Hi OT and others. I have been trading for about 4 years (unsuccessfully for about 3.5 years). My accounts (demo and real) are just starting to see some advancements in the last 6 months where previously there was a lot of downward movements. In the past I have done the indicator thing and been burned, probably because I didn't trade correctly with the indicators. For instance MA crosses, or price/close relative to MAs can make money. I guess my biggest mistake was to expect that every trade can turn into a nice big trend and make me rich!!! I have radically altered this to expect only a small targetted profit on each trade (1 lot) using a fibonacci extension target (132%, not 138%) then moving the stop to breakeven+ on the remaining portion (1 lot) to see if it turns into a trend.
An MA setup that I have been watching closely for some months now is the 2-3 SMA of the Open vs the 2-3 SMA of the Close - where SMA Close above SMA Open = uptrend and reverse for downtrend. Price crossing down the 2-3 SMA of the High and price crossing up the 2-3 SMA of the Low can be used for efficient entry points. I also enter similar to one of the previous posters with (for long entry) crossup of the previous bear candle's open and (for short entry) crossdown of the previous bull candle's open.
I have also been looking at trying to count Elliot Waves for entries and exits and have done some excellent trades when I got the counts correct. Of course, when you get the counts wrong you're stopped out...
Just my 2c worth... I have also invented an indicator which seems to indicate trend, but will post on that later with a chart when I am at home. I look forward with interest to the development of this thread.
As for instrument, my preferences are for those with the least spread, which for me are EURUSD, GBPUSD, EURGBP, FTSE100. I have spreadbetting accounts where I trade these based in the UK, although I now live and work in Brisbane, Australia.
Regards, Chris