Thanks for the info. Like I’ve said I’ve heard about it, and read something here or there, but I plan to look deeply into this and this is a good start for me.
As for the Japanese:
I grew up speaking it.
However, it’s still nowhere near as good as my English. I sometimes need a dictionary.
Toukika means speculator.
After 8 months living there, and I speak 3 other languages, I came to the conclusion that is the ONLY way to learn japanese 
It is definitely a challenge … can you read the kanji??
Andrew says he will be posting here over the weekend so we should start getting some good information … in the meantime, get those IKH charts up & colored the way you like them … take a look at the GBP/JPY for starters…
Look what happened since the Tenkan-Kijun bullish cross above the Kumo (cloud) on May 23 … nice spot to go long, des ka?
Ok. I’m going to research some over the weekend.
Look what happened since the Tenkan-Kijun bullish cross above the Kumo (cloud) on May 23 … nice spot to go long, des ka?
sou deshou ne 
can you read the kanji
meh~
I can read Kana fine. As for Kanji, not very well, but I can read it a little bit (which is not very much).
The Chinkou span, the random line that gets produced with the price movement of the candles themselves. When that crossed the “price line” or previous candles,(its made 26 candles back or so) it produces a signal. Up through prices is a buy, down through is a sell. In meta trader its the green line. I cant ever be at the computer to catch the signal and the daily chart. But i use the clould to give me a great idea on where i can think about support and resistance.
With this post, my much-anticipated arrival has finally come to pass. Now, let the disappointment begin!
First, a note on where you can learn about Ichimoku Kinko Hyo aside from this thread:
There are few resources available in English that discuss Ichimoku Kinko Hyo (IKH hereafter) in much detail. Among them are the Ichiwiki (as 4xStar has mentioned), which is the best online (and best free) resource - it is the Babypips of Ichimoku. Investopedia has a decent article on IKH, as well, but does nothing the Ichiwiki doesn’t. The single best work (recently recommended to me and acquired soon thereafter) available is Nicole Elliott’s book [I]Ichimoku Charts[/I].
The Ichiwiki is an adequate primer for discussion of IKH and does a fine job summarizing several common but highly effective ‘cross’ strategies. I would recommend reading at least the first two sections (better yet, all five) to orient yourself to the discussion to follow. Elliott’s monograph is for those who have assimilated the Ichiwiki material and wish to delve further.
A couple of preliminary notes on how to approach the study of IKH:
All indicators boil down to and are only, ultimately, so many representations of historic price data points, as we know. IKH is not an [I]indicator[/I]; it is a price overlay.
This is important to realize because IKH is easily mis-conceptualized and can be intimidating based off of appearance alone. In fact, IKH is nothing other than support and resistance.
The fundamental difference between IKH and the classic expression of S/R - and what can provide a verifiable edge if exploited correctly - is that IKH not only expresses the height and breadth of S/R, but also S/R depth. Depth goes beyond horizontal and diagonal lines to describe price volatility and price equilibrium. In short, there is information expressed through IKH about historic, present and future price behavior that is not available using line studies (including fibonacci, etc.) only. [I]Depth of price [/I], in my mind, is the thing so distinctive about IKH.
IKH does not preclude use of other indicators or overlays. It can be used as a filter, to supplement other overlays, or as the sole technical component of a system.
As I mentioned, IKH can seem overwhelming at first, or needlessly complicated. Maybe it looks revolting to those minimalists who prefer naked price. IKH is, at bottom, moving average data points manipulated according to a simple, specific logic. In other words, it is price. The melee IKH makes out of your chart is actually simple and elegant.
IKH is most effective on medium to long TFs: 4H, 1D, 1W. Below 1H (which is pushing it), success will be severely limited. If someone finds a way to effectively use IKH on the 30M or less, don’t hesitate to chime in!
Before going any further, a little exercise:
A couple of charts are attached of the Guppy (GBP/JPY). The first is a chart slashed all across with fibonacci fan (and speed) lines. The second is IKH for the same period.
What similarities or differences do you note between what fibonacci and IKH are presenting?
Ah, at last our sensei has arrived … welcome Andrew-san!
And we already have homework
Brief note, drawn from the GBP/JPY equity building thread:
Ichimoku slapped the move into the kumo (cloud) to 211.20 back to the top of the cloud @ 211.46, but no higher. There’s some weak bearish signs here, but we’re still in a neutral-bullish zone relative to the cloud, so nothing to act on from IKH. Price did just close down inside the kumo, however - the bottom of which is at 210.70. If price closes outside the bottom of the kumo, back to the 209s.
More to come later. Anyone else want to add some commentary or projections based off of:
The top-down test of the kumo
The Tenkan/Kijun cross (albeit a weak signal above the kumo)
The top-down price cross over Kijun (again, weak)
The correlation between Senkou Span B and dynamic support @ 210.70
etc.
Read Ichiwiki for insight about what all this mean. Any thoughts, no matter how simple or rudimentary-seeming are fair game! We’re all here to learn.
Thanks to all for the work so far.
I will be lurking until I can catch up enough to be an attribute to this thread.
You know Japanese sources too?
I’m just trying to find as much info as I can.
I’ll bet there are plenty but you would have to be able to read the kanji :eek:
I just tried googling ichimoku nihongo … but nothing relevant came up.
I found this article in SFO magazine about IKH:
You tried googling it in japanese text? If you just type ichimoku it isn’t likely to pull up anything because it’s a normal word.
So I typed the name of the thread. In Japanese it’s 一目均衡表.
If you want to type it, the o’s are long, so the full ‘correct’ spelling is “Ichimoku kinkou hyou.”
I’ve got a extension for firefox that displays the pronunciation of the kanji (furigana) if it is in text format. It shows me how to read the kanji when I don’t know it.
Here is one source i have (it’s in japanese):
link
I am searching sources in both languages myself, but if anyone happens to have a link already to one, I’ll definitely bookmark it and put it on my list to read. It would likely be helpful.
No, English only. Admittedly limited, but all the basics and some details about advanced strategies are available to us via the resources we have.
Btw: 4xStar asked in another thread, and I thought I’d be helpful to mention: those charts that I post will be most often from Oanda’s platform: daily and 3H. For the sake of continuity, I’ll try to include H4 and D1 MT4 charts at times, as well.
Oh, ok … that explains the price difference, you were on a 3 hour chart… yes H4 and D1 would be good as I think most people have access to MT4.
We’ve just had another Tenkan-Kijun bullish cross above the kumo on the G-Y, however there was a bearish cross a few hours ago … not sure how to interpret mixed signals like that or if it is just wait & see…
Oops, forgot to say I was looking at 4h timeframe for that cross. Now the tenkan is crossing the [I]rising[/I] kijun … not sure what [B]that[/B] means
Back to the charts Andrew posted in post #14 … you certainly can see the “depth” that he mentioned as a visual aspect of IKH. The fib chart seems to show future resistance, whereas the IKH chart does not … but as a visual representation of support and overall trend, the IKH is definitely more dramatic.
Anyone else have comments on these two charts? They are a great way to compare IKH with a more traditional method of charting. It makes me really want to learn more about this IKH as I can see how it could show a new level of information once you learn it.
This is all above the cloud, so the crosses are strong bullish signals; but, as you know, the Guppy has not been in what we would call a smooth uptrend the past several days. Look at the Chikou Span - where is it at (remember, you’re drawing horizontally from price back to Chikou, then vertically to price 26 periods ago) relative to the current price? On the 3H, anyway, I see a weak bearish setup there. Also, the Kumo is tightening dramatically, supporting the notion that the pair is consolidating. Nevertheless, price remains on the bullish side of the cloud, making any shorts inadvisable: as we have also seen.
There is the tendency here - at least for myself - to lean on the 3H/4H (for purposes of this point, it makes no difference) a little too much. IKH can be used on these timeframes and will generate excellent predictive results, but the daily is the classic IKH chart that cuts out the chop we’re feeling here in this consolidative area. One look at the daily tells you the uptrend is, as yet, unchallenged with the IKH “big picture” unanimously supporting the upside movement.
But, a caveat to that: notice the peaks on the Chikou: 212.57-213.05. Price is struggling here in a way it has not since around 210-210.50. This correlates well to our traditional image of S/R, where we find clear resistance in the 212.80 area. The cloud has tapered to a thin band, and we nearly had a Senkou Span flip early yesterday. In a phrase, then: conflicting signals.
On the IKH, was there any signal that could have alerted to the big drop the G-Y took overnight? Andrew saw mixed signals the other day, she was overdue for a decent pullback and I just read there is a tendency of price to return to the Kijun line which is “equilibrium”.
On the 4 hour there was all kinds of action … it looks like when price hit the kijun line, that was time to bail … or if not, when it broke the A span. But I would appreciate input from those more experienced 
Andrew do you think it is important to use the 3h timeframe instead of the 4 hour? If so, there is a way to do that in MT4, I can post the instructions here for those who want to use a 3 hour.
Some IKH analysis of the Guppy posted on the GBP/JPY “Equity Building” system thread elsewhere on the forum:
Talk about an uneventful rangebound day, huh? Well, unless you were daytrading in what turned out to be a pretty clearly defined range - some good opportunities there to clear pips both long and short.
The bottom of the cloud (Senkou Span A) lies at 211.16 currently, while SS-A slopes down mildly to 211.02 by the 0900 ET candle. The 144 comes in for reinforcement at exactly this level, as well. This is where, if not during the increased volatility coming during early Frankfurt/London (0200-0500 ET) we will see an important test of near-term support. A break here will revisit 210.67, and then back to the ~210 area as described earlier.
Tenkan-Sen (blue line) lies above Kijun-Sen (red line) just above the cloud, but because TS takes in only 9 periods of data, the long green and long red candles from early July 07 will be falling off, and with price falling through the cloud this will pull TS down into the kumo (cloud), setting up a bearish cross if price falters through 211.
In other words, unless the bulls resume control of the field to throwback the pair to 211.68+ (and especially 212.10+), the IKH picture is creeping across the line into bearish territory. If price closes below the kumo @ 0300 ET, Tenkan-Sen will follow shortly, crossing top-down over Kijun-Sen. If nothing happens to the contrary and those lines emerge from the bottom of the cloud in the next 24-48 hours, 210.67, ~210 and perhaps even 208.94-209.20 are in the cards. There’s nothing fundamental (unless Bernanke’s speech sets off a significant USD rally) on schedule that would negate this, so any twists and turns will be technically-based.
I am short the pair from the ascending trendline (white line) break @ 211.66.
