SpideySense

Ahh the joy of indicators. If anyone is looking for another hobby while waiting to trade - try a programming course at edX or Coursera. Free and a lot more productive than indicators vs timing.

Yes. Given the populations around the world it shouldn't be too hard to use multiple regression to establish whether there are statistically valid links between various explanatory variables and the response variable "murder rate." So there must be relatively unbiassed studies out there. What was the outcome?

If it's based on what price has done it's technical analysis; and although I believe that there are many paths to success my own approach has evolved towards simplicity. I'd prefer the thread stay away from market internals, bid and ask volume, and anything that isn't generally available across most of the world's markets. Also, from me at least there'll be a lack of indicators and an attempt to focus on robustness. I'll put up a series of ideas for discussion that I think can contribute to profitable trading either as exit, entry or both. So the first straw man is this: Longer time frames give more reliable signals, be they highs and lows or patterns of price action.

Strength of opinion seems proportional to ignorance. Ain't the internet wonderful. Have a look at Chan's free stuff. There is lots of it and if his way of thinking seems to fit yours then pay for the product - you might get an insight that would take you years of watching markets tick up and down if you got it at all.

A second copy lets me trade the same thing with no connection to the first (different client id numbers). A third copy runs on a different timezone for forex trading so that I see the world from a european viewpoint. Synching between new copies is just a matter of copying critical files across. sierra3.cfg, accounts.config, plus some others ... look at what changed most recently when you shut sc down. Yeah, I am not entirely fond of some elements of the attached order logic. You tend to get used to what you use a lot over time.

Nice thread Steve. It's been interesting to ride along and watch how another person develops and trades their perceptions.

Yes, you can run net and non net versions in different folders. I typically run 2 copies of SC for trading only one of which updates the data for the symbol (the other relies on the first to have updated the data file). You can also have seperate data files for each copy. And they can be different revisions of SC as well as net vs non-net. They can also use different data providers. It's designed to be flexible. If nothing is happening I may open another SC for system development so 3 isn't unusual for me. Others seem to go far further. At the moment there isn't anything I need the chart trading to do differently. It seems intuitive to me and lets me manage things as I like. I think Ninja is much more heavily into the net framework than Sierra ever was so there is probably more potential for issues. I havent used ninja for years so I don't really know.

It is a good platform for your use. They focus a lot of keeping it fast and low on resource utilization (great panic whenever anyone reports increased usage). I use the non-NET version of Sierra Chart because it is slightly faster and tighter. I chart trade but don't use the dom so you'd probably want to get the trial and see what you thought. You default to confirming a lot of order entry / mod stuff but can turn it off (I just click, drag and release on the chart to place my order from a customizable chart trading menu, customizable brackets are displayed and placed with your broker when the entry fills). NET runs slower (because more needs to be done) and is potentially less stable simply because stability is at risk whenever you add an extra layer of complexity. To be honest though I've never heard complaints that the .net version is less stable - I think its all about speed and platform compatibility (quite a few people seem keen on linux/wine use of Sierra).

On the general subject: if you just want to trade and use standard indicators then Sierra will probably offer a price performance package that can't be beat. If you want to just program it using the spreadsheet or you want to use ACSIL and already know how C fits together (you don't really use C++ features or C# or anything fancy) then it can't be beat. If you're going to program it then you really don't want to be a newbie - but if its just spreadsheet style manipulations of indicators it should be pretty easy. But if you already know and like something else; or if you want to do complex programming and don't get/like C++ style programming; then you might well not like it. Then one of the others like multicharts might be better for you. On the .net question. NET is a complex framework to let programmers in microsoft environments do stuff (pre windows 8 ... the world is moving towards html5 and less proprietary approaches now). But it adds complexity. So it is slower than just coding it in C++ (which is what Sierra Chart is built on). So the Sierra people are trying to move away from .NET which creates a leaner faster package that will likely be easier to use in non-ms environments as well.

Both links work for me on Google Chrome and Pale Moon x64 (faster version of firefox).

I don't get this post. The chart shows that their spreads are not a patch on Oanda's and thus will come a poor third to a real broker like Interactive Brokers. So was @leonelucy5 being sarcastic or shilling for the company --- I am always suspicious of first posts with such radical enthusiasm. By way of a recommendation, I'd bet that both IB and Oanda were a better brokerage choice than tfc.

LOL Steve, As you might have guessed, I enjoy your work and your response to some of those who deserve a little smacking around. They really do make it easy. But you do stir it up unmercifully with some of your phrasing. Perhaps you intended it but possibly not so I'll point it out. "You are one of the few who seems to have ..." I suspect that lots of people, especially those who don't participate in the repartee, have paid attention. Even some of the challengers. But using "You are one of the few" does seem to inflame the urge to confrontation when compared with something like "I really appreciate you and others who ...." or something like that. Of course, if you intended the barb, then please carry on and ignore my suggestion; as most suggestions are to be ignored or quickly forgotten anyway. Cheers

Its always bad news when someone starts by admitting that they are innumerate and then starts talking about statistics. What follows just displays their ignorance and is best ignored - although you have to love the use of the word "but."

Are there any traders (day or swing) on the Gold Coast who're interested in occasional meetings. Or perhaps one to find out if more would be worthwhile. I've no strong feeling on format although if there are enough of us it would be worthwhile to have something presented each time. If you're interested post here or pm me. I'm a day trader (Asian Markets) and potential forex swing trader (W, D, H4, H1 bars). Been at it for quite a while.

I suspect that the answer is part of the old trading answer: you need to combine a lot of things to make it work. So it may be that AA = conceptual skills, AA = enough maths maybe, AA = did at least do the work required to get the degree. And you probably aren't completely stupid. But obviously that isn't enough. A twat who gets an MBA is still a twat. And trading is about a lot more than the skills tested while acquiring a degree.

It's possible that like most vendors Pete will never get beyond giving away trite truisms that others give away for free too. More bait for the sucker newbie? If it smells like xxxx and it looks like xxxx, then you'd have to be stupid to taste it.

Try Sierra Chart. The cost is very low and the base packages include free forex feeds (as well as some non-forex free feeds).

In windows, just installing the non-net over the older version works. In fact you can swap back and forth between them with fresh installs as the key file that changes is SierraChart.exe. Not sure why it would be a problem with wine. If it was me I'd just uncompress the sc installer and take out the three files that change with most upgrades and substitute them in the wine directory (make sure that linux / wine doesn't have extra copies hidden around though).

A friend of mine searched the web for info on the odds enhancers and created two description files and a spreadsheet for trade evaluation based on info sitting out on other boards. He published it in OpenOffice format. I've converted it to bill's format for those who are open challenged. Learning to methodically test each potential trade's quality is one of the keys to this method imho. Enjoy . Probability Enhancers.zip Probability Enhancers (Microsoft ver).zip

s2prasad's post is interesting. "They" are not defined. But I am one of "they" in that if I see a move toward stops and it doesn't move more than x beyond I will try to benefit. It's not the broker here, its your opportunistic trader(s). This illustrates why IB have so many different ways of setting stops now (double tap etc). If your market does regularly show certain group behaviours then you may want to use non-standard stops. Either that or use a programmable platform like Sierra Chart to build complex off exchange/broker server rules for exit.

If you think that happened (assuming it was recent) then contact IB by phone or web. They will go back to the time and sales and if there is a problem then you'll be fixed. But I'll bet that if you do it you'll find that the (real, full) time and sales includes a trade before yours that tripped the stop. Also though with IB ... there are a lot of different ways to set up stop tripping so make sure you actually understand how you are set up.

No. They aren't. At least not normally, and not systematically. And not the IB you are a customer of in your transactions. But your problem may explain why most of us enter with limit or stop limit orders. If you give away the spread then it is always going to be a cost of trading. If it was a bucket shop like oanda or fxcm then the spread goes to the shop. If its an ECN/Exchange trader like IB then the spread is between you and your counterpart when you enter the trade. There is a chance that TimberHill might be the counterpart from time to time. In that case, yes, someone in the IB group of companies is the other person. TH and IB broking maintain chinese walls and the size of their broking business negates the speculations that one sees at ET that they would get enough from screwing little guys by breaking those walls to make it worth the loss of business if it was ever discovered. What market do you trade where the spread is regulated. In every market I've ever traded with IB its a true exchange and the spread is determined by someone willing to sell to my buy or vice versa.

Out of curiosity I read the article. There is no evidence in the article, just a rant by someone who wanted to parade his ego before the forex tsd crowd.

I would also be interested in a longer term view ... 3 months, 6 months, a year. Why? Because psych/motivational courses are notorious for giving a perception of value during and just after completion and failing to result in any behavioural change a year out. Also, the Jungian stuff is pretty discredited, actually very. But constructing an advocate within your own thinking (or 5 or 6) can be a useful technique for helping one think outside of ones own brain and existing patterns. Schwartz, a practitioner well known in the OCD field in his book "You are Not Your Brain" and others seem to suggest that people construct a "Wise Advocate" to assist in doing the sensible thing. So, it might well work in this context. I'd also like to know who felt necessary to go to Rande for more help after the course and roughly what sort of money they paid. I read the book and felt that it was primarily bait for more support - the solution and process to get to a solution were not in the book. So did the course meet that requirement or is more support needed; and if so how much more? PS. If one of your Jungian mind constructs starts whispering in your ear about killing the president to improve your trading outcomes you might do well to become suspicious. Perhaps a visit to a real psychiatrist would be a good idea at that point.

OK. So much for your argument that others need to be evidence based. That is not evidence in the modern psychological or social science meanings of the word, so there is no evidence then.