Short Term Trading Weekend Lounge: 1-3 Feb, page-44

Hi Rick,

It's good to see that you're trying to cover as many aspect of TA as possible but it definitely sounds like you're overwhelming yourself unnecessarily.

There are entire books dedicated to candle stick patterns, but is it really worthwhile at this stage trying to commit them all to memory just so you can apply them to a chart in a timeframe that may not even be relevant to your investment strategy?

Don't be disheartened, what you will find is that more you learn/know over time the less you will actually use.

If you're primary objective is day trading then your main indicators are going to be volume, intra-day trend lines, support/resistance areas and VWAP.. That's basically all there is to it. Understanding how and where volume is entering the market is probably the greatest leading indicator when it comes to determining price direction. A particular candle stick pattern is going to mean very little when trading intra-day, the volume and its subsequent direction will already be telling the story.

Candlestick patterns provide a more useful when it comes to short-term/swing trading (as you have demonstrated in your CDX chart) typically as a signal where a trend may be reversing or to identify where a stock is being accumulated/distributed. I believe VSA/Wyckoff method is a great tool here, and I've heard you ask for Jacko's link already so certainly familiarise yourself with his excellent contributions there. 

I would also recommend looking into Heikin-Ashi candlesticks and pull up some charts and take a look at how they may signal a change in direction, when using HA candles there is usually a lag of 1-2 in signalling a reversal of the trend but it's usually more accurate when compared to ordinary candlesticks by mitigating potentially false signals (stock volatility may effect results here).

Just some honest feedback mate as I can see you're putting in a lot of work which is great to see but I just believe your number one objective should be to really nut out what your goals are and then build a strategy around that. Keep in mind your personality trait plays a large role in your trading/investing success so you must find what works best for you.