Oh and P.S. thanks for all of your help along the way directly and indirectly.
In terms of where I am...I am in observation/study mode but this time around (even from the time a month or so ago) the time spent observing is completely different. My chart is 100% clean no lines at all, no art projects connecting swing points all while doing that taking my eye off of price. I started the learning experience in general Aug of 2012 and from then up until the past weekend the learning just didnt feel right and I even said it to my now ex gf lol. I said flat out I am putting all this work in and it's just not right (studying indicator settings etc. and even studying the material over at TL). I was missing the boat. With what hit me this past weekend I believe that it won't be long before I really gain an understanding of whats going on. My focus is on how price moves, not that a retracement has to be at least x amount of bars, has to break a line etc. I think even in this last weekend I've made huge jumps. Not every "two bar retracement" is a retracement that should be taken. I think a true retracement that works out to be successful has a particular type of character to it, same goes for successful reversals there is a certain type of behavior associated with it etc etc. I mean even with understanding the behavior not every trade will be a winner but you sure as hell won't lose often and won't lose too many points understanding these behaviors. What helped also was viewing the moves as one person buying and one person selling. Like Jordan (up) vs. Bird (down).
If you put a one minute chart next to a 5 min chart, a 5 min next to a 15 min chart etc the only thing that really changes is how far into the past you can see and the "bars" closer to the right of the screen are longer. The price ticker on all of those chart displays will bounce the same way you'll just see more or less bars depending on the interval. The behavior is the same. Not sure if that answered your question lol.
And what prevented you from seeing all this at the beginning? Did you approach trading with any preconceptions? Is there anything you could say to a beginner at this point, or is it necessary for each to find his own way?
I won't lie I want to make a boat load of money in general (not just from trading) and I think in a sense that has hindered my overall progress.
Trading well, however, is a consequence of developing a thoroughly-tested, consistently-profitable trading plan, which few beginners want to do.
Hey DB, when if at all could/should volume be incorporated? Or could volume sort of be assumed based on the activity or inactivity of the ticker? If the ticker is moving as slow as molasses could one assume volume is decreasing. I say this bc for shits and giggles I threw volume onto my chart after observing today and it was interesting to see vol and associating it with what I observed with the movement of price.