How to Avoid Getting Whipsawed in Chop?

Quote from Daring:

It's fun to seem dumber than you are in ET.


I'm sure you get a lot of comparitive comment up close and personal from those in your real environment. Don't keep us in suspense.
 
Quote from oldtime:

yes only trade from one side. I don't care what they tell you, that whipsaw is the most psychologically damaging. Better to give up a few dollars to save your mind.

when you trade from one side only it is a lot easier to stay focused on your entry

for instance, if you are bull, all you are ever looking for is a good place to buy

when good sell signals come up let them go, they don't belong to you

no matter how short a time frame you trade, pick a longer indicator and try to determine which side looks best, then only take the setups from that side
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Good points;
and notice over many years-markets tend to trend/persist .Whipsaws tend to persist.. NOT a prediction.

Probably the worst way to trade,while learning,, is to go long + short quickly.

And while i agree much with his bullish example;
big bank sector has had so many lawsuits, bear trends,, study sectors /long term trends also.:cool: Thats wisdom:cool:
 
Quote from macattack:

I'll see the tiny, meaningless breakouts within the chop, & since price is now going up, I'll get long.

Then I'll get trapped & lose, & see that price is now going down, so I'll jump in short...............just in time to get trapped again.

Then I figure ok............I got trapped twice, but here comes the real breakout & a reversal back up, so I'll jump back in long, because I sure don't want to miss the bus after getting trapped and stopped out twice.
...

I keep thinking I won't fall for this next time, but then sure enough I fall for it again. It's like my brain completely forgets how to recognize the chop zone a few days after I have one of these episodes.

I think your biggest problem is mis-interpreting the nature of the stock market. You seem to be able to lose a majority of time which is good. If "Up" and "Down" are your only options, a coin should be able to be correct half the time. But you should be proud of the fact that, as a human being, you can correctly pick the wrong direction way more frequently than a coin. This should give you hope, because if you can pick the wrong way 8 of 10 times, you can pick the right way 8 of 10 times by flipping your system on its head.
That tiny meaningless breakout, for example, is called a throw over and it means the best trade is down. People had to give up their liquidity to make that movement happen and now they are not liquid and can't make the price move up anymore. So go down and they will sell behind you and drive the price down.
Lastly, your desire to "not get trapped again" and to not "miss the bus after getting trapped and stopped out twice" is actually the proof that it will happen. It's the nature of the beast.
Human assurance is a powerful thing. We become assured of movement by seeing movement. The more movement we see the more assurance we have. The problem is, in the market, movement is created by buyers. The more buyers that have bought the less buyers there are that have money to buy. Assurance means everyone elses liquidity is gone and you are the last one to get on board (or very near the end). Stop looking for assurance and face your fear. Fear means the buyers are hesitant and still highly liquid and you are the first one to get on board. Not wanting to get duped again is an emotion that makes it doubly hard to face your fear. And again, fear is the indicator that you are the among the first to get on the boat.
 
Quote from MarkBrown:

How to Avoid Getting Whipsawed in Chop?

ez lol don't be a stupid trend trader...

I'm sure you did great as a counter trader on Monday.
 
Quote from MarkBrown:

wow didn't think one day of action was a trend - i better go back and study some. lol

Oh ya, you better do that, cause for daytraders, Monday was one hell of a trend.
 
If you have a method that can identify chop ahead of time, you will have the holy grail.

When price starts moving in a certain direction it can reverse at any point. That upward (or downward) movement of a certain amount may be the beginning of a huge trend or it may reverse the moment you enter.

Some people like to wait for the trend to already be established and then enter. They think "based on some criteria, if price moves in a certain direction a certain amount (establishing a "trend,") it is therefore more likely to keep going in that direction. Of course, as soon as you enter it may reverse. There is nothing that says that because price has moved a certain amount in a certain direction is it more likely to keep going in that direction.
 
Quote from MarkBrown:

How to Avoid Getting Whipsawed in Chop?

ez lol don't be a stupid trend trader...
OK , I'll be a smart trend trader instead. :D
 
Identifying if the market will chop next is impossible. It's no different than asking if tomorrow market will go up or down, you just don't know.

Best you can do is notice that it's currently chopping and assume it will continue to do so, until it does not.

Easiest way to reduce chop is to increase timeframe.

Everything else is bullshit.

With that said, the real question should be, what does chop look like in it's early stage/form and which is the lowest timeframe that combines a good balance of chop and stop allocation.

In other words, don't ask impossible questions, ask realistic ones.
 
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