This thread is moving so fast I cannot keep up!! :o
If you have questions of me, then please post them in bold red and I will answer them.
So far, everyone seems to be able to analyse their own mistakes.
I am busy setting up the final PDF so my posts will be a little limited on here at the moment.
To [B]muthusai2000 [/B]:
Although your trading is now excellent, there is one serious mistake you are still making on a continuous basis…
You are using the Basic level strategy in the Advanced level.
That is, you are now entering 2 amounts (good) and exiting one after only 10 pips and letting the 2nd amount…exit early too!! :eek:
The method here is to let… [U]both amounts run to the maximum[/U]. 
That is the whole idea of the starc bands - to give you complete and comfident control of your trade, knowing that the trade will run until the starc bands turn.
So to correct your trading procedure…
Do not exit one amount early but let both amounts run.
Let both amounts run the full starc band course of the trade - [U]do not exit prematurely.[/U]
Do not panic if you see an opposite candle forming - keep your eye on the mid BB and then on the starc bands!!
[B]If you do this, then you will get the full benefit of this Advanced level by gaining the maximum number of pips possible.[/B]
Tymen:
Thank you so much for your valuable advise. I will keep that in mind when i run my future trades. Your tips are humbly taken. Yes you are right, i do panic (even though it is a demo trade !) I think i must work on my emotions too.
Regards,
Muthu.
Chennai.
India.
Now I must look at that failed trade of [B]DodgeV83[/B].
That is a very serious loss and it requires attention.
This “trade” was a NO NO from the start!! :eek: :eek:
Lets have a look at it >>>
I have re posted your images here so that you can refer to them immediately.
Lets go thro them one by one, starting with the 1 hour…
[B]1 hour [/B]- this is a [U]non pattern.[/U]
The pattern is not a pattern until it is complete.
The complete is nothing here.
Further it is not on the upper BB.
[B]40 minute[/B] - again a non pattern - there is nothing here.
Again not on the upper BB.
[B]30 minute[/B] - a non pattern as it stands.
The star is bigger than the 3rd candle which is all wick.
The “star” is red - not recommended.
Again it is not sufficiently on the upper BB.
[B]25 minute[/B] - a non pattern as it stands.
The star is bigger than the 3rd candle.
The “star” is red - not recommended.
This barely passes the upper BB seating.
This leaves only the short engulfing pattern on the 20 minute chart.
And this is the one you did not choose!! 
Lets go thro the 20 minute chart…
Firstly, it was fraught with danger because the upper and mid BB were going up rather strongly.
The 1st green candle started at 3.00 pm (your time)
The 2nd red candle started at 3.20 pm
The entry candle started at 4.00 pm.
[B]OK, lets do another post and look at that 4.00 pm trade on the 5 minute chart which you posted.[/B]
This would have been the trade, even though it is very risky indeed >>>
The thick, black vertical line is the 4.00 pm entry candle. (red).
The mid BB is going up against us at this point even though the starc bands are going down.
The best entry is shown at 4.10 pm when the mid BB is level and the starc bands are going down.
The top of the red candle is the approximate entry point.
The "good exit is chosen because the exit point is very much outside the lower BB.
With 2 amounts you would have been battling to make 10 pips on the trade - is it worth it.
I would not have taken this trade because of the BB risk factor as stated above!!
So, in summary, that leaves you with no trades on this screen!!
So I say to DodgeV83 at this point :
Pretend you are a job interviewer.
Check your candidates carefully.
Some are just slobs dressed up for the job application.
Be very particular, and rule out all applicants if they do not fit the job criteria!! 
Looks like MikeTye was trying to locate the Bearish Engulfing pattern on EUR/JPY 25m chart on which a trade was posted yesterday. MikeTye was not able to spot the pattern on 25m EJ. So he posted how his chart looked. I wonder if patterns can show such differences on different brokers charts ? On mine it was a bearish engulf, while on the chart he posted it shows an evening star as you have noted.
Regards,
Muthu.
Chennai.
India.
I think it must be something to do with my timezone being slightly different or something because as Muthu says, I was looking for the engulfing pattern mentioned before. The chart I posted was 25 minutes, the same as Muthu’s and I checked it in both Dealbook 360 and Marketscope and it wasn’t until I changed it to 20 minutes TF that it came up
I just realized that there is an option of PM that i became eligible to post. Sent out two test messages to Tymen and Dodge. Hope it worked.
Muthu.
Hi Tymen,
First, I want to thank you for your amazing threads on Candlestick trading. I’ve spent a week going through both, and they have been an enormous help. You have made a massive effort to teach people, and I’m sure hundreds are benefiting.
Second, I have a few questions I would like to ask:
In the trade above, from the beginning of the thread, How did you know to make the second “dark red” trade? The starc bands seem to be changing direction, and the BB look like they may be condensing. 
I saw these rules:
Do not trade a pattern if the first candle of the pattern is passing thro (breaching) the mid BB.
Do not trade a pattern if the last candle of the pattern is very close or breaching the mid BB.
Do not take a trade if the BB are very narrow - there will not be enough pips in the trade.
And I am wondering, how close to the outer BB should the candlestick patterns be? Should at least one candlestick pass through, or is it ok if its 5 pips from the outside BB?
Finally, I am using MT4 and I noticed a possible error in the code that’s been floating around. The following line:
MovingBuffer[i] = iMA(NULL,0,MA_Period,Shift,MODE_EMA,PRICE_CLOSE,i);
uses an exponential moving average, but I believe the formula for Starc bands calls for a simple moving average, which would be:
MovingBuffer[i] = iMA(NULL,0,MA_Period,Shift,MODE_SMA,PRICE_CLOSE,i);
Thanks for all your help!
Thank you very much for the analysis! I know it must be frustrating to keep repeating the same rules over and over and over again. In the heat of the moment, one forgets the rules 
Don’t worry, I’ll get there :o
Good catch!
Here is my assessment of your finding.
Tymen 5 minute chart in Dealbook:
Tymen 5 minute chart in MT4 with your adjustment to SMA:
Tymen 5 minute chart in MT4 as we were using it before your SMA adjustment:
I will do some more testing and update the template if necessary.
Edit: Looking at these charts closely, there are many differences. Are they big enough to make a difference in live trading? More testing is needed.
To help with the comparison, I have overlayed the Original MT4 Tymen Starc Values (aqua) on top of the SMA MT4 Tymen Starc Values (dark red orange). This should help see the difference, again compared to the Dealbook chart.
Ema responds to price changes more faster than Sma and it gives more weightage to more recent price changes as against Sma which gives equal weightage to price changes over a period of time. Having said that in terms of short term trading, the difference is not much. However, if we trade bigger lots during this short term trading, Emas definitely carry an edge over Smas.
Just my thoughts
Regards,
Muthu.
Chennai.
India.
I have been trying to get into this forum all night but no luck.
The usual message - “This page cannot be displayed” kept coming up.
I do not know whether it is a satellite problem from Australia of what??
…because I am getting this problem quite frequently!! :mad:
No, it was everyone. Seems the forums were down for most of today and are now back up.
John Bollinger and Fred Stoller would definitely have known this when they invented the Bollinger and Starc bands.
They chose the sma in both cases.
I am certain that they knew exactly what they were doing.
[B]So I am not going to change anything!![/B]
The PDF is now well under construction.
I am setting up a host of Word files ready to be converted to PDF.
But I may have to re-edit all the stuff first - it is nice but looking too complex!!
Using English a bit more tactfully, I think I can simplify it a lot.
If at any point you need help producing the final draft, I’d be happy to provide editing help, graphics and PDF bookmarking (I know some folks don’t know how to do this part) if the content is a goodly amount.
Should I ever be able to figure all this out, I’d also be happy to narrate a series of how-to videos on the technique for others (like myself) who could really use someone talking them through it step-by-step.
These rules are not negotiable.
No candle of the pattern should pass thro the mid BB.
The mid BB serves as a target profit line, so if the candle is close to this line, then there is not enough pips profit potential.
