Hey Hypo, didn't recognize you the first couple of posts... Interesting first couple of posts, I gave it some thought. Close but no cigar... Even if I just help the occaisional newby it is worth it to me to put up with the crazies (a la Joab) and aliases (a la you) and the incompetents (almost everyone else)...that seem to populate the site...every once in a while you get to see someone get it right and make a nice living...thats enough of a reward for me.. Very entertaining posts though, and the "my system is better than yours" stuff did make me laugh... Appreciate it Steve
seems to me stevo, you are insecure about your trading and are just posting whatever teeny meeny knowledge you have to give yourself some assurance. If you knew how to trade, you probably would waste less time of the trading day to post this bullshit.
This is the perfect place for you and your opinion. After all, this (ET) is the one place where people with distorted, ugly insignificant personalities can vent their feelings freely. You go ahead with whatever statement makes you feel better about your shortcomings. And if it helps you to think that your comments mean something to me, by all means have at it... Wonderful to have you visit... Steve
So now that I have "taken the trash out" so to speak, lets get back to the use of a longer time frame to orient to the market First lets take another look at today's 60 minute chart I was taught to see price action as a series of tests. Each one significant, each one adding information (edge). What I find is that few traders have the patience to wait until they have favorable entry. On this chart I identify tests pre-market and after the open The way I see it, the longer term MA and the pivots (black horizontal lines) are the "lines in the sand". For favorable entry, I like to wait until I see price close above or below these lines before I act, and I try to pull the trigger at the open of the next bar. Alternatively I shift down to the 5 min chart looking for entry, however if you do so, you can see how the volatility can really cause problems. Although this is a purely psychological issue, it is a powerful one in that new traders are often reluctant to use a big enough stop. The result is that they get shaken out frequently, missing the big moves and slowly bleeding their accounts down..
Here is a 30 minute chart On this chart one can see the market open a little better than with the 60 min candle. What I am pointing out is the opening move down (30 minutes) and then the test of the pivot and a place to make your favorable long entry at 7:30am PST (1550.25) with profit available at 1555 or 1556.