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Mark Wogan: Is trading just a bunch of lines?

Good morning traders. This morning I thought I´d say a few words about how I analyse my trade levels and mark up my charts.

The first thing you notice when you look at one of my charts is that it just looks like a bunch of lines stuck on a greyed out background with a line graph overlaying the more traditional candles.

It all looks a bit too easy to newcomers when I´ve asked in the past but therein lies the rub!

In my mind it is easy and it should be easy to pick where you want to place trades. After all price can go up, down or sideways so it shouldn’t be all that tough to see where the best places are to place your bets.

The rub or problem is that most newcomers think it should be much more difficult and complex than this. Where are all the indicators, the ichimoko clouds, MACDs and so on. Aren’t they supposed to be what trading is all about?

Well, to some, yes they are but my take is very different.

Find where price lies within the constantly evolving structure, focus on the higher time frame support and resistance levels then add the same lower time frame levels and …. well that’s about it….take your trades.

With the trend trades are usually better but there is no problem taking counter trend trades during the day because that’s what trading is…. buying low and selling high and those points are all relative to where we are during the day.

Traders need price to move to make money so it will move purely because of that. Daily price action is about traders not fundamentals. Ergo know where to trade and just do it. As long as you have a good trade and money management technique (more on this another day) you´re set to go.

Just look at last weeks charts which I posted yesterday and you can see it wasn’t too difficult to make money! Price moved where I said it would, at the levels I posted each day. This is not me being boastful its just how it is.

Because I am at my charts all day as this is my job, I concentrate on the detail of how price reacts at my hourly levels to give me more precise entries (and better results) but if I wanted I could just trade the hourlies with amended risk reward parameters.

Trading is all about execution – people fail because they think it’s more difficult than it is so are  less confident to take the trades. By now you should be seeing that these levels work so just trade them -JFDI!!

Sure there are some nuances you should learn about if you´re ever going to be a ´professional´ (I use this word advisedly)  trader and make significant money and I teach this on a 1 to 1 basis. But to be honest once you know some basics – you´re good to go.

By the way some people have commented that they don’t like my grey charts. Well all I can say is that they work for me as I need the contrasting colours to see the candles and the line graph in sharp relief. I´ve tried all sorts of colour combinations but this one you see here works best . If you find another colour combo – by all means use it (and let me know :;)).

Ok with that off my chest, lets have a look at todays charts.

The Daily is just about where it was yesterday so price could move up or down … or sideways lol. Until we get a significant break one way or the other we trade with a completely open mind.

EURUSD Daily Chart

On the hourly chart – first thing to note is just look at where price reacted yesterday – at the level I posted yesterday morning!

For today the levels are pretty clear and I have no real bias to kick off with (perhaps lower would be my guess at least to start with)  I´ll watch how we start off and trade accordingly.

EURUSD Hourly Chart

I know the above explanation is a bit short and lacks some detail. But if you want the detail – just check out my website – www.markwogan.com and/or just drop me a line to fix up a chat.

Have a good one amigos 🙂

Please note: All opinions expressed above are from the author and not necessarily shared by The Armchair Trader. All financial investments involve an element of risk. The value of your investment may fall as well as rise and you may get back less than your initial investment. With Spread bets and CFDs your losses may exceed your deposits.

Mark Wogan

Hi. I started my investing / trading career in 2000 and since 2011 I have been trading on a full time basis.

My focus here will be the currencies and in particular the EurUsd pair and I will post my charts on a daily basis marking up the levels I´m interested in and comment on the bigger picture context and anything else I´ll be watching out for during the day.

I also do a little coaching on a one to one basis so if you´re interested in learning how to trade just give me a shout and we can have a quick chat.

https://www.markwogan.com

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