Pre-event price action:

Trend within trends on the smaller timeframes

Patterns that conflict each other - You may get a H&S but with that is a double bottom for example. They do this intentionally to get traders committed to the wrong direction

Ranging price staying close to short term MA's

Swings and spikes all of a sudden - This is a stop loss hunter activation taking liquidity from the high and low of a potential range

Ask yourself these questions:

Do I understand intra-day levels?
Do I understand pre-event price action?
Do I understand trading with ranges and price accumulation?
Do I have a risk model that protects me and my account no matter where the price goes?

NFP today. Wait for the price to go where they want to take it, look for a clean set up, then enter the markets if you wish to trade. Best practice is to wait until next week.

The most amount of money is lost and accounts are blown during FOMC and NFP because traders are trying to capture the volume driven candles with large lots. They also get stuck in pre-event price action during the ranging and chop without using SL's. This is a recipe for disaster, large lots, small accounts, it only take s a small spike to blow your account. This is not trading, this is gambling!

EURUSD

DOW is worth watching at NYSE open.

Simple trading journal template. Copy it if you like, you should all be using one.

Good start to the week, we stayed up for the open, got the higher, then the low for the bounce. We had a slight extension to the move but it's working well at the moment defended by the red box below. We have the key level now which is the red box bias 5195 that will need to break to go higher and the bias level red box 5165 which will need to break to go lower.

20MA is sitting way down, currently un-visited for the day with the first hurdle 5175 which is where you can see price attacking at the moment. Risk on longs at the moment with a potential swing high in formation.

Support 5065 held with a break above the bias level, nice bounce from the hot spots which we shorted into giving the long for the bulls. First 2 targets completed here