Try this exercise it is a good way to understand trading the trend. Go to a 5-minute chart and find a trade by only looking at the 5-miinute time frame. Now expand your outlook and look at the charts on the1 hr or 4 hr time frames, you may see something completely different. What you thought might be a good short trade may just be a little dip in a strong market that you would not have noticed unless you looked at the longer time frames.
When you get the larger picture, you can easily see that going long had a low probability of succeeding because the market was in a downtrend. By taking a long trade on the 5 minute you were taking a trade that has a low probability of being successful. If it does turn out to be profitable it was for a small profit.
Look at the charts below and see what the trade looks like on a 5 minute then on a 1-hour and a 4-hour chart. This is why we always say trade in the direction of the trend of a larger time frame. There are some good trades on this 5-minute chart if you are trading in the direction of the trend.
We have pointed out some reverse or counter trend trades they are not as good as the trades in the direction of the trend.
