I've never heard anyone say this before. In the processing of automating I ended up giving each price bar a name and contained within the name of each price bar are many things, such that if someone were to read the name of a price bar to me, I could draw a chart showing the price action that led into that particular bar with pretty fair accuracy.
I went in early 90s to guy who traded S&P and other futures who had names for each bar, he gave me a few names and definitions for bars and told me spend a lifetime making names for the others. This is only trader I have ever known who could trade big S&P500 with 3 nickels risk, horrible teacher though even with his Masters in education, but could have been he was so far advanced in charting, it took me three years of study to even get 25% of names for each bar. He said better you dissect price, you have cleared idea of what to expect for entries and exits. He seldom ever had losing trades. I think I was one of few profitable trader he had in fifty students, his course NOW seems simple but at the time I thought I tossed another grand away. Now after 21 years, I have stats on 100% of my bars as I see them, "John" said everyone has different descriptions and different ways of definitions. Last few years those I have mentored all get this as first assignment, but it is more of a lifelong assignment. I think better you become by dissecting, better I understand market and trade better. Yep, much easier chatting to programmer when you both have clear idea of bars, LOL I went on to testing individual bars last few years and going back 14 years, funny what I thought I had right would be off sometimes by much and other times plus minus 5% off, yea some tests took full 24 hours to churn out one minute back tests, LOL and tested from 7:30 to 10:00cdt. Often times I just study price and do what if's in my head then move chart one bar-hey we all have our hobbies.
That Sounds like an interesting one. Could you or NoD give an example of one or two to spark some ideas? I'm thinking of how some native american tribes may have named an individual by an event like "sitting bull". OR is it more like one thing in a pattern, like the borg... "7 of 9"? If I say "inside bar after failed test break out of a medium sized range" that seems a bit awkward. .... edit. and those names are looking backwards. Handles 'what if' could be "inside bar in so & so context usually leading towards..."
I could certainly give you two, but given mine are intertwined with Swing, Swing recent history, volume, trend and counter-trend, would take me an few hours to explain it and you most likely not understand it, not taking anything away from you, but my eyes are older. When I first started, it was just limited idea of what the bar is but as my knowledge expanded, it has become more complicated but I remember the 75 odd bars that offer me better than 60% reoccurring patterns. Some have given me entries, some stop entries, some show exits for existing trades, some tell me when to double down size and some show to reduce volume-not for taking a lesser % signal but some bars will test where volume to get out existing trade will be difficult. Those who I have helped out, I have told make it to how you will understand and not me trying to teach it to them. I think discovery by oneself is better as it is hands on discovery. I want these traders to get into habit of studying charts. Also, I am a scalper, so I am going to only stay in for handful of bars if that.
You answered it in to a large degree with your example. I was mostly asking on the level of nomenclature. Like "BR8BEXT-PFVRB".... I'm asking how do you pack all of that... history/volume/etc. into something manageable and useful. ... you are creating a dictionary with a language of one
Maybe it's like calling in a baseball play.. Breakout Reverse "8B" Extended ...Pretty Fast Volume Run Batted in... ...I'm SURE I'm close
To me I understand it as I did all the work at first manually, I never thought about using it to show others, and eventually a few rules would be rolled in one letter. The useful part is where knowing how to program comes into play. It is similar to Candles, but mine are defined to what I am seeking to accomplish. In beginning it starts as a low bar or high bar, then how much lower to the high, then how much the close from the high, does range have anything to do with it and when was last time range was this long, was it in up trend or downtrend, how many closes against the trend, did it make new highs for session, week, month=all that equals "B", so this bar to where I have it now taken me 21 years to get where I am and testable. I also studied with another guy for 18 months, Toby Crabel, couple years studied Joseph Stowell stuff, I love charts and T-Bonds so whatever I learned from them comes into play as well. It really an individual dictionary as you put it, it expands as you discover something else to test. LOL baseball.
Here are two examples of my "pet bars": 1mcpfcbL - 1-min continuation pattern fade containment bar low 1mssmonf - 1-min shooting star in the middle of nowhere fade EDIT: I'll elaborate a bit. The 1st one means a previous 5-min signal is still in effect with no reversal signal yet occurring and a 1-min bar closes as an inside bar of a containment bar whose nature qualifies it as an acceptable risk:reward to enter a new position in the direction of the prevailing 5-min signal (long in this case) by buying the low of the containment bar. The 2nd one means a previous 5-min signal is still in effect with no reversal signal yet occurring and a 1-min bar closes as a "shooting star" doji candle whose range is contained in a zone 55% or more of the way between a previous swing low and a previous high of the day which means there's an acceptable risk:reward for me to enter a long position by buying either the low of, the close of, or 1 tick below the low of, the shooting star candle.