Detailed Analysis of "The Analects": For All Those Who Misinterpret Confucius (43)
2006/12/25 15:21:31
子张学干禄。子曰：多闻阙疑，慎言其余，则寡尤。多见阙殆，慎行其余，则寡悔。言寡尤，行寡悔，禄在其中矣。
Yang Bojun: Zizhang studied with Confucius the method of obtaining official position and salary. Confucius said: "Listen widely, set aside what is doubtful, and speak cautiously about the rest — then you will seldom err. Observe widely, set aside what is hazardous, and act cautiously on the rest — then you will seldom have regrets. With few errors in speech and few regrets in action, an official position and salary will be found therein."
Qian Mu: Zizhang asked how to seek an official appointment. The Master said: "Listen widely to others' words, set aside what you find doubtful, and speak cautiously about the rest — then you'll make few mistakes. Observe widely how others conduct affairs, set aside what troubles you, and act cautiously on the rest — then you'll have few regrets. With few mistakes in speech and few regrets in action, the way to official appointment is found therein."
Li Zehou: Zizhang asked about the method of obtaining official rank and salary. Confucius said: "Listen more, reserve what is doubtful, and speak cautiously about what can be affirmed — then you'll seldom err. Observe more, avoid dangerous things, and act cautiously on what can be affirmed — then you won't make regrettable mistakes. With few errors in speech and few regrets in action, official rank and salary will naturally follow."
Detailed explanation: The difficulty of this chapter lies in the character "禄" (lù). The three commentators above, as usual, take "禄" to mean "official rank and salary," thereby playing the game of "officialdom-worship," unaware that this is merely a later-derived meaning. The original meaning of "禄" is "blessing, good fortune." The Shuowen dictionary explains: "禄 means blessing (福)," and the Book of Songs has "Heaven bestows upon you blessing (天被尔禄)." This was the common thinking of people at the time — "禄" was something bestowed by Heaven. In fact, even to this day, this remains the common thinking of the Chinese people; otherwise, fortune-telling and destiny-reading wouldn't have endured so persistently. From the perspective of cultural typology, the earliest cultural type of human society is the so-called "shamanistic culture." Something like "Heaven bestows upon you blessing" is a classic example of this "shamanistic culture," and what Confucius breaks through here is precisely the logic of this "shamanistic culture." But the actual course of Chinese history transmitted not Confucius's own thought, but rather a Confucius disguised with "shamanistic culture." What Confucius opposed was ultimately packaged as Confucius himself — yet this is not a phenomenon unique to world history. Marx's fate was even more modern and more tragic. Great thought ultimately cannot escape this kind of repackaging, but great thought also cannot ultimately be repackaged — this too is a constant of history: great thought must always have its "spring light" moment of revelation.
Zizhang was a student of Confucius's later years. He came to Confucius hoping to "learn how to obtain blessing" — that is, to learn how to seek good fortune and good luck. "干" (gān), in the level tone, means "to seek." In the real society of "people not understanding," what one can never get away from is this "seeking." The most important things one can "seek" are nothing more than those two words: "fame" and "profit." No one can escape these two, and they are mutually dependent. What ordinary people call good fortune and good luck also cannot be separated from gaining "fame" and gaining "profit." Those who claim not to want "fame" or "profit" are basically failures at "seeking." Having failed, they flee, and eventually gain the empty reputation of one who "sees through fame and profit" — and are still trapped within "fame and profit." Chinese literati often pretend to love Tao Yuanming, but regardless of whether this love is genuine or feigned, the "fame" of being a "recluse," the so-called "fame" of "not associating with the corrupt" — that is what they truly "seek." As for "pastoral life," could Tao Yuanming really compare to any genuine farmer? Tao Yuanming and his ilk merely failed and escaped into a fantasy to console themselves, and later literati continued this self-consolation within Tao Yuanming's fantasy, gaining the "profit" of a "pure reputation," a "lofty reputation," of "fame through the ages" — how could any of this escape the two words "fame and profit"? Nowadays, everyone strips bare and goes straight for "fame and profit" — at least this is somewhat less hypocritical, even a bit endearing.
Confucius lived in reality and of course would not hypocritically evade real-world "fame and profit." But from Confucius's perspective, what he "sought" was the "禄" of "great fame and great profit." What is "great fame and great profit"? It is the "Way of the Sage" — transforming a world where "people do not understand" into a world where "people are not resentful." This is the true "fame and profit," the true "禄," the true blessing and good fortune — this is the true happiness of all humanity. Of course, what Zizhang was asking about was merely the individual's question of blessing, which for anyone is one of the most important questions. No one truly hopes to be without blessing or good fortune — even a masochist has their own version of blessing, for being blissfully tormented is their idea of good fortune. Therefore, how to "seek one's blessing" is a problem that individual survival must solve. Of course, the same principle applies to nations and societies.
Confucius's answer completely avoids the "shamanistic culture" notion of "Heaven bestows upon you blessing." Some might object, saying that the Book of Songs was compiled by Confucius — if Confucius disagreed with this thinking, why would he preserve poems related to "Heaven bestows upon you blessing"? This kind of question is no question at all — just as this ID is now explaining Confucius, that doesn't mean Confucius's level is the same as this ID's level. This ID has said many times that neither Confucius nor Marx represents the ultimate, but if you can't even understand Confucius and Marx, you're even further from the ultimate. Among all human thought, Confucius and Marx are the highest in recorded history — one must first grasp them before discussing anything else. But don't mistake this for Chan, don't mistake this for this ID's thought — the two have nothing to do with each other. This ID merely sees that no one has ever truly understood Confucius, that everyone has distorted him, so this ID takes the trouble to write about Confucius's ideas. But what does this have to do with this ID? How could Confucius or Marx understand this ID's level? By the same logic, Confucius certainly could have compiled poems related to "Heaven bestows upon you blessing," but how could the "shamanistic culture" stuff of "Heaven bestows upon you blessing" understand Confucius's level?
In fact, Confucius's answer follows entirely from the previous chapter. "多闻" (listen widely), "多见" (observe widely) — these are all prerequisites of wisdom. Confucius's words, briefly summarized, mean "completeness of both blessing and wisdom." "阙" means to remove; "尤" means fault or error; "殆" means danger; "悔" means fault. "言寡尤，行寡悔" (few errors in speech, few regrets in action) is a classic case of literary parallelism (互文), meaning "few faults in both speech and action." Interpreting "悔" as "regret" or "remorse" reflects a failure to understand the grammatical function of parallelism. "多闻阙疑" — broad learning removes doubts; "多见阙殆" — deep experience removes dangers. Since doubts and dangers have both been removed, why still "慎言其余" (follow accordingly in speech) and "慎行其余" (follow accordingly in action)? In reality, having no doubts is the greatest doubt of all — for which of a person's words and actions is not done with the belief that they have full confidence? People's failures always occur in the areas where they feel most confident, most free of doubt. And believing there is no danger is the greatest danger — this point is even easier to understand. Doubts and dangers, for human life, are "不患" (without position) — they have no fixed rank. Human life is filled with doubts and dangers. A person's life is like a candle in the wind, which at any time and place can be blown out. As for doubts, there are even more of them — at every moment one is caught between dilemmas. "疑" and "殆" are both "不患" — precisely because of this positionless nature, there arise the positions of "阙疑" (removing doubt) and "阙殆" (removing danger). But the "患" (position) created by this is like a bubble on the ocean, while "其余" (the rest) is the ocean, and the positionless "疑" and "殆" are also the ocean — therefore one can only "慎言其余" and "慎行其余."
"慎" is usually explained as "cautious." But what is "cautious"? Does Hamlet count? If one is a great fool, no amount of cautious speech and action will change that. Caution is related to one's position — with such learning and such experience comes such caution; the "such" is the position. The rotten Confucians turned "慎" into their "caution" game, then used the reputation of "caution" to ultimately turn all Chinese people into timid cowards — their "errors" and "regrets" are enormous indeed. "慎" is actually interchangeable with "顺" (to follow, to accord with). This usage was extremely common in the pre-Qin era — for example, it appears in the Mozi, Xunzi, Guanzi, and Han Feizi. "Follow" what? Follow what has been heard through "多闻" and seen through "多见." Everything about a person can only proceed from reality, from the current position of the present moment — and this present position doesn't come from nowhere; it comes from what one has heard and seen. But "hearing" and "seeing" must be "extensive" before one can truly "follow" — otherwise it is nothing but parroting others and mimicking their actions.
And "speaking and acting on the rest" cannot be separated from the position of "hearing and seeing." With such "hearing and seeing" comes such "speaking and acting." First "extensive hearing and seeing," then "following in speech and action"; "following in speech and action" based on "extensive hearing and seeing" is the only way to achieve "few faults," and the only way to achieve "blessing in its midst." In Confucius's view, a person's "blessing" stems from the person's own "speech and action," not from "Heaven's bestowal." "Person" includes humanity in the collective, social, and individual senses. The fortunes and misfortunes of humanity, of human society, of individuals, of nations — all are caused by their own speech and action. To "seek" one's "blessing," Confucius points out the only realistic possibility: extensive hearing and seeing, following accordingly in speech and action, and few faults. Follow these nine characters and put them into earnest practice, and only then can one achieve "completeness of both blessing and wisdom." The "completeness" of "blessing" is inseparable from the "completeness" of "wisdom," and "wisdom" without the "completeness" of "blessing" is merely pallid wisdom, of no help whatsoever. This ID has two lines of poetry evaluating Mao: "Once heaven and earth joined forces together / In the end even the hero is not free." "Completeness of both blessing and wisdom" means "heaven and earth join forces together"; "imbalance between blessing and wisdom" means "the hero is not free." "Extensive hearing and seeing, following accordingly in speech and action, few faults" — these must not be departed from for even a moment.
Chán Zhōng Shuō Chán's Vernacular Direct Translation
子张学干禄。子曰：多闻阙疑，慎言其余，则寡尤。多见阙殆，慎行其余，则寡悔。言寡尤，行寡悔，禄在其中矣。
Zizhang asked about the method of obtaining blessing. Confucius said: Hearing broadly to remove doubts, seeing deeply to remove dangers, following such "hearing and seeing" to accordingly "speak and act" — then one's speech and action will have few faults. With few faults in speech and action, blessing is found therein.
(To be continued)
Strictly prohibited to plagiarize, violators will be prosecuted
Replies
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 15:37:17
There's nothing much to say about the market's movement. It's the first phase of the bull market — blue-chip component stocks going up. This has been emphasized countless times. Don't use your own imagination to imagine the top of a bull market. Let me emphasize again: we are merely in the first phase of the bull market.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 15:39:06
[Anonymous] Little Bird
2006-12-25 15:29:20
Sis, in the last installment you said "this is not where true wisdom lies," and I was expecting you'd say next what true wisdom actually is
But, after refreshing endlessly every day, I finally caught you posting
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From now on it'll be after 3 PM. Unless there's something special, it'll be up before 3:30. Spend more time watching stocks, reading the Analerta, and listening to music.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 15:40:49
This ID is logging off first. If there are any questions, please leave them here and I'll answer them tonight.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 20:32:47
General Secretary
2006-12-25 15:49:21
Questions for Miss Chan:
- In the "decline + consolidation + decline" pattern you mentioned before, if what precedes it is a large rally, this constitutes a consolidation in the higher level. How should this situation be analyzed?
- When you analyzed individual stocks before, you often used support and resistance lines at different levels — when will you teach us this technique?
- Will you be explaining the Tao Te Ching?
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- "Decline + consolidation + decline" is not really a rule — it's just a relatively useful pattern. In high-level consolidation, situations where "decline + consolidation + decline" appears at a lower level are very common. This is actually the most desirable situation in technical analysis — combining different levels together yields more accurate conclusions. Specifics will be discussed later.
- Once you've mastered what's being taught now, those things will be very simple.
- Eventually, yes. After finishing the Analerta, then the I Ching, then traditional Chinese medicine. After covering all those, it'll probably be the Tao Te Ching's turn.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 20:36:19
[Anonymous] Surgeon
2006-12-25 20:27:12
But the Shenzhen Composite K-line does show divergence
Right?
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First, clarify the level. From the daily chart perspective, there is no divergence because there simply aren't comparable trends. Of course, on the 5-minute chart, you can find plenty of divergence-followed-by-adjustment situations.
Think carefully about Homework Problem 2:
- Divergence occurs when the trend force of the latter weakens compared to the former between two adjacent same-direction trends. If using moving averages or MACD to judge the force, must it be on the same-level chart? Does MACD red-green bar divergence on the same level necessarily reflect divergence between trends of a certain level? Is it divergence of the corresponding level's trend?
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 20:39:52
[Anonymous] Ancient
2006-12-25 17:44:56
Let me study first.
But America is the most shameless. Thailand's current "suffering" is related to currency appreciation being too fast. I wonder how the teacher sees this?
Still studying.
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America isn't really shameless — from the standpoint of its own interests, it did what it should have. On questions of national strategy, it's best to use fewer moral standards, because moral standards are of zero use in this context. The strong are forged through action, not morality.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 20:46:31
[Anonymous] Intermediary
2006-12-25 17:53:33
Sister Chan, a health question — is vinegar good for the body??!!
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The key to diet is balance — imbalance leads to illness. Nothing is unconditionally good for the body.
But none of this is ultimate. Having a body means having its afflictions. Without addressing the root of the body, everything is useless. To cultivate the body, one must first illuminate the mind. If the mind is not illuminated, cultivation is also in vain.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 20:54:10
x-investor
2006-12-25 17:40:57
The overlapping of unit K-line candles forms a hub. The trends constituted by these hubs are the smallest-level trends on that level's chart;
The hubs formed by these smallest-level trends constitute trends of one level higher.
Therefore, a hub and trends of a specific level constitute hubs and trends of even higher levels;
In other words, hubs and trends each have their own specific levels and must be determined within their own levels.
Is this statement correct? Please enlighten me, blogger.
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From a purely theoretical standpoint, one can say that low-level trend movements accumulate and stack to form higher-level trend movements. But there is no inevitable law here — if there were, one could use those laws to construct the market's movements, which is obviously incorrect.
Precisely because of this, one cannot start from the lower levels. When analyzing charts, look from high to low. The significance of lower-level movements can only be revealed after the significance at the higher level has been revealed.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 21:02:01
All wrong.
[Anonymous] Learning
2006-12-25 20:45:47
Dear LZ,
After studying recently, let me sort out my thoughts — not sure if they're correct, please correct me:
Thought 1: A trend should contain more than two trend hubs. So on a certain level, if an up-hub + consolidation-hub + up-hub has formed, that should constitute a trend at that level. It's precisely because there's a trend that we can judge divergence — comparing the second up-move with the first.
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Don't confuse "up + consolidation + up" with a simple "uptrend." The former is three connected trend types, while the latter is a single trend type.
Thought 2: If on a certain level there are multiple interlockings and the lows and highs keep rising, then as long as three consecutive sub-level movements overlap, one can judge that an uptrend composed of multiple up-hubs has formed at that level.
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Once you have the definition of hubs, you don't need to consider highs and lows anymore. As long as two hubs form upward, it's an uptrend.
Thought 3: According to "trends must complete perfectly," does this mean every level must complete a trend? For example, Beijing North Star — its daily chart can be judged as one up-hub, followed by a consolidation hub from then until now. So should another up-hub follow, making it complete? Is there a possibility of a movement like this: on the 30-minute chart, forming an up + consolidation + up, then a consolidation hub, then a down + consolidation + down, while on the corresponding daily chart, forming an up-hub + consolidation-hub + down-hub, assuming it's a new stock with no prior movement before the first up + consolidation + up at the 30-minute level? This is just my hypothesis, but is it possible?
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Isn't consolidation a type of trend type? Why must everything form a trend?
Thought 4: Suppose I'm looking at the 30-minute and 5-minute charts for operations, with 5-minute as my lowest level. On the 5-minute chart, an up-move with a "kiss" (not considering the type of kiss or force here) is formed, followed by a similar down-move, followed by a similar up-move — does this constitute a consolidation hub? And on the 30-minute chart, it's also a consolidation hub. If so, are the highs and lows of consolidation formed by the divergence from comparing before and after the kisses in these up and down moves?
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If 5-minute is the lowest level, then once three consecutive 5-minute K-lines have overlap, that overlap can constitute a hub. However, typically one uses 1-minute as the lowest level.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 21:12:19
[Anonymous] Eastern Red
2006-12-25 17:25:32
In your view, even if America takes severe punitive measures to force RMB appreciation, China can remain unmoved? Have you considered the role of appreciation in upgrading industries?
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In a broadly interconnected economic system, there is no sustainable unilateral punishment. There's a muddled idea that giving in to the Americans will reduce their pressure, but the reality is that America's policy is to ultimately control China completely. Whether you make concessions or not, this policy won't change, and the pressure will always be there. The only difference is that without appreciation, the game might be football; with appreciation, it might be basketball. For China, the difficulty level is the same.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 21:14:41
[Anonymous] Surgeon
2006-12-25 20:57:20
"First, clarify the level. From the daily chart perspective, there is no divergence because there simply aren't comparable trends. Of course, on the 5-minute chart, you can find plenty of divergence-followed-by-adjustment situations."
This is on the daily chart — today the price went up but the MACD red bar shortened
Very confused
Please Sister Chan, you must teach us
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Who told you that shortening of daily MACD bars necessarily means daily divergence? If that were true, why would you need the concept of divergence at all? You could just study MACD directly. Think carefully about Homework Problem 2.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 21:16:50
[Anonymous] Confused Egg
2006-12-25 21:13:25
Miss Math seems to be good at everything except computers.
After following "Teach You to Trade Stocks" for so long, I still can't get started — being dumb can't be helped.
But using my own method, I've had several tens of percent returns in about a month.
My stock picking: I just look at when the green bars on the MACD below the daily chart reach their longest — that's when I go in.
Tomorrow I'm heading to some godforsaken place. My last remaining stock 600433 hasn't rallied yet, so I'll clear out tomorrow!
Saying goodbye to Miss Math and everyone here. When I come back in a year, maybe I can buy your Analects commentary.
Even if I don't understand it, I'll buy a copy to pretend to be cultured! Haha!
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Your method is not too problematic in a bull market, but in a bear market, or if you encounter a bearish stock in a bull market, the problems become very big. So you still need to figure out the real principles — that's the long-term strategy.
Safe travels.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 21:17:50
[Anonymous] Heart Chan
2006-12-25 21:12:46
"Chan Master," I recently bought a copy of Yu Dan's Insights on the Analects. She's also from Peking University. What does the "Chan Master" think of her? "The Way is not far from people" — which "Way" does the "Chan Master" most deeply experience?
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Isn't Kong Qingdong also from PKU? Are there no idiots at PKU?
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 21:23:36
[Anonymous] Want to Fly
2006-12-25 20:58:30
LZ, hello!
Regarding "a Chan-style trend hub is constituted by the overlapping portions of at least three consecutive sub-level trend types":
- The "three consecutive sub-level trend types" don't all have to be trends — they can also be composed of trends + consolidation, right?
- Does the "overlapping portion" refer to the area between the lowest high and the highest low?
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- Correct.
- Generally the first three sub-level overlaps set the standard. Strictly, the formula can be expressed as follows: for trend types A, B, C, with their respective high and low points being a1/a2, b1/b2, c1/c2, the hub interval is (max(a2, b2, c2), min(a1, b1, c1)).
In practice, visual estimation is sufficient — no need for this level of complexity.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 21:24:27
x-investor
2006-12-25 21:23:24
Blogger, how should we grasp the levels of hubs?
On a single chart, there are hubs of many levels — how do we grasp this?
Or perhaps my thinking has entered a wrong place...
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Read the definition. Get the definition clear. Once you get it clear, you won't be asking such questions.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 21:28:31
[Anonymous] Haizi
2006-12-25 21:22:58
Hello Miss Math! A question — when the 5-minute, 15-minute, 30-minute lines and daily K-line show contradictory information, especially during the current sensitive period, should we go by the 5-minute and 15-minute lines?
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How can there be contradictory information? For example, if the 5-minute shows a decline and the daily shows an uptrend, is that really a contradiction? From the daily perspective, that 5-minute decline merely constitutes a small pullback. As for which to look at, the key is your capital size and trading frequency. For those with smaller capital and higher frequency, once danger appears on the 5-minute chart, they can exit. For those with larger capital, 5-minute danger is meaningless — unless that danger evolves into danger on the daily chart.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 21:31:42
[Anonymous] On the Road
2006-12-25 21:25:48
Question 3:
In the process of examining charts, I've noticed that whether using the monthly, weekly, or daily as the standard, you always end up going down to the smallest 1-minute chart, because each level's trend or consolidation must be confirmed by sub-level movements, and those sub-levels must be confirmed by even lower sub-levels, all the way down to the 1-minute chart (given current software capabilities) where hubs are determined by three overlapping K-lines. Is this how it works? How does Sister Chan use it?
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Wrong. The first three sub-level trend types must all be completed before they constitute a hub at that level. Completed trend types are very obvious on the sub-level chart — there's absolutely no need to look at even lower levels.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 21:33:25
Ren Wo Xing
2006-12-25 21:29:15
Can the Chan Master post some charts for us to see? That way we'd learn faster.
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Install a stock trading system — all stock movement charts can be viewed within it, and every chart can be studied. Look at more charts. This ID's theory applies to any movement chart.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 21:34:22
[Anonymous] Heart Chan
2006-12-25 21:30:03
"Chan Master," a question:
-
How do we determine how many consecutive sub-level type movements a hub will typically go through?
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At least three. -
Does the hub overlap interval have any other uses? Does it have significance for analyzing subsequent rises or falls?
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Of course.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 21:43:23
[Anonymous] On the Road
2006-12-25 21:17:44
Sister Chan, I have a question:
- Since there's no chart, let me use a hypothetical example: there's an uptrend from ¥5 to ¥10, then a hub forms around ¥10, then it falls to around ¥8 forming another hub, then falls further to ¥6 before the trend reverses. Is the move from ¥10 to ¥6 considered a downtrend at a higher level? I'm not sure I'm expressing this clearly — what I mean is that at the top there's a hub which is a turning point, related both to the preceding uptrend and the subsequent downtrend. Please advise.
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If the hubs you mention are all the same level, then it constitutes an up + down movement. If the upper hub constitutes a higher-level hub, then it becomes an "up + consolidation + down" movement. This kind of movement often indicates a large consolidation at the big level.
- Can two same-direction hubs slightly overlap? For example, in an uptrend, the bottom of the second hub overlaps slightly with the top of the first hub — could this situation occur?
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This would constitute a higher-level hub. And at the current level, it would also be regarded as a single hub. In a trend, hubs absolutely do not overlap.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 21:44:25
[Anonymous] Old and Useless
2006-12-25 21:38:18
How are the highs and lows of consolidation formed?
First, any level of consolidation contains only one trend hub (i.e., the portion overlapped by at least three consecutive sub-level trend types, called the Chan-style trend hub). Its highs and lows are formed by the first-type buy/sell points generated when a certain sub-level trend type completes and transforms. These highs and lows are outside the hub (above or below).
How then to determine when a certain trend type is complete?
The above is my understanding (I still have many questions, but type too slowly). Awaiting Sister Chan's instruction!
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Tomorrow's post will specifically address this, so I won't answer it here.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 21:45:44
Sorry, it's too late. Logging off first. Goodbye.
缠中说禅 2006/12/25 15:32:17
Last week's homework, answers will be given in tomorrow's post: