There are two books that I highly recommend and suggest everyone read. Technical Analysis for Dummies and The Market Makers Edge are two of the most beneficial books I have read on the list. The Power of Focus is also very good. I realize a couple of these books have been suggested by other members of this site, but I am confirming how important the two books can be to a trader.
I reached a point in my short trading career when I hit a wall-again. It was like "Writers Block". I could not do anything right. I would enter trades and shortly after, they would turn against me, causing me to lose money. I lost over $2000 in the last two months. That is a ton of money for me because my basket is limping along. I again reached that point where I felt defenseless and defeated. I consulted with some of you guys for a little guidance, but I continued to make mistake after mistake. I was "nickel and diming" myself. My losses were small, but they were adding up over weeks and months. If you lose $50-100 enough times, you will shave $2000 off before you realize your basket is slowly dwindling down.
I chose to dive back into reading and studying. I desperately wanted to learn a strategy that worked 80% of the time. This 40-60% stuff was not going to work. I had to make changes. Well, I picked up two books that I had already read- MME and TAFD. On Saturdays, I would isolate myself from everyone for about 4 hours and combed parts of both books. After praying, reading, studying and more praying, it hit me as I was reading about trading signals. I had my "Aha" moment! I sat up, read 4 or five pages again, and again, until I was convinced that I understood the concept and knew how to add a couple of Gary's other rules. I left the room and decided to return being a family man. I took my family to a movie, but did not enjoy a second of it because I wanted to test what I learned. When the movie was over, I rushed home and headed back to my office area. I tested the strategy once and it worked well. I tested it again. It worked well. I tried it again, and again, and again. I had tried this strategy 10 txs and every single time, it came my direction. That was the first time I had that experience. I thought it was a fluke, so I slept on it. I woke up the next morning and started testing again. Well, I have now practiced this strategy approximately 35 txs and it has come my direction EVERY SINGLE TIME! The point I am trying to make is, when using Gary's concepts and rules along with what is being taught in the books, trading with confidence can come through successful practice plays. I am pretty confident right now. I tested my strategy on one of the most volatile stocks- AMZN. It worked well again. I have had to identify 5 stocks in my basket because my strategy only shows about 2 txs a week in each stock. I have to wait until it sets up. When the critical peices are in concert, and you know it is a trade, BAM! Enter the trade! As Gary said, " If you find a strategy that works for you, do it over and over and over again".
Test strategies after market hours by using TOS "On Demand" function. That function alone is worth $100 a month. You are allowed to run the market in "Real Time" during any previous day over the past several years. You can fast forward, rewind, or pause. I use my SD for execution because those charts are set to parameters of Qcharts. I was able to test my strategies using real time. That has been extremely valuable to me. I clearly know what WOULD HAVE happened-if I would have been in a "real trade".