Full-Time Job vs. Full-Time Trading
Deciding between a full-time job and full-time trading is a crucial career choice that many individuals grapple with. Both options offer potential financial benefits, but it is essential to thoroughly evaluate the income comparison and stability provided by each path. This article aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the income potential and stability associated with full-time jobs and full-time trading, helping readers make an informed decision based on their individual circumstances and preferences.
1. Full-Time Job: Income and Stability
1.1. Salary Structure:
Full-time jobs typically offer a stable income stream, with salaries negotiated between the employer and employee. It provides a fixed amount earned on a regular basis, such as monthly or bi-weekly.
1.2. Growth Potential:
Most full-time jobs present incremental growth opportunities through salary hikes, promotions, and bonuses.
1.3. Benefits and Perks:
Besides a steady income, full-time jobs often provide additional benefits, such as health insurance, retirement plans, paid leaves, and various employee perks. These benefits contribute to overall financial security.
2. Full-Time Trading: Income and Stability
2.1. Income Potential: Full-time trading offers a potentially higher income ceiling compared to a regular job. Successful traders can earn substantial sums of money, sometimes exponentially higher than what a typical full-time job might offer. However, it is important to recognize that trading income can vary significantly based on market conditions, individual skill, and experience.
2.2. Volatility and Risk: Trading, particularly in financial markets, involves inherent risks. The income generated from full-time trading can be highly volatile and subject to market fluctuations.
2.3. Continuous Learning and Adaptability: Full-time trading requires continuous education and staying up-to-date with market trends. Adapting to market changes and acquiring necessary skills is crucial to maintain a sustainable income level. Traders must be prepared for ongoing learning and to adjust their strategies accordingly.
3. Comparing Income and Stability
3.1. Income Comparison: Full-time trading has the potential to yield higher income compared to traditional full-time employment. However, the profitability of trading is dependent on various factors such as market conditions, trading strategy, experience, and discipline.
3.2. Stability Comparison: Full-time jobs offer a more stable income and financial security, with regular paychecks and additional benefits. In contrast, full-time trading is inherently more volatile and subject to market risks, making it less predictable and potentially less stable.
Choosing between a full-time job and full-time trading necessitates a thorough understanding of income potential and stability associated with each option. Full-time jobs provide a stable income stream, incremental growth prospects, and additional benefits, whereas full-time trading offers the potential for higher income but entails greater volatility and market risks. The decision ultimately depends on an individual's risk tolerance, financial goals, trading skills, and willingness to continuously learn and adapt to market conditions. It is crucial to weigh these factors carefully to make an informed choice that aligns with personal circumstances and aspirations.
Hey traders, let me know what subject do you want to dive in in the next post?
Howtotrade
Are You Taking the Right Risks in Trading? Best RISK Per Trade
What portion of your equity should you risk for your trading positions?
In the today's article, I will reveal the types of risks related to your position sizing.
Quick note: your risk per trade will be defined by the distance from your entry point to stop loss in pips and the lot size.
🟢Risking 1-2% of your trading account per trade will be considered a low risk.
With such a risk, one can expect low returns but a high level of safety of the total equity.
Such a risk is optimal for conservative and newbie traders.
With limited account drawdowns, one will remain psychologically stable during the negative trading periods.
🟡2-5% risk per trade is a medium risk.
With such a risk, one can expect medium returns but a moderate level of safety of the total equity.
Such a risk is suitable for experienced traders who are able to take losses and psychologically resilient to big drawdowns and losing streaks.
🔴5%+ risk per trade is a high risk.
With such a risk, one can expect high returns but a low level of safety of the total equity.
Such a risk is appropriate for rare, "5-star" trading opportunities where all stars align and one is extremely confident in the positive outcome.
That winner alone can bring substantial profits, while just 2 losing trades in a row will burn 10% of the entire capital.
🛑15%+ risk per trade is considered to be a stupid risk.
With such a risk, one can blow the entire trading account with 4-5 trades losing streak.
Taking into consideration the fact that 100% trading setups does not exist, such a risk is too high to be taken.
The problem is that most of the traders does not measure the % risk per trade and use the fixed lot. Never make such a mistake and plan your risks according to the scale that I shared with you.
❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
THIS IS THE REASON YOUR STRATEGY DOESN'T WORKThe title is brash, I know. But before you click away, answer these two questions:
1) How many strategies have you tried?
2) How many strategies have you backtested through several years and thousands of trades?
If you have tried more strategies than you've backtested rigorously, then stick around because that's probably the reason why you're losing money.
Imagine this. Florence is a novice trader. He's seen the thousands of dollars in profit a kid 10 years younger than him can generate. He's seen the kid flexing his Lambo on Instagram. The kid mentions RSI a few times, so Florence assumes the RSI indicator is the secret to insane profits. Florence is chomping at the bits and loads up a fresh Webull account with $3,000. Every time the RSI is above 70 on a stock, he shorts that stock.
Lo and behold, after 5 trades, Florence's account now sits at $2,300. He concludes the indicator does not work.
Florence perseveres and is determined to find the secret strategy to quick profits. He scraps the RSI and studies "support and resistance" trading from a few youtube mentors. He reloads his Webull account back up to $3,000. With a refreshed vision, he shorts anytime a stock is at resistance and longs anytime a stock hits support. Sadly, after 10 trades, his account is down again, this time to $2,600.
Florence is flabbergasted.
The story goes on. He attempts implementing strategy after strategy and continues to lose money. Unfortunately, many of us are Florence. We did what he did. We got into the game without a blueprint or game plan.
And this is why my title is brashly stated, "If you don't read this you are going to lose money," because it's true. If you resemble Florence even in the slightest, basing the success of your trading strategy on a handful of trades, then how do you expect to know what strategy is actually successful?
I don't blame you for approaching trading like Florence. In today's age, we are seeing the market oversaturated with traders and trading coaches, or even worse, "trading influencers". As with any influx of the masses, we are going to get the scumbags trying to get you to buy their image and product by falsifying the simplicity and ease of trading.
If you are jumping between strategies without quantifying its success and failure rates over thousands of scenarios, then stop trading right now because you are going to continue losing money. Find a backtesting service or at the least log every single trade you take. Whatever it is, slow down and find proof of failure before declaring failure. I don't want you to fall into a never-ending hole of searching for the "right" indicator/strategy. The truth is, most of the strategies you've thrown away probably work and you don't even know it.
3 Best Market Trading Opportunities to Maximize Profit Potential
Hey traders,
In the today's article, we will discuss 3 types of incredibly accurate setups that you can apply for trading financial markets.
1. Trend Line Breakout and Retest
The first setup is a classic trend line breakout.
Please, note that such a setup will be accurate if the trend line is based on at least 3 consequent bullish or bearish moves.
If the market bounces from a trend line, it is a vertical support.
If the market drops from a trend line, it is a vertical resistance.
The breakout of the trend line - vertical support is a candle close below that. After a breakout, it turns into a safe point to sell the market from.
The breakout of the trend line - vertical resistance is a candle close above that. After a breakout, it turns into a safe point to buy the market from.
Take a look at the example. On GBPJPY, the market was growing steadily, respecting a rising trend line that was a vertical support.
A candle close below that confirmed its bearish violation.
It turned into a vertical resistance.
Its retest was a perfect point to sell the market from.
2. Horizontal Structure Breakout and Retest
The second setup is a breakout of a horizontal key level.
The breakout of a horizontal support and a candle close below that is a strong bearish signal. After a breakout, a support turns into a resistance.
Its retest is a safe point to sell the market from.
The breakout of a horizontal resistance and a candle close above that is a strong bullish signal. After a breakout, a resistance turns into a support.
Its retest if a safe point to buy the market from.
Here is the example. WTI Crude Oil broke a key daily structure resistance. A candle close above confirmed the violation.
After a breakout, the broken resistance turned into a support.
Its test was a perfect point to buy the market from.
3. Buying / Selling the Market After Pullbacks
The third option is to trade the market after pullbacks.
However, remember that the market should be strictly in a trend.
In a bullish trend, the market corrects itself after it sets new higher highs. The higher lows usually respect the rising trend lines.
Buying the market from such a trend line, you open a safe trend-following trade.
In a bearish trend, after the price sets lower lows, the correctional movements initiate. The lower highs quite often respect the falling trend lines.
Selling the market from such a trend line, you open a safe trend-following trade.
On the chart above, we can see EURAUD pair trading in a bullish trend.
After the price sets new highs, it retraces to a rising trend line.
Once the trend line is reached, trend-following movements initiate.
What I like about these 3 setups is the fact that they work on every market and on every time frame. So no matter what you trade and what is your trading style, you can apply them for making nice profits.
Good luck!
Learn 4 Proven Methods of Applying Moving Average Indicator
Hey traders,
The moving average is one of the most popular technical indicators.
It is applied in stocks/forex/crypto trading and proved its high level of efficiency.
There are hundreds of trading strategies based on MA.
In this post, we will discuss the 4 most popular ways to apply the moving average.
1️⃣The first method is applied to identify the market trend.
While the price keeps trading above the MA, one considers the trend to be bullish and looks for buying opportunities.
Once the price starts trading below the MA, the trend is considered to be bearish and a trader is looking for shorting opportunities.
In the example above, Moving Average is applied for showing the identification of the market trend. Its upward climb signifies that the market is trading in a strong bullish trend.
2️⃣The second method applies the combination of 2 MA's: preferably a long-term one and a short-term one.
The point is that once a short-term moving average crosses above a long-term MA, with high probability, it signifies the initiation of a bullish trend.
Alternatively, a crossover of short-term and long-term MA's to the downside indicates a start of a bearish trend.
In the example above, there are 2 Moving Averages: short term and long term ones. Their cross signifies the bullish trend violation and initiation of a bearish trend.
3️⃣The third method applies MA as a structure.
While the moving average is lying above the price, it is considered to be a dynamic resistance.
Staying below the price, it serves as a strong dynamic support.
Perceiving MA as the structure, one applies that for trade entries.
In the picture above, Moving Average is applied as support on GBPJPY and the price starts growing after its test.
4️⃣The fourth method is aimed to track the crossover of the moving average and the price.
The idea is that a bullish violation of the MA by the price gives an early signal for a possible trend reversal.
While a bearish breakout of the MA by the market indicates a highly probable bullish trend violation.
In the example above, the crossover of the moving average and the price is a perfect indicator of coming bullish and bearish movements.
Backtest different MA's inputs and learn to apply that for predicting the future direction of the market and for trading it.
Let me know, traders, what do you want to learn in the next educational post?
Learn Why You Should Study Multiple Time Frame Analysis
In my daily posts, I quite frequently use multiple time frame analysis.
If you want to enhance your predictions and make more accurate decisions, this is the technique you need to master.
In the today's post, we will discuss the crucial importance of multiple time frames analysis in trading the financial markets.
1️⃣ Trading on a single time frame, you may miss the important key levels that can be recognized on other time frames.
Take a look at the chart above. Analyzing a daily time frame, we can spot a confirmed bullish breakout of a key daily resistance.
That looks like a perfect buying opportunity.
However, a weekly time frame analysis changes the entire picture, just a little bit above the daily resistance, there is a solid weekly resistance.
From such a perspective, buying GBPUSD looks very risky.
2️⃣ The market trend on higher and lower time frames can be absolutely different.
In the example above, Gold is trading in a bullish trend on a 4h time frame. It may appear for a newbie trader that buyers are dominating on the market. While a daily time frame analysis shows a completely different picture: the trend on a daily is bearish, and a bullish movement on a 4H is simply a local correctional move.
3️⃣ It may appear that the market has a big growth potential on one time frame while being heavily over-extended on other time frames.
Take a look at GBPJPY: on a weekly time frame, the market is trading in a strong bullish trend.
Checking a daily time frame, however, we can see that the bullish momentum is weakening: the double top pattern is formed and the market is consolidating.
The sentiment is even changing to a bearish once we analyze a 4H time frame. We can spot a rising wedge pattern there and its support breakout - very bearish signal.
4️⃣ Higher time frame analysis may help you to set a safe stop loss.
In the picture above, you can see that stop loss placement above a key daily resistance could help you to avoid stop hunting shorting the Dollar Index.
Analyzing the market solely on 1H time frame, stop loss would have been placed lower and the position would have closed in a loss.
Always check multiple time frame when you analyze the market.
It is highly recommendable to apply the combination of at least 2 time frames to make your trading safer and more accurate.
❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
Psychology and Trading: Conquering FOMO
🔥 Do you ever feel the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) when trading?
🔥
It's a common struggle, but fear not! In this post, I'll share five crucial points that have been instrumental in helping me gain control over my psychology throughout my trading journey.
😎 Embrace the Unpredictability:
The market is a wild ride, and it can change direction in the blink of an eye. Even the best setups can turn into losses within seconds. So, keep a neutral mindset! Recognize that prices can move in any direction, and be ready to adjust your bias as market structures develop. By staying neutral, you can reduce your emotions and build a strong trading psychology.
💪 Master Risk Management:
Risk management is the holy grail of trading. Without it, you're just gambling. Losses are inevitable, but by limiting your risk to a small percentage (e.g., 1%), you can protect your capital and keep trading. Consistently managing risk and maximizing your reward-to-risk ratio will compound your profits and overshadow any losses.
⏳ Patience Pays Off:
Don't chase after every trade. If you miss an entry, don't panic! There will always be new opportunities that fit your trading plan. Impulsively chasing volatility leads to revenge trading, greed, and unnecessary losses. Stay disciplined and wait for confirmation before jumping into a trade.
🚫 Leave Your Ego Behind:
Your ego has no place in trading. Just because you think the price will hit your target doesn't mean it will. Profitability comes from taking what the market offers. Be humble and flexible, adjusting your trades according to the market's behavior. This mindset shift will help you avoid costly mistakes.
📝 Craft a Solid Trading Plan:
Want to succeed? Have a well-defined trading plan! It's your compass in the chaotic market. Identify profit targets, stop levels, and entry/exit points. Stick to your plan with unwavering discipline. Consistency and emotional control are key to achieving your trading goals.
📈 Remember, there's no one-size-fits-all approach in trading. Each trader has their own style, plan, and mindset. As long as you follow your plan and your decisions align with your criteria, you're on the right track.
At @Vestinda we hope you found these tips helpful! Trading is a journey of self-improvement and constant learning. By applying these principles, you'll gain better control over your psychology and increase your chances of success.
Keep exploring, stay curious, and never stop honing your trading skills! 🤗
Learn the ONLY REASON Why You Should Try on RETEST!Hey traders,
Being breakout traders we have two options for trade entries:
when the breakout is confirmed, we can either open a trading position aggressively once the candle closes above/below the structure, or we can be conservative and wait for a retest of the broken structure first.
What is peculiar about the second option is the fact that the majority of pro traders prefer the retest entries. In this article, we will discuss the pros and cons of retest trading.
✔️First, let's discuss whether the retest is guaranteed. NO. How often do we see that? Around 50-55% of the time. Does it mean that 45-50% of breakout trades
will be missed? YES.
The main disadvantage of retest trading is that a lot of trading opportunities will be missed. Occasionally the breakout triggers a strong market rally, not letting the price return back to the broken structure.
Take a look at that triangle pattern on Bitcoin. The price broke its support BUT did not retest it, so trading only the retest, the opportunity would be missed.
So what is the point to wait for a retest then? Why let the market go without us in case if there is no retest?
✔️Most of the time the breakout candle closes quite far from a broken level. Opening the trading position once the candle closes and setting a stop loss below/above the broken structure, one can get a very big stop loss. Such a big stop that its pip value exceeds or equals the potential return.
🖼In the picture, I drew a classic channel breakout trade.
The aggressive trader opened a long position as the candle closed above the channel's resistance.
His stop loss is lying below the lower low of the channel.
Analyzing his risk to reward ratio, we can see that his reward equals his risk.
On the right side is the position of the conservative trader.
His stop loss in lying on the same level.
However, instead of opening a trading position on a breakout candle, he decided to wait for a retest of the broken resistance of the channel. Just a slight adjustment of his entry-level gives him a completely different risk to reward ratio.
❗️Patience pays in trading. Missing some trades a retest trader will outperform the aggressive trader in the long run.
Trading is about weighting your potential gains & losses. Paying commissions and swaps for every trade, it is much better for us to trade less but pick the setups that give us a decent potential reward.
What type of trading do you prefer?
Let me know, traders, what do you want to learn in the next educational post?
The Dangers of Giving Up Too Soon on a Trading Strategy
There are hundreds of different strategies to trade. Some of them are losing ones, some provide modest results and some strategies are very profitable.
Novice traders often struggle to find the right strategy that suits their personality, financial goals and risk appetite. Unfortunately, they also tend to make some common mistakes that can undermine their performance and confidence.
❌ One of the biggest mistakes that they make in their search is that they give a strategy a very short trial period. It simply means that they are trying to assess the validity of the strategy, trading that for a very short time span (usually a day to a week).
Please, realize the fact that the performance of the strategy can be measured only with extended backtesting - meaning that the strategy should be tested on multiple financial instruments and for a long period of time and applying multiple evaluation metrics.
Moreover, if the strategy proves its efficiency on backtesting, it should be traded on a demo account at least 2 months before the valid performance can be calculated.
❌ Another common mistake is that many traders drop the strategy once it starts losing. And by losing, I mean just 2–3 trades in a row.
Newbies are searching for the approach that never loses.
They may even abandon a trading strategy once they catch JUST ONE bad trade.
✅ In contrast, a smart trader realizes that one bad trade does not define the performance of the strategy. Moreover, such a trader calmly faces the losing streaks and sticks to the strategy.
Take a look at that picture.
On the top, we have the traits of a newbie trader and his equity curve.
He abandons the strategy after he faces the loss, not giving the strategy a chance to recover.
When he changes the strategy, he starts recovering a little bit and a losing period follows.
He drops a strategy again, and he keeps following this vicious cycle till his entire account is blown.
On the bottom of the picture, we see the equity curve of a smart trader.
Even though he faces losses occasionally, his strategy always gives him a chance to recover and with time his trading account steadily grows.
Please, realize the fact that a perfect strategy does not exist. You will lose the money occasionally anyway. What distinguishes a smart trader from a dumb one is his discipline and trust to his trading system and willingness to face losses.
❤️Please, support this video with like and comment!❤️
Real Example of a TRADING PLAN Revealed
Hey traders,
In this post, we will discuss 6 crucial things in your trade planning and the main elements of trade results assessment.
1️⃣ - Before you open a trading position, make sure that you analyzed the chart. You should identify a market trend and spot major key levels.
Here on WTI Crude Oil I have analyzed key levels and came to the conclusion that the market is trading in sideways.
2️⃣ - Once the chart is analyzed, you should identify the safest trading areas for your strategy (preferably the zones of supply and demand).
You should patiently wait until one of these zones is tested.
Back to our example. The support that the market is approaching is a safe area to buy from.
3️⃣ - Once the zone is reached, you should look for a confirmation. You can either look for a reversal candlestick/price action pattern, some fundamental trigger, or some indicator. The point is that you should rely on a trigger that is backtested and that proved its accuracy.
In our example, the confirmation pattern - the ascending triangle is spotted on lower time frames.
4️⃣ - Getting your confirmation, you should have a precise entry strategy. Some traders prefer aggressive entries on spot while others are waiting for a retest of some major/minor level.
Trading Oil, the perfect entry point will be on a retest of a broken neckline of a triangle.
5️⃣ - You must set a stop loss. Remember that your stop-loss defines the point where you become wrong in your predictions. Be extremely careful on that step and give the market some space for fluctuations.
Back to our example - our safe stop loss will be below the lows.
6️⃣ - Know your exact target level(s). Know the point where you start protection of your position, where you start profit-taking. Be very strict and don't let your greed and fear intervene.
Returning to our trade, the Perfect target level is based on a closes strong resistance.
Only then a trading position is opened.
No matter what will be the end result of your trade, you should assess it:
1️⃣- You should journal the trade outlining its end result, trading instrument, and your entry reason.
2️⃣ - Note any peculiar thing about this trade that you noticed.
3️⃣ - Record your gain/loss percentage.
4️⃣ - Identify whether any mistake was made and if so, learn from that.
Here is your minimum plan to follow. Of course, as you mature in trading your trade assessment plan will be more sophisticated.
Do not underestimate its importance and treat it as the main element of your trading routine.
Let me know, traders, what do you want to learn in the next educational post?
Dow Jonex Index (US30): Top-Down Analysis & Trading Plan
Dow Jones Index is testing a peculiar zone of confluence on a daily:
we see a perfect intersection between a horizontal support and 382 retracement
of the last bullish impulse.
Analyzing 4H time frame, I see a falling wedge pattern.
To catch a pullback with a confirmation, I suggest looking for a bullish breakout of the resistance of the wedge. 4H candle close above will confirm a violation.
A bullish continuation will be expected to 33970 / 34040 levels then.
Alternatively, a bearish breakout of the underlined blue zone will push the price lower.
❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
Learn THE BEST Breakout Trading Strategy
Hey traders,
Breakout trading is one of the most popular trading strategies.
Being quite simple in theory, it remains quite complex and complicated in practice.
In this post, we will discuss 7 steps every breakout trader must follow.
💬And just in brief about a breakout trading itself:
this method aims to spot a key level (it might be horizontal support/resistance or a trend line) and then to trade its occasional breakout, assuming that it will trigger an impulsive move.
1️⃣No surprise, the first task of a breakout trader is the identification of key levels. Preferably, these levels should be spotted on weekly/daily time frames.
Here on US100, I executed structure analysis and identified key levels.
2️⃣Once key levels are spotted, a breakout trader should patiently wait for the test of one of those. His goal is to wait for a breakout.
In that step, many traders fail. The problem is that in order to confirm the breakout, one should have strict & reliable rules to follow. The rules that describe a confirmed breakout.
*I apply the following rule: the breakout of a level will be considered to be confirmed once the candle closes above/below the structure on the highest time frame where the structure is recognizable.
In the picture above, we see a confirmed key level breakout.
3️⃣Once the breakout is confirmed, the next step is to wait for a retest of a broken level. Why retest? Simply because a retest gives a better risk to reward ratio for the trade. And even though there is no guarantee that the price will retest the broken level and because of that some trading opportunities will be missed, in the long run, retest trading produces higher gains.
Following our example, the price has retested the broken level.
4️⃣Opening a trade on a retest, one should know the exact target levels. The levels where the profits will be taken. Again, newbies traders make a lot of mistakes on that step. Remember that your targets must be realistic, they must be based on closest strong structure levels, not on your desired returns.
5️⃣Also, a breakout trader should set a stop loss. And again, a stop-loss level must be safe, it must be set at least below/above a previous minor structure to protect you from stop-hunting.
Stop-loss reflects the point where the trader becomes wrong in his predictions and where the trading setup becomes invalid.
In our example, the safest stop loss will be below a local low. Take profit - next key resistance.
6️⃣Once the trading position is opened and stop-loss & take-profit are set, one should patiently wait. There is no guarantee that the price will start falling/growing sharply after the breakout. The market may start coiling for quite a long period of time before it starts acting.
Breakout trader must be patient, not allowing his emotions to intervene.
Returning to our example, after some time, the market easily reached the TP level and went much higher.
7️⃣Lastly, one should remember that his exit points are stop-loss/take-profit levels. Stop-loss adjustment in case of a position drawdown, preliminary profit-taking, and target extension are your worst enemies. Be disciplined, don't be greedy, and keep your emotions in check.
Here is the example of a breakout trade that I took following the strategy:
I spotted a confirmed breakout of a key resistance. The price formed a high momentum bullish candle and closed above the structure.
Long position was opened on a retest.
Target was based on the closest horizontal resistance.
Stop loss was placed below the closest horizontal support.
The market quickly reached the target.
Of course, this 7-steps trading plan is not sufficient enough for profitable breakout trading. There are so many nuances on each step of the plan to consider.
However, let this plan be your initial guideline: learn & follow that and with time, keep elaborating its rules until you become a consistently profitable trader.
Are you a breakout trader?
Let me know, traders, what do you want to learn in the next educational post?
Learn How to Trade Cup and Handle (rare but profitable pattern)☕
If you are studying a price action, you should definitely know Cup and Handle formation.
Being applied properly, it can generate big profits.
In this educational article, I will teach you how to identify this pattern. We will discuss its psychology and I will share with you 2 trading strategies.
📏And let's start with the structure of the pattern.
The pattern has 3 important elements:
Cup - long-term correctional movement that tends to move steadily from a bearish trend to a bullish trend.
Handle - short-term correctional movement with signs of bullish strength.
Neckline - upper horizontal boundary of the pattern - a strong resistance that the price constantly respects.
⚠️Being formed, it warns you about a highly probable coming bullish movement.
The trigger that confirms the initiation of a bullish wave is a breakout of the neckline of the pattern and a candle close above.
Here is the example of a completed C&H with a confirmed neckline breakout, indicating a highly probably coming bullish movement.
Depending on the preceding price action, Cup & Handle Pattern can either be a trend-following or reversal pattern.
📉If the pattern is formed after a bearish impulse. It is considered to be a reversal pattern.
Here is the example of a reversal C&H that I spotted on EURUSD.
📈If the pattern is formed at the top of a bullish impulse, it is considered to be a trend following pattern.
Here is the example of a trend following C&H that I spotted on GBPJPY Index.
The thing is that while the price forms the C&H, buying volumes are accumulating. Even though, buyers are hesitant and reluctant initially, their confidence grows, and the accumulation leads to explosive neckline breakout.
There are 2 strategies to trade this pattern.
✔️Strategy 1.
That approach is quite risky, but the reward can be quite substantial.
You should monitor the price action when the price is forming a handle. Occasionally, the price starts trading in a falling channel: parallel or contracting one.
Your trigger will be a bullish breakout of its resistance and a candle close above.
Once the violation is confirmed, you can buy aggressively or set a buy limit order on a retest.
Stop loss will lie below the lows of the channel.
Target will be the closest key resistance.
Here is the example of the handle being a falling channel.
📍Strategy 2.
Wait for a breakout of a neckline of the pattern.
Once a candle closes above that, it will confirm the violation.
Buy the market aggressively or set a buy limit on a retest of a broken neckline then.
Stop loss will lie below the lows of the handle.
Target will be the closest key resistance.
Here is the example of the trade based on a confirmed breakout of a neckline of C&P on NASDAQ Index.
Applied properly, the strategies may reach up to 70% win rate.
As always, the best pattern will be the one that forms on a key level.
Try it, test it, and good luck in your trading journey.
❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
Learn How to Trade Multiple Time Frame Analysis
Hey traders,
🔝Top-Down analysis is one of the most efficient ways to analyze & trade different financial markets. In this post, we will discuss the time frames to watch and the main steps to go through to execute a Top-Down trading strategy properly.
Being a Top-Down trader your task is to assess the global market perspective and identify the zones, the areas from where it will be relatively safe for you to trade it following the trend or catching the reversals.
➖Weekly time frame shows you the price action during the last couple of years. It unveils the major zones of supply and demand and indicates the long-term direction of the market.
Your task is to spot these zones and underline them.
The strongest market moves most of the time initiate from these zones.
At the same time, you must remember that on a weekly time frame the market is extremely slow. Being beyond the key zones 90% of the time, it takes many weeks, even months for the market to reach them.
➖Once you completed a weekly time frame analysis,
the next on your radar is a daily time frame.
Daily time frame shows you 1-year-long price action.
It indicates a mid-term sentiment.
And again, here your task is to simply identify the market trend and underline major key levels.
*It is highly recommendable to apply different colors for highlighting weekly/daily levels.
Completing weekly/daily time frame analysis, your task is to set the alerts on at least two closest support/resistance clusters. You must patiently wait for the moment when the price reaches one of them.
Once the underlined key level is reached, you start the analysis of intraday time frames.
➖The intraday time frames on focus are 4H/1H.
Your task here is to spot the price action/ candlestick patterns.
With such formations, the market unveils its reaction to the key level that it is approaching.
You are looking for a pattern that confirms the strength of the level.
Spotting the pattern you are looking for a trigger to open a trading position. Most of the time it is a breakout of a trend line or a horizontal neckline.
The breakout confirms the willingness of buyers/sellers to buy/sell from the underlined support/resistance . Only then a trading position is opened.
Here is the example how I analyzed and traded Gold using multiple time frame analysis:
1. I have analyzed weekly chart and spotted a key horizontal resistance
2. On a daily time frame, I found a rising trend line that matched perfectly with the underlined weekly structure.
3. Testing the confluence zone based on a trend line and a horizontal resistance, the price formed a double top pattern on 4H time frame. Its neckline breakout was my confirmation to open a short positing.
Entry point was a retest of a broken neckline.
The market dropped sharply, producing a very nice profit.
Of course, in practice, Top-Down analysis is very complex and many things and concepts must be learned in order to apply that strategy properly. Follow the steps described in this post, learn to identify key levels and recognize the price action patterns and you will see how efficient this strategy is.
Do you apply a Top-Down trading strategy?
Let me know, traders, what do you want to learn in the next educational post?
RNDRUSD short positionOn the chart we can see a rising wedge formation. Our strategy is enter a short position when the price retest the resistance line.
We can see an on-going distribution as there is a lower highs construction.
Stop loss: 2.957 USD
Target: 2.021 USD
Entry: 2.785 USD
Harsh Truth About Trading: In Books VS In Reality
Most traders start their trading journey by studying theory first, reading books or taking video courses before putting these newfound skills into practice. But once they start trading on a real market, they quickly realize that things are not as straightforward as the books make them out to be.
In this educational article, we will take a critical look at the difference between theoretical knowledge and practical experience.
📍And first of all, do not get me wrong. I am not trying to imply that trading books or courses are bad.
Theoretical knowledge is essential for successful trading, and of course the books are the best source of that.
The problem is, however, that books can be misleading. The examples in books are always tailored. When the authors are looking for the examples of the patterns, of key levels, they are looking for the ideal cases.
📍The problem becomes even worse, when one start studying the trade examples in books. And of course, the authors choose the brilliant winning trades with huge take profits and tiny stop losses.
I guess you saw these pictures of "sniper" entry trades with 5/1 R/R.
The inexperienced trader may start thinking that the markets are perfect and act in total accordance with the books.
That all the trades that he will take will bring tremendous profits.
That the identified patterns will work exactly as it was described.
📍The harsh truth is that books and courses are simply the compositions of different examples, cases and market situations.
In reality, each and every trading setup is unique.
The reaction of the price to the same pattern will be always different.
Please, realize the fact that books are only good for acquiring the knowledge. But in order to survive on financial markets, you need the experience. And the experience will be gained only after studying thousands of real market examples in real time.
📍Here is the example of a double top pattern that we were trading with my students on AUDJPY.
In books, double tops are always perfect. Once the market breaks the neckline, the price retests that and then quickly drops.
So the one can set a tiny stop loss and a big take profit.
However, after a retest of a broken neckline, AUDJPY bounced and the market maker was stop hunting the newbies. Our stop loss was way above the head, and we managed to survive.
Even though the pattern triggered a bearish movement, the reaction of the market was far from perfect.
Be prepared, that the market will much different from what you see in the books.
Good luck to you!
Learn The Main Elements of The Trading Strategy
There are hundreds of different trading strategies based on fundamental and technical analysis.
These strategies combine different tools and trading techniques.
And even though, they are so different, they all have a very similar structure.
In this educational article, we will discuss 4 important elements every trading strategy should have.
1️⃣ The first compontent of a trading strategy is the list of the instruments that you trade.
You should know in advance what assets should be in your watch list. For example, if you are a forex trader, your strategy should define the currency pairs that you are trading.
2️⃣ The second element of any trading strategy is the entry reasons.
Entry reasons define the exact set of market conditions that you look for to execute the trade.
For example, trading key levels with confirmation, you should wait for a test of a key level first and then look for some kind of confirmation like a formation of price action pattern before you open a trade.
3️⃣ The third component of a trading strategy is the position size of your trades.
Your trading strategy should define in advance the rules for calculating the lot of size of your trades.
For example, with my trading strategy, I risk 1% of my trading account per trade. When I am planning the trading position, I calculate a lot size accordingly.
4️⃣ The fourth element of any trading strategy is trade management rules.
By trade management, I mean the exact conditions for closing the trade in a loss, taking the profit and trailing stop loss.
Trade management defines your actions when the trading position becomes active.
Here is the example.
I took a trade on Friday, following my top-down trading strategy.
I was trading Dollar Index (the instrument that is in my trading list).
Entry reason was a test of a key level on a daily and a formation of a horizontal range on 1H time frame.
The position was opened on a retest of its broken neckline.
Position size of this trade was based on 1% of my trading deposit.
Stop loss and targets were structure based.
Make sure that your trading strategy includes these 4 elements.
Of course, your strategy might be more sophisticated and involve more components, but these 4 elements are the core, the foundation of any strategy.
What Should Be Inside Your Trading Plan
Find out why you should have a trade plan—and the five elements that may help you put it to work successfully.
Element 1: Your time horizon
How long do you plan to hold a position? This will depend on your trading strategy. Generally, traders fit into one of three categories:
Single-session traders are very active and look to gain from small price variations over very short time periods (minutes or hours) throughout the trading day.
Swing traders target trades that can be completed in a few days to a few weeks.
Position traders seek larger gains and recognize that it often takes longer than a few weeks to achieve them.
Element 2: Your entry strategy
Look for entry signals—for instance, divergences from trend lines and support levels—to help you place your trades. The signals you employ and the orders you use to make good on them hinge on your trading style and preferences.
Element 3: Your exit plan
When it comes to an exit strategy, plan for two types of trades: those that go in your favor and those that don’t. You might be tempted to let favorable trades run, but don’t ignore opportunities to take some profits.
Element 4: Your position size
Trading is risky. A good trade plan establishes ground rules for how much you’re willing to risk on any single trade. Say, for example, you don’t want to risk losing more than 2%–3% of your account on a single trade. You could consider exercising portion control, or sizing positions, to fit your budget.
Element 5: Your trade performance
Look over your trading history to calculate your theoretical trade expectancy, meaning your average gain (or loss) per trade. You start by determining the percentage of your trades that have been profitable versus those that haven’t. This is known as your win/loss ratio.
✅LIKE AND COMMENT MY IDEAS✅
Do you like this post? Do you want more articles like that?
Daily Time Frame is The MAIN Time Frame to Trade! Learn WHY:
Hey traders,
You frequently ask me what is the most important time frame to analyze and follow.
And even though I must admit that multiple time frames must be taken into consideration for successful trading like weekly/daily/4h/1h. Among them, there is the one that is universally considered to be principal. That is a daily time frame.
There are a lot of reasons why so many traders rely on a daily time frame:
1️⃣ - Daily time frame shows a global market trend at the same time reflecting a mid-term and short-term perspective letting the trader catch trend following moves and spot early reversal signs.
2️⃣ - Covering multiple perspectives, daily time frame is the foundation of the majority of the trading strategies being the main source of key levels & pattern analysis.
3️⃣ - Daily time filters out news events that happened during the trading day. It shows the composite reaction of the market participants to all the data posted in the economic calendar.
4️⃣ - Daily time frame reflects all trading sessions. Within one single candle, we see the outcome of the Asian, London, and New York Sessions.
5️⃣ - Daily candle filters out all the noise from lower time frames & intraday price fluctuations and sudden spikes & rejections.
6️⃣ - Covering all the trading sessions, daily time frame mirrors the activities of big players like hedge funds and banks. Showing us the flow & direction of big money.
⚠️Being so important for analysis, do not neglect other time frames.
The most accurate trading decision can be made only relying on a combination of intraday and daily time frames.
What is your favorite time frame to trade?
❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
Cup and Handle Trading Guide ☕️
The cup and handle pattern is a continuation chart pattern that looks like cup and handle with a defined resistance level at the top of the cup.
It forms from a strong drive up that pulled back and consolidated over a period of time creating the cup before making another push to the resistance where it pulls back again but not as far creating the handle and then makes it final push past the resistance level and continuing on the trend.
How To Trade A Cup and Handle Pattern
To trade using a cup and handle strategy, place your stop buy order a little higher than the handle’s upper trend line. Your order will only execute if the price breaks through the pattern’s resistance.
As an alternative you can wait for the price to close higher than the handle’s upper trend line, and then place a limit buy order a little bit lower than the breakout level for the pattern, which will execute if the price retraces.
However, you will face the risk of missing the trade if the price fails to pullback and continues to advance uninterrupted.
💫Useful tips:
The ideal cup pattern should not be too deep. Avoid patterns with handles that are too deep as well, since the handles should be forming somewhere in the cup pattern’s top half.
The volume should be decreasing as the price declines, and then stay lower than the average seen in the base of the cup. The price should increase as the security starts to move higher toward the previous high.
The retest at the end of the cup pattern does not need to directly reach the previous high, but the further the top of the handle is from the old high, the less significant the breakout from the handle’s bottom may be.
Hey traders, let me know what subject do you want to dive in in the next post?
Secret of Success in Trading: Patience, Emotions, Psychology
I vividly remember how I started to trade 8 years ago, how I was learning, and the things that I was doing.
Contemplating my old self, I notice a dramatic shift in my mindset in regard to trading.
Staring at the charts and desiring to make money on price action, I wanted to become a consistently profitable trader. Making the priorities, I decided to sacrifice my time on studying technical analysis, totally neglecting trading psychology and risk management.
Learning different trading strategies, I always came to the same result: the account went blown and nothing seemed to work.
Strategies of fancy traders on YouTube, strategies from best-selling books on Amazon, nothing could produce any penny.
Not giving up and pursuing my ultimate goal, I came to the conclusion that I set my priorities absolutely incorrectly.
To be honest, I always thought that trading psychology (like psychology in general) is s*cks. Moreover, I considered risk management to be kind of obvious, banal topic not deserving much attention.
Learning risk management techniques, applying them in day trading, I finally saw a glimmer of hope.
Reading a dozen of books on trading psychology, contemplating my mistakes, and observing my behavior I noticed so many wrong, incorrect things that I did on a daily basis.
With time and practice, my mindset shifted.
I realized that most of the strategies that I applied and that seemed losing to me, in fact, were decent.
It turned out that mastery of technical analysis is not enough for profitable trading. Instead, that is just a tiny part of what must be learned.
Now, when my students ask me about the most important things to learn & study in trading, I always say:
trading psychology and risk management go first, technical analysis is the secondary.
❗️ Do not neglect these topics and give them due attention. They are an essential part of your success in trading.
🤔 Do you agree with the pyramid that I drew?