So what is important about this USD/YEN chart? The Median Line, target, stop, structure, flow, the entry ideas? Consider the green circles entry ideas and the orange circle the target. 

I want to do a series of basic posts involving confirmation, volatility, timing, and structure.

Been busy around here but it’s time to brush off the dust and post some Median Line Maps

GBP/USD: We had talked Inside Median Lines in the live morning session which is a little know Median Line tool so here it is. Just remember that it’s still just a tool like the rest.

Volatility did get a bit wild since Mondays post of the EUR/USD 120min. Wild enough to wash and rinse me but good.  Both EUR/USD chart and this Swiss chart present interesting trade/risk management scenarios. Consider for yourself, what would you do. How would you manage the trade? When would you collapse risk? What would be your target? ect...

There is no absolute right or wrong here but these kinds of nitty gritty scenarios come up when you are trading. Your always managing risk whether it’s a profit or a loss and therefore should become a risk specialist instead of a setup specialist. Think that one through...

Price fell out of this sloped coil we have been following and terminated itself for now. Sometimes they expand to the next line down and you can consider this situation a type of Hagopians Rule in regards to the channel.  The hard terminate down out of these often offers the type of trade opportunity you see at the lower Grey MLH. Most of us were taking the holiday off at the juncture but there is always another trade...

Volatility is expanding and changing in some way. Lets watch if it squeezes or gets a bit wild...

Time for some review and look at our long term charts. 

ES #F monthly: First posted here in the Lost Decades post. Price has ticked our target along the upper MLH of the Median Lines. Notice the swings up getting smaller. Price has sought out and fulfilled its destiny here. Price is always seeking an area to probe.  Now we wait and see what it does with the test. Not interested in buying the next pullback if the sellers hold. Many good lessons here if you pay attention to what was written in the prior post.

The Median Line set is an ideal tool for pullbacks in trend. It acts like a pendulum. We did an IB presentation on Pendulum Pullbacks a few months ago.

Trading is less about math formula or setups and more about how you think.

Consider using stop placement to lead yourself to your entry idea rather than the other way around.

The philosophy of Something Interesting: One way to trade off the significant. 

I will touch on the highlights here and maybe through the charts you can see the flow of what I’m saying. With this conceptual framework I can keep myself from forcing trades, over-trading, from having to watch every tick, and can avoid trading in the noise. I do my analysis and sit back and wait for something interesting, wait for the market to be in play. 

Trading isn't about the tools or methods. Neither matter... We need to learn to use our tools and not have the tools use us.... The tool is the same no matter who is using it. The only thing that changes is the perception of the different people who use it. What is your perception controlled by? This is why we try to be as objective as possible when looking at price.

Chart 1: I will use the EUR/USD 60 min as an example because we have been following through its paces for a month in our live sessions. You could trade this with one tool and a bit of knowledge. It’s not a fancy tool, not a secret tool with special secret math. It’s Just a box. Do you remember seeing your kids do wondrous things with just a simple box? Often they would toss aside the present and use the box. 

Today in our live session we went back to the Original Andrews Action Reaction Course (which can be be viewed here) to review some of those principles of action and reaction... of balance and extreme. Every action has a reaction and we are students of that. You can apply the main 5 probability rules to most things on a chart. If you take the time to think them through you will see that can work lines from the inside out as well as the outside in.(I will save that for another post).

USD/CAD 240min chart was sent in by a bright student and is a good example of actions and reactions. I wish I had it in place back in July so there is something for me to learn also. We need to do see and draw things consistently so do some thinking about why that center line starts where it starts and why.

I always love it when I can show how the Median Line tools unfold over a period of time and can see Time and Space do its thing.

We started this chart out in early July with the rolling chop.. As we have taught in our sessions, Rolling Chops are basically sloped volatility contraction and they can expand out either side which is where the reaction comes in. Its built off the action we already described. 

Welcome to September.  Get the Chairman, CEO and Janitor together for a business meeting. Trading is a business and should be treated as such. I have a meeting every month to review what we did right, what we can be done better, and what can be learned about ourselves and markets. Here are a few notes from my meeting.

I keep track of several volatility measures in all the instruments and time frames I may trade. I came into August knowing that Volatility was shrinking as the dog days of summer wound down. I wanted to adjust my rhythm to the markets rhythm.

This chart is directly related to the lessons and areas we spoke of in yesterdays live session. Think through your simple foundations and checklist as you approach a chart. No matter what methodology you use, you don't want to be distracted by noise so need a good foundation.

I'm often asked where is the best place to look for a pullback in a trend. The Median Line set gives a high probability area for price to run out of energy. The problem most traders have is being scared by price itself pulling back. They are often chasing their longs up near the top of the trend. I cal this trading in the hole.

Some charts I'm keeping an eye on. The Yen and the EUR  are continuations from a previous Weekly Median Line Maps. 

AUD/USD 240min: I dumped the old lines cause they were grabbing too much data and ive been focused on the current action. Lots of traders have been looking way back and picking at longs which hasn't worked out so far for them. You can see here where we spotted the sellers early on and were hunting for shorts. Notice that orange line. We call that Last Swing Broke. Later on we extended that line across and you can see here the sellers in control. (the LSB starts at the blue circle). 

We have been discussing these AUD/USD charts in our live sessions. Everything from Median Lines to Market Structure to entry triggers, to Money Management. The last blog post was “Bait or Switch” as price was testing the first Warning Line.

Warning Lines are an extension of the Median Line Set. They are stepped out equidistant and at the same slope. They give price a break from its current trend and let it breathe. They can also be a warning that the trend may be changing.

Markets finally got a little bounce to them today and I’m wondering if flow is changing or if its bait. Here is what I’m watching 

AUD/USD 60min: These have been the lines that keep on giving. We have been following them out in our live sessions for some time. The geometry has been music.

Risk Management comes in many forms. There are ways to let price do all the hard work for you before entering a trade.

We built this Median Line map for YELP during a live session identifying trend, structure, and buyers/sellers.

Most of my stop outs are boring and not worth writing about. I spend more time taking apart and building on my success so that I can make them a permanent part of what I do. This one falls into the general category of forcing a trade but that is common and boring as well.  You shouldn't look at any of your trades in a right or wrong context, look at them for what is interesting and for what can be learned..

What I found interesting was the structure in different time frames compared to what you may be framing. I don’t mix time frames when I trade. Whatever grabs my focus for whatever reason is what I trade and don’t care what the other time frames say.  Every action has its proper reaction and your time frame will tell you everything you need to know… Including stay out.

A Few actionable Ideas from last weeks Median Line charts. All 3 ran out to there mapped stretch and ran. The lines are still in play.

AUD/USD 240min: I never got a retest to sell the upper Warning Line Price was is a hurry to meet the next Time and Price energy point of those same lines. From there it went back to its next stretch at the upper blue excursion line. I know a few members that lined up this long with various targets so congrats to them for making and sticking to their plan. Note that price action at each end gave an outside bar telegraphing its intentions. I also observe a pater of price washing the prior weeks lows before making new highs.

Been working a chart with a member who had a  market structure question. Wanted to post it before our next session where we will talk it over.

We separately ran into the same dilemma at the black circle about if we wanted to sell there. At some point a market has to breathe.The market has been selling off and we all want to jump on, but TIME needs to be considered.