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Well, let's see...if I had a slew of clients who paid me for market analysis, I'd gradually accumulate positions in stocks and then I'd announce an upgrade or downgrade depending on where I needed price to go :D

Thank you, God, for this precious seed capital. I shall protect it carefully, planting it only when conditions are just right to support growth. Thank you, God, for teaching me to recognize the fertile conditions in which to plant my seed capital. I will nurture the seeds that sprout strong and...

Thanks for your kind words. I hope my "chop filters" are helpful. I've found them to keep me out of trouble, especially trading crude oil which behaves like a nasty bully during choppy conditions :eek:

:cool:

Patience to wait for those situations is difficult, but absolutely golden. There are price environments where even the best micro-scalpers can struggle and I started a thread in the trading forum about it recently. Looking forward to contributions from others who've "mastered" avoiding the...

Since I trade oil, I can tell you exactly how I traded that chop. I trade using a 5min and 1min chart. My 5min chart looks very much like your chart, so I'll reference that. The move off the open set up as one of my chop warnings: "Back to back opposing bar breaks". As a result I had no...

This thread is about dealing with potential chop situations, usually price environments where there is no clear trend, no side has clear control. In a defined trend, I believe it's best to give price a couple chances to do its thing. But in potential chop/range situations, if price can't...

Here are the price action environments that I've found to be warning signs to tread carefully. When these contextual clues appear, I realize that two sides feel equally confident and a lot more defense takes place both directions. This leads to chop and narrowing consolidation and out of this...

This is real important stuff, IMHO. Patience is what keeps us from trying to make something (profit) out of nothing (chop/consolidation). I think it's especially difficult for day traders when nothing is setting up in a way that fits our plan, yet price is moving and a nagging fear starts...

I have a great list of "chop warning" signs I'll post later, and will also explain more about my concepts of airspace and congestion.

When I trade in an environment where a defined trend isn't apparent I'm always prepared for potential chop. I look for "airspace" to work with (I avoid "congestion", which is when defensive levels of both longs and shorts are very close). So in a non-trending environment, I'm prepared to scratch...

Notice the slightly lower high that set up the 1-2-3 reversal off the opening high. The price levels where counter-trend traders shorted via sell stops becomes a potential defensive zone of resistance if price comes back to that area. The entry at the first green arrow needs to lead price up to...

http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=277421 :D

Have you experienced the "death by a thousand cuts" that comes from trading in "chop"? Are you confused about how to know when price is setting up for a potential mess of chop/range/"barb wire"? If so, I have some good news: The doctor is in! Post your charts and the trades where you...

1. Have only your trading-related windows in view; no email, chat (unless that's a source of signals), phone, porn, etc. 2. Before you're ready to trade and once your platform's open and you know everything's running and set up for trading, do some sort of routine that prepares you for...

Yes, you taught me how to read price action that way long before you even mentioned Brooks' book to me. I was a terrible student, though, and decided the blueprint for building a wheel that you kept handing me was way too simplistic. Surely the Holy Grail had to be something far more clever than...

Didn't you know that Surf has a Ph.D. in Specious Reasoning? :cool:

This is a correct expression of my trading methods. I only need two time-based price charts to trade profitably. I don't even use volume. For those unfamiliar with psychology, this post is an example of "projection". When a person projects, he accuses someone of a negative behavior that he...

Real edges are a dime a dozen. Personal flaws are why 99% of traders who have one in their sights are unable to profit from it. That said, with the absolute edge of the casino (the broker), personal flaws are fairly irrelevant (unless the broker commits a big no-no).

I'm pretty sure Surf has yet to provide a direct answer to a single question I've ever asked him. I don't really expect any direct answers from him because he's a compensated author, a "stealth" marketer, (and an ET troll as well), but I do believe it's useful for all the poor noobs about to get...