ForeCastle

‘The trend is your friend’

We’ve all heard it, and it makes perfectly logical sense; but in practice, this advice is so opaque that it’s practically worthless. Because even if you’re on the ‘right’ side of whatever trend is showing at the moment, the timing and entry into that setup is likely what’s going to determine one’s success or failure on that individual trade. So, it’s not enough to just find the direction of the trend and then ‘hope’ that we’re right; we also have to find support (or resistance for down-trends), we need to be patient and exercise discipline while waiting for the setup to build, and then we have to identify risk levels so that if/when we’re ‘wrong’, we have a line in the sand with which to bail in order to save the rest of our equity. In this article, we’re going to share a five-step process for traders looking to trade into new or ‘fresh’ trends using price action.

Know Your Time Frames

New traders often wonder ‘which time frame is ‘best’’? This is very similar to asking ‘what is the best temperature’. Well, it’s relative. Some like it colder, others like it warmer; but by and large most people are in the same ballpark range of comfort. Chart time frames work like this, as well. If you’re a scalper looking to hold positions no longer than 20 or 30 minutes, the setup on the monthly or weekly chart is probably going to be so divorced from the dynamics that you’re following that you might as well be looking at another market altogether. And if you’re trading a monthly setup, what’s taking place on the one or three minute chart is probably going to be pretty inconsequential to your ‘big picture’ setup.

There is no ‘best’ time frame. Time frames are merely different looks at the same picture; with the shorter or tighter time frames offering a more granular, detailed look at near-term price action. The downside to this greater detail is noise; as those shorter time frames are, in general, considerably noisier than longer-term charts. But the longer-term charts are significantly slower and not nearly as actionable; so the prerogative here should be one of balance.

Trader 'Style'	~ Holding Period	Trend Chart	Entry Chart
Long-Term	1 Week +	Weekly	Daily
Swing-Trader	few days - few weeks	Daily	4 hour
Short-Term	few hours - few days	4 hour	1 hour
Day-Trader/Scalper	< few hours	1 hour	15 minute

Don’t Chase the Breakout

The period that is often most dangerous to trade a new move is also when it happens to be the most attractive, and that’s when prices are breaking out of previous support or resistance. Breakouts can be difficult to trade, even for experienced traders, because by nature it’s the process of something ‘new’ happening and thereby there’s no recent data or observations from which we might be able to derive strategy.



Wait for Support to Show-Up Around Prior Resistance (for up-trends)

Watching a fresh breakout can be trying for a trader’s patience, and for the new trader that can be a challenging exercise as their only real option whilst watching a breakout take place is to either chase it, or fade it (go short after a bullish breakout). Given that a breakout is, by definition, a ‘new’ observation of higher or lower prices, this is an inopportune time to open positions.

Use the Shorter Time Frame to Confirm Support & Early Stage of Directional Move



Once the breakout has been found, and once the pullback has gotten under-way, traders can begin to plot their trend-side entries. This is where the greater detail and granularity of that shorter-term chart can be helpful from the additional perspective that’s provided.

Setting Risk and Bailing When Proper

After the trade has been identified, traders are going to want to add a stop as they trigger or shortly after they open the position. That way, if matters reverse, the trader has some element of down-side protection. But key here is one of expectations: Price action is rarely perfect, and perhaps more to the point, price action swings are blatantly obvious and most market makers can visibly see where prices had previously reversed. Most market makers also know these points are often used for stop or limit placement, so these price action swings can be like a red beacon for ‘free liquidity’ for market makers executing on sitting orders.

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