Who does Intraday trading - and what TA are you using as it appears not credible?

Beginner Questions Candlesticks, Chart Patterns, and Price Action
#1

Hi all.

Having done a lot of reading and discussion I am a bit confused. TA signals and indicators , like pretty much everything we do reading a chart…suggest that you have to use D1 as the scale.

That makes me very confused - as people who are intra day traders are using M5, M15, H1, H4, etc etc…but what are they looking at as the TA analysis cannot be trusted at these scales!?

I know 70% of traders loose, so perhaps it’s them who makeup the majority of the losses, they all try intra day trading.

If you are going for longer trades…how do you appropriately size the pip gains and risks, given the pretty large swings that can happen in a single day? To me, that almost seems higher risk?

It’s odd that I have not read anywhere in the babypips education (so far) that I should avoid intra day trading. Is that a firm solid rule!? Avoid!?

#2

I don’t know where this is coming from. I thought your 8 trades went all to TP today?

TA is not a crystal ball. You can’t predict the future with it. BUT! You can assess the probability of a specific price movement, if you have enough experience and data to make meaningful analysis.

Your analysis said EURUSD was bearish today. Then it bounced and rallied. So? You adapted and made money on it. It doesn’t mean that TA is bulls* on lower timeframes. With forex and indices etc. you are allowed to have a plan B every day. Unlike those stock traders. They just scan for another stock if their idea didn’t work out. But we don’t have thousands of different options every day. But it would have been ok if you said EURUSD isn’t follow my analysis, i skip trading today.

Then switch to D1 if you think that you can make more money with your analysis on this timeframe.

Tommor will probably show up in a few hours and say yes, but personally i think that you can learn how to trade lower timeframes. i did. it just takes time and discipline.

You did 8 trades today on what timeframe? A 1h chart? I did 2 trades on a 1-5m timeframe. My risk exposure was smaller than yours. There is more than TA with those lower timeframes. Money and risk management, knowing when to trade and when to wait is also vital.

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#3

Well it’s just reading around that’s where it is coming from.

For example @tommor last post on this thread : Trading books recommendation - #84 by tommor . And the second last post by @flamingoproxy Trading books recommendation - #83 by flamingoproxy

My research on EUR/USD was using a variety of timeframes, and these posts in the thread above made me think that all TA analysis I do on lower than D1 timeframes is nonsense.

I dont necessarily want to switch to D1, I want to learn what you are referring to, as well as day to day trading, but it’s hard when others are basically saying there is no tools to help you on intra day trading?! Who to trust!?

@Worker_Bee you say knowing when to trade – I agree. But knowing when trade is based upon ‘signals’ which are clearly part of TA – It cannot be based on anything else, otherwise its a 50/50 and a gut feel? And if that is therefore the case, then I am finding it hard to see what is right and what is wrong.

#4

I look for trend trade prospects starting at the Daily chart, followed by the 4hr - the entry chart, and 1hr - the condfirmation trend chart. If these three line up like three ducks in a row - you have a trade order.

Then set your T/P where you consider the order flow price action could reach - typically a S&R zone - and where losing traders close their trades or get stopped out. Winning traders have the luxury to sit and wait.

This strategy runs at a 55% win rate, albeit trend days are infrequent so you’ll need patience.

#5

Hi @renegadeandy - just remember that I never say TA will not work intra-day, what I actually said in this case is that it “is not being used well at less than D1”.

The effectiveness of TA is not a function of the TA we’re talking about, it depends on how it is used by a trader. So all those arguments we see online saying “TA doesn’t work” and “TA does work” are both nonsense. It works or doesn’t work according to what you do with it.

I can’t tell you what will work for you. Just don’t expect some chart pattern or some indicator or TA strategy to be equally useful where it hasn’t been tested as to where it has been tested.

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#6

Is is hard, i know. I was in your position little more than a year ago. But short timeframes have a huge advantage over longer timeframes. You can demo trade and collect real time trading data pretty fast.

But you have to understand that price action doesn’t always look nice and pretty on lower timeframes. Nice drawings getting busted very frequently.

Example of low timeframe TA: Look at this chart below. It is todays opening of DAX. DAX was sitting at 16k, a key level, before open. It is already oscillating for days at this horizontal line. At open there was a huge drop to the pivot point. Buyers stepped in and then got destroyed.

Stop Sell Order below the low and support and SL above the pullback, RRR 1:2, profit. It is not every day simple like that but if you do it consistently…there are enough winning days to be profitable. It also could have formed a double bottom and stopped me out. It still would have been right to take the trade.

I already said it once, but i say it again. Your trading time is just before london opens up. wait a few bars. i always wait 5 minutes after the open of my indices. I want to see what those bankers and hedge fond managers do and then i decide. Thats what i mean with knowing when to trade.