Does anyone else sometimes feel completely lost looking at chart patterns

Let’s forget about the ‘patterns’ of candlesticks for a moment, do you ever zoom out and look at what the countries have been upto since morning, and just … completely have no idea how to interpret it? I’m trying to make sense out of something so I can predict a rise or fall. I try to read stuff and get more lost in words like bear/bull flags, head and shoulders, breakouts in trends, predicting reversals. I mean that stuff is hard, like you need to take classes to kinda get a grip on this. It sux. D=

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Just remember whatever happens in the FX market is humans disagreeing with one another. If you have that perspective in your mind, you will find it easier to find postive probabilities of being on the right side of trades - and then managing them through to closure.

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interesting…I’ll give it a try

Also look at this.

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Like anything, it gets easier with practice - but even after many years, trading I cannot read many of the charts that are thrown up by many on this forum.

Don’t fall into the trap that you need complex setups - that gets lost on many beginners. The idea that complex charts and systems add more certainty to trade is a big crock of s*** and was probably a sales tactic of system vendors as far back as the 1960’s or even earlier.

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This is good, I have browsed through MarketMilk, but does it apply for scalping? or semi-scalping…

TA of price charts should be kept very simple.

There are only two basic strategies - buy because price has been rising, or buy because price has been falling.

You could add a proviso to each rule - buy after price has risen unless it previously fell when it rose to this level: buy after price has fallen if it previously rose when it fell to this level.

Patterns are interesting when they align with the two basic strategies but are basically cosmetic.

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Thank you for the sound advice(s). Sometimes forums can be a waste of time, but not this one.

You don’t need to learn everything, and you won’t. As said previously, you pick up knowledge as you gain experience. The more experience you get, the more info and knowlege will stick.

This is why we spend 2 decades going to school. If you had all this info thrown at you in a few months, you would be overwhelmed and learn nothing.

Keep studying and practicing. Go through the BP course (if you haven’t already), watch some free online courses and try things out on a demo account. When you find something you like, you can direct your focus there instead of trying to look at everything as a whole. Find your strengths and feed them.

And if I were you I would move away from those lower time-frames, they’re just adding to the chaos. Even after 4 years of trading I can’t trade them consistently, so I stay away from them.

Good luck!

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Thanks. I did the babypips course, it was fun. But mighta skipped a couple chapters I knew weren’t crucial.

But about the time frames. I did sorta find my groove in 5min. But if you have more to share about that, pls tell me

At least you could be bothered,no everything is not essential ,but if your completely new to trading and Forex…Members say do the courses, as if one can’t be bothered they probably won’t have the dedication to succeed.

sorry I didnt get you, are you telling me I should have not skipped any chapters? I skipped chapters like how to choose a forex broker, and other off-track stuff like that, but I did the whole thing otherwise. By the time I reached technical analysis, I knew what I wanted, I skimmed fundamental analysis because I was digging in deep with demos and looking for a broker at that point

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not at all, meant so many newbies come here and say they know nothing at all ,though want to be successful. Many may not even have a " browse "at any of the courses or information on here

You had a lot of good advice on this thread

I refresh the heat map every time i am about to trade, which hopefully is current time situation. Bear in mind that anything can - and will - happen anytime. There is never any guarantee.

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thnx, yeah folks here incl u, know a lot if you just ask them. I see them getting pissed off when ppl ask questions like ‘how much can I make in xyz’ or something ignorant like that. I understand getting worked up about that, its like they dont care about learning the game and just want to win

I see, well your humans vs humans tip is kinda taking shape in my mind.
I’ll try heat map, but I generally don’t have a habit of taking my eyes off the screen for even a second. I think I’ll explore it more when I start trading with JPY, I have been a little resistant to JPY AUD and NZD just cuz they have such different time zones

only other peoples charts lol

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I agree with @Johnscott31 a lot of technical analysis is bordering on witchcraft and astrology.

It may sound vague but trade what you see not what you think. Kind of get into the flow - price action if you like. Oh Jeez! I don’t want to sound mystical. :rofl:

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It’s good to have a newbie that is not look for get rich quick tips like @greenscorpio says.
I also like lower time frames, as you do, 5min is my anchor chart but I do often use the 1min chart. Sometimes, you get nice little micro trends on the 1min when the 5mins is in a range all day. I only trend trade and hate ranges - some people like ranges.
8EMA is pure magic on lower time frames.
It has been said - practice is the thing and it will take time and patience.

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