![\"Image\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.jeffclarktrader.com\/JMU\/images\/202305\/20230503-JMU-01_wer231.png\")
<\/p>\nThere are two things I love most about my trading style.<\/p>\n
First, I’m able to apply my methodology to any market.<\/p>\n
It doesn’t matter if I want to trade stocks, currencies, or commodities. My approach remains the exact same.<\/p>\n
Second, my method is incredibly simple.<\/p>\n
I don’t rely on a great number of technical indicators. And my charts are clean and easy to understand. Trading is difficult enough without having to complicate your analysis.<\/p>\n
Making money from a trade is a very different skillset from reading the market. Of course, it’s difficult to do one without the other.<\/p>\n
That’s why today, I’m going to show you how I break down a price chart in the simplest terms possible.<\/p>\n
You’ll see how quickly I like to shift gears from analyzing a market to putting together an actionable trading plan.<\/p>\n
Let’s look at a chart of Expeditors International of Washington (EXPD) below so I can show you what I mean.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This chart doesn’t have any special indicators or chart patterns. We’re looking purely at this stock’s price action to determine how to trade it.<\/p>\n
The best trades are the ones taken in line with the greater underlying trend.<\/p>\n
That’s why my first step is to always identify whether the trend is up or down.<\/p>\n
The simplest definition of a trend is a series of highs and lows moving together.<\/p>\n
As you can see, between late 2021 and October 2022 EXPD has been in a downtrend. This is confirmed by the series of lower lows and lower highs.<\/p>\n
In November 2022, however, EXPD broke the downtrend and went on to make a new higher high. This was an incredibly important development.<\/p>\n
Breaking the previous downtrend puts me on alert to look for chart patterns that would lead the market higher.<\/p>\n
The actual trigger for me to get into a trade could be a bull flag, a falling wedge, a moving-average crossover, or any other number of setups.<\/p>\n
I don’t particularly care what kind of setup the market will provide. I just know that what I’m looking for is a reason to go long this stock. That means I’m not looking to buy puts on EXPD.<\/p>\n
Remember, I want to trade in line with the larger trend. So long as the market continues to put in higher lows and higher highs, that trend is to the upside.<\/p>\n
Right now, I don’t see a clear chart pattern that would give me the green light to trade this market. But I’ll continue to keep a close eye on this stock in case one materializes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Free Trading Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n Have you checked out Jeff’s free trading resources on his website? It contains a selection of special reports, training videos, and a full trading glossary to help kickstart your trading career \u2013 at zero cost to you. Just click here<\/a> to check it out.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n It’ll be a really fun case study if we can follow along this stock’s action together.<\/p>\n For now, just remember that identifying the trend is the most important step for any technical trader.<\/p>\n There’s no need to overcomplicate things. Just look for that series of highs and lows moving together.<\/p>\n Happy trading,<\/p>\n Imre Gams<\/p>\n <\/p>\n