db said, "What I said was that one could test entry and exit triggers in a couple of days."
I mis-spoke, as the above is what I am referring to: entry and exit triggers. I must be approaching the test of these wrongly, as it seems to take me quite a while. I was doing replays and taking notes. Is viewing static charts sufficient for these?
Ged
Yes, static charts are sufficient to answer the question. If you know what a range is, what a breakout is, and what a retracement is, you can determine how far away from the trough or crest of the retracement you have to enter in order to determine the probability that the trade will be successful, i.e., how to avoid being too early and how to avoid being too late. These entries may change every day. They may change several times during the same session. But that's part of the challenge of reading price movement. It is also a large part of the reward.
All of which sounds very kumbayah. But if you're afraid to take the trade at all, no amount of counting ticks is going to make you unafraid. Your time would be better spent determining what it is you're afraid of and why. If you're not afraid and the trade looks good, just take it. If it works out, great. If it doesn't, scratch it and move on to the next.