Thursday, February 14, 2008
Bonnie Hill's Trading Pages
Delta and
PVAC users long ago discovered the treasure trove over at Bonnie Hill's cycle pages.
If you haven't visited
Bonnie Hill's site, mozy on over there and check out the vast resources she's collected, and keeps updated! She has recently added Ensign pages as well as a collection of general charting packages.
Have fun!
Labels: cycles, ensign, templates
Friday, February 01, 2008
sputnik's VWAPing blog
My friend sputnik, who trades from Germany, is posting his VWAP adventures over at
sputnik.to. Visit his blog for a link to the details about VWAP. Don't ask me about what the acronym means or the "how"-- isn't that useful. What matters is its behavior on the price chart. In the time I traded alongside sputnik, I can't tell you how many times VWAP behaved as a magnet, or "electric wire". He has an ensign template pack for the obsessed among you.
Labels: ensign, market-buzz-gurus, trading-method, VWAP
Friday, December 14, 2007
Attention, Users of VolSum, EVRAA, and VolShift
I have coded a
number of unique volume indicators over the years and a kind user just today emailed me to tell me that as of the December 2007 release of Ensign Software, the templates for VolSum, EVRAA, and VolShift are no longer working as intended. Unfortunately, I cannot at this time update the templates, but will let you know when new properly functional templates are uploaded. My very sincere regrets!
Labels: ensign, indicators, templates, volume
Saturday, April 21, 2007
following up: Chick Goslin's Method
Thanks to a recent comment from morganp to a
post from March 2005 on Chick Goslin's method, I now can say there is a template available to Ensign users for Chick Goslin's method. Ensign users can download directly from within Ensign the
Q&A Template 1296-Concurrence (click only if you have Ensign).
There is some meaty discussion regarding the technical aspects of the implementation, which you can read at Howard Arrington's Q&A Knowledge base
article on the topic by clicking on #1296, which will open a new page in IE.
I have created a
Chick Goslin page in my Ensign collection that collects all this for reference and easy access.
Thanks morganp! You're a champ!
Labels: ensign, indicators, templates, trading-method
Friday, December 22, 2006
Merry Christmas & a Prosperous New Year!
Labels: calendar-holidays, ensign, market-fun
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Equivolume, an article
I've recently written an article on Ensign Software's implementation of Equivolume, which Howard Arrington has published in the
September 2006 Trading Tips Newsletter. It is also cataloged on my
amg's Trading Articles page.
Since EW's equivolume roll-out, I've converted all my charts to this format and have had some opportunities to observe their use in real time intraday trading. One user setting suggested by a friend was to increase the "Candle Minimum Spacing", which especially enhances "fat boy candle" visualization. You can also experiment with the "Bar Spacing in pixels" setting to reduce the overlap as needed. (see first image below)
A comment on the example. As I mention in the article, equivolume on volume-bar charts is counterintuitive, ie, often a thin-bar ("twiggy") represents what a wide-bar ("fat boy") does on time, tick, or range charts. Because I use various minute based charts, I thought to experiment with a 30-second (half-minute) chart so that I wouldn't have to "re-adapt" when scanning my workspace charts. Perhaps my timing was good, but the 30s chart did make for some interesting "scalping" setups today and so I thought to show them as examples.
[click to open a larger image]
Labels: ensign, trading-method, volume
Sunday, September 17, 2006
EquiVolume, Box, X-Swing, EVRAA
This is from earlier in the week, showing a decent coming-out-of-lunch scalp opportunity using various methods combined on a single chart. It was such a sweet confluence, I thought it would be useful for illustrating various techniques.
Click to enlarge
(1)
EquivolumeThe equivolume indications were the primary motivation for posting this chart. As I mentioned in
an earlier post, Equivolume seeks to visually display the price-volume relationship for any specific bar. The skinny "Olive Oyl" bars on the downside drift during the lunch hour indicate little participation, a clear alert to watch for a reversal.
(2)
Alan BoxI use the 10m chart for "big picture", so at this point I would switch to a 1m or 300V type display. Nevertheless, the Alan Box shows an "up angular" that has not previously been violated, ie, touched by price, just under the drifting Olive Oyl bars, which is an indication of support. I've added a Fisher-ized fast RSI with slow average to the mix, which is also indicating upside bias (the red/white average) with the fast indicating the pullback. More on the RSI I use later.
(3)
X-SwingOne of the benefits of using X-Swing is what I call "bias". Not a mental bias, but rather, a technical indication of price pressure. In this case, price is traveling about half-way between the 180ma top Bollinger (dark black line at top) and it's mid-point (ie, 180ma), the white dots near the bottom, and both are still "up". Likewise, both the 40ma and 120ma are up and price above those. Finally, the faint "gold" 10/13ma pair slope is also up.
Not nearly as much thought as words are involved in this assessment as X-Swing is a visual method. One glance indicates "up", again, preparing the trader for a reversal signal. The first green bar after the downside drift confirmed the trade, which, again, was better seen on a 300V chart.
(4)
EVRAAIn this case, there were two "post" white EVRAA bars on earlier up bars, which are telling me there may be a bit too much enthusiasm at those points (witness the small pullbacks). But in the context of the price action up to that point, the down "gray" EVRAA bars are fairly small in comparison, so another push up is likely.
Taking the trade, even for an overly analytical trader, was straightforward. :)
More on Equivolume Fine tuning of what we see on the charts is needed, especially during transitions such as the lunch hour. The second post bar 11:50am was, in EVRAA language, a clear indication of a pullback, which was immediately confirmed by the down-bar that came in just after it. See too the same pattern on the first post bar at 9:40am. From an equivolume perspective, that skinny-ish bar was also an indication that there was, relatively speaking, little participation. Given that it was the lunch hour, this isn't a surprise, and a slow but steady drift down followed.
Another thing I am watching with growing interest is what I am for now calling "seed volume", on this chart, the green signal bar that came in after the Olive Oyl bar downside drift. Being that opening volume is typically strong, subsequent equivolume bars will, in comparison, be narrower. The "seed volume" bar will not be as chubby as those earlier bars, but in comparison to the preceding bars, it is wider, and acts as a "seed" for growing volume participation, especially when, as in this case, confirmed by other indications.
Here is the 300V chart. Click to enlarge.
Labels: chart-analysis, ensign, trading-method, volume
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Ensign Beta: Equi-Volume
This must be an exciting development to have lured me out of my bunker!
Ensign Software Beta, which is quite close to production release, adds a few new features that are absolutely delightful. I am going to focus on Howard Arrington's implementation of "Equi-Volume" as this one feature alone should knock any whining "what software should I use" fence sitting trader on their feet running to get this charting software. Oh, did I mention it is $39.99 a month, and no increase with all the new features, and that you can even use Interactive Broker's FREE data feed? Anyway, let's talk Equi-Volume.
The Equivolume concept was developed by Richard Arms, who for many years has provided a
Trading with Equivolume free PDF book on his armsinsider.com website. This little book is well worth your time if you are not yet familiar with this charting technique.
Put in its most simple terms, a box is drawn with the high and low as top and bottom. The width of the box is determined by the volume inside that range: a skinny box is light volume, a chubby box is heavier volume. From Mr. Arm's book
Volume Cycles in the Stock Market:
Ensign has implemented the width part in only the "body" part of the candle, so that the tails are still visible. I quite like this as the tails provide additional sentiment information. Addtionally, in the Dick Arms implementation, the "time axis" is irregular, narrowed or widened by the volume of the boxes. A very clever feature in Mr. Arrington's implementation is that the centers of the candles are keep at equal distance, allowing classic indicators and draw tools to be accurately implemented as the X-axis is uniform. This is done by letting candles "overlap". In this way, the wider bars can still be drawn while not compromising the x-axis.
By the way, even though I am referring to candles, Ensign's implementation also draws Equi-Volume bars, which many traders prefer to candles. It even makes Line-on-Close thicker and thinner. Here is a case of having your cake and eating it too!
Another new feature is "3D" candles, which are simply beautiful and complement Equi-Volume very nicely. Shown below is a quick mark up of today's 3-minute Russell futures chart. I call heavy volume candles "Fat Boys" and light volume candles "Olive Oyls". I have overlaid an
Alan Box on it as well as the basic
X-Swing averages with a set of RSI's for simple divergence and over-sold/over-bot type aide (click to enlarge).
Ensign Software: Try it, you'll like it!
Labels: ensign, volume
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Alan Robinson's X-Swing
Alan Robinson's X-SwingLast Spring, I had the pleasure of collaborating with Alan Robinson (a.k.a. 'rabbit' at the Ensign Echat rooms), on
EVRAA, a Wyckoff interpretation of volume plotted directly on a chart.
This past year, Alan and I had great fun working on a visually intuitive template Alan calls 'X-Swing'. X-Swing overlays multi-time moving averages and uses prior swings to alert the user of trend reversals and congestion zones. Cross-overs are used as
future support and resistance, a key difference that distinguishes this approach from typical moving average methods. It also includes a chart-only
VolSum, highlighting potential volume exhaustion points with a yellow bar on the chart. The use of alerts and DYOs automates finding these key levels and marking them on the chart. [
read entire article and download template]
Labels: ensign, trading-method
Saturday, March 18, 2006
ATR-based Opening Range
I have updated an article I wrote in April 2005 on various Opening Range methods to
add the ATR-based studies. Since that time, Ensign added code that allows one to calculate ATR on a Daily chart, and using GVs, transfer that value for use on intraday charts, such as a 5m chart. This closely approximates Mark Fisher's ACD approach. I've added the two DYOS that do that. Good trading!
Labels: ensign, trading-method
Updates to "daManual", Alan's Box Trading Method
It's been a very pleasant day for doing a bit of this and that to
da Manual:
Labels: ensign, trading-method
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Ensign's Echat Program (update)
I'm already a dyed-in-the-wool fan of Ensign Software for my charting and more recently, have been beta testing Ensign's completely redesigned Echat client, detailed in Howard Arrington's
February 2006 Trading Tips Newsletter, where you can also download the program.
There are three major benefits in this program:
- Built-In Chart Viewer
- Built-in Voice client
- Built-in Browser
Having found a group of companionable traders, you naturally want to share what you see, and the closer to a potential signal event, the better. And while a picture may be worth a thousand words to some, there are times when having direct, immediate, verbal contact not only enhances the trading, but the comraderie, which, all things considered, may be the more important part of the 'trading chat' experience. I included the built-in browser as a key feature as, along with one less voice program, means one less application that needs to be open. Even with three monitors, space is at a premium and this, to me, is great.
If you've used the first release of Echat, you'll find the NEW download method is different than the old one. Once you download the file and open it, it has a dialogue like most other programs: a series of windows leading to a folder for the program. So you'll know where to find the transcripts (if you save them), I suggest you put inside its own folder inside Ensign Windows. Howard's write up has other useful tips.
The new Echat2 is very much improved and enhanced from the prior version. During Beta testing, the voice feature was tested successfully and with very nice clarity with 70+ users on voice. It isn't known yet if quality will degrade as more people open rooms and also use built-in voice, however, knowing Ensign staff, it will be monitored and if necessary, improved. With Ensigns earlier move to faster dedicated servers, continuous stability of the program looks promising.
There are many bells and whistles type features, like selecting a personal icon, albeit from a list rather than your own creation; icons for when people are gone or listening with the built-in voice, or using the "second room" feature; entering your own URLs if you use Echat as a browser replacement; and as before, ability to private message (PM) other users. One new feature is the ability to politely block PMs during the trading day. Fifty rooms have also been set up for use by serious traders that trade a specific method or have joined together as trading partnerships.
If there is one feature I'm not convinced I like, it is the ability to "Find User", sort of like a "hunt them down" idea which of course can be useful, but if you are trying to simply hang around quietly, you can run but you can't hide. This is a minor gripe and may well fade into the background as there are far more responsible users than not.
I saved the last great feature for last. Mr. Arrington provides this wonderful program
free of charge to serious traders, preferably those using Ensign, although non-Ensign users are, of course, free to join any of the chat rooms hosted by Echat. It is a wonderful gift to the Ensign community, and those who we trade with.
Labels: ensign
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Initial Balance, a Quick way to mark it
For Ensign users trading the Nikkei -- or any other market with non-standard session hours, you may have noticed that snagging the Initial Balance (IB) first hour High and Low for the Initial Balance using a DYO isn't easy.
Well, here is a quick way to do it, by hand. It won't create the IB lines for each day for all your data, but you will be able to use it for that day.
Wait for the first hour to complete and using the Fibonacci Tool, place the first point at the High of the first hour and the second point at the low of the first hour. Then, select the tool and enter the parameters on the following Fib tool form. You'll want to save it to a tab so that you don't have to reenter it the next time you want to use it.
It includes the Stiedlmayer extensions 1.1765 and 2.1765, and having the "Show Extensions" box checked will also create extensions at -17.65 and -117.65. It will also plot the first harmonic doubling. To plot a second doubling, add a "300" parameter.
Sniffy created a two-part DYO for the US indices opening at 9:30. Here is a one-form DYO version that does the same thing.
A companion DYO is the following, which marks the first and second octaves (harmonic doublings of the first hour range). It will also mark the mid, which I find handy. It also creates two GVs (48 and 49) for use on Tick or Volume charts where EW doesn't pick up time readily. If you don't want to transfer the values, simply delete those lines.
Labels: ensign
Monday, February 20, 2006
Tinkering on President's Day: ADX Template Tweak
Please, someone eliminate ALL market holidays!! Too much time is a very serious liability for a market tinker (wink wink nudge nudge).
I've done some tweaking of the
ADX with Alerts template.. In addition to adding two more templates, I've included a few more comments here and there, so it may be worth a quick read.
My favorist tweak is ADX with Alerts, Version2, for the minimalist. It shows the Buy and Sell signals but replaces all the indicator lines with a "Chopzilla Band" that is White for Trending, Red for No Trend, and Orange Hash Overlay when ADX is below both DMI values. The later is for the trader that wants only the best signals. I can't vouch for how effective it is, however.
Here is the minimalist chart
I've also included Version 1, which I think of as for the technician that likes to see *everything*:
--Normalizes the sub-window to a 0-100 scale.
--Adds near-background colored DMI value displays.
--Adds a pale orange band when ADX is below the DMI values
--*Does not* show Buy and Sell signals when ADX is below 20.
The Normalization and DMI line displays are style preferences and easily removed with simple clicks on the topmost DMI study pane. The ADX>DMI and removal of signals are, IMO, keepers.
Labels: ensign, indicators, trading-method
ADX with Alerts, an amg Ensign Template
My favorite market technician, second only to Richard Wyckoff, is Welles Wilder. His contributions include RSI, PSAR (Parabolic Stop & Reverse), Average True Range (ATR), the 'Delta Phenomenon' (of which PVAC is a form), and the Directional Movement Index group (+DMI, -DMI, and ADX), the subject of
this article (with Ensign template).
EXAMPLE (click to show full size in a separate window)
Labels: ensign, indicators, trading-method
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
to daManual Users
In my zeal for "continuous improvement", what is now proved itself to be a pernicious leftover from my "suit" days, I had seriously messed up the left side navigation column on all the pages. All has been repaired, so if you left in disgust, why not try again?
I did fix the problem, which was a misunderstanding on my part of how to code "included content". Frontpage is rather limited in how it does this. It will pull in pages from within your website only. Thus, if you include a real link, tough noogies, the Frontpage handler on my server doesn't recognize it and will dish up the page showing the link text and not the content, which in this case was the left navigation column showing all the daManual chapters. Soooooo, the correct FP protocol is to insert the relative URL. I tested this on another site I manage, so I better go check that now. What is curious to me, though, is that those abslute links DID work for a few days. Why they stopped working is one of those coding unfathomable inponderables.
I gotta say, What a pain! I'm still trying to figure out if there is ordinary HTML or java code to insert "included content" into a page, code that circumvents FP altogether. This would be especially nice for my Blogger managed pages, which for some reason don't recognize the FP "weboot" code.
Labels: ensign
Monday, November 28, 2005
Corrected OR Octaves template
I only just noticed that the YM_BOR.dat template, which places S/R lines based on the first ten-minute bar (Bar 8) HL range, had the wrong DYOS. {red faced amg} I've just uploaded a corrected template. Here is the
Opening Range templates page.
Labels: ensign
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Completely Revamped my Ensign pages
I've completely revamped my
Ensign pages and over time, will be corralling articles, tips, and templates I've created over the past few years of using Ensign. Many of the articles are not at all Ensign oriented, but rather implement a trading idea using Ensign software, so it might be useful to any reader using other software.
Labels: ensign
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
How to Import ibcharts.com data to Ensign
The ever resourceful Sputnik has figured out a way to get IB quality backfill using the
IBCharts.com program.
This would have been very useful today, for instance, when *nothing* could be done to to properly fill in the YM or Euro data from Friday close to Tuesday open. The data started at 23.50ET, rather than 20.10ET for YM or 18:00ET for the Euro, leaving huge chunks of data missing, rendering Chart2 of the AlanBox useless.
It isn't as easy as a right-click Refresh, rather, something best done before the open.
Here is a link to
How-To Import Data from ibcharts.com .
This is most useful to traders, like me, who are now using the IB/TWS interface as a data feed. I gave up Esignal last month when the cost to add Euro and QM would have tripled my data feed costs. Already being an IB broker client, I decided to take the plunge. I'll be posting a sort of "IB as Feed Review and Hints" sometime soon as I need to corral all the bits and pieces for myself.
Labels: ensign
Friday, June 17, 2005
Alan's Box Trading Method
So I'm trading, doing my thing with forks, fibs, and RSI and a few months back, I begin to notice charts using an unknown method. Just when I think I've seen it all, well, I find I haven't. Not nearly. Rather than explain it in that latin hand gesturing way, pointers to it are in order.
This page is the start of further notes on this method, which includes a link to the dacharts.com page where Alan first shared his "box trading" style.
Labels: ensign, trading-method
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Expanded RSI scale
Long time users of RSI know that, although an oscillator, RSI also channels, rarely staying in the 20/80 extremes for very long, but staying within a 45/65 or 25/55 channel. Constance Brown shares this and other Andrew Cardwell observations on standard RSI in her book
Technical Analysis for the Trading Professional. This feature, while a bonus, can also be frustrating as the indicator often flattens in the center of the channel.
An
Inverse Fisher Transform of RSI is one alternative. As you can see in the chart, inflections at major reversals are captured and it stays in the zone above 80 (or below 20) while trending. However, there is some loss of intra-trend oscillations ("slings").
To bridge these two options, another solution is to expand the indicator scale, which sort of "magnifies" the plot. A benefit if sharing your work with others who may be unfamiliar with the Fisher-ized RSI.
This template for Ensign users does just that.
Labels: ensign, indicators
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Ensign Templates and Comments
I've started a page on templates, and as time permits, other comments or information about my favorite charting software:
Ensign Software.
amg's Ensign Templates and CommentsThose with sharp eyes will notice that it is at a new website:
amgallo.com, which over the next couple of weeks, will be the new home for all my work.
Labels: ensign
Sunday, September 28, 2003
Ensign Windows-- What a deal! I'm hooked.
Excuses, excuses for abandoning my market blather pages. I've been completely absorbed by my new intraday charting software,
Ensign for Windows, or EW.
EW comes with my highest recommendation, particularly for those interested, as I am, in harmonic analyses such as Fibonacci, Gartleys, bisects, and cycles. It is also for those keenly interested in traditional TA tools such as CCI, moving averages, RSI, etc, with a FABULOUS alert capability. I am only just appreciating the latter as a way of filtering the false signals most indicators are prone to.
EW requires subscription to a data feed, and the "Basic Esignal" package to EW subscribers, which includes the CME e-mini (CME fees additional cost) is more than enough for most purposes, making the duo cost competitive, but by far and away the best value in indicator offerings. For those who drool over Tradestation, you will find that Ensign has many similar features, albeit not the back-testing. Ensign does have unique playback and simulated broker features which will allow you to test run your set-ups and do some "real" paper-trading.
Perhaps among its best unique features is the community itself: Mr. Howard Arrington, along with his support staff and enthusiastic "dacharts" users, are ever helpful and a font of ideas.
Warning-- you may get absorbed to the point of neglecting other things, such as feeding the family and recording market blather!
Labels: ensign
