Thanks very much for this.
Iāve been checking it against historical data and it is pretty accurate concerning the crossover spotting. The stop/limit orders you base on the chikou are somewhat conservative, because Iāve noticed trends gaining more pips than the chikou line limit - but since the signals are somewhat reliable I suppose that conservative trading secures more pips.
Guys -
There is some incorrect information in this thread. First off Ichimoku does not use 26 periods because of the Japanese work week. The developer of Ichimoku spent almost 5 years studying number theory in order to arrive at his number sequence (9, 17, 26, 33, 42, 65, 76, 129, 172 etc.) There is a whole component to Ichimoku which isnāt taught about time theory which has to do with the locations of pivots around this number sequence.
The Chikou is not difficult to understand. It is the current closes projected back 26 periods of time. For the best bullish signal you want price to be above the cloud, with Tenkan crossing over Kijun and the Chikou above price. It obviously canāt be above the current price but it can be above or below price 26 bars ago. It should also ideally be above the cloud.
The key with the Chikou is that it is either above or below price (or inside) 26 bars ago NOT current price. Only look directly above or below the Chikou to determine this.
Sorry my chart notes arenāt very visible. I basically and highlighting support and resistance from the cloud, that price gaps through resistance (a good short could be initiated at this resistance level), that there was a Tenkan-Kijun cross and the Chikou is below price and about to exit the cloud. In the second image I show where price acted as resistance for the Chikou. You can also see heavy resistance in the future for the Euro making it more likely that it continues lower in the coming month.
IMO the Chikou is the most important line in the Ichimoku system. Its similar to a momentum indicator where you want no obstacles in its way.
Donāt mess with the numbers - they arenāt based on Japanese work weeks at all - this is a common misconception that is incorrect.
I currently use it on the 1 min chart but my settings are different. I use 8,5,3 and only use the cloud as the enter and exit. IF the candle closes outside the cloud on the up side (buy) and is not touching it then i take a buy order one tick above the candles high. The opposite for a sell. I target around 4 pips per move, granted it will give a lot of signals but i only trade it from 3am to 6am NY time to only.
I have pictures if you like.
Just wanted to chime in on this.
Yertleturtle is correct about messing with the numbers, although Iām guessing he got this info about the Ichimoku Number theory from my webinar I did on it via Big Mike Trading.
Goichi Hosada spent 4.5years studying both eastern and western number theories and the core numbers he got out of his studies were 9, 17, and 26. When one really understands the entire ichimoku number system, the rest really come out of these numbers, but perhaps Iāll talk about this further in the future.
Iāll be writing an article on this on my website soon, but the main ichimoku numbers have a certain vibration that hosada had discovered, and that is why I always recommend keeping the original ichimoku numbers regardless of time frame.
Hope this helps
Kind Regards,
Chris Capre
Founder
2ndSkiesForex
Hey all,
Newbie here and first post, love this forum!
I want to practice the Ichimoku, can you provide me with some platforms where i can do that for free? Preferably Mac enabled 
Appreciate it
The only Mac enabled one I know of is ThinkorSwim from TD Ameritrade - otherwise you might have to run parallels or another virtual machine. There are indicators for it in MT4, Tradestation, Ninjatrader and Ensign. Iām sure others as well but those are the only ones I know of first hand.
Oandaās java based FxTrade platform has the ichi. So start a demo with them and practice away!
Can you share what is exact settings for 5min 15 min TF.
Hello Chris,
I donāt really understand your phrase. Do you mean that the ichimoku setting people should use is 9/17/26 (instead of the traditional 9/26/52), or do you mean that we should keep using 9/26/52, and that this setting is result of some calculation involving the numbers 9, 17 and 26 ?
Thanks for your answer.
Hello koopa,
Good questions.
The main ichimoku settings are based on the ichimoku number system, primarily the 9,17,26 numbers which are considered the basic numbers.
9+17=26
9 is a basic number and a part of the tenkan
The 26 is the kijun
26 x2 = 52 which is part of senkou span b
That is a basic breakdown, but what im saying to be clear is to only use the traditional ichimoku settings
As they are based on ichimoku number theory, not the days in the work week
Kind regards
Chris
Hello sheriffonline,
I thought i answered this in the question above
Its the same rgardless of the time frame
Ichimoku settings are based on ichimoku number theory
Not time frame
So keep the same settings regardless of the time frame
Hope this helps
Kind regards
Chris
ichimoku is the :(worst indi for me
Hi Chris (2ndskiesforex)
Iāve doubt on IKH.
In IKH D1 Time frame, the trend is down trend. , but in H4 the trend is uptrend.
Which trend we need to follow?
Tenken cross Kijun below the cloud at we know it is a weak signal. But if we wait the candle close above the cloud, does it mean is a strong signal? Confirmed with Chikou line is above candle.
The problem is after the candle close above cloud, then the candle reverse back and give us a false signal. How to avoid this? Use Chikou Line?
One of the book suggest us do not trade in the thick cloud, may i know the reason?
Iām not sure what book it is.
Will you jump into the trade where the candle (up trend) far away from Kijun Line?
Chris, I know you are a professional trader and i know you via your website few months ago.
Itās surprise for me to see you over here.
Hope you can answer me for those questions.
Thank You,
Regards,
tonyshieh
Hello Tony,
I apologize for the delay as I was moving internationally over the last two weeks, but am back in full stride now.
In regards to your question about which trend to follow, the daily is to give you the overall trend, while the 4hr ideally is aligned with the daily trend. If its not, and the daily trend is strong, then you have to consider you are taking a counter-trend trade and understand from an ichimoku perspective how to gauge that strength.
In terms of the tenkan and kijun cross, if the cross is an upward cross below the cloud, its still a weak signal regardless of the candle close. The strength of the signal is dependent upon where the Tenkan and Kijun cross, not the candle per se. But, you have to learn how to read the chikou span as well as that will provide information about this as well.
As to what the one book suggests, I cannot comment on that as I donāt know what book it is, nor the authors reasoning or system. I have my own methods for trading ichimoku and thick clouds which can be used to ones advantage if they know how to read them.
But hopefully this gives you some ideas.
Kind Regards,
Chris
Hi Chris,
I think this is what you have wrote in previous article.
If the tenkan upward cross kijun below the cloud, we shouldnāt trade until it breaks the cloud. If price breaks above Kumo we can open a BUY trade. Am I right?
Can you please advice with this candle on the left side? The chart never show Tenkan and Kijun line, but i believe it upward cross. The candle break the cloud and it fall back. If based on IKH,
āIf the tenkan upward cross kijun below the cloud, we shouldnāt trade until it breaks the cloud. If price breaks above Kumo we can open a BUY tradeā. Can we avoid this happen?
http://ichi-mo-ku.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Screen-Shot-2012-02-12-at-19.59.19.png
ā
Thank You,
Best Regards,
TonyShieh
Hello Tony,
In this chart, I am not seeing the tenkan, kijun or chikou, so please resend it with all the elements so I can inspect it properly from an ichimoku perspective.
Thanks in advance.
Kind Regards,
Chris
Does nobody trade the cloud anymore?
I am currently using it, I think it has potential but I think using another indi maybe to help
