NQ, seriously?

[NQurious]

For instance, if the daily, or even the 5-minute gave you a solid "signal" but the higher time frames did not, would you forego the trade?

No, of course not, because I am not trading "siganls" in the sens of "MA1 crossed MA2 go long." I am trading price and I am looking at support and resistance, prior highs and prior lows. Most of my trades take place at one extreme or the other of a defined range or channel. I like to be the guy taking the other side of the stop losses that get triggered when price probes a level. Now, if I know price is near the top of a daily trend channel, then I will perhaps be more quick to pull the trigger on a short when price is trading at that level and I see indications that the market is not willing to bid any higher.

 

[Frederick Foresight]

No, of course not, because I am not trading "siganls" in the sens of "MA1 crossed MA2 go long."

I never suggested that a signal need be a crossover. It is whatever prompts you to action in the market, as compared to the setup that precedes it.

 

[NQurious]

I never suggested that a signal need be a crossover.

We appear to be talking past one another, perhaps. I realize you did not suggest that the signal was a crossover. I was simply using that as an example in an attempt to answer the following question you asked me:

For instance, if ... the 5-minute gave you a solid "signal" but the higher time frames did not, would you forego the trade?

I obviously failed in my attempt to answer you and I will try better next time. I do appreciate your comments.

Let me try to answer in this way: I would not forego an opportunity to profit from what appears to be an immanent market move. However, if on the daily there is reason to believe, for example, that any rally might be met with stiff resistance at a certain level, and I take an intraday long position that reaches at or even just near that level, that will affect the way I manage the potential exit of that trade and my ability to discern very early that a breakout attempt above resistance is failing and it is time to look to go short. To the extent that the markets I trade are mean reverting, I keep tabs on where the market is trading relative to that mean. Where the market is in its vacillations above and below the mean does matter to me day to day, and on some days, intraday.

 

[Carlw]

For swing traders it matters a lot; if an index behaves just like another stock then what's it's purpose? It becomes as risky as a stock when holding positions overnight.

For me.....no time to be holding anything over night! Just my opinion.