Your ULTIMATE Guide For Time Frames in Trading
If you just started trading, you are probably wondering what time frames to trade. In the today's post, I will reveal the difference between mainstream time frames like daily, 4h, 1h, 15m.
Firstly, you should know that the selection of a time frame primarily depends on your goals in trading.
If you are interested in swing trading strategies, of course, you should concentrate on higher time frames analysis while for scalping the main focus should be on lower time frames.
Daily time frame shows a bigger picture.
It can be applied for the analysis of a price action for the last weeks, months, and even years.
It reveals the historical key levels that can be relevant for swing traders, day traders and scalpers.
The patterns that are formed on a daily time frame may predict long-term movements.
In the picture above, you can see how the daily time frame can show the price action for the last years, months and weeks.
In contrast, hourly time frame reflects intraweek & intraday perspectives.
The patterns and key levels that are spotted there, will be important for day traders and scalpers.
The setups that are spotted on an hourly time frame, will be useful for predicting the intraday moves and occasionally the moves within a trading week.
Take a look at the 2 charts above, the hourly time frame perfectly shows the market moves within a week and within a single day.
4H time frame is somewhere in between. For both swing trader and day trader, it may provide some useful confirmations.
4H t.f shows intraweek and week to week perspectives.
Above, you can see how nicely 4H time frame shows the price action on EURUSD within a week and for the last several weeks.
15 minutes time frame is a scalping time frame.
The setups and levels that are spotted there can be used to predict the market moves within hours or within a trading session.
Check the charts above: 15 minutes time frame shows both the price action within a London session and the price action for the last couple of hours.
It is also critical to mention, that lower is the time frame, lower is the accuracy of the patterns and lower is the strength of key levels that are identified there. It makes higher time frame analysis more simple and reliable.
The thing is that higher is the time frame, more important it is for the market participants.
While lower time frames can help to predict short term moves, higher time frames are aimed for predicting long-term trends.
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Removing the Guesswork from Trading: Is Trading Gambling?Hello traders of @TradingView community!
Today, let's delve into a question that often arises in the trading: Is trading really just another form of gambling? While both trading and gambling involve risk and speculation, they differ fundamentally in their approaches and outcomes.
Trading, unlike gambling, is not about chance or luck. It's about making informed decisions based on analysis, strategy, and market trends. Successful traders rely on research, technical and fundamental analysis, and risk management to guide their actions. They aim to identify patterns and trends that increase their probabilities of making profitable trades.
On the other hand, gambling is typically a game of chance where the outcome is largely unpredictable. Whether you're playing roulette or rolling dice, the result is random, and your chances of winning are often determined by luck. While some aspects of trading might resemble gambling to an outsider, the key difference is the level of control and analysis involved.
Traders use various tools and methodologies to minimize uncertainty and make calculated decisions. They set entry and exit points, incorporate stop-loss orders, and diversify their portfolios to manage risk.
Traders focus on developing and executing long-term strategies, steadily building profits over time. In contrast, gambling often entails short-term bets with instant outcomes.
Unlike gambling, trading emphasizes risk management. Traders implement stop-loss orders and diversification to protect their investments, showcasing their control over potential losses.
In conclusion, trading is far from gambling. It's an intricate practice that requires education, analysis, discipline, and continuous learning. While both involve risk, trading is grounded in strategy and knowledge, allowing traders to manage their risk and work towards achieving their financial goals.
Poker + Trading = Winning HandHello dear @TradingView community! Today let’s focus on how Poker game enhances trading excellence.
In the sports, athletes often engage in cross-training to prevent injuries and boost performance.
For instance, football players explore swimming and weight trainings, while runners embrace activities like hiking and cycling. But have you ever considered a form of mental cross-training that could significantly improve your trading skills? Enter the arena of virtual poker.
Picture this: Poker and trading, both sedentary pursuits where your mind takes center stage. In the same way athletes focus on honing specific muscle groups, traders must nurture their mental agility. In this realm, poker emerges as potent tool for refining skills that transcend the trading landscape.
1. Risk Management: A Calculated Gamble
In the world of poker, going "all in" can swiftly lead to losing everything on a weak hand, much akin to the risks of trading. Strategic players understand the value of managing risks. Just as traders avoid recklessly investing their entire capital, poker players refrain from putting all their chips on the line. The lesson is clear: prudent risk management is the bedrock of success.
When trading, the rule of never jeopardizing more than 1% of your account on a single trade reigns supreme. This practice mimics poker's ante system, where even a $100 buy-in allows you to engage in up to 100 hands, each risking only 1%. By staying in control and considering odds, both poker players and traders minimize the chances of "blowing up" their hard-earned gains.
2. Emotional Mastery: The Art of the Poker Face
A trader's prowess lies in following set rules and staying emotionally neutral. In trading, think "Spock-like" focus, or the legendary "poker face." Concealing emotions and making calculated moves regardless of the hand you're dealt defines success.
Just as a poker player keeps a straight face to prevent opponents from reading their hand, traders curb emotional impulses that can lead to hasty decisions.
3. Probabilities and Persistence
Ever heard the phrase "You gotta be in it to win it"? While it may apply to lotteries, poker and trading echo a more nuanced sentiment. In both arenas, it's about understanding the odds and playing consistently.
Just as a skilled poker player capitalizes on favorable odds to raise the stakes, traders must recognize high-probability patterns and seize opportunities.
4. Humility: Staying Grounded in a Fickle Realm
In poker, overconfidence can be fatal. The same rings true in trading. A winning streak can inflate one's ego, leading to rash decisions. A humbling poker loss teaches the crucial lesson of respecting probabilities and staying vigilant.
By acknowledging that the market, like the poker table, is unpredictable, traders guard against costly mistakes borne from hubris.
5. Setting Financial Goals: Knowing When to Fold
Casinos shower players with perks, knowing the allure of winning often overshadows rationality. Similarly, traders who've experienced an early-session surge often squander gains through overtrading.
Establishing a financial target and having the discipline to "fold" when achieved prevents pitfalls fueled by greed. Just as a poker player may walk away after doubling their money, traders secure profits by adhering to predefined goals.
6. Community and Learning: The Power of Like-Minded Allies
Thriving in a community of dedicated individuals fuels growth. Poker players and traders alike benefit from shared insights and experiences. Engaging in online poker communities or joining global poker circles offers a haven for mutual learning.
As traders refine their craft, they unlock not only poker prowess but also a deeper understanding of market dynamics.
Intriguingly, virtual poker emerges as an unexpected but valuable ally for traders seeking to enhance their skills. It's more than a game; it's a training ground for honing the mental acuity vital for success in trading's challenging realm. So, are you ready to deal your hand and sharpen your trading edge?
Remember, whether you're at the poker table or the trading desk, calculated moves, emotional control, strategic thinking, and community engagement are your aces in the hole.
Best of luck, and who knows, maybe we'll even cross paths at the poker table one day!
The Cup and Handle Pattern in TradingGreetings, fellow traders and investors of @TradingView 📈🚀
Keep your eye for cup and handle pattern, a chart formation that hints at potential market possibilities.
The Cup and Handle:
Visualize a cup, complete with a 'U' shape and accompanied by a handle. This chart pattern mimics that very shape, capturing price shifts that can hint at noteworthy market movements. Here's the essence: a cup forms through a gradual downward trajectory, leading to a stabilizing phase, and eventually, a rally that mirrors the extent of the initial decline. This sequence of price action is pivotal in identifying the characteristic cup and handle formation.
Initiated by low trading volume, the formation gathers momentum with rising volume as the left lip of the cup takes form. Subsequently, volume recedes near the cup's bottom, only to surge again towards the right lip and breakout.
The initiation involves a dip in price, followed by stabilization, and finally, a rally that aims to retrace the plummet's impact.
As the cup materializes, it curves into a 'U' shape, while the price dips slightly to craft the handle. Notably, the handle must be smaller than the cup and should exhibit a minor downward trend within the trading range. It's imperative that the handle doesn't dip below one-third of the cup's depth.
Strategy and Execution
Now, how can you effectively trade this compelling pattern? The strategy involves positioning a limit buy order just above the upper resistance of the cup and handle. Simultaneously, set a stop-loss order slightly below the handle's support. This calculated approach ensures that your buy order triggers only when the price breaks through the upper resistance level. This cautious measure shields you from premature entry due to false breakouts.
For traders seeking an extra layer of assurance, patiently waiting for the price to conclusively close above the upper trendline of the handle can provide a higher degree of certainty before initiating the trade.
🌟 Wishing you successful trades and profitable outcomes as you leverage insights from @Vestinda. Remember, patience and careful analysis are your allies on trading path.
Happy trading! 💰
Trading Exposed: The Hard-Hitting Truth Behind the 99% Who Fail
The picture above completely represents the real nature of trading:
We all came here because we all wanted easy money.
Being attracted by catchy ads, portraying the guys on lambos, wearing guccies and living fancy lives, we jump into the game with high hopes of doubling our tiny initial trading accounts.
However, the reality quickly kicks in and losing trades become the norm.
The first trading account will most likely be blown.
In just one single month, 40% of traders will be discouraged and abandon this game forever.
The rest will realize the fact that the things are not that simple as they seemed to be and decide to start learning.
The primary obstacle with trading education though is the fact that there are so much data out there , so many different materials, so many strategies and techniques to try, so the one feels completely lost .
And on that stage, one plays the roulette: in the pile of dirt, he must find the approach that works.
80% of the traders, who stay after the first month, will leave in the next 2 years. Unfortunately, the majority won't be able to find a valid strategy and will quit believing that the entire system is the scam.
After 5 years, the strongest will remain. The ones that are motivated and strong enough to face the failures.
With such an experience, the majority of the traders already realize how the things work. They usually stuck around breakeven and winning trades start covering the losing ones.
However, some minor, tiny component is still missing in their system. They should find something that prevents them from becoming consistently profitable.
Only 1% of those who came in this game will finally discover the way to make money. These individuals will build a solid strategy, an approach that will work and that will let them become independent.
That path is hard and long. And unfortunately, most of the people are not disciplined and motivated enough to keep going . Only the strongest ones will stay. I wish you to be the one with the iron discipline, titanic patience and nerves of steel.
Attention Traders. DON'T Make This MISTAKE in Top-Down Analysis
Most of the traders apply multiple time frame analysis completely wrong. In the today's article, we will discuss how to properly use it and how to build the correct thinking process with that trading approach.
The problem is that many traders start their analysis with lower time frames first. They build the opinion and the directional bias analyzing hourly or even lower time frames and look for bullish / bearish signals there.
Once some solid setup is spotted, they start looking for confirmations , analyzing higher time frames. They are trying to find the clues that support their observations.
However, the pro traders do the opposite .
The fact is that higher is the time frame, more significant it is for the analysis. The key structures and the patterns that are spotted on an hourly time frame most of the time will be completely irrelevant on a daily time frame.
In the picture above, I underlined the key levels on USDJPY on an hourly time frame on the left.
On the right, I opened a daily time frame. You can see that on a higher time frame, the structures went completely lost .
BUT the structures that are identified on a daily, will be extremely important on any lower time frame.
In the example above, I have underlined key levels on a daily.
On an hourly time frame, we simply see in detail how important are these structures and how the market reacts to them.
The correct way to apply the top-down approach is to start with the higher time frame first: daily or weekly. Identify the market trend there, spot the important key levels. Make prediction on these time frames and let the analysis on lower time frames be your confirmation.
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Analyzing Confirmation Bias in Forex and Gold Trading
Psychological biases play a significant role in shaping trading decisions, and one such bias that demands scrutiny is confirmation bias.
Confirmation bias refers to the tendency of individuals to seek out, interpret, and emphasize information that supports their existing beliefs or preconceptions while ignoring contradictory evidence.
In the forex and gold trading , confirmation bias can have profound implications for traders, influencing their decision-making processes and potentially leading to suboptimal outcomes. This article aims to provide an in-depth understanding of confirmation bias and its impact on forex and gold trading, along with strategies to mitigate its negative effects.
Impact of Confirmation Bias on Forex Trading:
1. Selection and Interpretation of Information: Traders under the influence of confirmation bias tend to cherry-pick information that supports their existing beliefs and ignore or downplay evidence that contradicts them. This can result in an incomplete and biased assessment of the market's true conditions.
2. Overconfidence and Undue Risk-Taking: Confirmation bias can breed overconfidence, leading traders to overlook potential risks. Traders may take excessive risks by holding onto losing trades in the hope that the market will eventually validate their initial belief.
3. Missed Trading Opportunities: By focusing solely on information that confirms their existing beliefs, traders may overlook potential trading opportunities that could have been profitable. This bias restricts their ability to adapt to changing market conditions and identifying alternate trade setups.
Identifying Confirmation Bias:
1. Selective Information Gathering: Traders may exhibit a tendency to seek out sources of information that align with their existing beliefs while ignoring or avoiding contradictory viewpoints.
2. Narrow Framing: Traders might frame and interpret market information in ways that support their pre-existing assumptions, inadvertently excluding alternative perspectives.
3. Dismissing Contradictory Evidence: When presented with evidence that contradicts their beliefs, traders may either reject it outright or rationalize why it is irrelevant or unreliable.
Overcoming Confirmation Bias:
1. Seek Diverse Perspectives: Encourage a broad range of viewpoints by actively seeking out perspectives that challenge your existing beliefs. Engage in discussions with other traders, join forums, or seek professional opinions to diversify your understanding.
2. Consistent Record-Keeping: Maintain a trading journal that accurately documents your trades, rationale, and outcomes. Regularly review this journal to identify any patterns or biases that might be influencing your decision-making process.
Confirmation bias represents a significant cognitive obstacle for traders in forex and gold trading. Understanding its nature and recognizing its impact are crucial steps towards minimizing its negative effects. By adopting strategies focused on self-awareness, diversification, and collaboration, traders can enhance their decision-making processes and improve their overall profitability while navigating the complexities of the forex and gold markets.
Hey traders, let me know what subject do you want to dive in in the next post?
Forex Trading Basics: Charting Your Way to SuccessIntroduction
Forex trading is the practice of buying and selling different currencies to profit from market fluctuations. This financial market is the largest in the world, with an average daily trading volume of $6.6 trillion, making it an attractive arena for traders. In this article, we'll cover some fundamental principles of forex trading, and show you where charts can help you understand and apply these principles.
Forex Trading Principles
Understanding Forex Market:
The Forex market is a decentralized global marketplace where participants buy, sell, exchange, and speculate on the value of different currencies. Currency pairs are traded, such as EUR/USD (Euro/US Dollar) or USD/JPY (US Dollar/Japanese Yen). The first currency in the pair is the base currency, and the second is the quote currency. Understanding how currency pairs are quoted and the concept of exchange rates is essential for Forex trading. Factors that influence the Forex market include economic indicators, geopolitical events, interest rates, inflation, and market sentiment. Traders need to keep abreast of these factors to make informed trading decisions.
Trading Strategy:
A Forex trading strategy provides a systematic approach to navigate the complexities of the market. It helps traders identify entry and exit points, manage trades, and minimize emotional decision-making. Different trading styles, such as day trading (short-term), swing trading (mid-term), and position trading (long-term), require distinct strategies. Some popular Forex trading strategies include trend following, breakout trading, range trading, and carry trading. Traders must align their chosen strategy with their risk tolerance, available time for trading, and personal financial goals.
Risk Management:
Effective risk management is vital to protect your capital and survive in the Forex market. It involves determining the appropriate position size based on your account balance and risk appetite. Setting stop-loss orders is crucial to limit potential losses if a trade goes against you. Additionally, traders should consider setting profit targets to secure gains and practice sound money management principles. Risk management ensures that no single trade or a series of losses can wipe out a substantial portion of your trading account.
Use of Indicators:
Technical indicators are tools used to analyze price charts and identify potential trading opportunities. Fractals, for example, are indicators that highlight potential reversal points in the market. They consist of five consecutive bars, with the middle bar showing the highest (or lowest) price. Traders can use other indicators like Moving Averages, Relative Strength Index (RSI), MACD, and Bollinger Bands, among others. However, it's essential not to rely solely on indicators but to combine them with other forms of analysis and market context for more accurate decision-making.
Applying Charts in Forex Trading
Identifying Patterns:
Forex charts are instrumental in recognizing chart patterns, which are recurring formations that can indicate potential market movements. The 'head and shoulders' pattern showed on the chart below is just one example. Other common patterns include double tops and bottoms, wedges, flags, and pennants. Each pattern has its own implications for price direction and can help traders anticipate trend reversals or continuations. Understanding these patterns and incorporating them into your analysis can significantly improve your trading decisions.
Using Indicators:
Indicators are mathematical calculations based on historical price and volume data, providing additional insights into market trends and potential entry or exit points. Besides fractals, traders often use indicators like Moving Averages, Relative Strength Index (RSI), Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), and Bollinger Bands. These indicators help traders identify overbought or oversold conditions, trend strength, and potential trend changes. However, it's important to use indicators wisely and not overload charts with too many indicators, as it can lead to conflicting signals and confusion.
Determining Entry and Exit Points:
Charts serve as a primary tool for determining optimal entry and exit points for trades. Technical analysis tools, along with support and resistance levels, can guide traders in identifying areas of potential buying or selling interest. By combining technical analysis with their trading strategy, traders can time their entries and exits more effectively, enhancing the risk-reward ratio of their trades.
Risk Management:
Effective risk management is critical in Forex trading, and charts play a significant role in this aspect. By visualizing price movements and key levels on the chart, traders can determine appropriate stop-loss levels to limit potential losses. They can also calculate the position size based on their risk tolerance and the distance between their entry point and stop-loss level. Charts allow traders to assess the risk-reward ratio of a trade before executing it, ensuring they only take trades with favorable risk-to-reward profiles.
Conclusion
In conclusion, achieving success as a Forex trader requires a holistic approach that encompasses several critical elements. Understanding the basic principles of the Forex market sets the foundation for making informed decisions. Recognizing the role of currency pairs, exchange rates, and the factors influencing the market provides a solid framework for effective trading.
Developing a robust trading strategy tailored to your trading style and risk tolerance is paramount. Whether you opt for day trading, swing trading, or position trading, having a well-defined plan will guide your actions and protect you from impulsive decisions driven by emotions.
Charts serve as indispensable tools in Forex trading, enabling traders to visualize market data and identify key patterns and trends. Mastering the art of chart analysis empowers traders to spot potential opportunities, determine entry and exit points, and manage risk effectively.
However, success in Forex trading is not solely reliant on theoretical knowledge and technical skills. Consistency and discipline play a crucial role. Maintaining consistency in your trading approach and adhering to your trading plan even during challenging market conditions can lead to long-term success.
Discipline is essential in curbing the temptation to deviate from your strategy due to fear or greed. Practicing patience and avoiding overtrading are equally vital aspects of maintaining discipline.
Moreover, the Forex market is dynamic and subject to constant change. Staying updated with market trends, economic events, and geopolitical developments is indispensable. Continually refining your trading strategies and adapting to evolving market conditions will keep you ahead of the curve.
Additionally, never forget the importance of risk management. Preserving your trading capital through proper position sizing, setting stop-loss orders, and managing risk prudently is the key to surviving in the Forex market over the long term.
In conclusion, the journey to becoming a successful Forex trader is a continuous process of learning, analyzing, and improving. Embrace a comprehensive approach that combines knowledge, strategy, chart analysis, consistency, discipline, and risk management. By doing so, you position yourself for success in the ever-changing and exciting world of Forex trading.
Improve Your Trading | The Ultimate CHECKLIST For Your Trades
If you are looking for a way to increase the accuracy of your trades, I prepared for you a simple yet powerful checklist that you can apply to validate your trades.
✔️ - The trades fit my trading plan
When you are planning to open a trade, make sure that it is strictly based on your rules and your entry reasons match your trading plan.
For example, imagine you found some good reasons to buy USDJPY pair, and you decide to open a long trade. However, checking your trading plan, you have an important rule there - the market should strictly lie on a key level.
The current market conditions do not fit your trading plan, so you skip that trade.
✔️ - The trade is in the direction with the trend
That condition is mainly addressed to the newbie traders.
Trading against the trend is much more complicated and riskier than trend-following trading, for that reason, I always recommend my students sticking with the trend.
Even though USDCHF formed a cute double bottom pattern after a strong bearish trend, and it is appealing to buy the oversold market, it is better to skip that trade because it is the position against the current trend.
✔️ - The trade has stop loss and target level
Know in advance where will be your goal for the trade and where you will close the position in a loss.
If you think that it is a good idea to buy gold now, but you have no clue how far it will go and where can be the target, do not take such a trade.
You should know your tp/sl before you open the trade.
✔️ - The trade has a good risk to reward ratio
Planning the trade, your potential reward should outweigh the potential risks. And of course, there are always the speculations about the optimal risk to reward ration, however, try to have at least 1.3 R/R ratio.
Planning a long trade on EURNZD with a safe stop loss being below the current support and target - the local high, you can see that you get a negative r/r ratio, meaning that the potential risk is bigger than the potential reward. Such a trade is better to skip.
✔️ - I am ok with losing this trade if the market goes against me
Remember that even the best trading setups may occasionally fail. You should always be prepared for losses, and always keep in mind that 100% winning setups do not exist.
If you are not ready to lose, do not even open the position then.
✔️ - There are no important news events ahead
That rule is again primarily addressed to newbies because ahead and during the important news releases we have sudden volatility spikes.
Planning the trade, check the economic calendar, filtering top important news.
If important fundamentals are expected in the coming hours, it's better to wait until the news release first.
Taking a long trade on Gold, you should check the fundamentals first. Only after you confirm, that there are no fundamentals coming soon, you can open the position.
What I like about that checklist is that it is very simple, but you can use it whether you are a complete newbie or an experienced trader.
Try it and let me know if it helps you to improve your trading performance.
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Unveiling the True Journey of a Forex Trader
Entering the world of forex trading can be an exhilarating yet challenging endeavor. As a beginner, there is a multitude of uncertainties, doubts, and learning curves to overcome. However, with dedication, persistence, and the right mindset, every trader can journey from being a novice to becoming a seasoned professional. In this article, we will delve into the real journey of a forex trader, highlighting the key stages, hurdles faced, and the ultimate triumph of reaching pro status.
Stage 1: The Humble Beginnings
Every forex trader starts somewhere – and that somewhere is usually as a complete beginner. It begins with the excitement of discovering forex, learning about concepts like currency pairs, pips, and leverage. Novice traders spend their time absorbing knowledge from various sources, including books, online courses, and forums. They explore different trading platforms, practice with demo accounts, and study charts tirelessly.
Stage 2: The Quest for Knowledge
The second stage is characterized by a deepening understanding of the forex market. Traders realize the significance of fundamental analysis, technical analysis, and risk management. They invest time and effort in learning various trading strategies and indicators. This period often involves experimenting with different approaches and finding a personal trading style that aligns with their goals and personality.
Stage 3: The Psychological Battle
Advancing to the intermediate level of forex trading brings about a psychological battle that often catches traders off guard. Emotions such as fear, greed, and impatience can significantly impact decision-making. Traders must cultivate discipline, control their emotions, and stick to their trading plans.
Stage 4: Gaining Experience and Refining Skills
With consistent trading and gaining experience, traders gradually develop a sense of familiarity with the forex market. They begin to identify recurring patterns, understand market cycles, and spot potential trading opportunities. Risk management becomes an instinct rather than a conscious effort, and traders learn to manage their positions effectively.
Stage 5: Mastery and Consistent Profits
Finally, after going through the previous stages, traders reach the pinnacle of their forex journey – becoming a pro. At this stage, they have developed a robust trading routine, which incorporates continuous analysis, adapting strategies to changing market conditions, and effectively managing risk. Successful traders are able to consistently generate profits while keeping emotions in check.
The journey from novice forex trader to professional is not only about understanding the mechanics of trading, but also about mastering the psychological aspects and developing a disciplined mindset. It requires perseverance, constant learning, and an ability to adapt to ever-changing market conditions. By continuously refining their strategies, managing risk, and staying dedicated to their goals, forex traders can make the remarkable transformation from beginners to experts in this dynamic industry.
Hey traders, let me know what subject do you want to dive in in the next post?
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!
A Bollinger Band Strategy THAT ACTUALLY WORKS (1-Min Timeframe)In this video i'm going to explain you how to use the Bollinger Bands while trading BTC/USD in the 1-Minute and 5-Minute timeframe.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!
Please Boost this idea if you like it. This will help the algorithm and motivates me to push more educational videos for you :)
Cheers,
Ares
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.
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Exploring the Crucial Components of a Powerful Trading Journal
In one of the previous posts, we discussed the significance of a trading journal. In the today's article, I will share with you the key elements of a trading journal of a professional trader.
And first, a quick reminder that a trading journal is essential for your trading success. No matter on which level you are at the moment, you should always keep track of your results.
Let's go through the list of the things that you should include in your journal.
1 - Trading Instrument
The symbol where the order is executed.
You need that in order to analyze the performance of trading a particular instrument.
2 - Date
The date of the opening of the position. Some traders also include the exact time of the execution.
3 - Risk
Percentage of the account balance at risk.
Even though some traders track the lot of sizes instead, I do believe that the percentage data is more important and may give more insights.
4 - Entry Reason
The set of conditions that were met to open the trade.
In that section, I recommend to note as much data as possible.
It will be applied in future for the identification of the weaknesses of your strategy.
5 - Risk Reward Ratio
The expected returns in relation to potential risks.
6 - Results
Gain or loss in percentage.
And again, some traders track the pip value of the gain, however,
in my view, the percentage points are more relevant for studying the statistics.
Here is the example of the trade on Gold:
Here is how exactly you should journal the following trade:
Instrumet: Gold (XAUUSD)
Date: 03.07.2023
Risk: 1%
Entry Reason: H&S Pattern Formation,
Neckline Breakout & Retest
R/R Ratio: 1.77
Results: +1.77%
Of course, depending on your trading strategy and your personal goals, some other elements can be added. However, the list that I propose is the absolute minimum that you should track.
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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.
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Learn The Market Volatility | The Double-Edged Sword
Have you ever wondered why the certain trading instruments are very rapid while some our extremely slow and boring?
In this educational article, we will discuss the market volatility, how is it measured and how can it be applied for making smart trading and investing decisions.
📚 First, let's start with the definition. Market volatility is a degree of a fluctuation of the price of a financial instrument over a certain period of time.
High volatility reflects quick and significant rises and falls on the market, while low volatility implies that the price moves slowly and steadily.
High volatility makes it harder for the traders and investors to predict the future direction of the market, but also may bring substantial gains.
On the other hand, a low volatility market is much easier to predict, but the potential returns are more modest.
The chart on the left is the perfect example of a volatile market.
While the chart on the right is a low volatility market.
📰 The main causes of volatility are economic and geopolitical events.
Political and economic instability, wars and natural disasters can affect the behavior of the market participants, causing the chaotic, irrational market movements.
On the other hand, the absence of the news and the relative stability are the main sources of a low volatility.
Here is the example, how the Covid pandemic affected GBPUSD pair.
The market was falling in a very rapid face in untypical manner, being driven by the panic and fear.
But how the newbie trader can measure the volatility of the market?
The main stream way is to apply ATR indicator, but, working with hundreds of struggling traders from different parts of the globe, I realized that for them such a method is complicated.
📏 The simplest way to assess the volatility of the market is to analyze the price action and candlesticks.
The main element of the volatile market is occasional appearance of large candlestick bars - the ones that have at least 4 times bigger range than the average candles.
Sudden price moves up and down are one more indicator of high volatility. They signify important shifts in the supply and demand of a particular asset.
Take a look at a price action and candlesticks on Bitcoin.
The market moves in zigzags, forming high momentum bullish and bearish candles. These are the indicators of high volatility.
🛑 For traders who just started their trading journey, high volatility is the red flag.
Acting rapidly, such instruments require constant monitoring and attention. Moreover, such markets require a high level of experience in stop loss placement because one single high momentum candle can easily hit the stop loss and then return to entry level.
Alternatively, trading a low volatility market can be extremely boring because most of the time it barely moves.
The best solution is to look for the market where the volatility is average, where the market moves but on a reasonable scale.
Volatility assessment plays a critical role in your success in trading. Know in advance, the degree of a volatility that you can tolerate and the one that you should avoid.
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A BASIC ENTRYThis right here is my favorite type of entry where you can basically see a nice bottom and re-test from the pullback before so in my eyes coming back down to this price too fill in the gaps is a MUST PAY ATTENTION type of trade... too me this is a continuation of price action. NOW! don't just get to your desired price and throw a market order in just because it's there? Wait for some big volume to come through, wait for the next pullback... Getting too the price is one thing... but knowing what to do next is the ball game.
I mean if I can get the price too come down far enough that i can set my SL behind a bunch of big 4HR, 1D bottoms and scale down to a lower TF too catch a clean leveraged trade. That's a strategy in itself... To add a focus on discipline, mindset, psychology, family, friends, work! an all-round lifestyle as a SOLDIER! you come to realize that trading is such a very small part of the game. Nail life first... then that simple strategy might just work.
BASIC TRADING BOOKIn this basic trading manual, we will address over 50 questions along with their answers, aiming to familiarize you with the concepts commonly used by traders. Through this material, we will focus on providing a more technical and formal language to enhance understanding and application of these concepts in the field of trading
What is a financial market?
A financial asset is a security or simply a book entry, whereby the buyer of the security acquires the right to receive future income from the seller. Stocks, currencies, bonds, cryptos, etc.
1) What financial markets exist?
Direct operation market. Buyers and sellers must meet directly for the purchase and sale of financial assets.
Brokerage market. There are specialized brokers that put buyers and sellers in contact with each other, charging a commission for the service.
Dealer market. The dealer buys the asset and sells it to a buyer,
i.e. takes positions on his own account. His profit is in the margin he obtains between the purchase price and the sale price (Spread).
Blind market (market makers). The market maker publishes the prices at which he is willing to make buying and selling operations. His profit is in the margin he obtains.
2)Who regulates the trading activity?
Commodity Futures Trading Commission, better known by its acronym CFTC. It regulates and supervises the options and futures market.
3)What are shares?
A share in the financial market is a security issued by a corporation or limited partnership by shares that represents the value of one of the equal fractions into which its capital stock is divided.
The shareholder investor expects the company to receive the maximum possible dividends and, from this, to create a generalized demand from the investing public for the paper, which produces an increasing valuation in its share price.
4)What is Forex?
The foreign exchange market, also known as Forex, FX or Currency Market, is a global and decentralized market in which currencies are traded. This market was born with the objective of facilitating the flow of money derived from international trade.
5) What are futures?
A Future is a transaction agreed at a given maturity (every end of the month - being the last trading day of the month) at a given price.
The buyer of a future has the expectation that the quoted value or SPOT, at maturity, will be at least above the agreed future value.
The seller of a future has the expectation that the price or SPOT at maturity will be at least below the agreed future value.
6)What are options?
Anything publicly traded can have options. Options, like stocks, can be traded every day, and this is what "liquidity" depends on, i.e., if there are no buyers and sellers, there are no options.
One option could be:
Call = Buy. Symbolically "C". Put = Sale. Symbolically "V".
7) What are cryptocurrencies?
A cryptocurrency is a centralized digital financial asset that uses cryptographic encryption to guarantee its ownership and ensure the integrity of transactions, and to control the creation of additional units, i.e. to prevent someone from making copies as we would do, for example, with a photo or a banknote.
8) What is a Japanese candlestick?
Candlesticks are a graphical representation of the financial market price in the form of candlesticks. They represent the price action over a set period of time. They are composed of a body and 2 shadows.
9) What is a candlestick chart?
In economics, the candlestick or candlestick chart is a type of chart widely used in technical analysis of the stock market. It reflects: the opening price of a security, the closing price of a security, the high and the low of that security.
10) What does it mean to trade short?
To trade short is to sell an asset that you do not own in the hope that its price will go down and you can close the trade at a profit. It is also called going short, taking a short position, going short.
11) What does it mean to trade long?
Trading long refers to taking a buying position in a financial asset. It is the opposite of going short.
12) What is a trend?
Market trends can be defined as the direction in which a market moves in a sustained manner over a given time interval.
13)What is a range?
A trading range is a band defined by two horizontal lines (one at the top as "resistance" and one at the bottom as "support"), which encompasses the price values of a tradable asset over a given period.
14) What is a spread?
A spread is an injection of purchases into the market that generate a strong upward price movement.
15) What is a lot?
A lot is a standardized group of assets in which an investment is made. Often, the actual value of an asset or security prevents you from trading it in units. Example: One lot of gold equals 100 ounces.
16) What is a contract?
a futures contract is an agreement, traded on an exchange or organized market, that obligates the contracting parties to buy or sell a number of goods or securities at a future date, but with a price established in advance.
17) What is the expiration of a contract?
Futures contracts have an expiration date, which is the date on which the contract must be settled. As the expiration date approaches, the price of the futures contract is adjusted to reflect the price of the underlying asset at that time.
18) What is a swap?
A swap is a contract in which two counterparties agree to exchange obligations or cash flows in order to achieve a benefit.
19) What is a tick?
A tick is the smallest price change that can occur in a market. It is represented in points and is always placed to the right of the decimal place. Each market has its own tick and this measure is widely used in the futures market.
20) What is a pip?
The term pip is short for "Point in Percentage". It is the measure of the smallest movement of the exchange rate of a currency pair in the foreign exchange market.
21) What is leverage?
Leverage is a tool that allows to increase the potential return of an investment by contracting a debt. In the specific case of trading, the broker undertakes to advance the trader a capital to invest in an operation, against the deposit of a guarantee, which is called margin.
22) What is a market order?
A market order is an order to buy or sell immediately at the best possible price. It needs liquidity to be filled, which means that it is executed against limit orders already created in the order book.
23) What is a limit order?
A limit order is an instruction given to execute a trade at a level that is more favorable than the current market price. There are two varieties of limit orders: entry orders (which consist of opening a position) and close orders (which terminate an open position).
24) What is an indicator?
Trading indicators are mathematical calculations that are represented in various forms on a price chart and can help investors identify certain signals and trends within the market.
25) What is technical analysis?
Technical analysis is a system for examining and predicting price movements in financial markets based on historical data and market statistics.
26) What is fundamental analysis?
Fundamental analysis is a methodology of stock market analysis, intended to determine the true value of the security or stock, called fundamental value. This value is used as an estimate of its value as a commercial utility, which in turn is supposed to be an indicator of the expected future performance of the security.
27) What are chartist figures?
the word chartist refers to "chart" in English, so we can specify that the chartist figures are those candlestick formations that form certain patterns that allow us to foreshadow where the trend of an asset could go.
28) What is a support?
Support is a level on a market chart where the price recovers in a downtrend. Let's say an asset is falling, but there is a price beyond which it will not fall. Every time it reaches that price, buyers take control and the market goes back up, this would be a support level.
29) What is a resistor?
Resistance is an area on a market's chart that is difficult to break through to reach new highs. Resistance is the opposite of support.
When an asset reaches it, sellers take control and drive its price back down.
30) What is a divergence?
Divergences are behaviors of other assets that act opposite or similar to the main asset. These divergences will give us extra confirmation when trading.
31) What is a gap?
In the stock market, a GAP represents a gap between two successive quotations, caused by the lack of transactions in a given period: this gap can also be represented by a news item that has a significant impact on the price of the security.
32) What is market risk?
Trading in the stock market must be full of Risk, Daring and Passion. As a generalized meaning, every financial operation carried out by an investor involves some risk. Financial Trading takes place in an environment of uncertainty that may generate unfavorable results or results different from those projected. This risk has two sources: uncertainty and probability.
33) What is risk management?
Risk management is a strategy that reduces risks in order to operate with peace of mind.
34) What are risk management strategies based on?
In order to have a correct risk management, you must first define your monthly target.
Second, we must define how much of our capital we are willing to risk.
Third, look for an adequate ratio (risk/reward) that allows us to have a low percentage of success in the operations but that compensates the losses with the profits.
And finally, how much we are going to risk per operation.
35) What is profitability?
Profitability is the gain you make after selling an asset in which you invested money. This means that, if you buy a stock index futures contract costing $10 USD, which subsequently increases in price to $13 USD and you sell it, you would be earning a return of
$3 USD.
The profitability you can obtain in trading depends on several factors such as the level of risk to which you expose your operations, the capital, the type of market, the financial asset, the level of leverage you use, the experience you have and your strategy.
36) What is a trading platform?
Trading platforms are tools that allow traders to trade over the network in real time. Each platform has its own features. Most of them offer information about the market, allow to schedule trades and offer different paid versions.
37) What is a timeframe?
The time frame in trading is the time interval or time frame in which a price chart is analyzed and ranges from ticks to months. It is a fundamental concept in the technical analysis of the financial market, it is a period of time in which the price data of an asset is examined.
38) What is a trading strategy?
Trading strategies are the action plans that traders use to trade in the financial markets.
These strategies are based on technical analysis, fundamental analysis or a combination of both, and define the entry, exit, risk and capital management rules that the trader must follow.
39) Types of trading strategies
There are many types of trading strategies, but they can be classified according to the time frame in which they are applied, the trading style they follow or the indicators they use
Some of the most common classifications are as follows:
According to the time frame: a distinction can be made between long term trading strategies (positional trading), medium term (swing trading) or short term (day trading or scalping). Each of these strategies involves a different level of frequency, duration and profit per trade.
Depending on the trading style: a distinction can be made between trend trading strategies, which seek to follow the dominant market direction, or counter-trend trading strategies, which seek to take advantage of market changes or corrections. There are also neutral trading strategies, which do not depend on the market direction.
Depending on the indicators: a distinction can be made between trading strategies based on technical indicators, which are mathematical tools that are applied to prices to generate buy or sell signals, or trading strategies based on price action, which are those that only use the patterns and formations drawn by prices on the charts.
40) What is stop loss?
The stop loss is a type of conditional order, which executes the sale of a certain asset if its price falls below the market limit. It is the investor who sets this price level through his broker, thus establishing the maximum level of loss that he is willing to assume.
41) What is the trailing stop?
The trailing stop is a type of order that makes your stop loss behave dynamically and evolve with the trend. The maximum loss tolerated is adjusted to the maximum price recorded, and is not anchored to the price of your entry.
42) What is take profit?
Take profit refers to limit orders that seek to sell above the level that was bought or buy below the level that was sold.
43) What is benefit bias?
Partializing profits refers to taking partial profits before reaching our take profit order. This is done to lock in profits in case our trade does not go to take profit.
44) What is breakeven?
The breakeven is an operation that is performed by moving the stop loss price to a price that guarantees that if the market moves against it and the operation is exited by stop loss, no money will be lost. It is usually moved to the entry price of the trade.
45) What types of trading are there?
Intraday trading Swing trade Scalping
Long-term trading Arbitration
Carry trade
46) What is intraday trading?
Intraday trading is a short-term strategy that aims to profit from small price fluctuations during the day, rather than long-term market movements.
47) What is the swing trade?
The swing trade is a type of trade that uses the charts that the price of assets draws session by session to detect trends, whether bullish or bearish, and follow the market, taking advantage of them to make money when the market rises or falls.
48) What is scalping?
Scalping is a type of trading that involves buying and selling financial assets quickly. Traders who trade using this method often seek to generate small profits on each transaction and hold their positions for a short period of time.
49) What is psychotrading?
Trading psychology is a term used to refer to the state of mind and emotions that can influence success or failure when investing in securities. It also represents the trader's capacity for self-control, based on the emotional component he/she employs in the decision making process.
50) What is an anchored account?
Funded accounts, also called funded accounts, are used to start trading without a deposit, i.e. the company that offers them provides the initial capital so that the selected trader can invest in the markets, generally in financial derivatives.
51) What is a trade log?
In trade logs, traders keep all the trades they make, with details of the trade such as date, asset, entry, stop loss, take profit, etc.
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?
The ABCD Pattern: from A to DHello dear @TradingView community!
Are you familiar with the ABCD pattern?
The ABCD pattern is a highly effective tool utilized in trading to identify potential opportunities across diverse markets, including forex, stocks, cryptocurrencies, and futures. This pattern takes the form of a visual and geometric arrangement, characterized by three consecutive price swings or trends. When observed on a price chart, the ABCD pattern exhibits a striking resemblance to a lightning bolt or a distinctive zig-zag pattern.
Importance of the ABCD Pattern
The significance of the ABCD pattern lies in its ability to identify trading opportunities across different markets, timeframes, and market conditions. Whether the market is bullish, bearish, or range-bound, the ABCD pattern remains a reliable tool.
By recognizing the completion of the pattern at point D, you can get a perspective trade entries. Furthermore, the ABCD pattern helps you determine the risk-to-reward ratio before initiating a trade. When multiple patterns converge within the same timeframe or across different timeframes, it strengthens the trade signal and increases the likelihood of a profitable outcome.
Finding an ABCD Pattern
The ABCD pattern has both a bullish and bearish version. Bullish patterns indicate higher probability opportunities to buy or go long, while bearish patterns suggest opportunities to sell or go short.
To identify an ABCD pattern, it is essential to locate significant highs or lows on a price chart, represented by points A, B, C, and D. These points define the three consecutive price swings or legs of the pattern: the AB leg, the BC leg, and the CD leg.
Trading is not an exact science, so traders often employ Fibonacci ratios to determine the relationship between the AB and CD legs in terms of both time and price. This approximation assists in locating the potential completion of the ABCD pattern. When patterns converge, it increases the probability of successful trades and enables you to make more accurate decisions regarding entries and exits.
Types of ABCD Patterns
There are three types of ABCD patterns, each having both a bullish and bearish version. To validate an ABCD pattern, specific criteria and characteristics must be met. Here are the characteristics of the bullish and bearish ABCD patterns:
📈 Bullish ABCD Pattern Characteristics (buy at point D):
To effectively trade the bullish ABCD pattern, you might consider the following characteristics:
1. Find AB:
Identify point A as a significant high and point B as a significant low. During the move from A to B, ensure that there are no highs above point A and no lows below point B.
2. After AB, then find BC:
Point C should be lower than point A. In the move from B up to C, there should be no lows below point B and no highs above point C. Ideally, point C will be around 61.8% or 78.6% of the length of AB. However, in strongly trending markets, BC may only be 38.2% or 50% of AB.
3. After BC, then draw CD:
Point D, which marks the completion of the pattern, must be lower than point B, indicating that the market has successfully achieved a new low. During the move from C down to D, there should be no highs above point C.
4.1 Determine where D may complete (price):
To determine the price level at which point D may complete, Fibonacci and ABCD tools can be utilized. CD may equal AB in price, or it may be 127.2% or 161.8% of AB in price. Alternatively, CD can be 127.2% or 161.8% of BC in price.
4.2 Determine when point D may complete (time) for additional confirmation:
For additional confirmation, you can analyze the time aspect of the pattern. CD may equal AB in time, or it may be around 61.8% or 78.6% of the time it took for AB to form. Additionally, CD can be 127.2% or 161.8% of the time it took for AB to form.
5. Look for Fibonacci, pattern, trend convergence:
Convergence of Fibonacci levels, pattern formations, and overall trend can strengthen the trade signal. Therefore, you should look for instances where these elements align.
6. Watch for price gaps and/or wide-ranging candles in the CD leg:
As the market approaches point D, it is important to monitor for any price gaps or wide-ranging candles in the CD leg. These may indicate a potential strongly trending market, and you might expect to see price extensions of 127.2% or 161.8%.
📉 Bearish ABCD Pattern Characteristics (sell at point D):
To effectively trade the bearish ABCD pattern, you might consider the following characteristics:
1. Find AB:
Identify point A as a significant low and point B as a significant high. During the move from A up to B, ensure that there are no lows below point A and no highs above point B.
2. After AB, then find BC:
Point C should be higher than point A. In the move from B down to C, there should be no highs above point B and no lows below point C. Ideally, point C will be around 61.8% or 78.6% of the length of AB. However, in strongly trending markets, BC may only be 38.2% or 50% of AB.
3. After BC, then draw CD:
Point D, which marks the completion of the pattern, must be higher than point B, indicating that the market has successfully achieved a new high. During the move from C up to D, there should be no lows below point C and no highs above point D.
4.1 Determine where D may complete (price):
To determine the price level at which point D may complete, Fibonacci and ABCD tools can be utilized. CD may equal AB in price, or it may be 127.2% or 161.8% of AB in price. Alternatively, CD can be 127.2% or 161.8% of BC in price.
4.2 Determine when point D may complete (time) for additional confirmation:
For additional confirmation, you can analyze the time aspect of the pattern. CD may equal AB in time, or it may be around 61.8% or 78.6% of the time it took for AB to form. Additionally, CD can be 127.2% or 161.8% of the time it took for AB to form.
5. Look for Fibonacci, pattern, trend convergence:
Convergence of Fibonacci levels, pattern formations, and overall trend can strengthen the trade signal. Therefore, you should look for instances where these elements align.
6. Watch for price gaps and/or wide-ranging bars/candles in the CD leg:
As the market approaches point D, it is important to monitor for any price gaps or wide-ranging bars/candles in the CD leg. These may indicate a potential strongly trending market, and you might expect to see price extensions of 127.2% or 161.8%.
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Chart Patterns: Mastering Price Patterns for Successful TradesChart patterns are powerful tools that allow traders to anticipate market movements and make informed trading decisions. This trading idea focuses on mastering various price patterns to enhance trading proficiency. By gaining expertise in recognizing and interpreting chart patterns, traders can identify high-probability trade setups, optimize entry and exit points, and increase their chances of success in the market.
Objective:
The objective of this trading idea is to equip traders with a comprehensive understanding of different price patterns and their significance in technical analysis. By mastering these patterns, traders can effectively analyze market trends, identify potential reversals or continuations, and make well-timed trading decisions.
Key Components:
Introduction to Price Patterns:
Begin by understanding the fundamentals of price patterns and their importance in technical analysis. Learn about the types of patterns, including reversal patterns (such as head and shoulders, double tops/bottoms) and continuation patterns (such as flags, triangles, and rectangles). Gain insights into the characteristics and significance of each pattern in predicting future price movements.
Reversal Patterns:
Dive into studying popular reversal patterns that indicate potential trend reversals. Explore patterns such as head and shoulders, double tops/bottoms, and triple tops/bottoms. Understand how to identify these patterns, confirm their validity through volume analysis, and generate entry or exit signals. Analyze real-life examples to strengthen your pattern recognition skills.
Continuation Patterns:
Explore continuation patterns that suggest the resumption of existing trends. Study patterns like flags, triangles (ascending, descending, symmetrical), rectangles, and wedges. Learn how to interpret these patterns to validate trend direction, anticipate breakout or breakdown levels, and improve trade entries. Understand the importance of volume and other technical indicators in confirming continuation patterns.
Complex Patterns:
Delve into more advanced and complex patterns, such as the cup and handle, head and shoulders inverse, and ascending/descending triangles with multiple touches. Gain insights into the nuances of these patterns, their variations, and their potential impact on price movements. Understand how to incorporate these patterns into your trading strategies for enhanced accuracy.
Pattern Confirmation:
Learn techniques to confirm the validity of price patterns and reduce false signals. Explore additional tools and indicators such as trendlines, moving averages, Fibonacci retracements, and oscillators to validate and reinforce pattern signals. Understand the importance of multiple confirmations for higher-probability trades.
Trade Management and Risk Control:
Develop effective trade management techniques to maximize profits and minimize risks when trading price patterns. Learn how to set appropriate stop-loss levels based on pattern structures and support/resistance levels. Understand position sizing and risk-reward ratios to optimize risk management. Explore techniques for trailing stops and scaling out of positions to maximize gains.
Backtesting and Paper Trading:
Apply your knowledge by backtesting price patterns using historical market data. Utilize paper trading or demo accounts to practice trading based on your analysis without risking real capital. Evaluate the performance of your pattern-based strategies, identify strengths and weaknesses, and refine your trading approach.
By mastering price patterns and effectively utilizing them in your trading approach, you can significantly improve your trading outcomes. This trading idea aims to provide you with the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate the markets with greater precision, identify high-probability trade setups, and achieve consistent trading success.
Note: Trading carries a level of risk, and past performance is not indicative of future results. It is important to conduct thorough research, practice proper risk management, and consider personal circumstances before making any trading decisions.
Creating Your Trading Strategy: Simple Steps and Common PitfallsWhen it comes to using technical analysis for making trading decisions, a solid, simple, yet robust trading strategy is an essential foundation for traders to achieve consistent profits. However, constructing that strategy can be a challenge, especially for those new to trading, as there is an overwhelming amount of information out there. There are nearly countless books written on the subject of trading strategies. We want to simplify the process so that you can develop your own approach and get started.
Step 1: Determine your market, timeframe, and trading methodology
The overall first step in constructing a trading strategy is to determine: the market, trading methodology, and time frames you wish to take on. This will help you choose the appropriate indicators and approach to your trades.
There are several markets to choose from, but it is highly recommended that you pick one when you first start trading. It is easy to look at all of the opportunities present in the market and potentially overplay your hand by trading too many, which can lead to devastating losses. As an example, if you wanted to scalp the forex market, it would be best to pick one or two currency pairs to trade rather than trying to monitor all major currency pairs for opportunities.
Defining your trading methodology is another aspect of this step. Are you intending to hold stock or ETFs long-term? Do you want to swing trade or day trade cryptocurrencies? Maybe you believe you want to scalp the forex market. Doing your own research into these varying methodologies is a paramount step in formulating your strategy. Research all of them to better understand what they are and how they may fit your overall goals and risk tolerance.
Your trading style can help determine what overall time frames you are looking at. A long-term holder will typically rely on higher time frames such as the daily or weekly timeframe. While a trader who predominantly scalps may rely more heavily on the 1-minute or 5-minute timeframes. Choosing the appropriate time frames and sticking with them for your trading decisions will help you achieve discipline and consistency.
Step 2: Choose your indicators
When choosing indicators for your trading strategy, it is important to know that there are several broad indicator categories to choose from. Included in these categories are: trend-following indicators, momentum indicators, volatility indicators, and volume indicators. Trend-following indicators help traders identify the direction of the trend, while momentum indicators measure the overall strength of a trend. Volatility indicators help traders identify the level of price volatility in the market, and volume indicators measure the amount of trading activity taking place. Traders commonly pick a combination of these to be included in their strategy to help give a clearer overall picture of the potential market direction.
It is crucial to keep your strategy simple, so we recommend using 2-4 indicators at most. Choosing the right indicator combinations can be difficult, but is crucial to the success of your trading strategy.
While it may be tempting to use multiple indicators in the hope of finding the perfect combination, having too many indicators can do more harm than good. When you have too many indicators, it becomes difficult to make clear decisions. You may end up with conflicting signals that can cause confusion and lead to losses or missed opportunities.
It's important to choose only a few indicators that complement each other and provide valuable information about the market conditions. This will allow you to make more informed decisions and stick to your trading plan with greater confidence.
Step 3: Define your entry and exit rules
Once you have chosen your indicators, the next step is to define your entry and exit rules. This will help you determine when to open and close trades. For entries, you are taking the signals generated by the indicators you have chosen in step two and making a clear and definable set of rules for entering a trade. There can be other factors, such as market structure that play a role, but from an indicator standpoint, it is good to make these rules easy to follow.
Your chosen technical indicators can also be used to exit trades. For example, traders may incorporate moving averages into their strategies, and moving averages can be used for both entries and exits. Other exit conditions include having hard set take profit or stop losses. We covered this topic in our stop loss article a few weeks back (and we highly recommend you check it out). No matter how you decide to make your entry and exit rules, please ensure you implement proper risk mitigation techniques to protect your account, and in turn, help you grow.
Step 4: Backtest your strategy and practice, practice, practice
Before putting your strategy into action it is essential to backtest it using historical data. This will help you determine if your strategy is profitable and identify any areas that need improvement. Note that while backtesting is an important part of determining if your strategy is successful, past results are not indicative of future success.
Another aspect of this step is putting your strategy into practice. We never recommend diving straight into the deep end with your money before practicing. There are many free demo account options out there to get started. It is recommended that you find one that fits your needs based on the market you will be trading. The key part of this step is patience and carrying over that patience for when you are ready to go live with your strategy.
Common pitfalls to avoid:
When constructing a trading strategy, it is important to avoid common pitfalls that can lead to losses or missed trading opportunities. Some common pitfalls include:
Overcomplicating your strategy: Using too many indicators or rules can make your strategy overly complex and difficult to follow.
Failing to backtest and practice: Backtesting is essential to ensure your strategy is profitable and identify areas that need improvement.
Ignoring risk management: Proper risk management is essential to minimize losses and maximize profits.
Losing patience and jumping right in: It is easy for anyone to find a hot new indicator they believe is their edge in the market and to subsequently jump right into trading. Don’t fall into this trap as the outcome is seldom good! Take your time and become a student of the market you are trading, and a student of your strategy
In conclusion, constructing a robust yet simple trading strategy using indicators requires careful consideration of your market and timeframe, choosing the appropriate indicators defining your entry and exit rules, and backtesting your strategy. There are other aspects of technical analysis that could be tied in between the steps listed above such as market structure and patterns. However, the goal of this article was to make the process as simple as possible to help traders get on the right path. By avoiding common pitfalls such as overcomplicating your strategy, failing to backtest, ignoring risk management, and chasing after losses, traders can increase their chances of success in the markets.