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
Monday, November 12, 2007
here's a cool chart
dave, a long-time trading aquaintance, has thoughtfully sent along a new kind of animated GIF: a trading chart! It was posted over at
dacharts by "av" and created using the
free Microsoft GIF Animator software. Thanks, dave!
Labels: chart-analysis, market-fun, trading-method
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
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
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
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
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Jack Chan's Technical Analysis
Are simplicity and consistency traits you would like to incorporate in your technical analysis?
Jack Chan's approach embodies both cleanly, with a particular focus on Energy and Gold as when as Tech (Nasdaq). His website,
traderscorporation.com offers a PDF of the acronyms he uses, along with his 2005 Performance summaries, which give further insight into his views. I am not a subscriber.
In a nutshell, he uses Trendline breaks coupled with MACD crossovers, along with classic 50/200 ema directionality. His methods are amply illustrated in
his Stockcharts.com Public List and there are many samples of his annotated views over at
his Gold-Eagle.com pages. Here is a sample chart:
Labels: indicators, trading-method
Sunday, December 25, 2005
The Gap Lady
During the 2001-2002 index congestion period, when I was still at stockcharts.com posting mostly on the NDX/COMPX daily charts, Chip Anderson once referred to me as the Gap Lady, me being, let's say, very enthusiastic in their use.
I made a
Gaps Page that collects a number of educational links, as well as some example charts from my vault, for fellow gap-o-philes. Have a Gappy Christmas!!
Labels: gaps, trading-method
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Paper Trading: Waste of Time or Valid Learning Method? by Vadym Graifer
One of Ensign's features that first attracted me was its
playback wherein you can replay price-action from any prior day using your own chart settings.
As only one symbol can be played back, if you use TICK or other symbols to make your decisions, you cannot simulate how those symbols would interact. Nevertheless, for "burning in" a partiuclar pattern or setup, I have found playback invaluable. For that purpose, I use the 10x setting as all I am after is teaching myself to recognize something
fast. I don't enter trades for this purpose as it would be nutty, albeit rather fun.
A few things I don't like about playback, however, have to be mentioned.
Sense of reality: I get no, nada, niente, sense of putting my own money on the line. I do not and have not used playback for paper trading. In fact, for me, playback with this idea in mind works against me, giving me a false sense of success. That is me, and perhaps it's because I've traded my own money long enough to know the difference. Having said that, I can appreciate "demo" modes to learn the mechanics of entering trades, such as with the IB/TWS or other front ends.
Memory: I don't like to playback a symbol that I "know", especially if it is recent, as I remember every significant move!! I couldn't recall a specific date's action, but start the playback, if I traded that day, it comes back to me. It's like knowing the answer to a final-- this is not a test of my abilities, it is a cheat! So if you trade the ES, try playback on YM-- overcoming the discomfort of "odd" price is itself a useful lesson, in my opinion, and might force you to look at the action/patterns in a fresh way.
Speed: Well, frankly, I get distracted and bored trying to playback real-time or near real-time. Mind you, that may be reason enough for me to use real-time playback: to sharpen my attention skills, which admittedly lag and expose me to trouble after noon NYC time. However, I don't know that playback would help me here. I've learned to simply not trade, take a break, or take only the very best setups once I've become aware that my focus is scattered.
Anyway, enough of me. I felt it only fair to dribble on about my views before pointing you in the direction of what is a
pretty decent article on paper trading. Trade2win.com may require a (free) membership to access.
From Vadym Graifer's article:
Let’s try and build the rules of paper trading that will allow us to turn it into powerful learning tool. We can identify three cases where paper trading instead of live trading is in order:
1. A beginner getting his feet wet.
2. A trader testing a new trading system.
3. A trader hitting a losing streak. [more]
My short break from trading is almost over-- be back in a couple of days.
Labels: trading-method
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Opening Range Methods
Opening Range (OR) trading has been around for many many years. In the most general use, the OR and OR Extensions serve as Support and Resistance levels to trade into or against. There are scores of methods traders have devised to exploit breakouts, but
in this article, I focus on various OR extension methods.
I've used and briefly documented a number of these before, but to make this a more complete survey, I've added Sniffy's "Stiedlmayer" extension method, as well as links to further reading on the Market Profile method.
The trader-tinker might enjoy experimenting with these to see for themselves which yield the most tradable ideas.
Labels: trading-method
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
Friday, June 10, 2005
Channels R Us
Channel consolidation. Where to next?
Labels: trading-method
Monday, March 28, 2005
Mark Fisher's Logical Trader ACD Method
Opening Range, volatility breakouts, and pivots have become favorites to many day traders as they give a simple visual structure to price action. Mark Fisher has combined these methods in what he calls ACD, short hand for the volatility targets and opening range levels used in the meat and potatoes strategies he has developed over the past 20-30 years (he mentions he got in the business at 12 years old).
While I don't use his strategies, his ideas are interesting enough to me that I've incorporated his opening range ideas. His NYMEX symposium is simply dynamite and the first session a must for any trader. I've prepared a page summarizing the method and include a sample graph, along with templates suitable for Ensign users. Enjoy!
Mark Fisher's Logical Trader ACD MethodLabels: trading-method
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Chick Goslin, SMR and IFT
SMR and
Trading Day by Day, Chick Goslin's Intelligent Futures Trading (IFT) methods
When I first heard his name, I couldn't help but think of a family of swans, the chicks trialing in the wake. The cuddly image was shattered by the picture of him at his site: a burly smiling ex-Marine crouched down next to his shaggy dog friend. He has acquired a number of faithful adherents on the web, particularly at the
trade2win boards, who as of this writing have over 22 pages of reviewing, demystifying, and at this point, documenting their use of the method.
Goslin's IFT might sound complicated, but striped to its essentials, it is a straightforward method with a very nice number-weighting of the long, medium, and short term signals the system generates. I haven't backtested the results, but each piece of the system is simple and will be recognized by most technicians and market hounds.
The 3-point System is outlined at SMR in
this Word file. NOTE: it is labeled as a .txt file, but it is best viewed as a Word file as Notepad will expose the internal code as gobbledegook.
It may sound mysterious as it is sprinkled with his own nomenclature of the elements. Can you fault him? We all do that with our methods! However, enough of the method can be gleaned to get going. My intent is to present a TA tinker with enough to create the template on their own and find out if their interest is peaked enough to buy the book and explore in depth the methods and nuances Chick has developed. The book reviews indicate there is value.
The basic indicators:
- Trend Line is a 49 SMA of price.
- DL is the "Dotted Line" Intermediate Term indicator, which is a 16ma of the 3-10 MACD.
- SL is the "Solid Line", ie, Short Term indicator, which is the 3-10 MACD.
An imaginative leap is taken for position trading. Chick assigns each of the three main components a value of +1, 0, or -1 depending if the indicator is moving up, sideways, or down as follows:
- Long Term49/50 sma (1 pt), also called the Direction Line
- Intermediate16ma of 3-10 MACD, also called the Confirming Line (+/- .5 trend, +/- .5 when above/below zero), and can lag 5 days
- Short Term3-10 MACD value (1 pt), aka the Timing Line
One then counts only the positive contributions when the trend is up, or only the negative values when down. +/- 2 is considered bullish or bearish, and values between +/- 1.5 are considered neutral (ie, no position).
Finally, to eliminate lag and anticipate a change in the Position Indicator, the past values of both the 49 sma and the 16 ma on the 3-10 MACD are reviewed to see if a lower or higher value is being "dropped" off by the ma calculation.
All things considered, a very sensible approach.
Labels: indicators, market-buzz-gurus, trading-method
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Heikin-Ashi Candle Charts
Aside from many chat sites discussing how to code the special candles of this method, there is scant else on the web regarding this method. The earliest mention I found is by Forex trader and Ichimoku chartist Yasuji Yamanaka, who in addition to publishing many analyses using this method, also wrote two English language articles on heikin ashi (
pt. 1 and
pt. 2, pdf files). Heikin-Ashi means "average bar" and is, according to Mr. Yamanaka, a method introduced by a Japanese commodities trader who, of course, made a fortune with it. Also according to Mr. Yamanaka, it is a derivative of the Ichimoku method, after Ichimoku Sanjin, a pseudonym of another smart cookie. In addition to Mr. Yamanaka's articles, there is also a well-popularized article by
Dan Valcu, writing in TASC. To see how they look, try the slideshow below, showing the ES or SPX in various time frames. In addition to the tailored indicators I use, you will see heavy black trendlines on some of the charts. These are the new Auto-Trend lines, automatically discovered by the
Ensign program, one of the many new features introduced by Howard Arrington, Ensign proprietor and chief programmer, this month. The simple rules for trading heikin ashi are summarized in the following table, attributed to Mr. Yamanaka:
Previous • Auto/Stop• Next
Labels: indicators, trading-method
