literally the first guy had no problem answering exactly what i was asking... everyone else went off to lala land talking about some unrelated nonsense that i didnt ask for which means the problem is with you understanding what is being asked one would think that being traders you would read questions better before posting replies since attention to details is kind of big part of trading
because you are the first one in the history of internet to say that... 90% of the time someone who claims that is full of it. just like craigslist tweakers who were "gonna buy it"
you can ask the administrator to delete all the postings (including mine) which failed to answer your question to your satisfaction.
Charts are easy ways to check data. Technical analysis is pure crap (assume prices follow stochastic process).
I trade four patterns each of them can be traded only during specific market condition, for example bottom emerging pattern (Rounded Bottom) can be traded only during Market Recovery Phase (exit from Recession). Also, for each pattern, I have a short checklist - kind of identification guidelines. If pattern fails to pass checklist, I dismiss it even if it looks very appealing. If pattern passes checklist, I apply mechanical tests (my own modification of well known Awesome and Alligator oscillators). So, for pattern to be traded, it should appear during the right Market Phase, pass evaluation checklist and pass mechanical indicators test. And (the most important) I have a very strict money management rules (how much to put on each trade) and I NEVER deviate from them.
I spend little time looking at charts. I have a list of features I want to see in my ideal set-up for a trade. A couple of these are mandatory and if those 2 or 3 are not present I stop looking any further. For the remaining potential targets, for each feature that is present I award 1 to 3 points. I take the trades starting with the highest scoring target as soon as I get an entry signal. I must emphasise the TA features important to me are set-up features, not entry patterns. Its my belief that its the set-up that has most bearing on what happens after entry, not the entry pattern. A strong set-up definitely stops trades in the wrong direction.
It is easy to "go back and analyze trades." Entering a trade is a totally different story. Your thought process might only give you profit for 1 out of 10 trades and that 1 trade might just be the profit you need for the day. As long as, 9 out of 10 times, you set a stop-loss for each trade and only lose a little. Easier said than done though.