Alternative Technical Templates.

[JimmyMac]

Originally Posted by 4xStar

Thanks for sharing the charts, one thing I just learned, I draw way too many s/r lines LOL. Had to erase quite a few.

You don't require too many strategically plotted lines to be honest. Like the girls have said many times on here, they're merely guide posts to offer a little each way gauge on the potential reaction zones as price gets batted back & forth along the route.

A little tip (which quite a few newcomers to this type of price activity have found beneficial on these instruments) is to look immediately north & south of where price is NOW (on a 5, 15min or 30min chart) & see if there is a busy zone or two of interest in close proximity first.

When price is making fierce, aggressive moves up & down the ladder like this it can be difficult to plot your watch levels with any degree of efficiency. Sometimes you need to look a little closer to home before stretching out into the higher timeframes.

What I tend to do is simply take a look at the smallest timeframe I generally utilize, & work up/down from there. It just gives me something to get a hold of when price is banging around in between my bigger watch levels from the higher timeframe charts.

You only really need two or three close proximity levels to work with whilst price is going about it’s intra-day business. Once it breaks away from these initial close proximity levels, then you can scroll out to the wider zones of interest to help you on your journey.

I’ll give you an example of what I mean here on the pound-yen 5 min timeframe.

The larger levels are still intact from the chart Tess posted up earlier, but I’ve plotted a couple closer proximity zones to keep my eye on if price decides to make a move back up to test out the momentum.

Try not to overcomplicate it. Just look for area’s on the technical chart where the bulls & bears had a little minor scuffle or difference of opinion! Those levels will quite often repeat themselves on back & forth movements until one side or the other wins the battle.

[4xStar]

Originally Posted by JimmyMac

A little tip (which quite a few newcomers to this type of price activity have found beneficial on these instruments) is to look immediately north & south of where price is NOW (on a 5, 15min or 30min chart) & see if there is a busy zone or two of interest in close proximity first


Try not to overcomplicate it. Just look for area’s on the technical chart where the bulls & bears had a little minor scuffle or difference of opinion! Those levels will quite often repeat themselves on back & forth movements until one side or the other wins the battle.

Thanks .. I will practice doing that today

[tonymand]

Not often you see a move like this. The 4H shows the last place to get a retracement entry was on the retest at 1.9000 just before Kings speech. I have now had to dial out to the weekly to get a handle on the next zone of interest

[JimmyMac]

It's when prices are shifting aggressively through the gears in one-way directional flow that your lower timeframe s&r guides can often hold the advantage over the slightly longer term levels. You're right to get your bearings via the big hourly charts Tony as they offer good future potential fulcrum levels which price could encounter turbulance.

Jocelyn posted comments over on the 40-100pip LIVE thread this week directly related to entering trades using his trigger system only in the direction of the dominant price trend flows.

It's worth repeating that simple concept here, especially when drilling down into the lower timeframes. As you say, your 4 hourly chart showed the last possible pullback entry before price took another ride south on the back of the lousy UK Inflation report.

But plotting the near-term reaction zones is quite critical to get a leg up into the flows when prices catch a strong psychological kick on the back of fundamental bias.

If you got your longer term levels plotted well in advance, then you've a good idea where the flows can be expected to run to if the follow through is genuine.

Your lower timeframe s&r reaction zones are the triggers you'll need to get you aboard, whilst minimizing risk & maximizing potential.

Don't be afraid to focus on these micro charts to get a handle on the intraday activity. They should be used as part & parcel of your analysis, not viewed in isolation or as an alternative to.

[tonymand]

Nice reminder of the bigger picture Jimmymac - thanks

[4xStar]

Originally Posted by JimmyMac

Don't be afraid to focus on these micro charts to get a handle on the intraday activity. They should be used as part & parcel of your analysis, not viewed in isolation or as an alternative to.

So in that example you gave, on the 4 hr the 4am ET candle was the trigger to look deeper .. so you go to the 15 min and watch price action there, price moves down, but then does 3 pullbacks at 8pm on the 11th, 4am on the 12th and 9:15am on the 12th. Anyone or all of those could trigger your entry point, or you can also go to the 5min for even more precise entry.
Is that how it works?

Also .. how do you draw those circles on the chart? Is that possible with MT4?

Thanks

[Tess]

Jimmy’s out of the office today 4XStar, so I’ll address your questions if that’s ok?

The 1 & 4 hour or Daily (or whatever you prefer to use to offer you a wider view of the landscape) are there to track the bigger picture. They’re your “perspective” angle if you like.

You can obtain a better view of the swing levels, the consolidation & range phases & see where the contained bull-bear action is playing out. They also assist in marking some of the key levels which result in our s&r lines/zones.

Every now & again they’ll also throw up specific candle (or bar) prints which can help identify focus levels that you might want to inspect a little closer via your smaller (5&15min) timeframes.

That’s how we work the multiple timeframe analysis in relation to our set-ups & strategies when trading from a technical angle.

No one timeframe is more important than the other. They each form an equally important part of the puzzle & complement the overall aims & objectives of our intent.

I’ve zoomed into the 4 hour graph around the time frame which Jimmy highlighted in his 5 & 15 minute examples.

Note the contraction of the candles within the 2 s&r area’s? Also note the strength of the incoming & outgoing candles which bracketed that small consolidation range.

There was still heavy “short” bias around that level. The doji & inside bar (highlighted on the graph) helped confirm the bias & the resultant inside bar after price broke down thru 1.9125 further confirmed the depressed behaviour.

The smaller frames (5 & 15min) merely compounded/amplified the behaviour & offered clearer options regards timing the entries & opportunities to suit your individual & preferred set-ups & triggers.


Re; the circles & other annotation items on our graphs? We use a program called SnagIt.

[saraiva25]

Hi I am very much interested in your thread, i have been studing forex for about a year and i must say, this is one of the most important information that i have read. Very grateful for that!!

I have some questions (if you dont mind answering):

1) Do you use the cot report as an hedge?

2) I know that all of you worked hard to find that hedges, and i don´t expect that you will share that, but i would be grateful if you could point the way, like best book, best blog, best analyst... or what you may consider important?

I will not annoy you with any more questions for now....

My thanks (excuse my ingles, since I am portuguese)
Saraiva

[Jocelyn]

Hello saraiva & welcome to the thread.

You can ask as many questions as you like, whenever you like - it certainly won’t annoy us. Your English is just fine

1) No, we don’t use the Commitment of Traders Report (COT) as any sort of hedging tool. We do take note of what’s going on with that information, but only as part of our overall analysis. It’s not really a priority item to be honest.

If we’re considering utilizing some sort of short-term protection (insurance) against one of our potential swing positions, then there are more appropriate hedging facilities out there such as options which would look at.

2) The simple tools & work practices we utilize on a regular basis have been handed down to us from our Parents & their colleagues. We’ve also inherited a few research disciplines & templates from the various investment/trading firms we’ve worked for along the way.

I’m afraid we’re not going to be able to offer you any positive replies to your next set of questions.
We haven’t really read any of the popular so called ‘trading books’…we were always advised to ignore them at all costs LOL, so are unable to recommend any of those unfortunately. But I’m sure other contributors will offer you a few pointers from their experiences?

Neither do we follow any analysts or trading blogs. We use our own research models & those of our colleagues & family (whom we trust implicitly).

As you gain more experience in this business you’ll quickly discover that the vast majority of these analysts & well publicized technical guru’s really aren’t worth following at all. Their records are barely better than average.

My main piece of advice would be to discover which type of trading behavior (short or medium to long term) you’d prefer to familiarize yourself with & then explore the options of that discipline.

Research the benefits of composing a simple trading plan or set of rules to keep you on track.

You can obtain a good deal of this & other types of general info by simply typing the subject matter into your browser/search engine.

Whatever you decide to utilize – keep it basic & for heavens sake, keep it simple.

Good luck & continue to ask the questions if you're unsure

[saraiva25]

Hi Jocelyn thanks for your answer.

This picture is a trade i took last night, and the setup was good, i entry in a inside bar at 1.8774, the stop loss was the high of the swing and the take profit was at 1.8680 level. I know that i could hold my position for maybe to a take profit at 1.8539 but since i was going to sleep, i could not track my position, and i don´t like trailing stops so.....

I know i could had other money management... but i´m still working on that.

My question is, i couldn´t find any importante fundamental support for this decision. Could you help me with that?

I know also that at 9:30 am (GMT) the "Revised GDP" was out and that pushed the GBP/USD from about 1.8680 to 1.8550, but that was something thar i didn´t considered (but i should have).

Most of the time i think that i don´t have the necessary information to entry a trade.....should i rely less on the fundamental and more in the technical?

Thanks

Saraiva