Will Hu@traderwillhu
The Path to Trading Mastery: Research and Pattern Recognition By Qullamaggie
1. Step-by-Step Market Research
The easiest way to start is to research the markets thoroughly. First, get a platform like TC2000 and set your charts to the monthly timeframe. Create a watchlist of all US stocks and filter them by dollar volume instead of just share volume. Aim for liquid names—those with at least $1 billion to $10 billion in monthly dollar volume—to avoid "super thin" or illiquid stocks.
2. Identifying the Big Movers
Go through the entire database (roughly 5,000 stocks) and identify the outliers. Look for stocks that:
At least doubled in price within six months.
Increased 200–300% within a single year.
Gained 400–500% over three to four years.
Create a separate watchlist for every single stock that has made these massive moves. You will likely end up with a few hundred highly liquid, historical winners.
3. Studying Chart Patterns
Go back as far as the 80s or 90s and study their chart patterns. Stocks move in very specific ways. These same patterns occur over and over again—there is nothing truly new in the markets. While there are variations, the patterns that worked in the 90s are the same ones you see today.
Focus primarily on price action. You can add a few indicators if you wish—I recommend moving averages—but don't use too many. "Too many indicators is for suckers." Study how these big winners acted during pullbacks:
Which moving averages did the best stocks respect or "obey"?
How did they behave before the breakout?
How did they act once the move was underway?
4. Building Your Mental Database (The 2,000-Hour Rule)
Your goal is to build a database in your head. Spend 1,000 hours doing exactly this: printing out charts, studying them, and saving them. (I personally use Evernote to store tens of thousands of these charts).
Once you understand the price action, spend another 1,000 hours researching the fundamentals and the news behind those moves. What was driving them? What made a stock go up 500% in a year?
If you put in those 2,000 hours of deep research, I promise you: before you know it, you’re going to have ten million dollars in your account.
