I think that the primary point of a chatroom should be the education of its members. Along those lines I really think that we offer the highest quality in that department along with profitable trades. Here is an example of an intro class that was given yesterday. [09:35] <brandon> The idea of a trend is one of the backbones of T/A
[09:35] <brandon> Almost all the tools that we use as Technical Analyists are for the purpose of measuring the trend
[09:36] <brandon> As a general idea the trend is simply the way a stock is moving in a given period.
[09:36] <brandon> Markets do not move in a straight line
[09:36] <brandon> this is the concept of resting that I so often talk about
[09:36] <brandon> it moves in more of a zigzag fashion
[09:36] <brandon> up and down
[09:37] <brandon> these digs and zags will form a series of waves
[09:37] <brandon> it is the direction of these waves that you should look at to determine what the trend is
[09:38] <brandon> You want to know if they are moving up, down or sideways
[09:38] <brandon> according to Dow an uptrend is a series of higher highs and higher lows , a downtrend is a series of lower lows and highs
[09:38] <brandon> the next trend is sideways
[09:39] <brandon> which occurs during periods of accumulation and distribution in the market
[09:40] <brandon> the next point to make before we get into examples
[09:40] <brandon> is that there are three classifications of the trend
[09:40] <brandon> and each will depend on your timeframe
[09:40] <brandon> but there is a long term trend
[09:40] <brandon> an intermediate term trend
[09:40] <brandon> and a short term trend
[09:40] <brandon> Aiki has talked a number of times about his frame synch system
[09:41] <brandon> which takes advantage of the fact that the moves will be very powerful will all timeframes are "in synch"
[09:41] <brandon> the reality of the matter is that there are thousands of trends
[09:41] <brandon> everything from the yearly charts
[09:41] <brandon> down to the tick charts
[09:41] <brandon> but for clarity most technicians will use three
[09:42] <brandon> DOW classified the longer term trend as lasting years or longer
[09:42] <brandon> the intermediate term trend (which speculators operate in) as being 3 weeks to many months
[09:42] <brandon> and the short term trend as anything less than a few weeks
[09:43] <brandon> Each trend then becomes a portion of the next larger trend
[09:43] <brandon> For example, the intermediate term trend may be showing a correction with in the larger trend
[09:43] <brandon> its important to keep in mind that the trends may or may not all be moving in the same or opposite directions
http://www.tradingfrommainstreet.com/img/trends.gif
09:44] <brandon> here is a simple drawing which shows the trends
[09:45] <brandon> this is just a simple drawing which represents the ideal of a trend
[09:46] <brandon> starting from the left you see the uptrend making higher highs
[09:46] <brandon> then the short term counter trend makes a higher low
[09:46] <brandon> and then back to a higher high etc
[09:46] <brandon> finally it gets to a point were the distribution takes place
[09:46] <brandon> buying and selling is relatively equal
[09:46] <brandon> and it will move sideways
