optiontimer

My thoughts on that will become clear as the project progresses. 1) The wording in the poll said nothing about MA crosses. The choice winning choice is "Dual Moving Averages (Short MA relative to Long MA)." This will be used simply to determine the long-term trend. It is not in any way, shape, or form a signal to act upon. The choices I gave in the poll were deliberately "unadventurous," as one of my goals is to keep it simple. 2) The particular indicators do not matter at all. That is why I set up the polls. I did not want to be responsible for picking the indicators. I want to put together something that "works" based upon the result of a democratic vote. 3) What does matter with respect to the system we will develop here at traderslaboratory.com is the long-term trend and the short term-trend. This is why I had to reserve the for myself the decision as to the specific parameters of the indicators chosen by the forum-at-large. Nothing wrong with the common, the popular, the "old," as in at least one respect, this project is meant to make what is old new again. Thank You, -OT

This poll closes soon, and it looks like a safe bet that we will be using dual moving averages as our longer term trend indicator for out traderlaboratory.com trading system. As with the specific parameters of the RSI that we selected as out short term momentum indicator, I reserve the right to select the specific moving averages for the system. Having said that, I'm open to suggestions. So ... anyone? Thank you, -OT

Not looking good for next month either - Mysticforex is MIA since 6/1/2011. He's either on vacation or he is no longer interested in traderslaboratory.com Maybe MadMarketaScientist could sett up an Oanda contest for July. I just closed my second Oanda trade for June - it should show up in the results tonight.

There is no income; only capital from which to draw down to meet expenses. Capital can be destroyed through trading losses or converting it from cash or cash equivalents to goods and services. Capital can be created through trading profits or from savings from earned or unearned income. Gurus preach "trading for a living," and speak in terms of "income," "making your own hours," "being your own boss." It is a dream, and they sell it remarkable well. Let's wake up from the dream, and forget about trading as a job. If you are going to support yourself off of an accumulated capital stake, then the first thing you need to do is get down to the business of creating that capital. Because, bro', 10K ain't gonna cut it.

I would think that much of your difficulty springs from the above quoted material. You have organized your mind around trading for a "regular income" - think profits, not income. Good Luck, -OT

It may not seem on the face of it that these two suggestions are compatible, but I am leaning toward an arrangement similar to these two suggestions. Again, a main criterion here is to keep it simple. Thank you, -OT

As Blowfish said, if it helps you "see it" that's all that matters, but I also agree with Blowfish that it looks like someone dumped a plate of spaghetti on top of your chart. It's good that it works for you, but I hope to keep it simple with this project. Thank you, -OT

I'll take all suggestions under advisement, but again, I reserve the final decison for myself. I'd still like to hear from more traderslaboratory.com members about what they would prefer to see traded.

Wish you well with the Ichimoku. Strikes me as a very cluttered way to view price action.

I'm glad you decided to join us, Carpet Cleaner. What do I plan on trading? I might need yet another poll, hmmm? For now, I'm open to suggestions from anyone who wishes to voice a preference as a sort of informal poll. I'll reserve the right to make the final decision as to what I'll be trading. I can say that I plan on setting up a sub-account at Interactivebrokers to trade the system, so I will have no limit as to which instrument(s) I trade except that of margin requirements and whatever money management regimen I implement. I'll transfer 25K into the sub-account it to prevent a PDT problem from arising should I choose to trade stocks or stock options. As far as what to trade using the system we'll develop here, I'm open to suggestions. I may add a poll addressing the issue if for no other reason than to see where the preferences of Traderslaboratory.com users is concentrated. Thank You, -OT

Thank you for the kind words, Ingot54. I would like to point out two things: 1) My plan is eventually to develop a system which I will trade in a real money account as this project progresses, and 2) the results from trading a highly levered demo account in a contest will differ greatly in magnitude from what I would achieve trading a real money account. My main goal will not be to gain x% per day or week or month. Rather, my main goal will be simple: No Losing Months. Losing trades? Of course. Net/net at the end of each month, the goal is to be flat to positive. So let's get ready to not lose some money! (sometimes you need to split an infinitve to get you meaning across). Thank You, -OT

Thank you, SIUYA, would you mind posting a chart as a visual aid to your explanation? Thank you, -OT

This poll is related to this previous poll posted last week here at Traderslaboratory: The Traderslaboratory community selected the RSI as the indicator that I will use it to determine the short term trend for the trading system that we will put together here at Traderslaboratory.com. While the community selected the indicator, I will choose the period for the indicator as it will be applied to the system at hand. Again, if you vote "other," be so kind as to post to this thread just what "other" indicator you would select. Thank you for your participation, -OT

This poll has closed. The indicator chosen by the Traderslaboratory community is RSI. I will use this indicator as the short-term indicator for the system I will compose and trade in real time here at Traderslaboratory. The community has selected the indicator. However, I will select the period we will use. It will be short - between a 3RSI and a 9RSI most likely. I cannot add a new poll to this thread, so I will have to start a new thread with the pole which we will use to select the indicator which will be used to determine the long term trend of our trading system. I think it best that the moderators close this thread at this time, and this is a developing project, and this thread has served its purpose. Further discussion and comments may be posted to the thread which will accompany the next poll - which should be posted soon. Thank you to those who participated in this poll, and to those who offered comments and insight as well. Thank You, -OT

Yes! Yes! Yes! A kindred spirit, she is!

For long term trends, when using the RSI, as with any oscillator, I would suggest that you must use a greater number of periods. A 9 period RSI on a daily will tell you very little about the long-term trend of a security. A 50 period RSI on a daily chart, however, can tell you quite a bit about the longer term trend of a security. The manner in which you apply the RSI would likely differ in each case. On the 9RSI, for example, perhaps you would tend to use it as an overbought/oversold indicator, where RSI>80 is overbought, and RSI<20 is oversold. On the 50RSI, perhaps you would look for RSI>50 to define longer term trend as up and RSI<50 to indicate longer term trend is down. As with any indicator, or with price action itself, "accuracy" is in the "eye of the beholder." Too often we, as "beholders," have no idea what it is we're looking at, and that is where I think my little exercise here at Traderslaboratory.com might help one or some of those struggling to make heads and tails of what it is they are "beholding." Thank you for sharing your observation concerning RSI vs short-term vs long-term. Play with the number of periods on any of your favorite oscillators. See what happens when you select a period far shorter than you would normally select. Then see what happens when you select a period far longer than you would normally select. Think outside the "indicator box" that most canned charting software software includes as "default" settings. Too often, that "box" becomes a prison cell for the trader's mind. Tonight, we're going to have a jailbreak ... Thank you, -OT

Thank you, SIUYA. My intention is to use the oscillator which we are currently in the process of selecting as an overbought/oversold indicator that will be the alert we will use to watch price for an entry. I would consider the Donchian channel, and I assume you would agree, to be an indicator useful in determining overall trend. From your post, I feel that you too hold that view. The next poll will choose the particular indicator we will use to determine the overall trend, and I will include the Donchian Channel amongst the choices. Thank you for your very good suggestion. Thank You, -OT

I see we have one vote for RSI, and one vote for "Other." If you choose to participate in the poll by voting "Other," take one extra moment and post the name of the indicator you'd suggest. Thank You, -OT

Lately, I see many posts/threads here at Traderslaboratory about traders who are struggling, wondering if they should give up and quit, wondering why they can't "get it." I would like to try to help. I am going to put together an indicator trading system and trading plan in real time here at Traderslaboratory.com I want input from fellow posters/lurkers as to which indicators I should use. I need one indicator to major trend, and one indicator to determine minor trend, which I consider most visible using a momentum oscillator. I am going to try to post a poll. Please vote for your preferred indicator. In this poll, we will determine which momentum oscillator I will use to build the system. If you vote "other," please post in the thread which "other" you are suggesting. As for the major trend indicator, that will be another poll. But if anyone would wish to make a suggestion for an indicator to include in that poll, please post your suggestions here. Thank you for your participation. -OT

Resigned? From the thread? From the contest? I don't understand.

So are we on for June, or is the contest defunct? I just closed trade number 1 for June regardless.

Hi Ho, Silver ... Just waiting to pick my spots and for the past few weeks those spots have been few and far between.

It has me at 0%, but I am up a bit more than that. It shows me with two trades but no drawdown and no percent return.

Does Oanda only update the contest once per week? Those stats are the same as yesterday's.

Having said that, I managed to squeeze off a silver day trade today. Had a long entry order on GBPJPY that has not triggered.