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Two separate things. Start with the walkthrough to learn the screen you trade on; the topics explain the trading behind it.
Two separate things. Start with the walkthrough to learn the screen you trade on; the topics explain the trading behind it.
Candle Arena needs the height to show a chart and your trade at the same time. You can carry on sideways, with less room.
Each candle covers 5 minutes. For two hours, price has swung up and down between 30.00 and 31.00. The candles overlap and their colours keep flipping.
A trend needs highs and lows that both climb, or both fall. Here the tops wander around 31.00 and the bottoms around 30.00. No direction.
Highs 31.00 · 31.10 · 30.98 Lows 30.00 · 29.95
Price poked up to 31.10, then closed at 30.80. It dipped to 29.95, then closed at 30.25. The edges leak, so a stop there gets clipped.
The stop goes just under where the idea is wrong: below the pokes, at 29.90. The target goes just under the ceiling, at 30.90.
Buy 30.50 · Stop 29.90 · Target 30.90
1R is what the stop would cost. The best case here is 0.40 for 0.60 risked: 0.67R. Over many trades, you need 6 wins in 10 to break even.
Risk 0.60 · Reward 0.40 · 0.67 to 1
Move the stop up to 30.20 and the risk drops to 0.30. But the very next candle dips to 30.10. The stop is hit before anything happens.
Stop 30.20 · next low 30.10
Watching for two hours is not a reason to trade. A trade needs a reason, a stop, and room to a target. Waiting costs nothing. A losing trade costs 1R.
Not trading: 0R · Stopped out: -1R
Later, a buy at 30.50 did reach 30.90. Judge a decision by its reasons, not one result. Standing aside works the same on 1-minute, daily or monthly charts.
You have watched this chart for two hours. Price is at 30.50, halfway between 30.00 and 31.00. What is the best plan?
General education about how charts and trades work. Not investment advice.