The ACD Method

Discussion in 'Technical Analysis' started by sbrowne126, Jul 16, 2009.

  1. Purchased, read and have traded this method developed by Mark B. Fisher from his book titled: The Logical Trader: Applying a Method to the Madness.
    It made since to me which is why I use it to trade with. Wasn't very successful though, but I believe this is due to several factors: (1) my broker - not having the time to trade the way the method is suppose to; (2) I think he has too many accounts to follow, (3) he was more interested in trading the ES market and I tend to follow the grains.
    Any body else use it or know of it? Successful or not? Thoughts about the method?
    I'm thinking I might have better result if I make my own trading decisions and begin trading online.

    Thanks.
     
    SupermanTrades likes this.
  2. I don't see how this could work with a broker. You pretty much have to watch it, I don't see how someone could do that while maintaining other accounts.

    Get yourself an account at IB and paper trade it for a month and see how you do.
     
    ET180 likes this.
  3. cunparis
    Thanks for your reply.
    I have been trading the method on paper for two years and have about a 70% success rate (100% is better of course, but no method is 100% successful every day) with it. So when I went to trade it live through a brokerage firm I noticed that the IB that the brokerage firm introduced me to wasn't achieving the same level of success as I had been achieving trading on paper on my own. As a result my trading account funds now is extremely low and have halted trading all together while I regroup.
    I looked up IB on the internet, and I don't have the account minimum to open an account due to the above, so I am sort of stuck on that front.
    I believe the method works, but since I work full time I don't have the time to watch and trade as the method requires, again sort of stuck there too.
    Thoughts, ideas and suggestions are always appreciated.
     
  4. dirkd

    dirkd

    ACD is my favorite, i have been using it for the last 10 months. It takes awhile to get used to it and understand all the layers that fisher talks about. However it is by far the best trading method i have come across. ACD works better if you use it on the markets that fishers firm uses it on. However one thing i noticed is that when the signals occur you have to take them and follow the method to a t. I have read the book at least 5 times and learn something new everytime. The thing is that you have to learn 1 thing completely and then go after the next and so forth. It is built upon layers and to understand all the layers does take some time. plan at least 6 months to get good at it.
     
  5. does anyone or would anyone care to discuss the order flow

    and slippage that the followers of this method cause

    on a daily basis with their nonsense ?

    ( of course it is not nonsense but if blindly following the method causes price to run amok like then the only way to fade it is using this )

    www.scenta.co.uk/_db/_images/green_shoots140.jpg

    and to enlist the powers of this gentleman who does not like to see retail specs get creamed by the funds using OPM

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1C8d2qZrbA&feature=related

    :cool:
     
  6. Hi Dirkd, thanks for sharing your experience with ACD. It's good to get a confirmation from someone using it.

    I just finished the book and there are a lot of layers. I wrote a simple indicator to plot the ACD values on my chart. If you're trading CL, would you mind sharing your current opening range timeframe and A &C values? I'm not sure if I should use what's in the book or use a multiple of the average range.

    I've done a bit of backtesting on just buying on the AUp and Good AUp. It's close to breakeven. I'm using a 5 minute OR and I'm wondering if there is a better value so I plan to test this. I'm thinking one needs to add all the layers in order to be profitable. I didn't expect buying on AUp to be profitable I was just curious what the results would be. I learned a bit from studying the past trades.
     
  7. dirkd

    dirkd

    ACD works great with CL but CL is not something you want to start with when learning ACD. The opening range is 45 minutes with an A value of .08 cents and a C value of .13 cents. I would simtrade CL if thats what you want to trade for at least 2 months. Then keep reading the book as you will need to read it at least 5 times. ACD is just the beginning you have to understand the other layers fisher talks about to really use his system the way it was designed.
     
  8. Thanks for your reply. My plan is when I get back from vacation next week to start acd using simulator of course. I already day trade ES but I only get a few trades a day so I was thinking I'd have enough time to monitor CL.

    I was using 5 minutes for my OR which I read in the appendix of the book. I will try 45 minutes. Also I was skeptical that 8 & 13 would still be the good A & C values because oil is really volatile right now. So I was trying to tie the A & C to volatility. Searching the net showed that some are using a percentage of the Average Range. So I took the 8 & 13 and divided by the AR in dec 2001. I don't have the value handy but I think it was around 12% for A. I want to test out more ideas with my strategy and then test them out live.
     
  9. dirkd

    dirkd

    when it comes to the OR(opening Range) fisher updates his numbers every now and then so i think when the book was written it was as the appendix sais but now it has been changed to the 45 minutes. The A & C values are current and should not be messed around with. Stick to learning the basics of ACD and keep adding layers after you understand them. ACD only works when you have knowledge of all the layers, that is the key. Until you have an understanding of every indicator you will have many false signals and won't be able to understand why you got stopped out. I rarely let my stops go as far as ACD dictates because i now use maybe 5-7 of fishers indicators and only when they all align do i max out my trades. It is a difficult system but one that is excellent once you have mastered it. I have spent 10 months every day working on it and i am still learning every day. Just yesterday i had my first D signal. lol. You will start to see the signs of ACD once you master the layers.
     
  10. I forgot to ask, what which commodity which you recommend for learning ACD?
     
    #10     Jul 30, 2009