Free lessons
How trading ideas hold up
59 short lessons on candles, structure, levels, method, risk and the habits around them. Each one says what the idea is, how to check it, and how well it has held up in published research, in plain words.
Most popular chart ideas have little or no published testing, and a few well-known claims do not survive a look at their sources. The tag beside each lesson says which case it is. Nothing here tells anyone what to buy or sell.
Reading candles
- The parts of a candleDefinition
- What wicks and bodies suggestPractitioner rule, no published test found
- Shrinking candlesPractitioner rule, no published test found
- Patterns depend on where the clock cuts the barsArithmetic
- What studies say about candlestick patternsStudied, no reliable edge found
- Engulfing barStudied, no reliable edge found
- Pin bar: hammer and shooting starStudied, no reliable edge found
- DojiStudied, no reliable edge found
- Inside bar and haramiStudied, no reliable edge found
- Inside bar false breakoutPractitioner rule, no published test found
- Morning star and evening starStudied, no reliable edge found
- Tweezer tops and bottomsStudied, no reliable edge found
- Piercing line and dark cloud coverStudied, no reliable edge found
- Spinning topStudied, no reliable edge found
Market structure
- Trend structure: higher highs and higher lowsDefinition
- Impulse and retracementPractitioner rule, no published test found
- RangePractitioner rule, no published test found
- Choppy marketPractitioner rule, no published test found
- How often markets trendNo traceable source
Levels and zones
- Support and resistanceExplained, not shown to pay
- Broken levels swap rolesPractitioner rule, no published test found
- Round numbersExplained, not shown to pay
- Trendlines and channelsPractitioner rule, no published test found
- Moving averages as moving levelsStudied, mixed
- Fibonacci retracementsPractitioner rule, no published test found
- Supply and demand zonesPractitioner rule, no published test found
- ExhaustionPractitioner rule, no published test found
- Do levels break after two or three tests?No traceable source
Method
- ConfluencePractitioner rule, no published test found
- Top-down analysisPractitioner rule, no published test found
- Set up high, enter lowArithmetic
- Three ways to enterPractitioner rule, no published test found
- Break and retestPractitioner rule, no published test found
- False breakouts and stop runsExplained, not shown to pay
- Trading with the trendStudied, mixed
Market conditions and costs
- High-impact newsPractitioner rule, no published test found
- CostsArithmetic
- Sessions and liquidityWell documented
- Trading only some daysPractitioner rule, no published test found
- Correlated pairsArithmetic
- Volume in forexDefinition
Risk
- Risk per tradeArithmetic
- Reward to risk and the win rate neededArithmetic
- ExpectancyArithmetic
- Sizing by dollars, not pipsArithmetic
- Stops that are set and keptWell documented
- Taking partial profits and moving the stop to entryPractitioner rule, no published test found
- Risk of ruinArithmetic
- Why full Kelly sizing is a warningArithmetic
- Losing streaks are normalArithmetic
Process and psychology
- A written plan and if-then rulesWell documented
- ChecklistsStudied, mixed
- Recording trades and watching progressWell documented
- Selling winners early and holding losersWell documented
- Growing size after winsWell documented
- Trading after a lossStudied, mixed
- Too many tradesWell documented
- Does experience make traders better?Well documented
- How most retail accounts doWell documented