Value Changes?

[Dantro]

Looking for a few words of wisdom from the seasoned traders, I have been playing at being a trader now for only around 3 months. Thinking I know it all and It can’t be that hard I went in headfirst and lost a few ££££s, realising maybe I should actually put my Uni education to some use I then started to read a little and lost more money!

Now I have been reading a lot more and have taken note of various threads on here with regards to different strategies such as trend following, scalping etc and now I’m losing slightly less money.

My question is with regards to the various indicators which I have been trying to employ like the Boolean and MA indicators, as I understand it they basically work on the principle of if it goes over the MA line in either MA or Boolean then you hedge your bet on that direction.

I have been doing this but more often than not it does stay in the direction and I lose money, is this the normal case and it’s just a case of working the averages or am I doing something completely wrong?

Then secondly how do you know when to jump out, I seem to leave early then watch it carry on up for ages. This leads to me getting trigger happy jumping back in just to have it reverse and yes lose more money!

Any help and pointers would be most welcome even if it’s links to where to read more .

[Caseynotes]

@Dantro,  your experiences as a new trader are not uncommon and caused by an over reliance on indicators most of which are based on past performance and encourage late execution which carries an increased risk of entrapment. It's worth looking at how price actually behaves to help anticipate what will happen next.

Consider that price can only move up or down between supply and demand levels, if the chart is moving sideways it is time that is moving not price. 

S/D levels tend to be used over again because they are obvious levels on a chart for buyers (demand) and sellers (supply) to congregate.

These levels  are related to support and resistance levels and are identifiable on the chart.

You will know when price is on the move between levels because there will be a series of higher highs and  higher lows (upward range expansion) or lower lows and lower highs (downward range expansion).

So once you have identified the direction of travel and the most likely target areas there only remains finding an opportunity to get in. Using an upward range expansion as an example, that will be either at a failed dip (a higher low) or a break out past the prior higher high.

If the trade takes off trail your stop.

Be ready to disembark at the target level but wait for signs of reversal first because price might just break straight through on towards the next level up instead.

Obviously this is bare bones stuff but a good basis to build on.

[Dantro]

Both simple MA and EVA are used, do have volume on which I do take note of when entering to look for increased activity will add RSI in to the equation to help.

There I think lies the issue, I need to learn some patience and not expect it to happen instantly, stop losses are usually added but struggle to get them trailing although that is set on the app.

Thank you both for the excellent advice! I need to rethink my strategy and start small, as this isn’t ever supposed to be my main income any profit is profit and allows me to stay in the game a little longer.