Hello everyone!
Thanks for all the messages (especially 'Big Pippin') - nice 'meaty' thread!!! Thanks.
Well - as you have all probably noticed - I have not posted on this thread for a couple of days. That usually means one of three things:
1 - I'm losing money
2 - I'm too embarassed to admit that my 'system' does not work
3 - I'm too hungover from the weekend to care
Actually - in this case - it's none of the above would you believe - just stocks giving me a 'royal pain' now all of a sudden.
As far as Parabolic SAR is concerned - I'm still using it with pretty good results on its own - BUT - I have to be honest - once again - I've started looking at other indicators to try and 'justify' using Parabolic SAR on its own - if that make any sense at all.
You know what I don't get with Parabolic SAR though: if you look at historical charts - it does not matter what time frame you look at - it works like a charm (and I mean live charts not demo charts) - many many PIP's - but the moment you start trading with it - those PIP's just don't materialize! Why is that for goodness sake! It just does not make any sense at all!
Anyway - having said that - please don't worry about hijacking this thread - with anything at all that works!!!
I agree with you all that using indicators is NOT the ideal way to trade. John F. Carter - in his book - actually sums this up quite nicely by basically saying that by the time an indicator gives you a signal - all the other traders and dealers have already acted - you're just getting in on the tail end (if you're lucky) OR you're getting in just in time for the reversal to take you out (that's my line though)!!!
There is just one thing that I forgot to mention because I did not think that it was important - but since I have been looking into this indicator again - it has become very apparant to me again (I actually did mention this in a thread that I started months ago when I first started trading and everybody thought I was 'paranoid' and was just looking to blame the broker for my losses).
Before you use Parabolic SAR or any other indicator or any EMA's, SMA's, etc. etc. cross check your charts / indicators with others from a different source.
This may sound ridiculous my good and trusted friends but read on:
When I first started trading live the funny thing is that this was the very first indicator that I used - and lost a lot of money - and could never figure out why - and - of course - gave up on the indicator.
Eventually - as I got braver - I opened another two accounts at different brokers - and - to my amazement - realised that the Parabolic SAR signals I had been getting at my first broker - were totally different from the Parabolic SAR signals that I was getting at the other two brokers. In other words - at the other two brokers I may have been given a buy signal and then no other signal for a long while - and then eventually a new sell signal came - and so on and so forth. At the first broker - during that same time period - on the same time frame - for the same instrument / pair - using EXACTLY the same Parabolic SAR settings - I had received a 'gazillion' buy / sell signals i.e. many many false signals. Now - whether or not this is because whoever programmed the thing did not know what they were doing - OR (which I suspect) - the programmer actually knew VERY WELL what they were doing - get my drift??? Now that I have started looking at this indicator again - I noticed this again. The big problem that I have is the the first broker is my 'main' broker because they offer CFD's and the Indices etc. etc. so I've stuck with them for this reason. Needless to say - I don't use Parabolic SAR to trade the Indices!!! I have noticed this same 'anomaly' (for want of a better word) with MA's at this broker as well i.e. a 50 SMA at the first broker does not look anything like the same 50 SMA at the other two brokers!!!
Now - I'm really not trying to make you paranoid or anything like that - all I'm saying is just check - that's all. On the instruments that I can trade at my 'main' broker - that are offered at the other two brokers as well - I use the Parabolic SAR entry points as indicated by the other two brokers (they are both identical).
Anyway - like I said - post away!!!
Regards,
Dale.
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