Quote from trickshot:
Well mktrader mentioned that many saw the hammer (one with a long tail!) as a buy signal because it occurred near previous points where the market had successfully turned around. Its obvious that nobody was going to trade this hammer if there weren't other supporting signs.
The hammer is a reversal candlestick, the market doesn't need to be going up for it to be a valid buy signal. Besides, the market hasn't been trending since Feb, it has been moving sideways.
There is no reason to consider other factors if a trader is trading solely based on TA, the market can rally on good news or bad news, context doesn't mean a thing when it comes to trading.
I'll repeat...a single interval for candlestick analysis is
not reliable. It is
not bullish or bearish...nor Epic.
The hammer
Line is
not a reversal candlestick. In contrast, a bullish hammer
pattern (one that has confirmation) is a reversal price action assuming it has market context support. So far, there is not confirmation nor any market context to help with a confirmation.
If you don't understand the difference between a candlestick line versus a candlestick pattern...read my old thread called
Trading Hammers (revisited) @
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52880
With that said, the Debt Ceiling crisis, ECB info, political issues and how a few ill timed speeches early May...again July 8th and again July 26th isn't your typical news events when occurring so close to each other. These are market turning events. It's something EVERYBODY is paying attention too. Therefore, why fight the tape.
Simply, this is one of those times where
market context means everything. Lets put it this way, did you ignore the 2008 financial crisis (market context) in that it had no impact on your trade decisions ??? That too was one of those events you don't ignore. I've traded amongst many other key events over the past +20 years...this isn't your typical economic report that hits the wire and gets talked about for a few hours and then move on to the next one. This is something that traders say
what the fuck!!! and then we try to find a way to exploit it big time because we know these are those types of situations where big profits are possible during
increasing volatile market conditions...
We only get a
few per year like this...events that causes volatility spikes consistently for several weeks or more.
Regardless, if you're consistently profitable based upon TA alone while ignoring key market events like this...congrats and I will no longer debate such with a profitable trader. As for me, I've been using market context in combo with TA for a very long time...very happy with the results. Also, if TA is the only thing you use...pull up your $SPX index daily chart and correlate the above dates I mentioned involving market context...
Nice looking Bearish H&S price action. A good H&S trader would have gone at it around July 26th, 27th, 28th or 29th. In contrast, the
jump on the wagon H&S traders would be going for a neckline break.
P.S. Tight stops on those Longs and lower your position size because it's high risk trading. Continue enjoying the ride if you've been hitting the short positions more in comparison to your long positions.
Mark