Trend Identification Methods- Trend or Range? What to do when.

The most important aspect of trading is analyzing where the market has been and where it is likely to go. The concept of trend is very simple, but psychologically the majority of traders trade against the trend and have a very difficult time buying when the market is going up and selling when its going down because they are always looking for price advantage.

People use various indicators to determine trend. They use this moving average and that bollinger band and this strength index and that pivot point, etc etc. It's ridiculous! THE TREND IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES. If you look at a chart and can't determine the trend, there is none, its ranging.

In a trend you see Higher Highs / Highers Lows (Uptrend) , Lower Lows / Lower Highs (Downtrend). In a range, you will have a lot of false breakouts and weak invalidation points.

Here is a chart example from today. During a downtrend, SELL. During an uptrend, BUY. During a range, BUY and SELL. (Only range trade certain setups and have very tight stops and conservative targets. I primarily trade SF and BF trade during ranges.)