You might want to look up an article in the TASC library called New Market Paradigm by (I think) Downs.
This will take about 3 post to show. I don't trade off the longer term charts, but I definetly use them to understand the longer term picture. I use the shorter term charts to time the trades. I typically look at the daily chart, 30 Min chart, a 600 Tick chart and the 2 Min chart for trade timing. On the attached 30 Min chart, the high on Friday was a test of the lower edge of a head and shoulder type of formation. For the moment, this is acting as a strong resistance point. MORE TO FOLLOW.
On the 600 Tick chart, I like to look at the Previous Day's High and Low, the Average Daily Range and the Average True Range of the market. On the attached chart, you can see that the Previous Day's High provided strong resistance, which also happened to be the same resistance point on the 30 Min chart. MORE TO COME.
On the 2 Minute Chart, the market initailly fell 4.5 Points giving a short signal using this method. This initial move is called the Initial Swing Wave. After the Swing Wave, their typically is a short term reaction. In this case, the reaction phase produced a high of 1375.75. The next phase is typically an Impulse Wave which is normally the same magnitude as the Swing Wave, which should produce a target of 1365.25 before the market finds some support (short term anyway). The Impusle Wave is typically my trading opportunity. I will not trade every signal. I want to see a move of at least 2 Points on the Swing Wave to make the trade worth while. The larger the move, the better. Time of day is also a factor. Charles
On the other hand you could use the default macd crossing the zero line on a 2 min. mini chart and use the 3sma +2 for entries.
I think we have a pretty good winner in this thread. Most certainly agree with some of the commentaries here, a proper use of the MACD with the Bollinger Bands provides a great hit and miss ratio. Kudos to the pioneers
CharlesTrader, thanks for your input. Out of interest, how many trades do you typically find per day on the ES ? Also, if you wish to, can you post win / loss % and P:L raio ? Mo
I think you will find very little in the way of documented successful trading here, check the journals. The newbie presumption is that there are some successful traders who just do not want to disclose their finances. That's what keeps folks chasing the brass ring. I'm not saying there are not successful traders, just that they do not leave much evidence here to that effect.
Ive asked a couple of people who are supposed to be bigtime traders to give some proof but no luck so far. Having given this some thought I realize now that it doesnt really make any difference. The person might be a great trader but you might never make a dime with the method and someone who cant make a dime might post a method that will make you rich. What it boils down to is you can search for information here, test it out for yourself and see if it works for you. Somebody elses results will have no bearing on your results. Of course it would be nice to know if someone is the real deal but its no longer a big deal to me one way or the other.
I honestly don't understand the big deal. In my humble opinion it is purely a matter of following these three rules. 1. Good money management, these tecniques are widely available. Why ? To protect capital. Simple. 2. Proper entry and exit plans before entering a trade, limits losses and let the winner runs. Why ? So your number three does not have to be a holy grail. Simple. 3. Trading Strategy. Take your pick, dozens out there. Laugh but it's not that hard. I'm no expert and could certainly use a little better #3 but Im certainly profitable without using any extraterrestial techinques. All I use is found on books or web sites.