A week that required a lot of patience and focus—a slow market, several choppy days, and some trends that didn’t offer good entry opportunities. Still, by following clear rules and sticking to the system, the week ended positively. It’s a great case study for understanding what to avoid. The number one skill required is the discipline to follow a trading system. This is what truly creates consistency. It sounds simple, but in a live market, it’s not that easy.
In this system, you must take all the arrows unless they are invalid. The rules for avoiding trades are:
- Do not trade during news events (or if the market is moving as if there were news).
- Ugly Bar: a candle with a wick longer than its body.
- Flat Ribbon: if the ribbon looks flat or messy, don’t take trades until it forms cleanly again.
- Oversized Long Bars.
- Trades that go directly into the 200 EMA or VWAP, or candles that are touching these levels.
