Eiger

Nothing would save you from that entry at A on your chart. It was perfectly fine. At that point, we have clear weakness, and the No Demand at A was a good trade. Not every trade works out, and that is perfectly fine as well. We never know how any individual trade will work out, but over a large number of trades, we know that VSA has an edge and we will be profitable. You really can't be concerned with the outcome of each and every trade. This is the psychological crux of trading. That being said, there was also a clear indication on the next bar (Hidden Test - dipping below the lows of the last several bars and closing on the highs) that indicated that the market would attempt another rally. Note the cluster of closes at A, the bar before A, and this bar after A. These closes plus the Hidden Test are indicating a reluctance to go lower at that point. If short on A, there was opportuntiy to exit on the next bar. But, even if you didn't exit and took a small loss (always use stops because no setup is 100%), you would have easily made it up on the trade at H. This is why we are vigilent in cutting losses short, and do not let them run into a level that is difficult to recover. You have to know (via practice) that you have an edge with VSA (and you certainly do). When you know you have an edge, taking a small loss becomes inconsequential. With lots of practice, you will be able to exit out of a trade the moment you see it not working (as in the bar after A) and cut losses even more. I was in Dallas last week and got to meet a fellow there who runs a training program for traders. He is very serious and very concerned that traders be taught properly - he is quite against the snake oil sales. The first thing he teaches new traders is how to lose money. It sounds odd, but it really is a necessary skill. Once we learn to take loses properly, we can then focus on making profits. A worthwhile idea to think hard about, in my judgement. It requires thinking in terms of probabilities, which is not an easy task. Hope this helps, Eiger

In my trading, I am watching the 3, 5, 15 & 45 minute charts. I am watching what happens on each bar, but I don't get interested in the market until I see price nearing support/resistance or high volume comes in. Then I am looking at every bar quite carefully. I generally take No Demands and Tests on the close. You can take it on break of the spread-that is legit. Taking it on the break would have kept you safe at E. Note that although E met criteria from a VSA perspective, from a money management perspective, it didn't fly. The stop was far too wide making that trade have too great a risk. Both the setup and the risk have to be balanced. For me, if both don't meet my criteria, I let the trade pass. One other thing to note, taking a short at E would have been more of a scalp trade (which, given the wide protective stop needed made the profit:loss ratio relatively poor). Weakness had come into the market, but at that point, we didn't really have extensive weakness, just a couple of high volume bars at C & D. Thus, a short taken at E would have a target of around the last high made below E (i.e., the closest support point). Although weakness had appeared on C, D & E, there had not been much of a cause built. "Cause" relates to the sideways movement that allows professional traders to unload or distribute contracts bought lower to buyers attracted by the rapid up move at C, and to build an inventory of contracts for the anticipated down move to be covered lower. Bar E was a tad early, though occassionally we get a V-spike reversal (as we did on the lows of yesterday). By the time H occured, there was a nice sideways line, much more evidence of weakness, and the market was poised on the Springboard for lower prices. Eiger

Most of us do. It is easy to fall prey to looking for the countertrend trade. In my trading, I look for the obvious support and resistance areas. Yesterday's high & low, and the 45-min or 60-min support/resistance areas. It also helps to identify any trend channels on the 45/60-min time frame. Then watch to see how price trades around those levels. This will help you set up the background. If price approaches higher time frame support and starts to have wider spread and heavy volume in this area, odds are good for a reversal or at least a bounce. Then look for Tests, Bottom Reversals, Hidden Tests, etc. Rather than focusing only on No Demand and Tests/No Supply, try to build a VSA/Wyckoff "Story" about the market. For Example, look at the attached chart showing 10/22 and 10/23 on the 5-minute ES market: Oct 22 had an afternoon sell off that ended in climactic action (not highlighted). The sell off was precipitated by a fall below support at A and an inability to rally back up above the Ice (support becomes resistance) at B. The next day on Oct 23, the market rallies back into the area where we saw supply the day before (the ice area). As we approach that area, we see an ultra wide spread and very high volume at C - potential supply coming in at an area where we saw supply yesterday. The very next bar D attempts to rally higher, but closes on its lows. The volume is sustained at a very high level - supply has definately entered the market at this point. The next bar at E is No Demand. Professional money has seen the weakness and has withdrawn form the market. (The bar at E could be an aggressive short entry, but the risk point is more than 5 points away.) Price rallies higher to F, where we see less volume (inability to sustain a rally) and a very poor close (this is almost a Top Reversal/2-Bar UT; it would have been better to close below the low of the previos bar, but this is still quite weak). Market goes sideways. The question now becomes: is it going to hold its gains and absorp supply in order to rally higher, or is the apparent weakness going to take prices down? This is answered for us at G when price makes a lower low after putting in a lower high - a clear sign of weakness. Note also that price was unable to sustain any close above the Ice line in this area. A Supply Line is drawn at F and at H, the ideal entry with a well-defined risk point arrives in the form of No Demand. Making a Wyckoff/VSA Story involves piecing together several elements on the chart: Supply area from yesterday The Ice Area Heavy Volume/Wide Spread into the old supply/Ice area Weakness as it attempts to rally through the Ice Lower High & Lower Low Small downtrend line No Demand Try to expand your anaylsis like this to tell a story, rather than simply focusing on one or two VSA indications. Tom Williams always emphasizes the background and always cautions about reading the indications in isolation from the background. Hope this is helpful, Eiger

"Ice" was coined by Robert G. Evans, a major figure in the Wyckoff Method from the early 1940s into the 1970s. Bob Evans worked very hard at making the Wyckoff Method more user-friendly. He focused heavily on Wyckoff principles (e.g., Selling Climax, Test, Sign Of Strength, Last Point of Supply, etc) and discussed these principles and the Wyckoff Method in weekly tapes from about 1940 through the 1960s. One of the (many) wonderful things about Bob Evans was that he was a real educator. He deeply wanted traders to understand the Method and looked for ways to help explain the Wyckoff prinicples. One of the ways he did this was to create stories that traders could relate to. These were rather "folksy" and involved characters like boy scouts and scuba divers. The Ice Story is one of these. The Ice story is basically about a boy scout walking along a frozen river. The ice supports his weight easily as he travels along. But, he then comes upon a thin section of the ice, walks over it, and falls through. He drops down into the cold water, drifts downstream a bit, and tries to swim back to the top. When he returns to the top, however, the ice is no longer thin. He is unable to surmount the ice, fatally bumps his head while trying, and sinks down, down, down. So, Ice is a support line that serves to hold price until price "falls" through the support. As we know, many times what was formerly support becomes resistance (it's ice, afterall ) and price will be unable to rally back up above the resistance if supply is now in control. After a failed attempt to rally above resistance, the market typically sinks lower. So, we use "ice" as shorthand for support, and especially for support that has turned into resistance, with the implication of lower prices. FWIW: The Bob Evans tapes are truely outstanding. He lived and breathed the Wyckoff method for 40 years. He knew Wyckoff personally, understood what was important, and strived to convey this to traders. In the tapes, you can see how a true Wyckoff expert reads a chart and applies Wyckoff (most tapes come with charts of the then current stocks and market). The tapes are still available from the Wyckoff/Stock Market Institute. They are known as the Evans Echoes Tape Series. They are inexpensive, now in MP3, and really fun to listen to because he was not only a true master, but he was also so enthusiastic about teaching the method. In my judgement, they are just as vital today as they were in 1950 and are a great way to learn the Wyckoff Method. Hope this is helpful, Eiger

See attached chart. I see no strength in this chart.

Hi Atto, The 'warning sign' was the UpThrust followed by a lack of demand/No Demand. These are highlighted on your chart (attached). It becomes clearer when the mid-point line is removed. I'm not sure what you are using for an indicator on this chart. One that is quite effective in identifying apexes is the 14-period ADX. Most traders think of the ADX as a tool to identify trends, and it does that well when it is rising and giving readings above 25 or 30. It also identifies consolidation and, especially apexes or hinges, when readings are very low. Look for the ADX to be falling and drop into the range of 10 to 12. At the low level, the odds favor a breaout of some sort. Hope this is helpful, Eiger

Tawe, Do y'all really say things like "whilst?" Eiger

Hi, A few comments: The main thing about VSA is not looking for high volume in a short period of time. The main thing about VSA is developing an understanding of the charts by volume, bar spreads, and closes. Rather than read all the posts on this forum, it would be much more prudent for you to start with the book Tom Williams wrote in the mid 1990s. A free version of this is available on the tradeguider site. A link is posted on the VSA forum. All of the questions you are asking and many more are addressed in this book. Once you have read that and have a better understanding of what VSA is all about, you will then find it useful to review the threads on this forum to see how traders apply the method. Hope this helps, Eiger

No. Volume is not nearly high enough to qualify for a Selling Climax. Volume needs to be abnormally high. Spreads need to be ultra wide, and we need to see a close mid-range or better. A Selling Climax occurs after a significant trend down. You will also normally see an acceleration of the down trend just before the climax on a substantial decline (though not on a minor decline). Eiger

That is because you have been too lazy or unwilling to look, though not too lazy or unwilling to post an untrue comment like this. You seem to like to challenge a method without doing your homework. TG routinely has web casts that nearly always include live VSA trading. You can judge the consistency of the method live for yourself, if that somehow satisfies you, rather than posting BS to this thread. And, here is a direct challenge to you: watch the next three webcasts of live trading and report back to people on this forum what you see. Though I doubt you will do this, one thing i can guarantee you, no VSA expert wears a beard and none have egg on their face. Eiger Eiger

Winnie, It's hard to talk in abstracts. Can you post a chart of what you are taling about? That would help a lot. (I am away for several days. I will be glad to repsond later next week - but others can help you, I'm sure)

Sorry, I didn't see this earlier. I re-did the charts to make it easier to see. Before starting, a warm thank-you for all the recent posts. I love Wyckoff and I love VSA, and I love being a student of both. As you know, I do not see meaningful distinctions between them and find arguing about it quite silly. I also love doing these charts - I do them every day, and i am always learning something new. It is nice to see that they are useful to others, too. More important, is it is nice to see others posting charts. Background: First, we need to start with the background -- always, we want to start with the background. I emphasize the background for two primary reasons: It gives us the context for the current day When we have the background in mind, we can compare things like volume, spread, size, length and duration of swings, etc. Looking at the 45-minute chart, You can see that we fell through the ice or support at 1. Note that we gapped lower (day session data). This is simply the reverse of pushing up and through resistance. Professionals did not want to have to absorb shorts covering who got short early over 5 days of trading range when driving the market lower. Volume increases to the downside. Parallel trend lines were drawn to help frame the trend. A Supply Line was drawn from A & B. A parallel Demand Line was draw off C. At 2, the market is Oversold - meaning it had dropped well below the Demand Line. At 2, massive volume enters the picture. It is the highest volume on the chart. The spread is wide, was a gap down opening but closes on its highs. Large, professional traders stepped in and bought. The public was selling. So we have an oversold position, the widest spread in the downtrend and the highest volume in the downtrend, closing on its highs. This is climactic action. Note how using the background we can compare spreads, volumes, position in trend channel, etc. The 15-minute Chart: The climactic action at 2 is even more obvious on the 15-minute chart. The bar closes on its highs. Note the next bar, however. It is a down bar, indicating supply is still in the market (as we might expect given general conditions anyway). Usually, a down bar after a climactic bar indicates further testing is needed or supply remains dominate and another wave down is possible. As the market reacts down at 3 into the high supply seen on 2 we see spreads narrow and most importantly, volume dries up. At 4, the down wave is completed, and the market starts to move up. Note the character of this up move. Volume falls off on the rally and the bars show narrow spreads and generally poor closes. The spreads on this little rally are narrower than the down wave at 3 - not very bullish. The next reaction (5) shows volume drying up. Compared to the previous downwave at 3 and even the rally after 4, it is very low volume. Supply appears exhausted at this point as we are back into the area of supply seen at 2 without drawing further supply; it confirms the climactic action at 2 and indicates strength. At 6 the market dips below the low at 4 and immediately springs back above that low and closes just off its high - bullish. The next bar is up with good spread and volume - bullish. Two bars later at 7, price dips back down and volume is less than the previous two bars indicating No Supply. The spread on 7 is a bit wide, though, and the close is on the lows. Note the next two bars after 7 - they are low volume with fairly narrow spreads and mid-range closes. Importantly, both bars dipped below the low at 7 and closed back above the support line drawn off 4. This is the true Test of the Spring seen at 6. Price is now on what Wyckoff called the Springboard. So as a recap, we have: SOS in the immediate background (climactic action at an Oversold position) Volume recedes on the first reaction (3) back into the high volume (supply) area (2) Another reaction (5) on narrow spreads and low, low volume - supply has been exhausted A Spring at 6 A successful Test of the Spring and a Sprinboard position The market rallies vigorously away from the danger point on wide spreads, strong closes and expanding volume. Note that the rally stops at the larger time frame Supply Line. At 9, the market reacts and volume dries up. Overall, a very bullish picture One other thing to note. The activity between the climax at 2 and the reaction at 9 has given professionals an opportunity to accumulate. The amount of accumulation, if studied under a point & figure chart, can help indicate the size of the next move. In general, though, when you see a good sideways line like this, the odds of the subsequent move being pretty good is high. Such a move will usually offer other opportunities to enter. For a good example of this, go back to the 45-minute chart and look at the down move that occurred as a result of the sideways line from September 29 through October 3. On this and other charts, you will see that the market builds causes for the next move in the congestion areas, and the market tends to move from congestion to trending and back again. Hope this is helpful, Eiger

Lots sdewds

That is simply not true. The complaints were for constantly derailing this thread off topic and for constantly arguing about the putative flaws in VSA. It got to be quite boring, unconstructive, and totally unproductive. I have always traded with Wyckoff methods and was trained and mentored by a Wyckoff expert. I have also made many posts to this thread regarding Wyckoff, Wyckoff methods, and Wyckoff sources. You can verify this for yourself by reviewing prior posts. Hopefully, that will provide you with some clarity, disabuse you of the incorrect notion that I operate with double standards, and we won't be rehasing old ground from a "new" perspective. Eiger PS - Nice to see you again, JJ

In the days when Wyckoff was brokering, trading, and writing, there were no intraday indexes like we have today (e.g., SPX, DJI, NAZ, etc). There were market averages like the NY Times 50 and the DJI, but these were not available intraday (keep in mind also, that there were no real time bar charts of any kind - everything was done by hand off the ticker tape). Wyckoff understood that the overall market had a substantial influence on individual stocks. When the overall market was bullish, for example, most individual stocks would rally. Wyckoff wanted a way to track the market during the trading hours. This was useful not only for day trading, but also to help determine the larger change of trends. He developed the "Wave Chart." In his day, Wyckoff took the swing highs and lows of five leading stocks throughout the day to construct the chart. He found it useful in detecting the change in trend intraday, which he understood to occur 3-4 times a day, give or take. When strung together over several days, the wave chart helped him to see larger trend changes. Wyckoff viewed the trend as the most important thing to know about the market. “The most important thing to know about the market is the trend.” Richard D. Wyckoff, The Richard D. Wyckoff Course in Stock Market Science and Technique. It was through the Wave Chart where you will first see the change in trend. He told us how to determine this: “But you must always be on the lookout for a change in this immediate trend … This is how you detect the change: In an up trend, when the selling waves begin to increase in time and distance, or the buying waves shorten. Either or both will be an indication of a change in the immediate trend. Apply the same reasoning to a down trend.” Richard D. Wyckoff, A Course of Instruction in Tape Reading and Active Trading. I use a Wave Chart and have attached an example. This is the Wave Chart of the 5-minute ES over the past few days. It is pretty obvious how the waves indicated a change in trend, at least for the short-term. This is a proprietary Wave Chart. Several charting packages have indicators that can be adapted for wave charting. You can also eyball and/or draw a line for each wave. Thinking in waves and seeing the market in waves is highly useful. Another useful "trick" is to plot by hand the waves as they occur during the day. It is essentially what Wyckoff did and you will quickly learn to read the market in waves by doing this. The combination of waves and VSA indications is quite good. Sources for learning and understanding the Wave Chart: There are two main sources. The Wyckoff Course in Stock Market Science and Technique describes the Wave Chart in Unit 2 and goes into some detail on how to read it in Unit 3. Wyckoff's 1932 "A Course of Instruction in Tape Reading and Active Trading" has lots of examples on using the Wave Chart and another daytrading chart combining volume and figures. Another useful source is the Trading Techniques Lecture Tapes: Back to the Books series done by George King. There is quite some discussion on the trend and the use of the Wave Chart in this series. All of these sources (and many more great resources) are available from The Wyckoff/Stock Market Institute at: http://wyckoffstockmarketinstitute.com/ All of the sources listed above also have detailed discussion on effort vs. results. The Wave Chart was a vital part Wyckoff's method. I don't really think you can fully understand and trade Wyckoff's method without it - at least I personally wouldn't try to do that In any event, the Wave Chart is as useful today as it was in 1920. Hope this is helpful, Eiger

In general, there is buying come in at A, an inability to follow through to the downside at B, a rally, and then a Spring at C and a Test of the Spring at D. So, just from this chart alone, there is some strength in the background followed by a Spring and a Test. Also, volume has obviously receded from A to C. So, from this chart alone, you would expect the market to rally above the last rally highs. Note that I am emphasizing from this chart alone. Springs are wonderful set ups in a rising market or after a market has climaxed. They are a pretty poor bet, however, in a falling market. (The same is true for upthrusts in a rising market). We always need to understand the background. As I mentioned recently in another VSA thread, you will get your head handed to you trying to trade VSA indications by looking at only a few bars. I don't mean to sound harsh, but your question: "How do you know [from these few bars] whether this is 'no demand' or 'no supply'" is not a particularly useful question to be asking. The more constructive question is this: "Is this market showing sufficient strength to change the trend?" Unfortunately, we can't answer that question from this chart alone. We need to see what was going on prior to A. Here are some things to think about in helping you evaluate whether or not strength has appeared after what you say has been a downtrend of some degree: Has there been climactic action at A? Are we seeing wide spreads, an acceleration in the downtrend, and the heaviest volume since the downtrend began? Is this market at an oversold level (trend lines or reverse trend lines)? Is price hitting an important support level? How does the subsequent rally compare to earlier rallies? Is this rally larger, longer, and with greater volume than on the previous rallies in the downtrend? Affirmative answers to these questions indicates strength. If strength truely has appeared, then a Spring and a subsequent Test as seen here at C and D are an indication of an immediate rally. If there is strength, then this market should rally and rally vigorously. On this chart, we are not seeing an immediate rally. Price, instead, is hugging the lows. The "danger point" is the low of the Spring. An inability to rally away from the danger point is not a good sign. It suggests to me that there probabably isn't strength in the background. If I were unsure about the strength as here, I would wait to see what the market does next. If it does rally well, I would be looking to take a long position on the next reaction. There has been enough "cause" (sideways movement) giving professional traders enough opportunity to accumulate that the market, if it does rally, will likely rally for 2-3 legs. There will be opportunity to enter when things become more clear. On the other hand, if price falls lower, I have avoided getting myself into a poor position due to uncertainty, and I can look for a short on the next rally. So, again, I don't mean to sound harsh, but the right question from a pragmatic trading point of view is always about the background first, then the entry setups. Hope this is helpful, Eiger

We all have been guilty of it. I re-read Tom Williams's book all the time, along with the other materials from TG and Wyckoff I have noted earlier. I constantly refer back to these resources. It's just part of the process. Each time I do, it serves as a refresher. Often, I see something in a different way or with a different insight as it relates to current markets. This is so helpful, I can't even begin to tell you. The fundementals are as crucial as they are vital. I think we are fortunate to have the resources we do. It is just up to us to understand them, apply them, and make them a seamless part of our trading. And that takes enourmous effort, which few are really willing to commit to. Eiger

Another fundemental error i see is traders don't do the work neccessary like reading and studying the basic VSA text (emphasis added): "Position traders (trading a longer time frame than an inter-day trader would feel comfortable with) may only keep daily and weekly charts, regarding hourly charts of little help in their trading. Conversely, inter-day traders mostly stick to hourly or shorter time frames, rarely looking at the larger picture. Both attitudes are counterproductive. Inter-day charts are useful to position traders as they often highlight indications of strength or weakness marking the day as a bullish or bearish day, which then gives a very strong indication on which way the market is likely to go. In turn, inter-day traders can benefit significantly from the wider picture offered by daily or weekly charts. They are often too close to the market. Once you have a working knowledge of the underlying principle of volume spread analysis, it is surprisingly easy to see them at work in any time frame. You should never try to read the market looking at one day's action in isolation. Always read the market phase-by-phase and then read the latest day's action into the phase." (T. Williams, The Undeclared Secrets that Drive the Stock Market, pg 52) This is a tough and unforgiving business. The path has been laid out for anyone to follow, but you must follow it. Otherwise, the odds of succeeding are appallingly thin. Eiger

You are right about confirmation on the subsequent bar, CW. My favorite entry locations are off Tests and No Demands. With clear strength or weakness in the background, it is not necessary to wait for a subsequent bar - the Test or No Demand is the confirmation. If the next bar fails to follow through and confirm the Test/No Demand, though, i am looking to exit ASAP. Eiger

The blue bars are the 3-min NYSE Tick. The Tick shows the number of stocks on the New York Stock Exchange currently trading on the up tick (above the price of their last trade) verses on the down tick (below the price of their last trade). For example, if there are 1000 stocks trading on the uptick and 750 trading on the downtick, it would give a Tick reading of +250. It is a very useful short-term indicator for trading the indicies like ES. It shows trends, change in trends, extremes, and divergences quite well. There are many different ways to use Tick. Soultrader did a very nice tutorial on the Tick a while back. i am sure if you do a search, you will find it.

Here is an example from this AM (Oct 6th) in the S&P e-minis (ES): Background: Coming into this morning, the market has been in a downtrend since mid-August. There have been no signs of strength on the higher time frames (daily/weekly). On Friday (i.e., in the immediate background), this market broke through the 1113.50 support level (Sept 19), made a new low at 1102.50, and closed near its low (see 60-min chart). Overnight in the Globex session, this market made yet another new low (1072.00). After making this low, a rally ensued, but it was lackluster and unable to reach Friday's low. A small range had formed between the Globex low and the late Globex session rally high (see 15-min chart). Just before the day session open, the market was heading back toward the Globex low. Set-up & High Odds Trade After the open, the market fell below the overnight range and Globex low. Volume increased to the downside and was high volume right from the open, indicating larger traders in the market. NYSE Ticks were trading to the downside and unable to show a rally, indicating that traders were hitting bids on the way down, quite eager to sell. Conditions for a potential trending morning, if not a trend day, were in place. I watch both the 5-min and the 3-min charts for VSA indications. These are my trading time frames. At 10:36 AM, the 3-min chart gave its first VSA indication: a No Demand bar in a falling market. Given the larger background and the immediate downtrend in the AM, this was a very high probability trade (see red arrow on 3-min chart). ------ To trade effectively, you must frame out your trades. This means looking at the background and assessing strength and weakness, knowing where support and resistance lie, understanding what moves a market and how this shows up on the charts, being able to identify this with reasonable accuracy real-time, and then (and only then) looking for VSA indications to trade. Hope this is helpful, Eiger

You are ignoring the background and what this market had been doing for the previous several days/weeks. It is the same fundemental error I see many traders commit while attempting to apply VSA. Jumping into the middle of a market and looking for weak and strong bars will lead you astray because VSA indications arrive in varying intensities. What looks like a strong or weak bar on the immediate chart may or may not be, depending on the background. Unless you understand the background, bar-by-bar analysis like this will only be confusing.

Think about a few courses in stats, finite math, and probability analysis. Understanding probabilities -- really understanding probabilities -- is one of the most useful things you can study for trading. In terms of psych courses, you can focus on social psych (group behavior) and behavioral finance/investment psychology, if offered. A course in cognitive psychology, especially one that deals with decision-making heuristics and cognitive biases would be of good, practical value. You would also benefit from a psych course on human performance or sport psych, but you may not find that on the undergrad level. Other standard psych courses like abnormal psych, tests & measurements, etc probably won't have that much utility unless you want to specialize in the psychology of trading. You might also want to take a course in computer programming like C++ so you can at least be familiar with how charts and indicators are made and maybe even build your own. Learning Excel is also handy for trading.

I think there are several good additional sources: The VSA Symposium DVDs are quite worthwhile for learning basic through advanced VSA. Sebastian Manby reviews in great detail every major VSA indication and describes how to trade them. He also shows how to take any chart and methodically analyze it. Tom Williams describes several 'bread & butter'-type VSA setups we see occur all the time. I think a trader can develop a very good trading plan from this material. In 2007 on different forums, Sebastian Manby posted several analyses of the intraday and daily S&Ps. These are really excellent and quite detailed - well worth seeking out. Google his name and also 'vsatrader' and you will readily find these. VSA, of course, is based on the work of Richard Wyckoff. Tom Williams's original software was called Wyckoff/VSA and was designed to computerize Wyckoff principles. Wyckoff wrote about how to read the stock market via its own actions through the fundamental laws of supply-demand, effort-result, and cause-effect. Reading some of Wyckoff's material can only help you as a trader. Studies in Tape Reading by Rollo Tape (a pen name of Wyckoff) is one book I refer to often. Even though it was written in 1910, it has a wealth of information. Wyckoff's course is still available from the Wyckoff/Stock Market Institute (formerly Wyckoff Associates). Units 2 & 3 are the heart of the course. Unit 2 includes Wyckoff's original course written in the early 1930s. Unit 3 has most of the work of Bob Evans, the head of Wyckoff Associates during the 1940s-1960s, which expanded on Wyckoff's original work in many useful ways. In Unit 2, Wyckoff wrote a bar-by-bar analysis of the late 1930/1931 stock market (NY Times 50 Index). Wyckoff considered this to be the most important part of the course and is important to study. These sources, along with Tom Williams's Undeclared Secrets that Drive the Stock Market would be a pretty complete resource set for learning and trading this method. Tradeguider also, of course, has additional materials and the software you can look into. Eiger

And, you have a nice No Demand bar that followed the TR, giving you confirmation and a well-defined entry point.