How effective is the 15 minute intraday breakout?

[How effective is the 15 minute intraday breakout?]

One strategy when trading the emini S&P 500 involves playing the 15 minute range breakout. I was curious to know if this method is still common?

 

I have not tested this yet but would like to know if anyone in this forum trades this strategy.

[Spotting Trend Reversals Using Candlesticks]

Anytime you have a breakout from consolidation and a new trend, you like to see volume and a nice green candlestick bar at the breakout. This indicates momentum and will push prices higher.

 

However, one when a tall green candlestick bar appears at the end of a trend, this is usually a clue that a top is in place. You can then look for a reversal and a short opportunity. If you are in a position and see a 1-minute wonder (tall green bar) it is usually a good sign to take profits or tighten your stops.

 

A method to determine if a retracement will fail or not is to look at range expansion in candlesticks as well. If the candlestick on a reversal shows range expansion, this is an early sign of a trend failure. There is momentum and panic in that red bar.

 

Doji's are key candestick patterns that predict a turn of events. The market is undecided on which direction to go. Tony Crabel descibed the doji as a narrow day or a NR7. A NR7 is a day in which the range is narrower than the previous 6 days. Similar to the idea of contracting bollinger bands, you can expect prices to breakout in either direction.

[Full-time Traders: Business Cards?]

As a full-time trader, what should I put on my business card? I definetely do not get a positive response when I tell people I am a speculator. Most people will relate trading to gambling.

 

How does professional trader sound? What do you guys think?

[List your favorite market; stock, futures, or forex]

I trade the QQQQ's exclusively.

 

Just out of curiousity, why trade the QQQQ? Why not trade futures instead when their is a bigger potential for profits?