Mr surf finally got sense..I think he got sucked into the silly "social media" crap..anyone who posts a photo of a child on an internet forum really should have their head examined.. especially in a place like the US..where you have so many weirdos hanging around! Btw..Mr surf is not..nor ever will be..a trader..he hasn't a clue about trading..he is your typical salesman..like a few more on this site
Actually..that raises a v.g point about levels..have a look again..can you see anything that appears common to a trend line..or..can you see anything that happens that allows this trend line to be drawn on a chart..where it touches..or gets very close to touching..price! As for where to start..well..try looking for a 123 on the daily..then see!
Trend line gets drawn connecting re-tests of key level from previous leg... Look at this chart of gold 1 hour. Levels respected on the way up are respected on the way down... Its so obvious but damn still so hard to make money.
I don't day trade, I trade options so don't quite understand your question, but my cost base was ~$66, around June.
I tried day trade but did badly, I also tried day trade options and the outcome was even worst so I stay with a little longer time frames. After reading this thread and a few other threads on chart reading, I am now studying how to read charts and if successful it will be part of my tool kits. So far it still looks like Greek to me (like I tried to envision structures in a set of random numbers). Good luck to you. I admire your eagerness to learn, to get better, and hope you will find your successful method.
Why is it so hard if it is so obvious from previous prices! Do you not believe what you see..or..is it because there is no guarantee price will behave as it previously did..or..is it one thing or another! Are you not beginning to see what works best? Mr iron chef is correct when he says the longer timeframes are easier to make money with..but you must have money.. meaning drawdowns don't bother you..win or lose! In order to make money consistently.. using high leverage..and short term trades..one needs to have a good bit of experience..be in total control..and have a valid strategy for entering and exiting trades..if your strategy is based on such things as lagging indicators..the odds are you will fail dismally. There is no easy answer..and there is no substitute for experience..no matter what anyone else tries to tell you otherwise. You need to clear your mind.. focus on one timeframe for now.. depending on your approach..no good looking at the 5 min yet if your intention is to hold for a few weeks or so..best to start with the daily bar..and cirlce in your 123's..see if it makes any difference..if not..then you need to ask yourself is it really worth my time.. effort..and money!
No offense, it is perhaps obvious to you but not to us, I hope I am not speaking out of line for _eug_. For me it is not a question of believe what I see but seeing what I should see.
The reason why you do not see..is because of the way you think! We all see the same thing..it is your mind that determines what you see.. change the way you think and you will change what you see! You can make as much..or lose as much..as you want..it all depends on what level you buy and sell at..pure and simple!
It is a combination of not believing in what I am seeing and not trusting what I know has a high probability of happening. I mean Gold did exactly what I expected... Profit taking at resistance 1259 which brought it down to another key level 1243 which I noted yesterday. This is where new buyers stepped up looks like now. This is where I am hoping lots of experience will come in...the ability to trust my analysis. I have decent amount of capital sitting aside but I am for now trading a very small account or paper trading as I do not trust myself with my real capital until I can prove myself successful and disciplined. I dont take signals from the MACD, I just added it a few days ago to help me visualize changes in momentum as we approach levels. When you talk about 123, are you referring to the reversal pattern like this image or is it something else? Number 2 being the "reference point" you elude to.. Whether you are a successful trader or not I appreciate you taking the time to question my analysis and charts that I post as this game is mostly me talking to myself.