we have no business looking at a one minute chart.
"We" got it! lol! Duly admonished. <g> Guess I scaled the wall, then reverted back to the bad DT habits.
I'll have to switch to an hour chart and implement the 5-minute one when the gap rule is in play. My guess is that once the initial 15-30 minute period is finished, the 5 minute chart is forbidden and the view switches to 1 hour.
don't move your stops on the day of the trade. You exponentially increase the odds of being stopped out.
OK, I'll try that for a while. This may be the difference between getting over the wall or not. For example, watching DHR go up by over $1 today was exciting. However, there is always that knawing voice in the back of the head, "Don't let a profit turn into a loss." I fully appreciate the comment that if the previous day's low is too much to give up on the down side, don't make the trade. Yes, measuring the risk/reward ratio up front is a key step that will whittle down the potential trade candidate list. However, the above voice is pretty strong. But I think the key is that if I do decide to heed the voice, then a well defined stop strategy needs to become part of the trading plan, and one must accept more whipsaws and/or lower returns.
I have learned, to leave my stop alone until the first profit target is hit.
OK, that brings up a question: How does one pick the profit targets? I can see that initial target price might be at key overhead resistance/piviot points, measured objectives, etc., however, in a 'blue sky' breakout scenerio how does one ascertain the magnitude of the breakout and potential target ranges? I think this is critical, as one can play games with one's self vis the r/r ratio in order to justify any trade. There needs to be a clearly defined, measurable and non-subjective process for target defintion.
Then coupled with that how does one know the time period of the trade? The FFIV was a 2 day trade, while the DHR was a 'swing' trade, which I guess means a 3 to 5 day trade. How do I decide which is which when I find a chart like SLW or KRY?
These lessons are invaluable and just mere appreciation seems poor compensation.
Thanks Dabum!
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