I've been spending a little time lately on some trading chat rooms and seeing the comments related to intraday trading, and it has really hit home why most people have such a hard time. There are several reasons that I see.
They try to predict where the market is going. Sounds like such an obvious thing to do right? Wrong. If you're going into a trade thinking you know what will happen in the future, consider what it would take on your part to really know. You would have to know at what price every other trader is thinking of buying, selling or shorting. You would have to know what the overall market is going to do and the almost infinite factors involved in that. You would have to know future events like natural disasters, wars, OPEC rulings and government policies like a ban on short selling were about to come to pass. Clearly an impossible task to know all that. The damage is done mentally to your ego and to your account when you are wrong.
I'm proven wrong numerous times during the trading day but since I have nothing invested mentally in the outcome of trade it's easy for me to switch to the winning side after a loss.
It's best then to approach trading this way;
- the probability that trends will reverse.
- predict nothing except some movement will occur.
- recognize what the charts are telling you.
- act on this information in a timely manner.
Realize that buying and selling comes in waves and that profit taking occurs. After a big move be prepared to trade the other way. In my view its much safer to take the profit and make more instead of watching it disappear all the while kicking yourself for not taking the $ when it was offered.
I rely on no more than 5 indicators to make decisions and usually only the first 3.
- 5 minute chart of stock I am trading
- 5 minute chart of QQQQ
- 5 minute chart of S & P 500
- 15 minute chart of stock I am trading
- new streaming #'s of new daily highs/lows

So if all the charts are showing a slowing down after a trend, then in all probablity a reverse has a chance of occuring.
It's advantageous to you to enter, exit, change a trade when the majority of traders are not doing the same. By this I mean that you will get better fills and your risk amount is lower than if you wait too long.
Don't clutter your head with VIX, DOW levels, or ideas from CNBC. In fact if you can name me just 1 relevant thing that CNBC can mention that I didn't see on my indicators above mutiple minutes before they said it, then I will start to watch it.
Your trading account will thank you.