whatever you setup as your indicators, you should be watching at least 2 timeframes. If you prefer to trade on a 2 or 3 minute bar, then have the 5 minute bar up next to it with (preferrably) the same indicators. never trade against the timeframe above and you will stay out of chop and whipsaws most of the time. i use macds with a 34ema on 3 different tick charts (377/144/55). unless you are really good at seeing volume....tick charts are the way to go (trading in light volume can kill you--tick charts will really help!!). i am either trading on the 377/144 or the 144/55, depending on the day's range, with the smaller timeframe of each being the one i use for entries/exits.
Right now I am unhappy with whatever method I use. Despite my profitability I have really only just begun trading and I have doubts no matter what method I use. I have learned from some other endeavors that at the time of decision doubt must not be present, so I have had the discipline, for the most part, to stick to whatever plan I have set down. This is probably confusing, so let me re-state: I plan and doubt my plan. I execute my plan without doubt. Post-execution I resume doubting. A neat trick, huh? What I lack right now is a framework. I have several hypotheses but none I am so sure of that I am willing to devote myself to developing thoroughly. In other words, I have moved past the stage of exploration but not yet into the phase of development. Maybe more interesting than this drivel is that I began by thinking of myself as a swing trader. Recently, I have begun holding positions longer and seeing better profits. Having done this I now realize how unique swing trade situations are and feel I'll be better prepared when I next begin trading in this manner. As an aside I'll say that I love games and that this is the greatest game I have ever encountered. I know I'll be trading for a long, long time so I am in no rush to succeed. This mentality I think has been crucial in my not having gone belly-up as so many beginning traders seem to do.
your experience is very similar to mine. i am just now beginning to find a strategy that suits me and that i truly believe in. i think you have to try many different things before you start piecing it together. i also found profits to flow better once i stepped out of the 1-min chart into the 2,3, and 5 minute charts. i think most people don't really think about what it means to ride their own bike for the first time. they look at other traders' techniques and strategies like a young person watches someone ride a bike for the first time. it looks doable...so they get on and try to imitate the motions. but they are constantly thinking, "what would that person do here?"....and eventually they fall because they are not thinking about themselves. only through your own experience, trial, and error, will you truly understand and BELIEVE what you are trading. stay with it .... you will make it.
Whatever the hell works that day. I have a trading plan, and about $3,000 worth of dieting books and Tony Robbins CD's collecting dust and holding up my monitor. I'm 45 lbs heavier, and Tony's getting bigger too. Except I bought a Big Gulp from 7-11, and he ate Beluga caviar with my money.
Reading a cooking book, will not make you dinner .... But it might help you along the way, if you let it and take some action yourself! I have read a lot of trading books. None of them have made me profitable. I did. But they all helped in some way.
What didn't work initially was spending countless hours in chat rooms. Not necessarily trading their signals but trying to glean any trading information I could. My time would have been better spent reading some of the higher quality trading books. I started trading breakouts of highs and lows of numerous Nasdaq stocks in 3 or 4 different sectors based off 1 and 3 minute charts. Not a good strategy at the time and not prudent in my opinion for a newbie. I never got a handle on how any one stock moved because I was too busy jumping from one to another, always seeming to be one step behind. What has started to work for me is charting time and price utilizing a Gann tool (Square of Nine) in conjunction with support and resistance levels. I trade primarily ES and sometimes ESTX50,YM,ZB, and ZN. My primary charts are now 5, 15, and 20 minute charts which cuts down the noise significantly. Now I'm primarily working on a couple of "small" attributes such as patience and discipline
Thank you for you comments. I read a lot of posts and do not reply to them usually. I can see where you are now and I assume it is from reading high quality books. I am reflecting on your inital efforts as well. Were I you I would skip the patience and discipline stuff. I recommend that you sit down (and be out of the market as well) and make a few notes as to the questions a person should consider and have answers to before they start investing money or trading. I am hoping you can extract yourself from where you are and then set a course for being successful. I would not consider posting to most people here, but you have articulated a lot of stuff that explains your current dilemma.