Just wondering if trading hammers is a good idea. Just wondering if I enter a trade whenever I see a reversal candle in the form of a hammer would that be a good time to enter a trade after a move of 50 to 100 pips or more?
I’m looking for another indicator I can use along with candles(hammers). Any ideas?
It’s a great idea, but like you said you need something to go along with it. A hammer isn’t really enough to base a trade on by itself.
I use Support/Resistance and trendlines with them.
Trading reversals when a hammer (or other reversal candle/pattern) form on a S&R level or near a trendline is pretty much 90% of my trading strategy. 
I do not believe that a hammer is a good candlestick pattern to use as a trading signal.
They are everywhere - its hit and miss (excuse the pun!!) 
There are much more reliable 2/3 candle patterns available such as evening star, short and long engulfing patterns, dark cloud cover etc.
Go to the following and learn…
Japanese Candlestick Charting Explained
http://forums.babypips.com/newbie-island/19339-joy-candlestick-trading-part-2-a.html
You are suggesting that a dark cloud cover is more reliable than a hammer? Steve Nison seems to intimate that he would trade on a hammer but that dark cloud cover is ‘indicative of trouble ahead’.
He said that he would consider taking some profits and DEFINATELY wouldnt commit more funds, but that it wasnt a sell (or buy) signal.
Ive seen a lot of Steve Nison material and to be honest im starting to think that candles arent so good for intraday anyway (which i trade). Not saying you cant use it in conjunction with other indicators but i think various signals are stronger in a long timeframe (and even stronger away from forex)
Agree about evening/morning star though, thats about as strong a signal as you can get in candles. Its very easy to get other signals (such as bearish/bullish engulfing patterns) wrong on a low timeframe chart IMHO.
Again im new… so not saying your wrong about dark cloud cover… Just never looked at them that way becuase thats not what i learned. If that is what your saying i will keep an eye out for reversals on dark clouds from now on.
Cheers
Yes!!
Agree about evening/morning star though, thats about as strong a signal as you can get in candles.
See, you are now saying it yourself!!
The strongest frequently occurring patterns are evening star, dark cloud, short and long engulfing, morning doji star…
Steve Nison seems to intimate that he would trade on a hammer but that dark cloud cover is ‘indicative of trouble ahead’.
The trouble ahead is the probability of the price action going thro a reversal.
He said that he would consider taking some profits and DEFINATELY wouldnt commit more funds, but that it wasnt a sell (or buy) signal.
Depends on the situation - in my candlestick method, the dark cloud cover is a very reliable signal to trade short.
Ive seen a lot of Steve Nison material and to be honest im starting to think that candles arent so good for intraday anyway (which i trade). Not saying you cant use it in conjunction with other indicators but i think various signals are stronger in a long timeframe (and even stronger away from forex)
On their own they can be tricky at times. But in my candlestick method we specialize in short time frames and the method has been specially developed to meet the needs thereof.
The method is very successful.
Its very easy to get other signals (such as bearish/bullish engulfing patterns) wrong on a low timeframe chart IMHO.
Not if you are using my candlestick trading method - which is not really mine but rather an amalgamation of the best tried and true proven methods in forex such as using multiple trading contracts, Bollinger band confirmations etc.
Again im new… so not saying your wrong about dark cloud cover… Just never looked at them that way becuase thats not what i learned. If that is what your saying i will keep an eye out for reversals on dark clouds from now on.
Why not join the many who are already contributing to the candlestick threads?
The thread hyperlinks are given in the post above.
Gah MORE reading lol… Cheers dude i will check it out. I also notice you have condensed the most important elements into one PDF (that has been duly saved to my desktop lol)
That is a VERY good idea! Many thanks and see you in the other topic in a few minutes with more questions lol…
Cheers