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I am simply the type of person where I feel restricted/limited/inefficient if I have just one monitor, it dramatically reduces the multitasking I can do.
I've had multi-monitors for about 15 years now, ever since Windows 98.
For the people that choose to have just a single monitor, I wonder if they've ever used a system with multi-monitors before and truly understand what they are missing?
Currently two: 17 inch laptop and 23 inch connected to the laptop. Used to also have a third, a 25 inch, connected to the laptop, ditched that.
I like having the bigger monitor, but as time goes on, I am reducing the charts I look at. It occurred to me today, reading this thread, that I probably really want to just get down to what fits on one screen. So, maybe use the bigger monitor (alone) at home, but be able to just pick up the laptop and go. Do I truly need to look at many screens at once? No, just flip through the charts occasionally, or view side-by-side.
Still a work in progress.... this business of simplifying things can get complicated!
When I worked for Samsung in the factory control room we had 4 work stations with 4 monitors a piece and a LCD TV above. At first I thought it was over kill. But after one night in there I learned that it helped to have the extra space to work. With so many screens and excels and documents up it would be impossible on one or two screens to see what was happening across the factory.
Now in my trading I feel the same way. I would also rather have too much monitor then not enough.
I definitely understand this point of view, as well as the one-monitor view.
This is why I'm still using more than one, although not three any more. So yes, I do know what I would be missing, and that's part of why I haven't gone to just one.
I guess my point is that, for trading, I am moving more in the direction of simplicity and focus; I will always have more than one chart I want to look at (unlike Mr. Brooks), but I am either boiling things down to essentials, or tucking other charts away behind something else, to look at as a check now and then. I probably will soon be down to 2 basic charts, and then a few other, supplemental ones for different time frames. This is part of a deliberate effort to control the growth of charts and data so I can get down to what I need and can really pay attention to. (Somehow, they grow by themselves when I sleep , I think.)
Now, sure, to multitask with non-trading stuff, I imagine I'll still use at least another monitor, and, being lazy and not very well-organized, I'll probably never prune everything down enough to get really simple. There's always another idea to try out, after all....
Sorry its 60 min, daily, weekly, and monthly that he also looks at. I have also heard him mention patterns on the 15 or 30 min charts before in his room.
You're right, and I do remember that (I took his daily webinar for a few months), although I hadn't quite remembered it when I wrote this, because of his emphasis on the 5 min.
He has the 5 min as the main chart, with usually the 15 and 60 min alongside but much smaller.... and he looks at other time frames sometimes for larger context. However, his focus is very much the 5 min.
That's actually more the idea I am gravitating toward, one (probably two) main charts, others available but not the focus, and probably off out of the way most of the time. Although probably not as stripped down as he does it.
That is how I trade. I have my 5 Min as my main chart, I use the 150T for entry on my laptop. Then on my second screen I have the 15, 30, 60 mins and daily charts in four small squares. So I can look to the right for a different heights of context, and still focus on my main and entry charts.
When I go to my desktop with 4 screens I intend to have charts up for other markets and possibly a screen for stocks (still debating whether or not I want to go there ).