Struggling to turn theory into practice

I continue to be impressed at how well those support and resistance lines work. Just look at the chart. I'm not cheating, I drew that line last Wednesday as higher levels of support gave way. Intra-day the level was pierced but by the end of the day the market rallied to settle on that support line. And then on Friday the rockets fired and we were on strong positive territory.

I placed support at around 16111  based on resistance encountered last November which turned into support that held the market twice in March and once in April.And that turned out to be where the market turned this time round.

I got it right with the FTSE too picking a support level around 6200. I described it as 'unconvincing' since it was based on just three previous support points back in April, none of which looked significant. As it turned out, that level held too and it looks as though today we'll see some follow through from Friday's upward thrust.

Struggling to turn theory into practice

The analysis method works well, it seems. But the big problem is how to turn theory into practice. Often I do not have the courage to believe my predictions and to trade in anticipation. Occasionally I do and I pick my moment badly and the turn I expect does not happen. Burnt fingers.

So then I see a potential turn and wait for confirmation. Result I am too late to the party and fingers get burnt again.

Trading in a choppy market is no fun. Oh for a nice smooth trend like the one I was too fearful to join that has dominated the US market for the past two, or is it five years. I have managed to pick bits of it successfully but not nearly enough to make for a happy life.