CVN Chart, page-342

It's at moments like these in charting that I like to reflect a little on what a trading chart actually is; at least for me. It helps with the sentiment.  

I notice that some traders think of charts in complete opposition to FA, as if the truth of a trade is an either / or  problem, that is, only the FA or TA can be true. I like to think of that view as a false dichotomy. Rather, FA and TA  are complimentary.

Charts represent a graphical representation of  price movement over a given period. They make a picture of what traders have done in that period, and being in graph form, some suggestions can be made of future possibilities, all things being equal. But what drives traders to do what they do?

Mostly, it is the FA, or some simplified version of it. Some traders buy the story, while others scrutinize every financial nook and cranny as the basis of their investment decision. But there are those who are simply technical traders, that is, they buy and sell based on the charts tell-tales. Many traders utilize both FA and TA in their trading. Last but not least, there are those who buy and sell what is going up and down, respectively, the basis of day trading.

At this point we must consider the over-arching mechanism of what makes traders do what they do: their sentiment. Whatever style of trading is performed, traders make a decision based on their belief, or sentiment of the trade. Trading is a uniquely human activity, not withstanding our bot cousins. But even those are driven by real people who have their own sentiments. As a human activity, it is driven by our mental-sphere, a very complicated and nuanced 'brain.' Being complicated, our mind-sphere is made of many components, from logical analysis to wild emotions, with a squillion neurons in between, and they all play a part in developing the sentiment that we hold in our trades.

So when it comes to considering what makes me trade the way I do, and try to make sense of what the chart is telling me and what my FA has suggested, I realize that the final outcome is never the end of the trade, but only one trade further along the life of a trader.

In the present case, I have to listen carefully to what my FA is suggesting, which is positively compelling, but also reflect that the chart is a picture of the combined mental-spheres of all the traders involved, whom as a whole can be very radical. And that should be enough to make anyone sell!  

But personally, I'm holding, for the sentiment is rising and the chart will continue to reflect accordingly.