Breakout, I have a question. When I start trading full time and start making money (if that ever happens), let's organize a "Traders in Amsterdam" trip. They have great coffee over there, a lot of Casinos -- and I even hear they have women in this red light area.
Aphie - Why did you choose 250 ticks? Why not 200 or 265 or 248? Or 233 since since that is a fib number? What will happen if your data provider misses, say, 100 ticks in the first couple of hours - won't your charts be off by 100 ticks for the rest of the day? How will you know if you are missing ticks or not? I ask the questions because I used to be a HUGE proponent of tick charts - I saw the same things you are probably seeing. But then I realized that they were really smoke and mirrors because of the precision factor I *thought* I was getting. There are so many variables that will change the bars that I realized what I saw really wasn't anything special at all - because I could see the same thing with lower tick bars and/or longer tick bars - or just time based bars. I'm not saying there is something wrong with using them - all I'm saying is at some point the precision is missing - and it's like measuring a mile long stretch of road with a 6" ruler.
Sounds Great...But, I'll tell you what. You can have the coffee and casinos. I'll meet you in the red light area.
aphexcoil, Are you saying that the trend is much easier determined using tick charts? What is the period of your red MA? Do you use the blue one for anything? I 've been considering switching from qcharts to esignal. If I could get clear on the advantages of tick charts, this might do it for me. Richard
Hi Quah...I've noticed you've had several posts with concerns about the accuracy of tick charts. It's not really that big a deal, man. Nothings perfect...sure, you'll miss a few ticks hear and there, and my chart won't look exactly like yours even if we both use the same data provider. I remember once several years ago, I had a friend that used DTN data and I was using BMI data. I called him up to point out a nice divergence my chart was showing, so he pulled up his chart and his chart didn't show anything even close to a divergence. The important thing is that your trade platform is in sync with your charting data. So, when you do get a signal on your chart, you get filled accurately.
Alphie, Though I day trade, I've never used tick charts. But my understanding is that tick charts are independant of time. So how are time independant ticks worked into time dependant candles?
I realize it may not be that big of a deal. However - and this is my point - since most indicators that people use for signals use the close of the bar - isn't it important that you are getting what you think you are getting? For example, say you are using a 100 tick chart - you have decided, for whatever reason, that this is what works for your indicators and signals. Don't you need to know that you are getting all 100 ticks? If not, as you move through the day your chart is now "off" - and not what you think it is - right? I mean, the close of the 200th 100 tick bar might be "off" by 100 ticks - meaning that you signal comes "too soon" or "too late" or not at all - no? Now, I know from experience that this might not be a big deal - but then you have to go back through everything else and decide that they are no big deal either - like (for example) your stochastics settings, your ma settings, etc. If it's not important that you are missing ticks, then it really isn't important if you use a 100 tick chart vs. a 150 or a 90, is it?
Hi rickty...I'm not sure why aphexcoil likes tick charts. But, I can show you why I like them. I think the trend is much easier to see with 100T charts. The first gif is a 3min chart from 8:30 to 9:20 The second gif is a 100T chart from 8:30 to 9:20
Yes, but you're not going to get perfect, flawless data. For example, say you are using a 100 tick chart - you have decided, for whatever reason, that this is what works for your indicators and signals. Don't you need to know that you are getting all 100 ticks? If not, as you move through the day your chart is now "off" - and not what you think it is - right? I mean, the close of the 200th 100 tick bar might be "off" by 100 ticks - meaning that you signal comes "too soon" or "too late" or not at all - no? Yes, but the important thing is your data is in sync with your order platform. Now, if your chart showed the market was at 900.00 and your trading platform showed the market was at 887.00...then we have a problem. Now, I know from experience that this might not be a big deal - but then you have to go back through everything else and decide that they are no big deal either - like (for example) your stochastics settings, your ma settings, etc. If it's not important that you are missing ticks, then it really isn't important if you use a 100 tick chart vs. a 150 or a 90, is it? Probably not...I could probably use 90T or 125T and get the same signals with the 100T. Here's a couple of gifs of the same chart. One is 100T and the other is 125T. I've marked 2 pullbacks A and B on both charts at the same place. There is a slight difference, but not much. The first is the 125T. Hope this helps and good luck!