I constantly see people promoting moving average crossover systems for daytrading. Of course , when asked they always have a reason why it cannot be done live realtime in front of me. I do not want anyone to reveal any secrets but is there anyone out there in elite trader that daytrades profitably using ONLY moving average crossovers as a trading signal??
Success unlikely. All MA crossover plays presume the indication that a tradable trend has begun. In a choppy market, that presumption most likely wrong on any given cross. I've always thought the the idea of MA crosses was lame... for all time frames. Never used them. Don't plan to start.
yes, moving average crossovers are my primary day trading signal. one of the keys is to trade in direction on the trend( as defined by YOUR trade time frame) as well as direction of crossover and not anticipate into a different time frame. you can do it, surfer
me too, but larry, didn't you say you dropped 70% trading a straight crossover? nothing different can happen until something crosses something. fast ma crosses up over slow ma but can't hold and crosses back down=take a look at selling the next break. The weakest bears have just given you a good entry. Prices cross over slow ma, but fast ma won't cross means somebody is wrong about something. Hard to make money when there is disagreement. Better to wait until one side admits it was wrong. Then there's the beetle. Slow ma goes flat, fast ma crosses above then crosses below. Looks just like a 67 VW Bug. Good time to cover shorts and get others Bullish on America. (Hey, I was the first to sell, someone else can be first to buy.)
PROFITSEER... YES my friend at one time i thought MA CROSSOVERS was great but lately it has been horrid using them on the emini so i am realy wanting to hear from someone using them for a long time period in ALL types of market conditions.
I only find them helpful for identifying the trend (if it isn't already obvious). I have never been able to make money daytrading by chasing markets. If you use only a MA crossover system you are chasing by definition. I will use MA's as a retracement on occaision, but would never simply buy or sell when they cross. Jay
Over the medium to long haul MA crosses don't work for daytrading. I don't care how fast (brief period) you make the cross, if you trade them literally as they are designed, choppy non-trending markets (which are 80% of the time) will eat through capital faster than the 20% trend markets that you caught.
chasing markets ? one's relationship with the market begins when you enter a trade and ends when you close the trade. if you enter when there is a MA crossover price direction either continues or it does not. how is this "chasing" anything ?? surfer
>>....... so I am really wanting to hear from someone using them for a long time period in ALL types of market conditions<< ALL types of market conditions ? Larry, you are asking for too much. The holy grail doesn't exist. My understanding is that WE have to fit in with the market, not the other way around. This is how I see the use of moving averages : Some filters would be very helpful to keep one out of trouble. First of all, eliminate all shares which are in a (narrow) trading range. Start off with weekly charts. If one were to start off with using a band of 15 period moving averages (based on the low and the high price) as well as two moving averages (the close of 2 and the close of 10 periods) and as another filter have a requirement that the 10 and one of the 15 moving averages must point upwards for a buy one will avoid a lot of 'bad luck'. Thence finetune on the daily chart so as to finesse the entree point. There is a bit more to it than the above but it would be a good starting point. Do you have anything to add Surfer ? freealways