way to know that unless you're a clairvoyant. Do you trade on a real account or paper?
No, my question was whether entry setup requires full bar completion, not actual entry itself. If entry setup does not require full bar completion, then that makes backtesting and end-of-day review a bit more troublesome.
Chart characteristics produce "repeatable patterns" are arbitrary. use what everyone else is using to see what they see. NOW subtract 10 secs GET THE JUMP ON THE BASTARDS!!
Entry setup does not require full bar completion. I never wait for the bar to complete before I enter, otherwise I'd be late to the party.