Why This is Important
This is a really quick tip that is super simple, but if you have never heard of it before, it can help you. If you follow several currency pairs and more than one trading method, it can be helpful to be able to flip through your charts quickly when you first sit down to trade.
As I add new trading systems to track, this has been especially helpful. It works the same on a Mac and a PC. The added bonus is that it is probably the only thing that works on a PC, especially if you use Windows 8.
This very short video will show you how to do it:
Try This Exercise
But that is not the only way that you can use that function. Here is an exercise that you can do to raise your chart reading awareness.
If you listened to the podcast with Chris Capre, he made the interesting statement that he was better able to predict the direction of the market when he flipped through the charts faster and trusted his first impression of where he thought price would go. In fact, he mentions that he was accurate about 90% of the time. Now, Chris had already had some screen time and when he did this exercise, but it illustrates an important point.
Many times we over analyze the market and our first impression can be more accurate than we think. You can test and practice this by setting up several charts, using this shortcut to flip through your charts quickly. Write down the first impression that comes to your mind when you see each chart. A simple up or down arrow will do. Don't make it too complex, just record which way you think the price will go.
Then go back to your notes later and see if you were right. Give yourself a score based on how many you predicted correctly. Do this for a week and find out how you did.
This is not meant to be traded with real money obviously, but it can help you gauge how good your first impression really is and may give you more confidence when it comes to trusting your chart reading intuition.
If you tried this exercise, let us know what you discovered in the comments below.
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Photo Credit: Backflip
