Two reasons: 1) Curve-fitting ("My backtest tells me that I have better change when using an 8 min chart rather than 10.") 2) Not wanting to be looking at the same thing everyone else is seeing.
Greetings Prof. Thanks for one of the top shelf topics. My personality and style suits me for daytrading,with a desired goal of picking up 15 ym points per day x 5 contracts.Initially this looks like an excellent type of read for doing that. Could you offer any suggestions as where to start for setting up parameters for volume bars?I am using QT,with IB service feed,your thoughts appreciated. cordially Tom
Thank fearless9 for the topic Tom. For intraday on the YM use the 343V for trend and 49V for entries and exits. For longer term step up the trend chart. The slower the chart increment the more noise is filtered out.
Greetings, Thanks to Fearless 9,and also to the Prof. May I ask to all involved how QT would handle this type of trade data.Should I upgrade to dedicated system for futes? As to the original premise,I understand the concept of tick charts,but am having difficulty understanding the benefit.What would be the primary reason to trade using a tick? cordially Tom
After a week of exhaustive study - I have found that the best way in my of style trading is to begin by working out the tick chart size for the fastest chart and apply a multiple to it to figure out the rest. Fastest chart: Amazingly, if I select a tick number that gives me one bar per minute during 'regular' trading hours - then this seems good. One minute seems to be a fundamental time slice that works well as a timing/fine tune chart. If you have esignal and look at the full SPX$ index - 3 tick is about right at present. My favourite multiple for tick charts is 4. Thus in this example, 3/12 for timing charts - not important unless in the zone - best to ignore in the normal course. 48t as main. That and 196t for momentum analysis. This is what occupies my central field of vision - timing charts on left side (right brain active - creative side so as to be more flexible with entry parameters) and trend on the right side. Trend is one notch more - 780t. Candlestick signal originates here for the substantive moves and then follows on up in fractal like manner through the momentum charts and finally will show up in the timing charts just before entry. I do not know why this occurs, but it happens with strange and repetitive regularity. Anyone have an idea on this phenomenon? (hindsight traders need not reply). I do not believe that the number is important - rather to look at a fixed ratio so that the entire spectrum of charts will change bar on the same second that trend chart flips to a new bar. As has been said previously in this thread, price moves in a seemless continuum and what is important is to see the big picture and not get bogged down in the technicalities. This particular arrangement of charts provides a sturdy and fixed environment in which to view slices of this price continuum - the inner voice is given a strong crucible to develop within the confines of structure that comes from experience. Once again thanks to the many contributors to what is one of the least talked about yet fundamental aspects of trading - the trading desktop.