Stochastic Forex Indicator

Friday, February 25, 2011




The stochastic Forex oscillator tool is a popular indicator employed by all kinds of traders in their Forex trading analysis. Momentum is the most important employ of this indicator. Traders in general make use of three types of stochastic indicators. They are made up of the slow stochastic, fast stochastic plus the full stochastic tool.





They operate very similarly. However, the most common kind utilized is the slow stochastic indicator. Stochastic indicators are based on the theory that prices normally close in the higher trading ranges when in an uptrend.





The reverse is also assumed where prices will close in the lower trading ranges in a down trending financial market. Momentum remains strong when this happens. There are two main indicator lines in the stochastic tool. These two lines are the %D in addition to the %K lines.





This is another oscillating banded indicator just like the RSI Forex indicator. A range of 0 to 100 is where the two %k in addition to %D lines range. The 80 in addition to the 20 line signify extreme trading ranges.





As mentioned earlier, this tool can also be utilized to spot oversold plus overbought conditions. Making it similar to the RSI indicator yet again. Should the indicator breach the 80 line, this is a sign that conditions are overbought. If the indicator trades below 20, the financial instrument is oversold.





Forex traders also apply the stochastic oscillator to verify if market momentum is diminishing. If the indicator is in an opposite trend than the market then momentum has weakened.





Stochastic oscillators also offer the trader the alternative to employ cross over systems. It involves a cross of the faster %K over or above the slower %D line. Should it cross above the %D line, this is an indication that it may be a good time to buy. The reverse would suggest a sell signal.





As with moving average indicators, traders should avoid using the stochastic oscillator when the markets are ranging. It is mostly applied with a variety of other Forex indicators for its true benefit to be seen.


Read more...

Why RSI, the Relative Strength Indicator, Surpasses All Other Momentum Indicators

Thursday, February 24, 2011




Whether you are a seasoned trader, or a brand new trader, learning the key concepts of the RSI, Relative Strength Index, is perhaps the most important thing you can do to advance your trading career.





The concepts are simple to learn but not readily available. Instead, the mythically incorrect concepts of RSI are perpetuated on nearly every site. These are:





1. Sell when RSI reaches 70 because price is overbought.


2. Buy when RSI reaches 30 because price is oversold.


3. When price crosses 50 RSI, this can be a good entry point.


4. And divergences are good trading signals.





It is easy to provide statistical data that shows that this information is incorrect.





There are reasons however that RSI can be a great tool to add to a current trading system or to act as a standalone trading system.





Here are three of the strongest reasons however, there are many, many more.





1. Because RSI takes into consideration time, price and momentum.


2. RSI has 4 signals that create profits.


3. Understanding the location of divergences and reversals on RSI will give you deep insight into the current market condition regardless of time frame or currency pair.





Traders who focus just on price do not take momentum into consideration. Because RSI is a leading indicator it can predict with accuracy where price is going. No indicator will be right all the time however, RSI will give you telltale signs that will tell you about the strength of a trend and the possibility of trend changes. Traders who make consistent profits take into consideration the aspect of time, price and momentum and understanding RSI is crucial to that end.





The second point above is one of the most important points any trader should know. If a trader understands the 4 trading signals on RSI they will elevate their trading game to the highest levels. There are two kinds of divergences and two kinds of reversals. Knowing all four and how they interact is crucial to reading any currency trading chart.





The 4 signals are: Positive and Negative Divergences and Positive and Negative Reversals. Divergences statistically are known by most traders but reversals are not. Reversals are the most powerful of the two signals and best for entering, exiting and re-entering trending markets. Divergences are best of retracements and predicting coming reversal points.





There is strong statistical data available that shows which signals should be traded in down trends and which should be traded in up trends. Knowing the difference can be the difference between profit and loss.





The last point is by knowing the location of these divergences and reversals in context with one another one can begin to "read" the market. For example, the current EURUSD hourly chart has created in less than 72 hours of trading; 3 negative divergences and 4 positive reversals. This indicates that the market is moving up and gives the traders specific points of entry.





In addition, because of the specificity of entry, stop losses and take profits can be reliably placed making risk and reward calculations much easier.





Traders who learn the proper concepts of RSI which are not typically found on most Forex websites and in most Forex trading courses will be well on their way to understanding the markets and putting money in their pockets.


Read more...

How to Trade Forex With Woodie's CCI (This Really Works!)




When I first ran into Ken Wood (known as Woodie) and his method of trading using a CCI indicator, I though he was full of it.





I mean, some of the things he says are pretty crazy. For example he talks about he looks for patters on an indicator.





We all know that indicators lag price. So he had to be knowing about things in the price after they'd occurred. Well, it's true that the CCI lags (otherwise it would be predicting the future, and that's impossible), but it's lag isn't that great.





Furthermore, the CCI does something that really helps. It makes things easier.





I mean instead of watching the price bounce all over, you have just one line. Thing about it. For each time period (for each bar, that is), you have four prices, a high, a low, and open and a close.





With Woodie's CCI, you have just one. The value of whatever the price is there. That's it.





So it really simplifies things. Then if you carefully look at some of his patterns (e.g. the zero-line reject or the ghost or any of the others), you notice something.





All those patterns show fundamentally sound trading opportunities in the price action (due to support and resistance concepts usually).





Woodie recommends just using the CCI indicator with no price. I'm going to contradict him. Well, somewhat. Here's the deal.





You need to tune yourself into the market. You need to understand what a good ghost looks like. You can only do that by watching the price at the same time and getting a grasp of what the market is doing.


Read more...

The Best Forex Trading Strategy That Hardly Anybody Uses




The best forex trading strategy that nobody uses would have to be price action. It's strange that this is the case, when you consider it's the oldest form of technical trading. Floor traders like Jesse Livermore became legends by just trading off of the price movement of the underlying stock on the market floor.





He would mentally note the key areas of where he spotted support and resistance, and trade off of that. The amazing thing is that forex traders could be doing that today, 100+ years later. Unfortunately, most traders don't trade like this. They would much prefer to put a bunch of indicators in their charts and hope for the best.





When you trade price action, you are the indicator. There are no shortcuts in this. To some, that's a bad thing. But if you take the time to look at the history of trading, you'll notice the theme that most successful traders preach about learning price action.





If you think about it, it's the only true way to see the markets. There is no filter involved. It's just you and the market, and can you understand what it's trying to tell you?





Following price action allows you see things like the TRUE support and resistance levels, how to spot trends, and how to tell where the future price is headed. The key is to get rid of all the shortcuts that you are using. This means no indicators, forex expert advisors, or any of the other bells and whistles.


Read more...

How To Find Profitable Forex Indicators

Wednesday, February 23, 2011




Foreign exchange trading is a risky business. It takes careful analysis and decision-making. Among the many tools to help a trader in his analysis would be the usage of something visual, something that he can see. These tools will help in increasing the chances of having bigger returns. One such tool is Meta Trader 4. Meta Trader indicators are foreign exchange guides. All metatrader indicators can be used for formulizing trading strategies. Some examples are general purpose indicators, divergence indicators, statistical, and free indicator. Divergence is frequently considered the top indicator. Divergence is the movement of price in relation to other indicators like MACD, CCI, Stochastic, and the likes. Regular divergence could mean getting higher highs or lower lows of price but the indicators are showing otherwise.





With Metatrader 4 (MT4), security is highly prioritized. It is user friendly and provides features customized for beginner traders. There is no need to be too highly technical to learn forex trading because the tool can be easily understood. It also has a feature to update the trader with any market changes. It can also handle multiple currency inquiries at the same time, perfect for training needs especially of non-English users.





For someone new to trading, MT4 and MT5 may be just a combination of letters and numbers. In simpler terms, MT5 is the upgrade of MT4. MT or Metatrader is the platform that supports the tools needed for foreign exchange trading. MT5 is currently in beta version and promises to produce better results than MT4 indicators. You will know more about the other indicators by visiting trading sites online like Forex Indicators.





One example, aesthetic-wise, the interface is quite the same except that icons and spacing has been elaborated, to address the MT4 issue of too compacted icons and space. This, however, doesn't have much help to expert traders, especially those who do not really care about how the charts look, but what the charts indicate.





Another is that the charts are mostly the same as that of MT4. MT5 however, supports more timeframes, for example, 2-minute chart or an 8-hour chart. These options are now default options unlike in MT4 where users would need to customize the settings to achieve such charts.


Read more...

Best Forex Trading Indicators - 2 Types of Tools That Can Explode Your Trading




Trading in the foreign exchange market was once a privilege only for large banks and major currency dealers. However, through the advancements of technology more and more "normal folks" are now able to buy and sell on the market from the comfort of their home.





But without the normal education that the pros get, new traders can feel left out in the cold. This is why many traders wisely turn to Forex Trading indicators to help get a handle on profitable trading.





The fact is that these are powerful tools that can help you to organize and measure movements on currency pairs.





The Myth About Forex Trading Indicators





A lot of traders, especially beginners, are led to believe that Forex trading indicators are some sort of secret that will take them down the path to riches.





However most seasoned Forex traders will tell you that this business involves hard work, risk, discipline and the ability to follow rules and trade through tough periods during and draw downs. In other words, if you are looking for a guarantee, trading is probably not for you.





The Facts About Forex Trading Indicators





That said trading the global foreign exchange market can be a highly profitable business, especially with the high amount of leverage that most brokers will give you.





However it is critically important to learn the basics of how to uncover profitable trading opportunities with simple Forex trading indicators.





The Two Types Of Indicators





Forex indicators can be placed into two basic categories - the continuation indicators that follow trends such as moving averages, and those that analyze the velocity or momentum of price movement.





These types of indicators work simply because they define and organize the patterns into an understandable set of tools. Once you learn how to recognize and interpret these indicators, they will tell you which market force, if any, is strongest and where or when there may be a significant imbalance between the two opposing forces that will move the markets.





Moving Average Indicators





Moving averages are one of the most popular and easy to use tools available to the Forex traders looking at timing up or down trends. They help show underlying market movements and can provide additional supporting information on buy and sell decisions.





Moving averages work best when a market is trending, and are less effective when a currency pair chart moves sideways (in a trading range).





This means that you need to first identify markets that display some trending characteristics before attempting to use moving averages.





Moving averages may seem boring compared to other technical indicators, but there is more than meets the eye when it comes to this simple tool.





Moving averages can be applied to any price or data series to generate buy and sell signals for both long and short positions. And they can be used to establish support and resistance points in the markets.





Momentum Indicators





Momentum or Rate of Change oscillators involve the analysis of the rate of price change ,rather than the price level that Moving averages use. The speed of price movement and the rate at which prices are moving up or down provide clues to the amount of strength or weakness of a currency pair at a given point in time.





Momentum oscillators, such as RSI, stochastics, or MACD, are a favorite indicator of many traders and they are best applied to non-trending or sideways markets. So they are the best tool to use when a Moving Average indicator is practically useless.





This is because momentum indicators are generally a leading indicator, and will often move before price action does.





These Forex indicators are set up as an oscillator type of indicator. They help to reveal turning points and extremes when a market has been flat for some time. In physics, momentum is the tendency for an object in motion to stay in motion, and this is the principle behind the momentum indicator.





Combine For Best Results





Between these two indicators you should be able to build a solid trading tool box. Moving averages for currency pairs that are moving up or down with regular consistency, and Momentum indicators for the times when the markets move lazily sideways.





One More Consideration For Forex Trading Success


Read more...

Spot the Day Trading Indicators




Professional day traders always have a strategy, this means that they have a method that is designed to have a positive effect on a certain trade that could last as little as a couple of hours. The day trading strategy is the most popular strategy out there and it is for this reason that many forex experts provide strategies that are used for day trading in the stock market.





The great thing about the forex currency market is that it is particularly liquid, this is the reason that a great number of people can use the same strategies and day trading indicators without having a significant effect on the markets pip prices. The art of being a successful day trader is to have plenty of discipline, there are many times when you may have a loosing day but you will need to be able to look at these loosing days and not worry. This is the mindset of a successful day trader.





If you do not have a set plan of action then you will find it impossible to become a successful day trader, there are far too many other people trading on the stock market. People who trade on the stock market are attracted by the huge leverage and the many other benefits that are available to the day trader. The problem with this is due to an influx of new traders the currency prices can be pushed up and down without the use of any set strategy or system.





It is of utmost importance to know the personality of the market you have decided to trade in, I say this because each market has it's very own characteristics and day trading indicators that must be known by the trader if they are to be successful. Day trading in the stock market is no different, you need to be able to look out for the various day trading indicators and know exactly what these are.





As I have said before the secret to success day trading stocks is to have a good system or strategy and be disciplined enough to stick to it, this way you will be sure to turn a profit.


Read more...

  © Blogger template The Professional Template II by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009

Back to TOP