How Do You Know When To Stay Flat?

[Lopen]

Lately the market has been consolidating making it tough to trade for newbies like me. I would like some advice from the experienced traders in this forum. How do you know when to stay away and when to trade aggressively? Do you still trade in the current market conditions?

Ive been chopped around badly lately and have been taking losses. Any advice would help. Thanks

[feb2865]

The market will fool you everyday. No exception You see the price moving your way and you're tempted into follow that move and forget whatever you already have in place. Or maybe you missed the bus and you're looking to ride it before it gets to the next stop. Your hands get sweaty. Your heart start pumping blood all the way up real fast as your brain is "demanding" for an inmediate action. Then the market starts to move her hips in a sexy arabian way, and you're falling for it. Oh boy, seem like you have no choice. what do you got to lose?

Well yes you could lose, a lot. That's what the market wants. Soon your hard-earned cash will be like a grain of sand in the middle of the sea.

Become a player of the market. Don't let the market "play" you. You're the one who call the shots. Not the market. Accept the fact that sometimes you lose even if you follow your system to the core. But your winings will surpass you loses by far more.

All of the above is assuming you have a profitable system in place.

Remember you're responsible for you entries as well as your exit. Not the market.

Regards

Raul

[feb2865]

Another thing

if you feel like your strategy is nor working out for you, just let us know. The whole purpose of this site is for traders to help each other. We will have an objective view of your system and we will try to help you out the best we can. You have my word that I will keep the integrity of your post and I won't let anyone make a fool of your strategy for as simple or complicated it could be.

Here we have plenty of capable and experience traders that will gladly throw some ligth to you in your path for success.

Feel free o share with us, we'll be happy to help.

Regards

Raul

[protrader]

there are always opportunities. sometimes you have to tighten your stops, reduce your size, tweak your system.

in the crash of 87 some of the largest gains were made from people that bought the bottom at 1:30 and sold an hour later.

[Lopen]

Thank you Raul and protrader. I have been learning several new strategies through this forum. Just like any newbie I relied heavily on indicators without cleary knowing how they work. I started using S&R points and pivot points. What I find difficult is when the market rotates back and forth between the daily pivot or opening price.

How important is the opening price? I try to look for short opportunities when price is trading below the opening price and vice versa. Thank you.

Lopen

[torero]

	Quote:	Lopen
	Thank you Raul and protrader. I have been learning several new strategies through this forum. Just like any newbie I relied heavily on indicators without cleary knowing how they work. I started using S&R points and pivot points. What I find difficult is when the market rotates back and forth between the daily pivot or opening price. How important is the opening price? I try to look for short opportunities when price is trading below the opening price and vice versa. Thank you. Lopen

lopen,

Pivots are important but they MAY be support or resistance. There is no guarantee that prices will stop at these levels. I have them there to see how prices react to them: will prices stop and bounce or pierce through and continue? Only prices will answer the question, not the pivots. I used to make this mistake and think that's a 100% bounce area. Not true.

For me, this is one way (of many for others I'm sure) to determine if you're seeing trending or trendless market is viewing them through higher highs/higher lows and lower highs/lower lows.





This works in any timeframes. We all know prices move in waves. Learn to read this and mark them throughout the day so you can identify if you're in an uptrend, downtrend or notrend. Start from the higher timeframes (day, weekly) then work your way down (60min, etc) to see your preferred intraday timeframe. This is the meat of my strategy. Good luck.

[protrader]

nice torero also i watch volumes at critical levels, IE increasing or drying up

[Lopen]

Thank you for the explanation Torero. WOW! I never thought about this but yet its so simple.

Powerful trading tip.. thank you

[torero]

It's so simple, people think there has to be more to it than that. In the end, it is simple but getting to that simplicity point of view takes time. Simple eh?

[Soultrader]

	Quote:	torero
	It's so simple, people think there has to be more to it than that. In the end, it is simple but getting to that simplicity point of view takes time. Simple eh?

Very true torero. Trading is simple but for a new trader this is very hard to grasp. It takes time to trade with simplicity!