Ezzy, I've now had enough pm's on this subject to believe it's worth posting the following for those of you trading markets with no volume data or questionable volume data. With the proper platform, you can create a histogram of tick count. It can be surprisingly similar to actual volume, in terms of the shape of the histogram, which is really mostly what we care about. This idea was first proposed to me by Tom Williams, who traded stocks many years ago with a syndicate. He stated, emphatically, that he PREFERRED using tick volume over "actual volume" in any market other than fully electronic. His reason was simply that exchanges (and those that control the exchanges) were prone to tinker with volume data, such was it so important to their edges. Tick volume is simply counting up the number of times price moves from one level to another. This is particularly useful in forex, where no volume whatsoever is even reported (or can be).
I don't want to go too far off topic (here we go again ) but this does relate, in my mind, to Jack's mention of dwell time on the tick. May be waaay off here but if he is using a timer to gauge the dwell, or pause at that point in time, something is happening (or not) there. If the Bbid and Bask are just getting hit and not moving, then it's kinda like a 2 pair. And the ticks are accumulating at that point. Just can't see the order size going through. So then it (ticks) becomes more of a speed meter like watching the Time and Sales. You can gauge the action picking up by the number of ticks in a bar, but can't tell the guppies apart (or if the grunion are running) from the tuna. If anyone wants to continue to discuss this either PM or maybe we could start a thread on it. Regards - EZ
Just my 2c. short at highs, long at lows; tight stops; and I think if there's 6 ticks in between, it worth the try; 2 trades, no more. But the key is to know/feel we are in a lateral move quick, before its p3. BR
What is this slide from? I've been over so much SCT stuff, it looks familiar, but can't put my finger on it. Thanks.
No need to spend your guava money, Jack is giving away all his knowledge ... Here it is, with my highlights:
One way to avoid this is to not trade retraces: get out early at first sign a retrace is starting (i.e. decreasing volume). Also, pay attention to the trend's slope, and don't trade it if its slope is slower (i.e. slower than ~45 degrees). No need to pay me either ... Just let me know how it goes.
Tums, Thanks for your comments. I subscribe to the Pr0crast theory of clean charts and delete what I believe to be non essential channels so I can better see the flow of the market. I used to have so many lines it got confusing for me. With that said, am I correct that you enter/exit using tapes? I have contemplated pursuing this strategy in the past but felt I would have to make too many trades and thought I was supposed to trade PT3 channels and tapes were really just a prelude to them.
Although I don't trade at tape level, drawing channels and gaussians bar by bar helps me to take the pulse of the market. This is my chart for the period you enquired about earlier: <img src=http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=1628916>