It's still not obvious to me!

[Jessey126]

Hi Guys (and Lovely Ladies)

Happy Monday and I hope everyone is doing great - especially my fellow pipsters on the east coast - extra shout out to ya

So as you may have noticed, I’ve been a bit quiet for the last week or two - I’ve been reading some, following the newbie posts here but mainly focussing on YouTube videos - on support and resist and price action for the most part - some of ICT’s stuff and others as well.

My question is, as much as I’ve watched/studied the S&R videos (from various people) and it makes sense while I’m watching it - I then go off to my tradingview chart and try to apply it… It seems to make sense at the time both when watching the videos (looks very simple) and when I also try to apply it but, my trading on demo was better ‘before’ I started trying to understand all this stuff.

Ie, I had better results ‘before’ trying to apply S&R!!! Fudge cakes, what on earth am I doing wrong??

The other thing is, I’ve only been worked with tradingview (for the charts) - is there anything out there a bit more user friendly in your opinion - I’m not sure now having used it a couple of weeks that it’s really ‘my cup of tea’ - having said that, of course I am ‘very’ new and it could just be ‘me’!!!

In anticipation, thanks for anyone who can answer and shed some light

Oh, the other thing - I do feel a bit of a silly sod but it seems to me that quite a few other newbies are on here and seem to be ‘getting it’ and doing well in their demo/live accounts and then I’m here, reading, studying and looking and seem to be going backwards!!! So while I applaud my fellow newbiews (well done :)), yours truly seems to be quite literally ‘losing the plot’!

I don’t expect for magic to happen overnight (or this early on) - I’m about 2 months in now but chart and trading wise, the penny just hasn’t dropped yet.

To recap, I’m trying to follow ICT’s and other folks advice here on just learning how to read charts, support and resist etc and I’m still particularly interested in Price Action.

I don’t have any trading plan (again - I feel a bit silly) but I haven’t progressed that far yet! I am of course being careful with money management and risk.

I guess I’m really looking for a bit of ressurance (please) that I’m still heading in the right direction (even though I’m not seeing any positive results and seem to be going backwards!!!)

Thanks everyone and I hope you all have a fabulous day

Jessey

[anfearmor]

Hi Jessey,

I read your post and it brought back a lot of familiar feelings from my own journey.

First of all, as you see from my status I am also a newbie. I’ve been on the journey since August 2011. I’m still only studying while working up enough money to have a decent balance to trade with.

I would definitely agree with what the other, more informed people here have told you regarding areas to focus on. You are on the right track.

And I can absolutely relate to the feeling of everything making sense when you watch someone else do it but not being as easy to do in practice yourself. The key thing there is of course practice. As I said I am looking at charts for over a year now and I still find S/R tricky. So after your 2 months it is perfectly natural to be a little overwhelmed by it.

What I have found helps me is to look at several different charts. My faves are EUR and GBP but sometimes you can stare at them for so long they lose their meaning to you. Whereas if you open different pairs and study them S/R levels often seem to jump out at you. You can then open your regular charts with a bit more confidence.

Another thing I do is to look for S/R on a 4hour chart. I also use higher time frame levels. However, on a 4 hour chart zoomed out to take in quite a bit of data you can really start to see areas of action around key levels.

They biggest thing with S/R though is that you see how price reacts to those levels or zones or however you want to think of them. You can mark the best levels on your chart but if you don’t see the confirmation with your eyes of what is happening when the level is tested again you 'll never get confidence in your ability.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you how this slightly further down the road newbie looks at things. You may consider it the blind leading the blind but maybe you get something out of it.

You are familiar I’m sure with the different stages of dealing with grief. Well, I think there are several stages of forex. I really do. And just like the stages of grief you cannot just jump forward skippping a few steps. You must experience each one in order to fully move to the next.

Anyway, I could have really answered your post with one word…well two words…informed practice. Keep practicing, keep watching the right videos and reading the right authors and you’ll get there.

The major investment of time comes at this stage. It will get easier.

Take care,

Padraic

[bobmaninc]

Great post anfearmor,

Jess

you are on the right track. Learning to spot S/R in the beginning is a difficult task. One I can assure you will be worth your efforts. Just take you time to learn not only how to spot the levels but how price reacts. Once you understand the correlation between price and market behavior you will get a better understanding of S/R and how to anticipate it long in advance. You will know what you are looking for at certain price levels.

You say you feel as though you were doing better before well I bet that can be frustrating but somethiimes to move forward one must take a step back. Dont worry about the other newbs that seem to have gotten it and are now running with it. Most of them forgot to learn to walk and will soon run into a wall. Where as you will have learned to expect that wall around the corner and you will know how to get around it instead of going splat in to the wall like the rest.

Stay focused and keep your eye on the prize

[invicta]

@Jessey126

My question is, as much as I’ve watched/studied the S&R videos (from various people) and it makes sense while I’m watching it - I then go off to my tradingview chart and try to apply it… It seems to make sense at the time both when watching the videos (looks very simple) and when I also try to apply it but, my trading on demo was better ‘before’ I started trying to understand all this stuff.

Hi Jessey

If you are having trouble placing support and resistance lines, may I offer a couple of suggestions:

Try placing the FractalChannel indicator for MetaTrader MT4 on a weekly or monthly chart. It draws a red line connecting all up fractals and a blue line connecting all down fractals, which I find can make it easier to spot areas of support and resistance.

Also try using a line chart instead of candles as the bends in the line can also make it easier to spot areas of support and resistance.

The attached chart illustrates these two methods. You might not agree with where I have placed the support and resistance orange lines and grey zones but hopefully you get the idea.

The FractalChannel indicator can be downloaded here:
Fractal Channel - MQL4 Code Base

The idea of using a line chart is mentioned in a book by Alex Nekritin and Walter Peters called Naked Forex. (I have no commercial interest in this book but consider it a worthwhile read.)

[Jessey126]

Hi Padraic

Very many thanks for your reply, I really appreciate it. It’s always nice to hear (and definitely lends a bit of comfort) someone who’s gone before, so to speak.

I particularly liked the analogy of grief - that is so true - you have to through ‘stages’ and that definitely resonated with me - you can’t just jump straight from A to Z; well, maybe if you’re truly gifted but I feel in my case, I ‘will’ be going through stages… And you are right, time and practice is what it takes… I just needed a bit of reassurance… Thanks again Padraig

Best wishes
Jessey

You are familiar I’m sure with the different stages of dealing with grief. Well, I think there are several stages of forex. I really do. And just like the stages of grief you cannot just jump forward skippping a few steps. You must experience each one in order to fully move to the next.

Anyway, I could have really answered your post with one word…well two words…informed practice.

[Jessey126]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for that - I liked what you said about S&Resist in the first paragraph - I wanted to reply with quotes here but I’m not doing very well with that (sorry!)…

Yes, frustration definitely got me yesterday - thinking I was devoid of brain cells and that Forex was a language I just couldn’t master. I know I’m impatient. I ‘know’ this all takes time - because that’s what the experienced folk tell us. It was just a bit of a bugger seeing other newbies ‘get it’ when I seemed to be sliding backwards.

Anyway, thanks again for your words of wisdom - makes perfect sense and I appreciate it

Best,
Jessey

[Jessey126]

Hi Invicta

Thank you for your reply - visuals are so much better aren’t they… I haven’t yet used ‘fractal’ so that is something I should look at if it will make things clearer for me. Also, using ‘lines’ might be a good idea to try also. I did play around with line very briefly but spending more time with that and S&R sounds a good idea.

And thanks for the book you mentioned - Naked Trading and P/A (I’m not quite sure if they’re one and the same) but I’m very interested in clean/unmessy trading (ie nice clean charts) so that’s definitely worth a look - especially if it’s easy to read and not full of jargon

Thanks again, I appreciate it…
Jessey

[PipNRoll]

Hey Lovely Jessey,

It is a tough road for the first year and even second year…

I agree with the above responses. You are on the right track. Just keep doing what you doing and keep your focus.
Think about how you know a lot more than 2 months ago. 2 months ago, you never heard of S/R, price action, and other terminology that you learn from babypips school. It is all about progress…you are not going the marathon, you are taking your baby steps before you can walk…

You will learn more by making mistakes so you will know “what not to do”. Every trade that you take, right it down in your journal. Put in the reasons why you are in the trade. If you prefer, you can print out a 1hr, 4hr, daily, weekly chart, draw your support and resistance there, circle where your target pips and stop loses are and write down where you think EUR/USD pair is going (up/down) and why. Then wait… if you are wrong, write down why you think you are wrong and if you are correct write it down as well. Do this process for a while until you get the hang of it… I did this for a while until I was out of ink in my printer then I just do print screen and save :)…

It was nice to see you again here

Good-luck!

[PipNRoll]

Hey Jessey,

I have found my note from one of ICT’s webinar regarding how to find S&R. Not sure if you have this already but disregard if you already do.
[U]
How to Identify Key Levels:[/U]

a.) Identify Monthly - Weekly- Daily
b.) Look for converging Old High and Low
c.) The higher the time frame the better
d.) Focus on Daily for consistent set ups.

Look for Round Numbers to find the Support and Resistance such as:

[B]00[/B] exp. 1.30[B]00[/B]
[B] 80[/B] exp. 1.29[B]80[/B]
[B]50 [/B]exp. 1.29[B]50[/B]
[B]20[/B] exp. 1.29[B]20[/B]
[B]00[/B] exp. 1.29[B]00[/B]

These are just the base line. As you might notice, S&R rarely hit the round numbers but at least you know where/what to look for. Eventually, when you have a lot of chart looking/studying, you will find the closest number where the S&R will be from the previous high/low.

Hope it helps…

[Jessey126]

Pip Darling, how are you??

It’s good to see you too

You’re right - two months’ ago, I knew absolutely nothing, and now I know a teeny tiny bit about Forex.

I like your reply here above about S&R, thanks for that hon and the kind words of encouragement, I really appreciate it.

Wishing you a Fabulous Week (with lots of pips)

Jessey

[purplepatchforex]

Hey Jessey,

I have found my note from one of ICT’s webinar regarding how to find S&R. Not sure if you have this already but disregard if you already do.
[U]
How to Identify Key Levels:[/U]

a.) Identify Monthly - Weekly- Daily
b.) Look for converging Old High and Low
c.) The higher the time frame the better
d.) Focus on Daily for consistent set ups.

Look for Round Numbers to find the Support and Resistance such as:

[B]00[/B] exp. 1.30[B]00[/B]
[B] 80[/B] exp. 1.29[B]80[/B]
[B]50 [/B]exp. 1.29[B]50[/B]
[B]20[/B] exp. 1.29[B]20[/B]
[B]00[/B] exp. 1.29[B]00[/B]

These are just the base line. As you might notice, S&R rarely hit the round numbers but at least you know where/what to look for. Eventually, when you have a lot of chart looking/studying, you will find the closest number where the S&R will be from the previous high/low.

Hope it helps…

Yes, absolutely, we did a whole week of focusing on levels on the EURUSD on ICT’s thread, and we learned a heck of a lot, try it, for a whole week, forget about everything else and just focus on these levels.

Think of it as learning on a normal course, one thing at a time, if you’re on a degreee course, you wouldn’t try to learn everything at once, what would happen? You’s get everything wrong yes?

Think of it as having to learn your times table, this is basic stuff, but you need to have it at your fingertips, if you don’t know your times table, it takes a heck of a lot longer to add 8+8+8+8+8+8 together, same with forex, you need to learn stuff off by heart, and this is a good point to start - with these levels, and on the EURO, then move on to others.

Remember to keep it all in perspective, a college degree course takes 3 years.

[dudest]

@Jessey126

Hi Guys (and Lovely Ladies)

…

Jessey

Hi Jessey,

I’m yet to read what others have posted ( and I’m sure it’s helpful goodstuff )

I have a suggestion: how about you post up a chart of some timeframe (e.g Daily) with your S/R levels marked and people respond with feedback on whether those S/R levels look OK?

I think that would help consolidate the knowledge quicker

Cheers!

EDIT:
Have read what others have posted, and it’s definitely goodstuff!

-> True that it is easier and more reliable to mark S/R levels on higher timeframes ( hence D1 e.g above )
-> True that the areas around Round Numbers ( 1.2900 ), Big Round Numbers ( 1.3000 ) and Very Big Round Numbers ( 1.0000 ) often act as S/R zones.
-> Also worth noting (hasn’t been mentioned) that areas where gaps have formed also tend to act as S/R zones
-> Agree that it’s easier to mark S/Rs when you switch the chart to LINE CHART, makes it easier to where the tips converge :), then switch back to CANDLESTICK and make the line(s) “best fit”

PS: Thought of a pair that could demonstrate some of the concepts above, and came up with charts below ( quick and dirty, but I hope it makes sense).

Cheers!

[Jessey126]

Hi Purple

Very many thanks for your reply - it definitely helps to be reminded that is going to be a long process (I do ‘know’ that, I just get a tad frustrated and impatient with myself if I feel I’m not moving in the right direction…) The feedback here from you guys has definitely ‘lifted’ me and got me back on track, so Cheers Purple!

Hi Dudest,

Excellent post/reply for me - I really like the way you did the charts - you made it look ‘sooo easy’!!! I will practise some more (heaps more) and then at some point, attempt to load up some charts (that’s a very good idea).

At this stage I have absolutely ‘no’ idea how to do that, so that can wait for another day… I just want to play around with it first (the charts, that is)… Don’t want to overload my brain - you all know I am ‘not’ techie lol.

By the way, something I mentioned earlier about tradingview not being particularly user-friendly (now, that could just be ‘me’) - but it seems I can’t put my horizontal lines ‘exactly’ where I want them!! It seems that when I check out S&R on YouTube videos and then go to tradingview, I’m not able to do as much, or the same thing, if that makes sense??

Okay, I just wanted to say a huge Thank You to everyone here who once again, set me on the right path - I know I sound like a broken record but I really appreciate it guys (and Pip)…

Wishing you all a Fabulous Wednesday,
Happy Pipping
Jessey

[Jessey126]

I just wanted to quickly add (for any other real newbies like me) that:

for Support & Resistance - using ‘lines’ instead of candlesticks makes ‘all’ the difference in the world. It is ‘so much easier’ to read. I found using the lines first and plotting my S&R, then switching back to candlesticks really helps massively - this is a revelation.

It helped me - if any other newbies are perhaps struggling with S&R, definitely try using lines first

Of course, it is ‘very’ early days but guys/gals, the ‘line’ thing really helped me big time - THANK YOU!!!