learning to trade with the trend........all signal contrary to trend are only 'scalps' as brooks is fond of saying ...but understanding him has been a real problem for me...and many others too as well i invariably take the trades contrary to the trend.........these are the emotionally easier trades to take...according to Brooks.
You see the problem is not Brooks. It's not trading with or against the trend. It's not what's emotionally easier. It's that the trader doesn't do what he knows he's supposed to do. The problem is not the strategy; it's the trader.
the strategy should not be in conflict with what the market is doing. if the market has formed a wedge....then the wedge can hold or it can fail. you have to base your strategy on that. wedges , wedge failures, breakout , breakout failures, failed failures that become breakout pullbacks, are what happens in market all the time. if you say no it is the trader......well what is a trader? is he determining what the market is doing and then forming trades not in conflict with that? what many may not understand is that once you use 5M time frame you should look for 5M trades. a wedge on a 5 min chart may not show up on a 15 min chart..........so the reward expectation with 5M wedge is or should be very different. you have chosen 5 M because you want more signals but you should take profit more too ......i would have thought this was logical but traders do not do this and then call brooks names.....of course he does not explain things as much as he should because he does not expect novices to follow him:he clearly says he has written it for an experienced and serious trader
Let's see; You say "and get out fast when you are wrong...something I do not do..." Is there any remote possibility that by not doing that you are affecting your results? Nah!! that probably has nothing to do with it.
I disagree with your entire premise. You are saying there is only one possible interpretation. The fact is a trader either sees an appropriate and tested SETUP or not. One mans failed breakout(of what?) is another mans range. There is always 'conflict', else there would be no market. And there are certainly multiple interpretations possible based on many factors including not only the metrics and probabilities of a setup as recognized, but the traders overall knowledgebase too.
either there is wedge which triggers or it fails. either there is a break out or the break out fails.....
of anything a high, a trend line, a low , a channel line failed break out [a wedge]..... this is the power of brooks ...this is also the confusion