Quote from illiquid:
Well that depends if you believe simplicity and logic are beneficial in one's trading.
But half-kidding aside, I think gnome's post reflects what I meant by comparing tf to being long or short.
There are times you want to follow the trend (greatly simplified, when you believe there is enough "trending" left to go to make the risk/reward worth it), and there are times when you want to fade the trend (when you think there is more reward in the reversal than the continuation).
Trendfollowers are correct at the start of trends, but then again so are reversal traders who've captured the turn prior. Conversely, trendfollowers who are late to the party will usually be wrong, as well as reversal players who arrive too early. (edit: perhaps "early" and "late" are the wrong words here; instead, it might be more accurate and simple to say trendfollowers are usually correct when the trend lasts long enough for them to make a profit, etc.)
Is it possible to capture the turn in a reversal mode, then shift into trend following mode of thinking afterwards? If the situation calls for it, why not?
All my intraday ES entries are reversal entries due to the fact that my trend indicators are late but also has less problem with divergence. I tried to be pure in philosophy but I am not able to because of insufficient tools. This is one area of conflict and shortcoming that I tried to compromise with risk management and hopefullly will be fixed with more research.
