How to become better at Technical Analysis?

Sprout said:
Study the "A place for everything and everything in it's place" methodology. You can do this via a direct experience of observing market generated information.

Every FA and TA concept and more has it's own cubby. Cubby's can be organized like-to-like. Some cubbie contents are duplicates, some cubbies can be combined and merged. Some cubbies are so packed they need to be expanded into more cubbies. Some cubbies have no backend and are rabbit holes into other realities. All the cubbies have relationships with each other. Some relationships are interchangeable. Some relationships are hierarchical. Some relationships are dependent on other cubbies, some are independent.

A hand-written log comparing and contrasting bar-by-bar movements of anything you are studying show relationships. A price chart can be distilled into 10 cases of two bar price patterns that repeat and 11 volume elements that repeat. One can notice in the course of a trading day where there are injections of liquidity by filtering on the largest set of volume spikes. Cross reference this with swing points in market structure. The counterpoint is knowing where there is a lack of liquidity and what are the signs of a market imbalance.

You can put on different "glasses" by which to view cubbies. If visual discretionary trading is your style, then Volume Profile and Footprint charts will add more cubbies and show your existing cubbies and their relationships in a different way.

When you come across new trading information find where is fits into your cubbie universe and add a cubbie if it requires it.

Market generated information distills into (OHLC + Volume + Time) * Perception. How you interpret these seven datapoints is dependent upon your existing Beliefs. Beliefs are based upon values and they form your perceptions. Your perceptions will change your interpretations of OHLCVT. Some beliefs will have you only look at OHLC, others will place different emphasis of premium or discount on V and T.

Paradox and confusion are the guardians of the gate. You, as a trader, are building in a word - confidence. This is a fundamental quality to cultivate to travel the path of uncertainty.




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Very nice read. I've noticed a few cyrpto assets that are somewhat correlated with Bitcoin, though I have not found (yet) any with a time lag on the daily.

I've read into volume (PVSRA). I think there's a benefit in factoring this in, I did look at it briefly in lower timeframes, though it made the strategy more complex. I will think more about it.

I also think that after reading into a lot of material, listening to a lot of people, and watching several videos, it's now a little hard to figure out a specific style to start with. I am now encountering lots of confusion, and sometimes contradicting information. Fully aware of it, and I need to get back to set my priority on trading style.
 
Scataphagos said:
In day trading the ES, there are usually 2-6 setups per day.
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In day trading, there are 2-6 setups daily? I believe you trade S&R? I would like to see a chart showing these S&R setups you like. I don't trade S&R so it would be interesting to see what you like to trade. :cool:
 
deaddog said:
What is it you want to trade? You mentioned crypto when you started.
Are you trading Crypto, forex, futures or equities?

As far as indicators go, they indicate what price has done. Take any indicator you want and plot it yourself. You'll find that price moves the indicator not the other way around. Focus on price.
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What ???
If indicators follow the price, why are they even on a chart?
And why would anybody ever pay for a chart service that didn't help predict direction, amplitude, reversals etc?
This young guy wants to learn some TA. Why confuse him ?
Or stop kidding with him.
***
Quick glance through this thread, seems the obvious thing is missing.
The only way to make money with charts ... is to look at a ton of charts. MO
When I was a kid, I had Mansfield Charts - heavy loose leaf binder.
I didn't buy it. ?The Office bought it.
Total Old school. :cool::cool:
What chart service does the OP use?
 
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Just read everything you can on the subject and watch charts on all time frames every day. At some point something will resonate with you, you will become worthy of having an intuition. Build yourself a book of rules so you can first have rules that can then be broken. I also recommend The Strat by Rob Smith - google it, youtube and twitter search it - a lot of free educational materials on it and it makes a lot of sense.
 
countryBoy641 said:
What ???
If indicators follow the price, why are they even on a chart?
And why would anybody ever pay for a chart service that didn't help predict direction, amplitude, reversals etc?
This young guy wants to learn some TA. Why confuse him ?
Or stop kidding with him.
***
Quick glance through this thread, seems the obvious thing is missing.
The only way to make money with charts ... is to look at a ton of charts. MO
When I was a kid, I had Mansfield Charts - heavy loose leaf binder.
I didn't buy it. ?The Office bought it.
Total Old school. :cool::cool:
What chart service does the OP use?
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I agree, I know I have to be comfortable looking at a lot of charts!

Right now, I'm on a TradingView subscription. It's pretty neat, has custom timeframes, can backtest strategies, and has a screener.

There are some things I still like to analyze on a spreadsheet such as comparing performance between instruments, but for the most part, I'm happy with it. Since I'm on crypto, the data is updated in real-time for major exchanges like Binance without the extra cost (I think some exchanges will require extra payment for data like this).
 
Stratter said:
Just read everything you can on the subject and watch charts on all time frames every day. At some point something will resonate with you, you will become worthy of having an intuition. Build yourself a book of rules so you can first have rules that can then be broken. I also recommend The Strat by Rob Smith - google it, youtube and twitter search it - a lot of free educational materials on it and it makes a lot of sense.
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Thanks for the book recommendation! I do believe it's a matter of time and practice until I find something I'm truly comfortable with. I'll develop a framework and understand more rules until then.
 
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