Price has consolidated all week with little to no volume in the markets. It really has not moved anywhere since last week and furthermore since the US presidential elections.
There may be short trades to catch here and there but trading in a consolidation range is too much of a risk and a nuisance on the smaller TFs which has been avoided by simply waiting on the Daily chart to signal its HL.
Since price finally gave the bullish rally breaking out after prior months of consolidations, the common speculation was that price would quickly continue the momentum to keep breaking ATHs. But, almost 2 weeks later and we can see that has not been the case.
When price ranges like this, its a sign that the retracement period is not over and the higher TF HLs have not been completed.
My personal aim as a trader is to enter a trade with minimal drawdown in order to make maximum profits. Why?
Because the average trader does not have a huge account size.
So if you are entering a trade and suffering on average 2000+ pips in drawdown but still manage to close in profit its one of 2 things: 1. You enter with a micro lot size 2. You have a enough capital to act as a buffer
But whereas those options may indeed work to your advantage, the point of the matter is why not wait to enter if the trade has not completed its higher TF HLs and is clearly heading to do so anyways?
Those PIPs in drawdown are PIPs that could have been used towards gaining maximum profits.
And that mentality is what keeps me patiently waiting on the next A+ quality set up.
Just for transparency: I have not taken a trade since the bullish rally we got on NAS100 and US30 from the US presidential elections. I was late to exit the trade but still made very good profits.
What has helped me become a profitable trader is learning to wait and being very selective.
Even if you are entering buys as the trend move, you can still end up in a loss if you are not entering at the right time and if your account cannot withstand drawdown.
Statistically, the more trades you take, the higher your chances become of taking a loss.
And if you make decent profits from one trade, you do not need to be scavenging the markets for more trades to take because you run the risk of giving the markets back your profits.
Learn to be satisfied with your profits and wait for the next A+ quality set up.. and sometimes that may come weeks or two from now depending on market conditions and consolidation