Guide
Slope first, cross second
A habit from our evening rooms — judge the average’s direction before celebrating a crossover.
In our Martin Place evenings we open many drills the same way: cover the crossover markers and ask only whether the slower average is rising, falling, or flat. Students are often surprised how often they previously treated a cross as bullish while the slower line was still rolling over.
A one-minute pre-trade check
- Is the slower average’s slope aligned with the trade idea?
- Has slope persisted for enough bars to matter on your timeframe?
- Only then inspect the faster average and any cross.
This order does not guarantee profitable trades. It reduces the number of trades taken against a still-declining context. In technical analysis training focused on moving average interpretation, that reduction is a worthwhile first win.