Thats strange , dont we have to find first what kind of pattern it is in order to evaluate the information? i mean patterns give specific information or at least a boost that something specific will happen more often than not , if thats not true then whats the point to study price patterns? if we decide what pattern is and what information there is then basically we play without rules in that case can we simply study S&R plus the basics of trendline and be done with it? it also seems like autochartist draw trendlines quite liberally without following the rules of connecting two resistance or two support , all of this confuse me. Do rules matter at all? if not then what matters? What is ttf? what message does the price on first chart scream?
TTF is Trading Time Frame. Sure, information comes from recognition. Recognition of a statistically viable Antecedent. But every trader has is very own reading of the charts. His own prioritization, combinations, of the available elements. TA is more about conditioning the last price than to give precise signals. Exemple : You got an Uptrend, Price is just above the trend line. Don't buy at the very price where the line is. First it's a dynamic. Not a level. The upward movement tells you to be a buyer. Watch how PA around the line behave. Does it fade the dynamics ? Does the upward dynamic still willing to play its role ? What matters is the PnL. It's the only viable feedback. No matter how you draw your line. As RN said ! It's what you do that matter, not the tools.
Nice , From what i see i can change the time frame with zoom in or zoom out , whats the optimal one? do i decide what time frame i want based on my style? if i recall correctly most reversal/continuations patterns werent optimal for small time frames , they required some months for validility , i think continuations required less than reversals but no less than than a month i think , that leads to another question , are price patterns useless for day/week trading? well probably not if the trend developed over a month but happend exactly the day you decided to trade , this stuff is kinda confusing , if i trade into a one day time frame then the only pattern who can work is the basic trendline , maybe the channel line too lol , i dont know anything else. What time frames do you use guys? Now that i think about it , the bigger the time frame the more tools you can use? does this imply that day trading is more simple? Interesting that you say ta is more about conditioning the price action but all tools i have learned so far are about signals aka when a trend is about to develop , of course i havent finished the book , i want to make sure i understood everything perfectly until i move to the next chapter and i want to at least complete 1 trade but generally speaking , are there tools that tells you how consistent pa is or you simply observe that on the chart without any tools?
You can backtest TA. Keep a book record too. Markets are fractal, ALL TF provide the "same" opportunity. Chose your TF according to Risk first (You won't trade dailies with 5K). Then also according to your own skills, preferences... No optimal TF but don't trade Macro with ticks. And EXPERIMENT ! "At least 1 trade" XD
Come to think of it , autochartist lines may seem weird because they are drawn from a different time frame , tf may provide the same opportunity but its not as easy to detect patterns on every single one of them , i cant detect any pattern at all at one day time frames , barely a single trendline. Does the more the tf the better? do daytraders use 2 month tf? crap the market is closed and i wanted to trade this it would be an aggressive trade of course still early in the uptrend , btw i like bar charts much more than line charts , they are easier to draw lines.
Your going to find trading much harder then just identifying patterns. You need to know how to actually trade the setup, which I've yet to see really in any book. You need a trade plan. What is the expectancy of the pattern providing a winning entry? What size of move do you expect from the entry? How much noise around the entry can be expected and where is the best place for the initial stop, where you won't get shook out on some small fluctuation but if price reaches your stop, your pattern isn't valid anymore? Do you need a timed out stop? How many days does this setup usually require to show a directional move? How big will I bet on this setup? Will I allow a re-entry if stopped out? Will I hold through earnings releases or trade before earnings( if stocks). When will I move my stop? Do I have a profit target, perhaps just a trailing stop? Will I scale in or scale out at certain times? These are the questions you need to know more then identifying some mysterious head and shoulders pattern. The biggest issue is without having a systematic way to identify the patterns, your eyes will make patterns out of my chart, our eyes are very deceiving.
Yes i understand i need a stop and profit target , i dont know how to find the optimal numbers for those , right now i study charts so one thing at a time , i will get there eventually , right now the only pattern i can see is the resistance trendline , its fairly basic but better than nothing , also the only viable i know for one day charts , btw i asked for this systematic way , from what i understand is that there arent much i can do , i can of course try to apply what i have learned as better as i can but the only validation comes from results i guess? do you have a better way for pattern identification?
Every single time when you do anything to a chart, you have to think in terms of being a programmer. You star a trendline, you have to have well developed rules of why to are starting it where you are starting it. Like what is the strength of the pivot low, which means how many bars to left and right have higher lows, the more the better often times cause this pivot low not been broken, then you draw to another pivot low which also have well defined rules of why you are selecting that one, so anywhere you draw anything on chart, you can't till you have rules, this way when you are back testing you have better stats. One of many reasons newbies lose is they have no clue from they back test then lose money, cause how they back tested was not for strict reasons of charting. For day trading I only use trendlines on 60 minute timeframe to know where they would be coming in so I don't buy too close to down sloping trend line. But you have to read a great deal to form your own ideas of how to make rules, no one is going to sit next to you and hold your hand. And any good mentor is not going to work with anyone who isn't working 70 hours a week at back testing and programming.
Interesting technique , does the same apply for pivot high with lower highs next to it? i guess it wont break easily either , ah i remember this makes sense , the bigger a trendline is the better because the time is bigger , gotta search for strong pivot highs then , tbh i have to reread a bit the chapter. What i get from what you are saying is that i have to be consistent , it makes sense i guess or else backtest wont wield reliable results. Btw what is that strategy on the chart , i though if price reached the support trendline it would mark the start of downtrend? unless the buyer waits for a reversal move before buying? hm it makes sense actually , it seems people are buying on corrections too because they expect a swift in pa move , that support trendline strategy will be nice for my first trade.