Tick chart trading

[DbPhoenix 42]

It was quite a crew back then.

[eminiman414 10]

Can you explain "tick activity"? I see different up and down moves on the 1 tick chart at different speeds but I also view how my chart scrolls by as a type of movement as well. So an example my chart is scolling by at a steady pace horizontally lets say yet on the vertical scale price moves up and sideways with that same scrolling pace. I also see those spurts on the chart but not sure what to do with them yet. I have definitely observed lower volume slower pullbacks within a trend and having a 1 min chart w volume alongside has helped to show that to me.

[kuokam 10]

So, it is a trade off between accuracy and timeliness.

 

  DbPhoenix said:

If you're set up for 1kt bars, then the probability that any given set of bars is going to be followed by another of the same type is 100%, if that's all you expect, which has nothing to do with whether or not 2 rising ticks are going to be followed by another uptick. What is more important is the message you get from two upticks followed by an uptick rather than a down tick.

 

Which leads back to what you're looking for in the first place. If, for example, you're looking to trade breakouts thru resistance, then you'll watch the ticks to see where they stall and retreat, stall and retreat, stall and retreat. Then if and when they break through that level, there's your entry. This will depend in part on the activity level, i.e., is there a sudden increase in tick activity just before the next attempt to break through whatever level price stalled at? Or are the ticks just drifting aimlessly? If you follow bars that are aggregates of multiple ticks, not only will you not see any of this, you'll be too late to take the scalp, if that's what you want to do. If you decide to do more than scalp, then a time bar may be of greater benefit.

[DbPhoenix 42]

  eminiman414 said:

Can you explain "tick activity"? I see different up and down moves on the 1 tick chart at different speeds but I also view how my chart scrolls by as a type of movement as well. So an example my chart is scolling by at a steady pace horizontally lets say yet on the vertical scale price moves up and sideways with that same scrolling pace. I also see those spurts on the chart but not sure what to do with them yet. I have definitely observed lower volume slower pullbacks within a trend and having a 1 min chart w volume alongside has helped to show that to me.

 

Buying and selling waves are characterized by extent and duration, i.e., a move can rise or fall quite far in a very brief period of time, or it may do so over a more extended period of time. Clearly the faster it moves directionally, the more urgency. If there is a lot of activity but little movement, then you have a lot of effort but not much if any result.

 

You don't have to "do" anything with any of this. You can't see any of this activity in a bar, though you may see at least some of it if the bar interval is very short. The point of this is to become sensitive to what traders are doing to move price, if anything. What seems directionless will seem much less so when price gets to a level where traders see opportunity and it suddenly bursts through resistance. If you are able to detect these levels in advance, so much the better.

 

Wouldn't hurt to re-read The Daytrader's Bible

[DbPhoenix 42]

  kuokam said:

So, it is a trade off between accuracy and timeliness.

 

Please clarify.

 

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[eminiman414 10]

  DbPhoenix said:

Buying and selling waves are characterized by extent and duration, i.e., a move can rise or fall quite far in a very brief period of time, or it may do so over a more extended period of time. Clearly the faster it moves directionally, the more urgency. If there is a lot of activity but little movement, then you have a lot of effort but not much if any result.

 

You don't have to "do" anything with any of this. You can't see any of this activity in a bar, though you may see at least some of it if the bar interval is very short. The point of this is to become sensitive to what traders are doing to move price, if anything. What seems directionless will seem much less so when price gets to a level where traders see opportunity and it suddenly bursts through resistance. If you are able to detect these levels in advance, so much the better.

 

Wouldn't hurt to re-read The Daytrader's Bible

 

So then faster directional moves show greater pressure in the direction price is traveling. Would that be greater effort, greater result? Then if price was jumping around like a mexican jumping bean around lets say a very tiny range that would be a bigger effort with little result. I can see effort/ result better when the tick chart slows down, but when it gets quick and jumpy I start to lose it alittle. I do see those strong quick directional moves let's say upward for example, but then I see a quick burst of speed downward cutting into that up wave just as fast if not sometimes faster then the up wave itself, however it does not break the swing low. What's that all about lol???

[DbPhoenix 42]

  eminiman414 said:

So then faster directional moves show greater pressure in the direction price is traveling. Would that be greater effort, greater result?

 

Yes.

 

  eminiman414 said:

Then if price was jumping around like a mexican jumping bean around lets say a very tiny range that would be a bigger effort with little result.

 

Yes.

 

  eminiman414 said:

I can see effort/ result better when the tick chart slows down, but when it gets quick and jumpy I start to lose it alittle. I do see those strong quick directional moves let's say upward for example, but then I see a quick burst of speed downward cutting into that up wave just as fast if not sometimes faster then the up wave itself, however it does not break the swing low. What's that all about lol???

 

What do you suppose sellers have in mind when they're doing that? And why are buyers letting them do it?

[eminiman414 10]

I suppose the sellers are becoming more aggressive trying to retard the move up. Maybe the buyers are weakening which is allowing for that? I suppose based on what I have been studying these behaviors are important but even more so at potential s/r. If we are nearing R i suppose a reversal could be in the works, but if the buyers come back hard as well breaking a swing high lets say, then I suppose buyers are still in control despite the sellers best attempts? The more I notice these things, but yet think about them after or later at night I guess I have to say well what happened next.

[DbPhoenix 42]

  eminiman414 said:

I suppose the sellers are becoming more aggressive trying to retard the move up. Maybe the buyers are weakening which is allowing for that? I suppose based on what I have been studying these behaviors are important but even more so at potential s/r. If we are nearing R i suppose a reversal could be in the works, but if the buyers come back hard as well breaking a swing high lets say, then I suppose buyers are still in control despite the sellers best attempts? The more I notice these things, but yet think about them after or later at night I guess I have to say well what happened next.

 

It's also worth noting in your example that sellers were unable to break the swing low, i.e., buyers halted the decline. This has implications for their being able to reverse it and drive price up.

[eminiman414 10]

I recognized that as well. The more I watch the more it makes sense. This is awesome stuff. I'm sure I'll have more questions for you! lol

[kuokam 10]

If you need more confirmation before taking the trade, then the more ticks the better. If you want in earlier, then 1t chart best.

 

 

  DbPhoenix said:

Please clarify.

 

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[Predictor 11]

I have never used tick charts and have always been dubious of them because a tick chart can make a very short amount of time look like there was time to take action. But, I don't trade off charts at any rate..

 

Still the common/most obvious charts have always looked best to me.. maybe because so many traders are watching those

[DbPhoenix 42]

  kuokam said:

If you need more confirmation before taking the trade, then the more ticks the better. If you want in earlier, then 1t chart best.

 

Depends on what you consider to be confirmation. Consolidated ticks make a bar, and the bar isn't necessarily better unless one knows how it was created.

 

Similarly, a 5m bar is just a bar unless one watched it being created. Then it may be of some use.

 

One can, of course, consolidate ticks in his head into bars, but if one is going to do that, why use a tick chart at all?

[henryduncan12 10]

A note about Forex tick charts. With Forex we only know the number of trades during a period of time and not the number of contracts traded. So on a tick chart when we plot volume there is no trade volume size. If you want volume information on a Forex chart you’ll have to stick with conventional time-based charts and plot tick count as a proxy.

[BlueHorseshoe 10]

  henryduncan12 said:

If you want volume information on a Forex chart you’ll have to stick with conventional time-based charts and plot tick count as a proxy.

 

If you want volume for any liquid FX pair then why not just use the actual volume of the relevant currency futures contract?

 

BlueHorseshoe