As a swing trader, decide to be a bull or a bear on the weeklies – execute on the dailies. As a day-trader, decide to be a bull or a bear on a 25-minute chart, execute on a 5-minute chart. Kerry, by the way, prefers a different pair – he makes his strategic decisions on 39-minute charts, executes on 8-minute charts (notice that he uses the same ratio – about 5 to 1).

Look at it this way: you see an attractive girl in a club and want to invite her to dance. Take a look at the bigger picture: is she at the club with a bunch of girlfriends or is there a big mean guy with a facial tattoo right behind her, staring at you? Do yourself a favor and make a strategic decision based on the big picture before zooming in on your attractive trade!

Spend some time looking at many trades featured in our A&K Journal on the website – and you will see multiple examples of this strategy. Remember: make a strategic decision on the longer-term chart, tactical on the shorter-term chart, and keep the ratio between them at about five to one.

Alex