I followed this thread from ET to here. Took me 2 days to finish every post as well as the links to other resources found within both threads here and at ET.
Like they say, one only absorb 30% of what he reads so I'll probably have to re-read this thread over again to get a more accurate picture.
Let me try to summarise what I gathered so far, please correct me if I'm wrong!
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How To Become Profitable 101
Basis :
-The market have random movement as well as non-random movement.
-Random movement kills traders. Therefore, to succeed, one has to find and trade non-random movement.
Tradeable Movement :
-Price bouncing off Support/Resistance
-Breakout from Support/Resistance
-Retracements?? (Temporary pullbacks from the prevailing trend, tradeable?)
System :
-Have exact rules for entering and exiting each Sup/Res trades. Know exactly one's Take Profit point and Cut Loss point.
-Have exact rules to reverse trade. Eg, Sup/Res bounce => Breakout
-Add position sizing rules.
Identifying Sup/Res :
-Sup/Res can only be determined after corresponding price movement. Eg. A breakout is only a breakout when it breaks out. ;-)
-Keep to right side of the trend by waiting patiently for the bounce or breakouts instead of anticipating. Eg. A support is not a support until it the price gets supported and rebounce.
-Volume gives a clue to whether the Support/Resistance will be cause price to bounce or fall thru but requires confirmation from the price action itself.
Regarding Volume :
-Volume analysis only works with price confirmation.
Example -
High volume on Long Down Candle in the middle of a downtrend -> Could be selling exhaustion, could be selling strength. Need price confirmation.
Low Volume on Short Down Candle (Doji etc) in the middle of a downtrend -> Could be lack of selling pressure, could be selling pressure resting during consolidation. Need price confirmation.
-Volume + Price analysis can be use to manage and confirm trades.
Example -
High Volume on Short Candle (Doji etc) when price approaches a previous Support Level after bouncing off Resistance -> Could be high buying pressure due to support. Need price confirmation. But once price start to rebounce with strong volume & perhaps corresponding candlestick pattern, time to Long?
A very overlooked but very very useful use of Volume which was never mentioned in any part of this thread here or at ET :
ES trading volume tells us when to stop trading because of the lack of movement during lunch hour! Near lunch hour + volume drop to a trickle = time for lunch!