How to spot good entries or exits?

hi ,

i am currently trading using a simple EMA system … on 1 hour charts … but the thing is … i cant spot good entries or exits…

i try looking at smaller timeframes to identify a good entry/exit but fail most of the time …

which timeframe should i look at for good entries ?? 5 mins ?

how do you guys find good entries ?? S and R lines… or naked candlesticks ???

ps - i am trading on MT4 with ALPARI (demo)

I usually use the 1 min for my entries and a 5 min chart for more confirmation IF i feel the market is abit whippy.

All depends on the EMA system.

What exactly are you looking for, and what is your basic setup?

Working EMA crosses on a 1 minute chart will run you to the poorhouse quick.

I trade naked. And there aren’t any indicators on my chart either.

That explains the occasional typos…

:stuck_out_tongue:

lol mastergunner :stuck_out_tongue:

anyways … my system is pretty noob’ish

just 2 ma crosses basically …and i additiionaly plot S&R lines or fIBS or pivots to find my TP and SL

here’s an overview and template…

EMA 10 blue
SMA 13 red

buy when ema above sma and sell when sma above ema … with additional support from trendlines… and S&R

any and all advices are welcome :smiley:


For entries I like to look at waves…the swings…and enter in around halfway or so of the pullback of a prior wave. It applies to all timeframes due to the fractal nature of waves. It’s funny how unnatural it feels to buy when price has been pulling back down, or to sell when price has been pulling back up, but try it and see if helps.

In relation to that, if it’s an ema “cross” system you use, usually price has reached the crest of a wave by the time you see the ema’s cross, thus get’s you a late entry. So if you wait for price to retreat back towards the ema’s and then enter, you may find another more timely entry.
:slight_smile:

any tips on how to make my system more effective ??? additional indicators anyone ??

as you can see in the pic above … there are 2 false alarms on 24th …

An indicator will never give you a great entry. Indicators are formulated on past data. So to base your entry on an indicator you will always be in late. Study price action. Let price tell you when to get in and out. Let the indicators guide you while in the trade. And I would even recommend note even using them at all at some point.

Wait until it hits your price then starts to head back in the direction you are planning on it going and then enter. Taking it down to too small timeframes will add too much noise. also enter based on where you exit will be (if a loss) and make sure the # of pips of risk is reasonable

You could try a GMMA Indicator there is a thread called the finest in trend trading you could read that if you don’t find trawling through a 600 post, 60 page thread to get the information you need too daunting a task.
I’m not entirely convinced the system is any better than any other indicator system but apparently your not allowed to give opinions like that, on that thread.
But if you want to try that indicator do this:

Make 6 exponential moving averages lines all the same color, each with a different time period setting, the periods are: 3,5,8,10,12,15

Now make 6 more. Make these six all the same color but a different color from the first 6 and give them these time periods: 30,35,40,45,50,60

Now make a last one a third color and give it this time period: 200

(Its probably best to use dull colors so you can still use your candles charts at the same time if you need to. That many brightly colored moving averages lines will interfere with them too much, and remember to make them EMA lines not regular moving average lines)

When your happy with that open a MACD indicator.
Now save the whole chart as a template so you can easily apply it to other charts without having to remake all the EMA lines every time.

Now, very briefly, what to look for on that indicator.
Apply it to a chart and scroll the chart back over a few days or weeks you will see how the gaps between the lines open up as a trend forms and close back in as the trend ends, you can also see how the faster EMA bands crosses the slower ones as the price reverses (that is a signal) and you can also see how the 200 EMA line acts like a general trend indicator that also sometimes crosses the other two (when it does it is a strong signal) you can look at the MACD as another confirming signal.

What I have described is the regular GMMA Indicator. I believe in “The Finest In Trend Trading” thread there is something new you can do to this indicator to improve your probability further, I havent read much of that thread.
I did skip through it a bit because on the first page the author claims he had some exciting new information, which I assumed means he has made a new discovery about this GMMA indicator but I didn’t get to the part where he tells what his new discovery is. If you like the way the indicator works you could read through it to find out what it is, plus it will probably elaborate further on the signals to look for when using it, I just briefly outlined them here.
I also recommend you watch these two short videos that explains how to use it effectively the first one runs over what I already told you about setting it up plus some more information. The second one elaborates further.

YouTube - FOREX TREND INDICATOR FACE-OFF The GMMA part 2 of 3

YouTube - FOREX TREND INDICATOR FACE-OFF The GMMA part 3 of 3

thanks SDC … GMMA indicator is pretty good … and i watched the videos too …but its go the same problem … when to exit ??? the guy in the video does mention about the exit indicator …but dosent explain … the regular crossover exit takes away a lot of profit … and that was the problem with my system too …

Tymen1 said forget the GMMA on page 67 of his thread ???
At around page 20 he was advocating it did he say why he said forget it 40 pages later ?
I hope your not going to say read his thread and find out that is one hell of a long thread lol

It doesnt matter if you don’t get every bit of the potential profit from every trade as long as you get some profit is what counts, you can always do more trades to get more profit.
But to find exit points you could add to your chart some fib lines and some trend lines use them as exit and entry points when they agree with your other indicators. Remember old resistance often equals new support and vice versa.
Pull lines across from previous lows and highs you will see how the price often rebounds off those same levels days, weeks even months later you can use them as exit points.
For instance pull up a 30 minute chart GBP/JPY I am trading that pair right now, put a line at 132.60 and you’ll see what I mean.
I was looking for a news result on GBP Interest rate decision but it was a bit of a non event.
I’m hoping the previous resistance level at around 133.65 - 95 will hold out and if it does I’m going short for another 132.50 if it does it will be the third time lucky I hit the same trade. If it goes over 133.95 I’m going to leave that one alone. Im kinda scared to go long on the GBP