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Is it fair to say that you won't know wether or not a bar is an H1 (or an L1 for that matter) until the bar after it behaves a certain way (breaks above its high in the case of an H1).
For example an H1 is a push DOWN in a bull trend or bull channel that is then followed by a with-trend (up) reversal bar.
This means if a trader were to take action trading with the trend they would potentially place a buy stop order above the high of the (potential) H1 bar (which is a push DOWN) in anticipation of the next bar going above the high of the H1 bar and filling the buy stop order.
If I am correct then it means the trader won't know the H1 until the bar after it, which means, in practice, the trader would place their buy stop above the high of the potential H1 bar but if said bar did not trigger then the trader would conclude the bar above which they placed their buy stop was not ,in fact, an H1 bar.
If I am correct about the above then does this mean traders place buy stops above each potential H1 bar until they get filled? Or do they leave the buy stop in place for a number of bars to see if they get filled? If so how long would the trader leave the buy stop in place? Do traders move the buy stop every 5 mins (on a 5 min chart) to just above every potential H1 bar or do they leave the buy stop in place for several bars hoping to get filled?
If I am correct then it means the trader won't know the H1 until the bar after it, which means, in practice, the trader would place their buy stop above the high of the potential H1 bar but if said bar did not trigger then the trader would conclude the bar above which they placed their buy stop was not ,in fact, an H1 bar.
Signals can trigger or not but they still are signals so it was an actual H1 signal that just didn't trigger.
If I am correct about the above then does this mean traders place buy stops above each potential H1 bar until they get filled?
Yes, instituions rutinely do this and Al mentions during the course. A H1 means strong trend (BO phase) so institutions are eager to enter even on bad signals and they keep moving their stop order until it is filled. You can do that if you find your self missing many of those opportunities.
Or do they leave the buy stop in place for a number of bars to see if they get filled?
Other option is wait for a good enough Signal bar (SB), which will vary depending of the context but leave a stop order entry above (bull case) the last big bar of the BO so if you miss the entry above the SB at least you are jump in above the last bar of the BO. It is a worse entry but, if you are right and you are indeed in a BO, you have to expect some kind of measure move so the trade will be profitable as well.
The key here is correctly evaluating the MKT cycle phase and correctly manage the trade, because the risk is big and you have to allow in many cases for a H2 or even a H3 to develop before the price keeps moving.
