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Showing content with the highest reputation since 07/31/08 in Posts
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7 points
I Look Back Now and Wonder
elevatecapital and 6 others reacted to bootstrap for a post in a topic
I wasn't sure where to put this, so the powers that be can move it if they see fit. I put it here for anyone who is just starting out and wondering what it really takes to become part of that elite club of profitable traders. I lurk on several trading forums. I join a few and make a few posts. One thing that I rarely see is the painful path one took to becoming successful. So for all you beginners here is what becoming successful took. For my fellow brethren that are already in the club have a good laugh. The markets had always lured me as a kid. I would read the paper and make predictions. Sometimes they were right; sometimes not. Then one day I got that famous commodity-trading flyer, sent my money off and took the plunge. My first stab at trading was commodities and I started with $5k in 1991. I was using the strategy as outlined by the guru. The account was gone within a few months. Well that didn’t work. I thought, people do this everyday and make money why not me. So off to the library. I read every book the Memphis library had on trading and investing. I paper traded the strategies I found while I built my bankroll back up. I learned exits, set-ups, position, expectancy, market psychology, and portfolio management. I soon realized that I was reading the same thing over and over no matter which book I checked out. Time to build my strategy. I am ready to do this. I bought a new computer, Metastock Pro 6.0, and opened an account with $30k. Its 1995, and this is my shot. By 1997 I was toast again. The family life went to hell in a hand basket, and I thought I could trade through the difficult times. The result was an account with a balance of $2500. Back to the drawing board. Took care of the personal stuff. Lived like a monk raising capital. Worked nights and watched the market during the day. Took a second job on the weekends to raise more money. Then one day out of the blue, the little red and green candles started to make sense. I saw patterns develop over and over in the same spots. I placed a trade and made a profit. But I had done this before. I removed the MACD from my charts. Placed another trade and made a profit. Maybe I am on to something. Removed the channel indicator that I stumbled across. I could still see the action and new what the MACD was doing and where the action was in the channel without them even being on the chart. I even stopped drawing trend lines. It was just me and the screen. I planned every trade. I knew exactly when, where, and why I entered and exited. I was patient. I became a predator. Lurking and waiting. I took every shot the market gave me. If it started to go wrong, I got out quick and waited. If the market did not give me an opening, oh well. There is always tomorrow. By the fall of 1999, I was consistently profitable and have been ever since. For those that are waiting for the sales pitch, there isn’t one. For those that are waiting for me to expose some great secret, well there isn’t one of those either. What I will give you are a few simple pointers that I learned the hard way. And the sad part is, most will stilll learn these the hardway. 1)Take everything you read with a grain of salt. That includes this post. 2)Never pay for a system. It is just not that easy. 3)If something comes up in your life that is distracting, stop trading. 4)Plan every aspect of your trade down to the smallest detail, and plan for every possible outcome. 5)Develop your own strategy. Don’t let someone tell you that you can’t trade a simple moving average if you truly believe you can. 6)Test the strategy in the market that you will be trading. If you like the results, trade it in another totally unrelated market and see if it still holds up. 7)Paper trading is ok, but there is nothing that truly tests the strategy like hard earned cash. 8)You will have to make sacrifices in order to make it. I still do. In the middle of my learning period I was working 18 hours a day during the week and 12 on the weekend. 9)You are responsible for everything when it comes to trading. That includes stop running, bad fills, limit moves, your PC crashing. I mean everything. See #4 10)And last but probably most important, don’t be afraid of failure. Just do like Edison and go, “Well that didn’t work”. Good trading to you all. -
3 points
Best Candlestick Book / PDF??
nivana and 2 others reacted to LindsayBev for a post in a topic
Donald, here is the pdf version of the book, if you are interested. While a bit "salesman-like" in its approach (all of what he claims cannot possibly be true or it would be the Holy Grail), it was packed full with pictures, commentary and helpful information. Enjoy. Profitable_Candlestick_Trading-HERE.pdf -
3 points
Wyckoff Resources
Michael OX and 2 others reacted to rangerdoc for a post in a topic
I'm not one to make a habit of bumping old threads, but based on earlier discussion, this is clearly the best place to post a link to the original Wyckoff course: The Richard D Wyckoff Method of Trading and Investing in Stocks: A Course of Instruction in Stock Market Science and Technique. Wyckoff - Course.pdf -
2 points
Reading Charts in Real Time
fxThunder and one other reacted to thalestrader for a post in a topic
Hard to believe its been almost 11 years since we had a great year in this thread. I think of you guys still. I wish we could have a reunion week here for any of you who are still trading ... or even if you're not. Maybe the first or second week of June 2020. If interested, drop a note here and perhaps an email address if you don't plan on checking back. No more forex for me - just stocks, ES, and NQ. As always, Best Wishes, Thales -
2 points
Why Screen Time Is Important
Soultrader and one other reacted to bootstrap for a post in a topic
Here is something that should get pretty lively.. Since everyone keeps telling you that screen time is important, there has to be something to it. But nobody is telling you what you should be looking for. What is it going to teach you? There has to be something that those who do this for a living see that you don’t. Well there is. And just like the magician that exposed the secrets to magic tricks on national TV, I am going to tell you what we see. But before I do remember one thing. Take everything you read in a forum or book, or hear from a guru or in a seminar with a grain of salt. Question everything. Only when you prove it to yourself, does it become the rule. What I am about to share can be found on thousands of sites and in countless books. If you have done any research at all, you have come across Dr. Elder’s triple screen, or some permutation of it. You understand the principles behind using multiple frames of reference. What has most likely not been explained to you is why it works or how to apply it correctly. In most cases you are only given a single example. Single example you say? Yes, when most first stumble across using multiple time frames, they follow the rules of: Use the upper time frame to identify the trend, the middle time frame for the set-up, and the lowest time frame to enter. If by chance you are not familiar with the triple screen just goggle “triple screen +elder”. Trading instruments exhibt three different types of market action in any given frame of reference. You use multiple frames of reference (i.e. Time or ticks) to identify the current market environment. These markets are: Trending, Trading, and Volatile. Why screen time is so important is that all instruments do not exhibit the characteristics of Trending in the upper time frame, Trading in the middle, and Volatile in the lower at all times. They can be in any one of the following combinations at any given time: Trending/Trading/Volatile Trending/Volatile/Trading Trading/Volatile/Trending Trading/Trending/Volatile Volatile/Trending/Trading Volatile/Trading/Trending Or any one of 84 possible market combinations if you consider Volatile/Volatile/Volatile. Like the major pairs in Forex, the combinations I listed are what I consider the major market combinations. The elusive secret that you are looking for, and what screen time teaches you, is to identify which market combination you are in and then how to trade what you see. Or better yet, when to stay on the sidelines. Each combination requires a different strategy, and some may not be tradeable at all. If you are trading across a broad range of instruments, you only need to master one. The fewer instruments you trade, the more market combinations you may have to learn. But you have to learn them one at a time and only add the next one once the first is mastered. But you ask what about Trending/Trending/Trading? Or how about Volatile/Volatile/Volatile? Or if I use Weekly/Daily/Hourly I get Trending/Trading/Volatile but if I use Daily/Hourly/Min I get Trading/Volatile/Trending. One step at a time grasshopper. One step at a time. As I mentioned there are 84 possible combinations. Multiply this across thousands of instruments and countless frames of reference, and I hope you get the picture. You do not have to learn them all. You only have to learn the few that fit you, your chosen instrument and frames of reference. Find the market combinations that are most prevalent and learn to trade only those. This is why it takes screen time to learn to do this, and why each trader is different. It is also why three traders in the same instrument will be doing something different. Trader A will scalp, trader B will be a buyer, and trader C will be seller, and they all make money. They are using different frames of reference and therefore see a different market -
2 pointsTo become a full time traders, it will take years. Full time trader is smiliar to becoming a lawyer, Doctors, etc. The problem is many people believe day trading es is "get rich quick." If it takes 5 yrs to become a doctor, it will take 5 yrs to become a full time trader. I have no clue why people believe they can become a full time trader less than 1 yr. If that is true, why does it take a long time to become a doctor, lawyer, etc. According to the Gov report, 97% of the people lose trading in the futures market. One of the reason they lose is, they failed to understand trading futures involves substantial risk and only risk capital should be used. All brokerages and few trading school websites have those risk disclaimer. But for some reason, most people FAILED or ignore the risk disclaimer. For those who are a successful full time traders took them yrs to get there. Plus, they fully understood that trading es is NOT A GET RICH QUICK and trading futures involves SUBSTANTIAL RISK!!!!!! hope this help
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2 points
Trading The Wyckoff Way
Soultrader and one other reacted to DbPhoenix for a post in a topic
Put simply, support is the price at which those who have enough money to make a difference are willing to show their support by retarding, halting, and reversing the decline by buying. Resistance is the price at which those who have enough money to make a difference attempt to retard, halt, and reverse a rise by selling. Whether one calls this money professional or big or smart or institutional or crooked or manipulative or (fill in the blank) is irrelevant. If repeated attempts to sell below this support level are met by buying which is sufficient to turn price back, these little reversals will eventually form a line, or zone. Ditto with resistance. A swing high or low represents a point at which traders are no longer able to find trades. Whether that point represents important support or resistance will be seen the next time traders push price in that direction. But everyone knows this point, even if they aren't following a chart. It exists independently of the trader and his lines and charts and indicators and displays. It is the point beyond which price could not go. Hence its importance, both to those who want to see price move higher and those who don't. The first two posts to this thread address these matters, as do others here and there. However, finding S&R in real charts in real time takes more than just a couple of posts. But one must understand the nature of support -- and resistance -- itself before he begins to look for it. Otherwise, he will find what he thinks are S&R in some very peculiar places. Before coming to any conclusions about what “works” or “doesn’t work”, and thus does or does not provide an edge, one ought to keep in mind that a given event -- such as price seemingly finding support or resistance at a trendline (or moving average, candlestick, Pivot Point, Fib level or whatever) -- may be only incidental to what is truly providing that support or resistance. A fundamental misunderstanding of how "indicators" are calculated and what they're supposed to do can lead to all sorts of off-task behavior. We think we see the indicators indicating something, or not, and believe we have made an important discovery. We then devote our efforts to improving the hit rate and the probability of whatever it is we think the indicator is indicating when our efforts ought to be focused on determining whether or not the indicator is actually indicating what we think it's indicating. In most if not all cases, it isn't. Consider the virgin being tossed into the volcano: sometimes it results in a great crop, sometimes it doesn't. Maybe tossing her in earlier or later will change the probability of a healthy crop. Maybe two virgins are better than one. Maybe six. Maybe tall virgins are more effective than short ones. And surely age is important. But does the robustness of the crop really have anything to do with tossing the virgin into the volcano in the first place? The money under the pillow is not evidence of the existence of the tooth fairy, and spring will arrive regardless of whether the virgin is tossed into the volcano or not. (Db) -
1 pointAs you may know by now, ESG stands for environmental, social and governance, which are the three factors business managers and investment advisers are implored to take into account when making business and asset allocation decisions. It’s a scam, just like the Green New Deal is a scam. Oil and natural gas are so critical to national security, transportation, home heating and other critical functions that prices are heavily politicized and manipulated for better or worse. The Biden administration has declared war on carbon-based energy sources starting with oil and natural gas. On day one of his administration, Biden closed the Keystone XL pipeline. He has since banned new oil and gas exploration leases on federal lands, handicapped the fracking industry with new regulations, banned offshore drilling and used regulatory powers to stop the building of new refineries. Biden has also pushed through green new scam legislation that showered hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies for wind turbines, solar modules, electric vehicles (EVs) and EV battery manufacturing. Don’t Tell This to Elon Musk Here’s the problem with these batteries: Despite manufacturers’ efforts to market electric vehicles to the masses, EV models have never been scalable, sustainable or ultimately successful. Plus, the problem of producing enough power for a successful transition from gas-powered vehicles adds major headwinds for the EV market to contend with. No amount of marketing can overcome these fundamentals. The first hurdle is a matter of chemistry. Batteries for EVs are made from cobalt, lithium, nickel, copper and other base metals and compounds. Despite some efficiencies in the manufacture of batteries, there have been no major technological breakthroughs in the specifications for batteries in over 100 years. Batteries have always been the constraining factor for EVs. In 1905, 90% of the taxis in New York City were battery-powered. In the 1950s, 100% of the East German postal system used battery-powered delivery trucks. Golf carts have been a reliable form of EV for decades. The simple fact is gasoline is by far the most efficient way to power an automobile. That will remain the case as far as the eye can see. Urgent Note From James – Response Requested By Midnight I just made a massive change to my Altucher’s Investment Network newsletter. This is one of the biggest changes to a newsletter in the history of our business… As far as I know, nothing like it has ever been done before. I’m adding 3 brand-new benefits to this all-new “Pro level” of Altucher’s Investment Network. And as one of my readers, I’d hate to see you left behind. That’s why – until MIDNIGHT tonight – you’ll be able to upgrade your current subscription to this new “Pro level” by clicking here. Seriously. Just click here now to see how to claim your upgrade. More Problems In addition, all of the chemicals and metals needed to make batteries are either in short supply relative to potential demand (especially lithium) or incur enormous costs in terms of electricity, diesel fuel, heavy equipment, waste and disposal of ore and unwanted byproducts. It’s likely that more coal- and oil-fired electricity generation will be needed to build an EV battery than will ever be conserved by the vehicle itself. Even assuming these chemical- and fuel-based hurdles can be overcome (an unlikely assumption), the U.S. power grid is not close to being able to provide the power needed for a fleet of EVs even a small fraction of the size demanded by the Green New Scammers in the Biden administration. If EV usage grows even slightly more from current levels, we can expect brownouts and blackouts as local and state power grids struggle to keep up with demand. Tesla customers are already starting to complain about long waits at charging stations. Quick-charge gimmicks don’t help if you’re the fifth car in line for a charge. I know some owners who plan take-out dinners on long trips while they wait two hours or more for a charge. Simply put, batteries don’t work at scale for transportation. This has been known for more than a century. Nothing has changed. And for what? The Green New Scam and the environmental component of ESG all trace back to climate alarmism. Garbage Climate alarmism has no basis in observable science. It’s all the result of climate models, which have been consistently wrong about warming because they reflect the biases of their programmers. The climate change models are garbage (and yes, I have studied them and understand the math and complex dynamics and I know why they’re garbage. They can’t even backtest reliably let alone forecast. Like I said, garbage). So the threats of “existential crisis” and “we’ll all be underwater in 10 years” are based on garbage. If you listen to the climate alarmists, they’ll tell you we only have a few years to save the planet. If we don’t eliminate CO2 emissions quickly, the planet will warm, sea levels will rise, storms will intensify, cities will be inundated and lives will be lost to starvation, disease and dehydration. Every one of those claims is empirically false, but that doesn’t stop the global power elite from trying to shut down the oil and gas industries and replace power generation with solar, wind and hydropower or so-called renewable sources. Hardly a Crisis Here are the facts: The best evidence is that the planet is not warming, but it may be cooling under the influence of a periodic minimum in solar flare activity and increased volcanic activity (the two may actually be related), which creates an atmospheric ash layer that cuts down on sun intensity. Sea levels may be rising slightly, but the tempo is about 7 inches in the next 100 years. That’s hardly cause for alarm considering that sea levels rose 400 feet since the end of the last ice age and humans adapted just fine. CO2 is a trace gas that makes up just 0.04% of the atmosphere (400 parts per million) and doesn’t have a major impact as far as science can tell, except that it is essential for plant nourishment. Based upon recent studies, a doubling of carbon dioxide would likely result in a temperature increase of only about 1.5 degrees Celsius. That’s hardly a crisis. But the war on oil continues anyway, and it’s not ending. How to Invest There are many moving parts to this story. Oil has gone through extreme ups and downs over the past five years. The Green New Scam and the mishandling of delicate supply has pushed oil stocks into critical territory. I believe it’s an excellent time to look at select oil stocks. Notice that I said “select.” Not every oil stock will be a winner, even when the price of oil inevitably charges higher. I’m also looking at refining and pipelines, Appalachian coal and the Marcellus shale gas region. I believe they’ll deliver huge gains over the next few years. These are ways to profit from energy, despite the ESG scam. Right here, I talk about my strategy for surviving and thriving through this storm. Author: Jim Rickards Profits from free accurate cryptos signals: https://www.predictmag.com/
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1 point
Forex Broker
Mikael Rahvar reacted to sachpazidisboris for a post in a topic
Hello there! can anyone reccommend me a good forex broker? -
1 pointIn a previous thread, [thread=1962]Part I[/thread] I introduced the Volume Distribution Function in the form of a volume histogram plotted along the price axis (see figure 1 of that thread). The length of the bars extending out to the right represent the amount of volume traded at that price during the day. The distribution has a peak which I call the peak volume price or PVP ( also known as the Point of Control in Market Profile Analysis, but I won't use that term here in order to avoid any confusion). . The volume distribution is a probability function, thus trading occurs less often in the low volume regions of the distribution compared to the high volume regions. However I also stated that the distribution function is dynamic and that the shape of the distribution changes during the day such that the PVP may change abruptly as the trading day progresses. As such, if price action is in the low volume region, it does not mean that there will be a reversal back to the high volume region. The distribution function could simply expand itself and continue moving in the same direction with an eventual abrupt change in the PVP. This was shown by the price action in figures 2 and 3 of the previous thread. In order to shed more light on this, I want to introduce the concept of the volume weighted average price or VWAP. The VWAP is a well known quantity used by institutional traders to gauge there trading performance. It's use as a day trading tool however has not been fully explored. The VWAP is simply the average of the Volume Distribution Function. The figures below show examples. The red line is the PVP of the distribution and the light blue line is the VWAP for the distribution. To compute it, take the volume Vi for each bar i in the distribution, multiply it by the bars price, Pi, compute the sum, SUM(PiVi) and divide by the total volume, Vtotal, for the whole distribution: VWAP = [sUM (PiVi)]/Vtotal The VWAP has the following characteristics: 1) Being the average for the entire distribution, Volume traded above the VWAP is identical to volume traded below the VWAP. In terms of the distribution function as a probability function, it means that when price action is at the VWAP, there is equal probability for price to move up as there is for price to move down. As corollaries then we have: 2) if the VWAP is above the PVP, then more volume has traded above the PVP than below it. The distribution function is thus skewed to the upside and the expectation is that at the PVP, price action should move up. Take a look at the figure below, the ER2 for June 28,2007. At the end of the day, the VWAP (light blue line) is at 847.98 and the PVP at 846.60. The VWAP > PVP hence more volume was traded above the PVP than below. 3) Conversely, if the VWAP is below the PVP, then more volume has traded below the PVP than above it; the distribution function is skewed to the downside and the expectation is that when price is at the PVP, price action should move down. You see this in the following figure for ES on June 11, 2007. The VWAP is at 1525.32 and the PVP is at 1528.75. VWAP < PVP. Clearly the amount of the skew will be a function of the difference between the VWAP and the PVP. 4) If the VWAP approximately equals the PVP, then the distribution function is symmetric. In this case when price touches the PVP, there is no expectation of price movement in either direction. Instead, expect to see small oscillations about the VWAP. The next image shows this for ER2 on June 22, 2007. VWAP = 840.44 and PVP = 840.20. Oscillations about the VWAP occured for most of the afternoon starting at 13:30. 5)The VWAP and its relation to price also determines the trend of the market as follows: a)If Price >> VWAP, the trend is up b)If Price << VWAP, the trend is down. . 6) Finally it doesn't matter on what time scale you plot the distribution functions and its associated VWAP. The chart could be a 1, 2 ,3 minute etc time chart, or a tick chart, or a range bar chart or a volume bar chart. The distibution and hence the PVP and VWAP are all the same. You need only take a quick glance at the VWAP and its relation to price, to decide the trend of the market. In future threads I will present some examples of how to use this information for entering a trade. In [thread=2008]part III[/thread] we will start with the newbies, since they need the most help. After that we will look at more complex situations using only the distribution function and the VWAP. There is a lot here to digest, so I will stop for now Comments are welcome. JERRY
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1 point
Forex Trading
TradingForex MadeEasy reacted to Johnjohnson for a post in a topic
Hello Guys!! Actually, I am new in Forex Trading and I want to learn more about it. Somebody recommend me VOLUMEFX to learn more about Forex Trading and trade with them. Is anybody from you is trading with VolumeFX? If yes, can you please share your views about them, so that I can choose the best one! -
1 point
Which is good for investment?
JohnSmithK reacted to TamirZoltovski for a post in a topic
While there are several investment options to choose from, an investor still requires a substantial amount of capital to build a diversified portfolio. This capital need can be a special challenge for young investors, as they may have minimal savings to invest. Thus, Tamir Zoltovski (Co-founder of Moneta International UAB) says ETFs (exchange-traded funds) make it probable to have a diversified portfolio with comparatively low investment thresholds. -
1 point
Which is good for investment?
JohnSmithK reacted to Stan1 for a post in a topic
Well I don't know. Good is only defined by you. What might be good for me might be disastrous for you. What are your goals? How much do you have? These are some of the questions you need to answer. Do you have a trading plan? I might post mine here to help. Most of all, you need to be sure of your own decisions. Asking for what trades are good is a sure way to lose your money. I could tell you what to trade then trade against you and basically just rob you. Learn your own system to trade. Do you have good resources? -
1 point
Gauge upcoming high volatility
ChimpTrader reacted to zdo for a post in a topic
Have you looked at tweaking https://www.incrediblecharts.com/indicators/chaikin_volatility.php Basics = On charts: - statistically speaking, nothing has been found in markets that comes closer to following linear cycles than 'volatility' - statistically speaking, sideways ‘congestions’ are followed by ‘volatility’ - statistically speaking, narrowing ranges are followed by expanding ranges “statistically speaking” means these indications give no "gauge" / information about the size of next move or the risks involved... only that ‘activity’ typically follows ‘inactivity’ ie-with options, nothing (outside of astro) is reliably predictive of the variance of the next move... ie with buying options, you have to figure out a way to play all the major waves in order to be there for the outliers ie- hope you’re writing ‘insurance policies’ into screaming volatilty instead of buying them in dead volatility... who makes money ? the insurer or the bozo who buys policies left and right... took taleb years to figure that out and he’s a pretty smart cookie... sorry - off topic now.... and congestion time is due to end ... hth -
1 point
Which indicators you like and why
Donald reacted to divyanshisharma for a post in a topic
"Moving Averages, Oscillators, Woodie Are the only indicators that i like to use for trading. -
1 point
What is the best trading strategy suited for beginners in Intraday, swing or trend trading?
divyanshisharma reacted to zdo for a post in a topic
Well there you go nameat. Follow that and you will trade "without bearing any loss" -
1 pointActions for the 16th. Price was choppy and indecisive and I knew it at the time but tried to make something out of nothing, all trades scraped the bottom of the barrel.
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1 pointAdjusting Stop to 1.3202...just below entry.
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1 point
Investment Opportunities Offered By Cryptocurrency Amid Scams In The Industry
TLadmin reacted to optionstrategies18 for a post in a topic
Scams have made headlines since the inception of the internet and with the advent of cryptocurrency, the topic is still trendy. The scam in the cryptocurrency space, both recorded and unrecorded continues to multiply on a daily basis with recent updates suggesting that about $9 million is lost daily to cryptocurrency scams. The most popular types include Ponzi schemes, fraud, phishing, initial coin offering (ICO) scams, hacking, fake application, and even theft. Although this is heartbreaking, it is believed that individuals who indulge in this awful activities both the investors and the operators of the schemes are forced to do so by their station and financial status. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts hope that the scams in the industry will be reduced to a minimal level as technology advances rapidly. However, it is clear that with the advancement scams also advances in frequency and sophistication. New strategies to scam investors are devised on a regular basis and the population of individuals who engage in these schemes grows bigger. It is believed that the scams in the cryptocurrency industry are what has set the government of many nations as well as financial institutions and experts against the notion of digital coins. In recent times, financial institutions and even search engines and social media platform have taken active steps to reduce or ban transactions and ICO ads from their platform.Financial experts have also dedicated time and resources to educate investors across the globe of the risk involved in putting cash into digital coins. Meanwhile, the number of investment in this virtual currency continues to multiply. A few financial experts have taken a different stand, stating that investors are not to blame for putting their money into something as uncertain as cryptocurrency investment, rather their impecuniosity should be seen as the culprit. It is true that a substantial proportion of the population has closed to zero investment opportunities. The heat of this situation can be safely blamed when such individual decides to invest in get-rich-quick schemes in the cryptocurrency space or even partake in such activities. For instance, Ponzi schemes promise to reward its investors with a substantial amount of money within a short period of time, which sounds exciting to individuals who tirelessly search for ways to make ends meet. It is believed that the risk in the cryptocurrency space is not half as much as that in the lotto and gambling industry, yet the government legalize it and forbid cryptocurrency transactions. Statistically, it is estimated that about half of United States adult play the lottery, with official lottery data providing that the population who participate in betting regularly is about 3 million in the Republic of Philippines. This a large number and if an average lottery player wages a dollar daily, it will amount to $365 annually, which is a guaranteed net loss. This invariably means the average amount spent on lottery by bettors in the Philippines is the annual amount spent by an individual multiplied by three million which amount to $1.095 billion lost annually. It is important to state that this figure does not include the money spent betting on illegal gambling schemes such as cockfighting and Jueteng where the figure may be quadrupled. Cryptocurrency, on the other hand, is believed to be a risky exercise that offers no guarantee or consumer protection, but this point can be safely argued otherwise. A smart and intelligent cryptocurrency investor can convert a meager capital into a substantial sum of money in the digital coins space, but no matter how disciplined a gambler is, the improbabilities in the betting industry are unimaginable. There are over 800 cryptocurrencies and this number is rapidly increasing on a daily basis. After calculating the possibility of growth and profit, an investor can easily purchase the digital coin he desires to own right from the comfort of his home with no intermediaries or involvement of any governmental or financial institutions. Cryptocurrency investment provides ample unprecedented opportunities for investors. Storing cryptos in vaults or online wallets, waiting for its value to multiply may sound like a child’s play to many financial experts but it is better than the lotto as it gives individuals a total control over their assets. Furthermore, no matter how little your investment or how risky cryptocurrency investment is, a skilled and hardworking person can make substantial returns in no time. New investment opportunities continue to evolve in the cryptocurrency space. This even gets better as digital coins are now easily procured with the development and installation of cryptocurrency automated teller machines (ATM). In March, reports states that two cryptocurrency ATMs where installed in Georgia in other to make the exchange of bitcoins and Litecoins hassle-free with support for Ethereum and Dashcoin expected in the nearest future. Many online stores now allow customers to pay for goods with digital coins with lower fees compared to the traditional currencies. In addition, a new concept known as Bitcoin IRA provides investment opportunities for retirees. It helps to create a cryptocurrency IRA investment account that can be benefited from at retirement. Retirees will only have to pay fewer fees compared to that of the traditional currency plus, they just have to sit and watch their investment grow in the cryptocurrency space. Cryptocoins are rapidly growing in terms of awareness, acceptability, and investments. It can now be used to make payments for products from local and international stores ranging from the purchase of groceries to the management of online contents as well as the procurement of digital assets. Even with the risks, high volatility, scams and hacking activities in the cryptocurrency space, it still provides innumerable investment opportunities for its users and it is believed by many cryptocurrency enthusiasts that this is just the beginning. The industries are projected to grow like wildfire over the next 15 years, providing new investment opportunities and revolutionizing financial institutions in ways that were practically impossible with the traditional currencies. Digital coins provide everybody with equal opportunity to own it and take part in the growth of the industry over a period of time. -
1 point
Why Buy Trading Education?
Donald reacted to Jason Solomon for a post in a topic
The idea of cutting your learning time many hours is valuable for me. I like saving time so I can spend it with family, relaxing, etc. Also like learning from less source and not seeking among hundreds of answers but using a reliable source. Maybe one doesn't have to invent every rule on his/her own but use the knowledge of others. I mean maybe you are not da Vinci, but you can still make a living by doing what he does. -
1 point
10 Rules to Successfully Read Stock.
Donald reacted to Eavoldisely for a post in a topic
Stock trading is less risky than the forex trading but it has slow returns due to less liquidity. If you are a patient and long-term trader then stocks are the best option for you to trade in. Am I right in this regard? Stay blessed stock lovers! -
1 point
Which indicators you like and why
nahamya reacted to Jason Solomon for a post in a topic
I use Fib tool+moving average combo and RSI most often. But have plenty more to experiment with :P -
1 point
What if 2 strategies combined into 1?
Jason Solomon reacted to Donald for a post in a topic
Agreed, sometimes less is more, and unfortunately 1+1 in trading is not always 2 -
1 point
Forex Trading Vs Stock Trading
davemaestro reacted to CrazyCzarina for a post in a topic
Your success depends upon the trading strategy being adopted by you. It is not only important but absolutely necessary that your trading strategy must have inbuilt strengths to make you a successful trader. -
1 point
How long does it take to become a successful trader?
Jason Solomon reacted to Donald for a post in a topic
Oh you have! Glad you liked it, and good luck to us then. I have learned a lot from them so far. Be patient and keep learning! -
1 point
Introduce Yourself Here - Don't Be Shy!!
Donald reacted to lawrence101 for a post in a topic
Im a beginner trader and just wanted to say hi. Ive bin trading with a real account for about 6 months now strictly in stocks. Practiced on a simulated account for about a year off and on and i must say the difference is like black and white, I did far better on my simulated account. Hoping for better times ahead. -
1 pointA TRUE LIFE STORY OF A VETERAN TRADER We were in a midst of a popular monthly traders’ forum when an elderly man on a wheelchair was helped into the hall. The moderator asked us to stand up for the man, whom he called “a soldier on the battlefield of the financial markets.” As the forum was about to be concluded, someone suggested that we allow the professional on a wheelchair to give a short speech. A mic was given to him. He held the mic and said: “My fellow traders. Thank you for standing up for me, and thank you for giving me a privilege to talk in this forum. I started trading 12 years ago. And I am still trading. I will trade for as long as I breathe. I am one of the most popular Forex traders in this country. Sadly, the one who coached me for Forex trading stopped trading in 2008, because of subprime crises and market crashes. He lacked risk control skills. I pressed on, to become a regular columnist in a popular newspaper, writing about Forex trading on daily basis. I also provided trading signals for people, as well as trading my personal accounts. I have 2 powerful manual strategies that I use. I developed the strategies based on my many years of experience. Trainees who apply my strategies have been sharing wonderful testimonies since. A few years ago, I fell ill. Diagnosis revealed that I had cancer of the bone marrow. I required surgery in a foreign hospital. I gathered all the funds I could gather, and well-wishers and friends also contributed what they could. I was transported to a foreign country (I was already paralyzed). Luckily, the surgery was successful. I can say, partially successful, for the paralysis was partially corrected. I can now speak and use my hands. I can also stand up, but I cannot walk. While I was on a hospital bed and my legs were tied. I was trading profitably on mobile devices. I was even providing trading signals and mentorship to people online. Then, a client couldn’t believe I was providing services to clients on a hospital bed until we connected on Skype, doing video calls. I was seen trading on a bed, while I was strapped to the bed. Several months ago, I came back to my country, and I have continued trading, training and providing signals since then. [He burst into tears]. Traders. Let me tell you this. Online trading remains the best tool for financial freedom. Please do anything possible to become a winning trader. Look at my condition now. I am advanced in age. I can only stand up, but I cannot walk. I need crutches and a wheelchair to move about. Imagine. If I was someone who did 9.00 A.M – 5.00 P.M. work, what would be my lot now? My employers would have laid me off. If I was fortunate enough to get anything from them, it could have been exhausted by now. I would have become a beggar by now. Or what makes me special when compared to other handicapped persons who have now become beggars? Clearly, online trading makes the difference! Imagine. If I go to Mr. Henry to beg for $30, I would finish spending it. If I go to Mr. Johnson to beg for $20, I would finish spending it. If Mr. Johnson was kind enough to give me $20 three times. He would eventually stop giving me more money because he got his own responsibilities. He might not pick my calls again; or he would instruct his folks to tell me he is not at home, when I visit him next (to beg for money). This is a lesson you must learn. Please learn from my story. I trade on a wheelchair, and I make money from signals provision, coaching and trading. I can sustain myself, my wife, my 3 kids and my aged mother.” He dropped the mic. And the forum ended. I conclude this articles with the 3 quotes below: “You must be disciplined in following the plan of your trade religiously. Once you have closed your position, you should record everything about the trade. Write down where you wanted to enter the trade, what you expected out of the trade, and what you actually did get out of the trade. Make sure to include notes that will help you learn from the trade, reasoning what actually took place once you entered the trade. Explain why the trade was a winner or a loser. If you keep detailed records, you can learn from past trades and increase your chances of recognizing your strengths and weaknesses. Build on your strengths and stay away from trades you have demonstrated weakness in.” – Andy Jordan (Source: Tradingeducators.com) “Humans are an error based machine, we make mistakes and perfection is never really on our radar despite our best efforts. The realisation that mistakes are at the core of good trading is hard for many to accept as they are locked into the belief that you cannot make money if you get trades wrong. Fortunately there is no nexus between making money and being right. Many, many years ago i discovered that the fewer fucks I gave the more I made. To revert to a past life choice of mine – you could never be a fighter if your expectation was that you would never be hit.” – Chris Tate “Avoid illiquid markets. Be sure to check volume. How much is it on average and is it steady day after day. And perhaps the greatest lesson of all should you happen to leap before you look--never, ever trade on hope or stay in a trade based on hope. If you are wrong, get out. If you don't have the discipline to do that, you shouldn't be trading.” – Joe Ross
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1 point
Best Forex Broker?
Derrick Owen reacted to Pipperidge-Farm for a post in a topic
JFD Brokers is the one i`m using and it's fulfilling all of the requirements above. EUR/USD - 0.3 pips average spread FCA, BaFin, ACPR Registered and CySec regulated Leverage - up to x400 (default x50) Customized MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader5 platforms with lots of trading products (MT4 -> 500+; MT5 -> 1000+) A lot of free charting and one-click trading tools package. Fast customer support Misc - negative balance protection, post trade execution reports, zero margin for hedged possitions, weekly recaps, market analyses, strategic reports and technical analyses -
1 pointI've been using my iPhone 7 since the release of this phone. So I was trading for about a year now, and I never had a problem using my broker's mobile platform.
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1 pointThank you so much. it was really helpful. I think i should think about my level of risk tolerance before making a final decision.
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1 point
Reading Charts in Real Time
thalestrader reacted to SIUYA for a post in a topic
I always thought it was a speech impediment issue and it was meant to be - Sales trader :doh: -
1 point
How to post a chart properly
Donald reacted to signalsprovider for a post in a topic
You are right Greed is bad in Forex.... -
1 point
Wyckoff Resources
Mav12 reacted to clmacdougall for a post in a topic
Thanks Db, I'll read through the thread for sure. All the best. Note: if anyone else has suggestions on resources, please let me know via PM and I'll add it/them to this thread. Thx -
1 point
How to Trade the Foreign Exchange Market (Forex)
MaxPastukhov reacted to Ingot54 for a post in a topic
That's a really great post, Berzerk - thank you for taking the time to write it. I am certain there is something in there that will make a difference to how I see the markets, and handle them. Particularly I like your way of dealing with the risk of whipsaws, and trading with strength. However ... I gave my reasons for quitting: I am realistic, Berzerk. Even if I won 9 trades out of ten, do you think I would be able to generate the kind of income I planned for 9 years ago? I know that I would not reach a success rate of 90% ... and I am under-capitalised now, having blown two major accounts in my second and third years at this. After that I became more focused and committed to finding out what works and what does not. But the markets have continued to evolve, and I have had to accept that I am simply not suited to be a trader. It's not hard to accept that - the evidence is there ... plainly ... and all the thousands of posts I have made, and the hundreds of thousands more that I read, have not changed my bottom line one teeny bit. The losses roll on. I do not regard myself as short of thinking power - it is something else that I lack. But I am smart enough to know that, and to quit. The retirement I hoped for may not arrive - that's life - but I did give it a decent shake - no one can take that from me. My foolishness was in thinking I could trade and make enough money to replace my day job. I am not/no longer seeking a working strategy - I am no longer committed to "being a trader." And I am certainly not interested in words of pity/condolence etc - we are adults and make adult decisions. This is simply a nice way for me to move on, and probably the thread was an attempt to share another point of view with someone who may have also been at a tipping point, and just maybe something they were able to see here could have made a difference. I don't know. Your post has not been in vain though. As I mentioned, I will consider carefully what you wrote, and see if there is something I overlooked in my 9 year journey. Clearly, I have missed it ... but the question is for me: Can I exploit this art so that it is worth my time and energy. Would it be worth it for me to give up other things in exchange for making a little more from trading than I do? Will it ever be more than gambling? I have had to face those answers - and they are not in the affirmative at this point. What I am going to do now is write a couple of novels - this is a passion for me. Maybe you would like to buy an eBook from me? :missy: -
1 point
Best Automated Trading Platform
MaxPastukhov reacted to smmatrix for a post in a topic
There's no future with those automated trading systems. They are made by marketers to grab your money, not by traders. Trading is hard work. Trading is an art which must be mastered over time. In all my trading years, I have seen many automated systems. They all crash and burn at some point, however, there were two systems that showed promise... They had huge drawdowns which exceeded 45%. That's a deal killer for me as my maximum allowed DD is 15%. It's best to learn how to trade "manually" first, as a profitable trader for several years, before you consider automation. Just sayin' My two centavos. -
1 pointYou should factor into how much you have of your account at risk. Yes, it does also make sense to use daily stop losses. But they could, also, be based on account risk and not your own feeling to that regard. In general, with a tiny account, risk should be reduced at the 25% of account level. It also makes sense to stop when ahead if you can't trade overnight because you have less time remaining to recover from any losses but only in terms of closed trades. . These types of considerations are a bit advanced in that focusing on them can be counterproductive for the beginner but are nonetheless important. It is worthwhile to consider: How much time is left in the game (early game, mid game, late game) (i.e day) % of capital at risk total closed trade profits open trade profits ----- Now, let's say you are a momentum trader and you are up $250 on a $1,000 account (like I was today) and you have a total of around $500 at risk. In this case, you have 25% at risk to break even and so you should start reducing your risk. Many successful traders just trade the open and morning session. I also do better with morning session. Trading late in day has many pitfalls, namely, limited time to recover and more fakeouts. It also depends on your style. You shouldn't set an upper limit per se but you should watch your total account risk and set a lower limit. If you aren't trading a hard system then it likewise makes sense to listen to yourself when you are losing and take time off, whether that be a day or a week. Most professional gamblers will step away when losing. Push harder when winning and take it easy when losing. A quantitative example might be that overbought indicators tend to get stuck when market trends strongly. Maybe it is a profitable indicator for you, if you can manage to avoid the bad losses, i.e don't keep fighting when it quits working!
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1 point
Advice for Beginners....don't Try to Make Money.
Nevonslovell reacted to phantom for a post in a topic
Don't try to make money? Are you out of your mind??? Of course you should go after profits right from the start. Just remember to look for trades that have a decent probability for a high reward to risk ratio (such as 5 or 6 side-by-side bars on a 120 minute chart in just about anything breaking out into a steady move on a 15 minute chart: trade any 15 minute bar that shows price rejection, such as a rattail candlestick; risk half the rattail range and lock in profits as the move breaks from your entry zone...) How dare you advise people to settle for mediocrity when one needs to build successes in this business to stand a modicum of a chance at success??? Luv, Phantom -
1 point
Jeff Augen's StdDev Price Change to NinjaTrader
ja_trades reacted to diogomattoso for a post in a topic
Hi guys, Can anyone help me out by porting the following code originally made to ThinkorSwim to NinjaTrader? Here it is: declare lower; input length = 20; def closeLog = Log(close[1] / close[2]); def SDev = stdev(closeLog, length)* Sqrt(length / (length – 1)); def m= SDev * close[1]; plot spike = (close[0] – close[1]) / m; spike.setPaintingStrategy(PaintingStrategy.HISTOGRAM); spike.AssignValueColor(if close > close[1] then Color.UPTICK else if close < close[1] then Color.DOWNTICK else GetColor(1)); Thanks a lot! -
1 point
38 Steps to Becoming a Trader
Donald reacted to GlassOnion for a post in a topic
Shuanna... Are you from the Planet Vulcan, where they don't have emotions? Lol... -
1 point
Joke of The Day!
Jason Solomon reacted to GlassOnion for a post in a topic
Easily the best joke of the decade A young man moved into a new apartment of his own and went to the lobby to put his name on his mailbox. While there, an attractive young lady came out of the apartment next to the mailboxes, wearing a robe. The boy smiled at the young woman and she started a conversation with him. As they talked, her robe slipped open, and it was obvious that she had nothing else on. The poor kid broke into a sweat trying to maintain eye contact. After a few minutes, she placed her hand on his arm and said, "Let's go to my apartment, I hear someone coming." He followed her into her apartment; she closed the door and leaned against it, allowing her robe to fall off completely. Now nude, she purred at him, "What would you say is my best feature?" Flustered and embarrassed, he finally squeaked, "It's got to be your ears." Astounded, and a little hurt she asked, "My ears? Look at these breasts; they are full and 100% natural. I work out every day and my butt is firm and solid. Look at my skin - no blemishes anywhere. How can you think that the best part of my body is my ears?" Clearing his throat, he stammered .... "Outside, when you said you heard someone coming.... that was me." __________________ -
1 pointThe CIA had an opening for an assassin. After all of the background checks, interviews, and testing were done there were three finalists — two men and one woman. For the final test, the CIA agents took one of the men to a large metal door and handed him a gun. "We must know that you will follow your instructions, no matter what the circumstances. Inside this room you will find your wife sitting in a chair. You have to kill her.” The first man said, “You can’t be serious. I could never shoot my wife." The agent replies, “Then you’re not the right man for this job." The second man was given the same instructions. He took the gun and went into the room. All was quiet for about five minutes. Then the agent came out with tears in his eyes. “I tried, but I can’t kill my wife.” The agent replies, “You don’t have what it takes. Take your wife and go home.” Finally, it was the woman’s turn. Only she was told to kill her husband. She took the gun and went into the room. Shots were heard, one shot after another. They heard screaming, crashing, banging on the walls. After a few minutes, all was quiet. The door opened slowly and there stood the woman. She wiped the sweat from her brow and said, “You guys didn’t tell me the gun was loaded with blanks. I had to beat him to death with the chair.”
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1 point
IB Range Indicator for CQG
paulTQ reacted to Soultrader for a post in a topic
A simple study for CQG plotting the 60 minute (initial balance) high/low. This works only on a day session chart. Once imported and applied to a chart, right click on the two lines > modify > and change the line to dash. Screenshot is attached. Enjoy! IB Range.pac -
1 pointHi Speres; I assume that you are referring to my status quote, I just don't think there is anything else I can learn, I think I have reached the end of the road, and I have to say I am disappointed because life is most interesting when you are trying to overcome a hurdle, Tom Williams cannot teach me anything, he cannot find any faults in my analysis, can any of you out there teach me something about VSA technique I cannot see in a chart for myself? So now what? do I just turn that knowledge into a fortune? I don't need anyones else's money, I have more than enough for my needs and wants, so will I be miserable for the rest of my life? Gavin wants me to run the educational side of TradeGuider, I have agreed to work for them on a part time basis. Everyone in this room is talking about success, or trying to find it, but how many of you are thinking about the consequences of that success, and what will you find in yourself if you then arrive at that success? will you become bored of trading? will success make you slack in your discipline? For me there is no challenge in reading the market anymore, no struggle to make me feel excited, I have thought of finding someone who has decimated their account and replenishing it for them, but what would that achieve?, be warned that if you reach the top of your tree, what expectations will you have then? That is the reason for my status quote under my name. I am currently writing a book similar to Tom's, but explaining all the principles that Wyckoff wanted the public to understand, going into great detail, better than any book I have read, giving hundreds of charts in greater detail than my PDF postings last November, I am hoping that I can help someone with no experience to become someone who can support themselves financially on their own two feet, through the book and training videos, then I might not have a reason to exist after that. And Tom has been asking me to write a book for the last four years, so I caved in. Best wishes to you all. Sebastian
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1 point
Candlesticks and Volume
Soultrader reacted to james_gsx for a post in a topic
Glad to see this finally come up. I've been very interested in combining other types of analysis along with candlesticks such as volume and MP. Heres one quick trend play that you could do using WRBs. As we know, typically a WRB is followed by an easy short to scalp, but if you use volume with the WRB then you could probably get some nice setups. 1 - As you can see we start off with a WRB, and lets say you want to go for a quick short at the exit OR wait for a candle to go short. For textbook style play let's just say we went short at the close of the spinning top that immediatelly followed. This is an ideal setup because the volume of the spinning top is nearly identical to that of the WRB. This will make it easier for some of the newbies. 2 - Two candles later we have a test of the WRB open or low. You can exit here for a quick profit or you could see that volume has been declining. We have smaller bodies and taller wicks, but the lack of volume would tell me theres no interest in demand as it is quickly shoved back down. So we could move our stop just above these wicks to protect our profits. Then we get a rise in volume, and a candle that breaks through those lows this would be our confirmation of a new trend. 3 - Now we get a hammer and volume as been slightly rising. Since there is a nearby support level we may be tempted to exit this trade and take the hammer. If we did that, we still have a nice profit and obviously the hammer would have failed. No big deal, thats life. OR we could have waited until something more meaningful to a trend appeared like a MA crossover, oscillator, or a hammer with STRONG volume. For the sake of hindsight and textbook style play let's say we waited. A few candles later we get a hammer with STRONG volume (similar or more to the WRB). That obvsiously screms that buyers are present. We happily exit the trade and go the other way for our hammer setup, and walk away with a new sum in our bank account. Now to be fair this isn't a setup where you see a spinning top after a WRB and assume you can nail near 20pt ES trade. BUT if you started with a simple 2pt play and closesly followed volume you could have turned that into a nice trade. For the sake of argument and realism, here are a few losers in the same day. Heres another play we could have used. 1 - Clearly defined hammer after a WRB and volume is very similar. 2 -Next we get a follow through WRB with strong volume. Typically I think we would have taken the hammer and a quick profit with the WRB and been happy. Or we could let volume tell us that buyers are still heavily present in the market and hold onto the trade from here. 3 - Our trade continues to move higher and we eventually test the long term MA. Knowing this is a counter trend play I think most would be disciplined to take their profits here. Just in case this doesn't happen the high volume inverted hammer would tell us the bears quickly counter attacked with equal force keeping price down. So you could take your profits at the close of this inverted hammer and still had a healthy trade. Or else you would have waited for the spinning top with low volume to tell you the move was over. So overall I'm starting to see a pattern of nice candlestick patterns following WRB with EQUAL OR MORE volume. How a trade could possibly setup. 1 - Reveral candle after WRB witih equal or more volume. If I'm not alread scalping for a quick reversal of the WRB then enter on the close of the reversal candle. 2 - Wait for a signal such as an oscillator, moving average, or another candle (with strong volume like the WRB) to exit my trade. I think this would be a trade that would have to materialize, I don't think you could just see it happen in real time and take it. But I do think it would go along with what you said earlier about taking a typical setup, and using volume expand on it and capturing a bigger move. I think this is a good start though. Once I feel more comfortable with my knowledge of MP I would love to start a thread combing candlesticks, volume, and market profile into one setup. I believe if we could blend a lot of these great analysis together we could have an extremely efficient trading plan and one that we could use to expand our careers. I also don't think volume is something that would complicate our plan, just compliment it -
1 point
Bid-Ask Tape Indicator
Mirinfromupclose reacted to marketguy for a post in a topic
mrsushi, You are a good guy. And there are lots of truly great and generous people in the trading world. I have met and continue to meet tons of them. As per Hubert and John, they are great salesmen (or at least Hubert is). Nobody is perfect. We all manipulate the facts, at times. Sure, Hubert is looking a little sleazy these days. And some in this forum will call them greedy. But, the bottom line is, are they providing a valuable service? Are people's education in trading really deepening and their results improving. We all start from the simple. We just want some arrows to tell us when to get in and when to get out. In time, after painful losses, we learn (or never learn) that it isn't that simple. We (hopefully) learn that we need to understand how the market works and we need to learn to read that dynamic movement. John and Hubert's motivations and priorities are in question. They seem to add more and more to the mix so that they can make more money. Any of those indicators (tools) they are offering can be used to positive purpose. I use some of them. But, I never use them in the often cut and dried way that those guys teach. I use them as information only. But, adding so much also muddies the waters, and I think that teachers should make it their priority to clear the waters. To help their students get to a deeper place of understanding. It has taken me over two years of indicator search/hell to start to understand that they are best used as training wheels or, at best, guides. The story is truly in the price action and volume. So Hubert, as someone who is primarily a tape reader, knows this. Yet, he is constantly pushing all these training wheels. And offering simplistic techniques that work great sometimes but can never work consistently. Getting back to your actions of posting the free indicators on the TTM site, I commended you on your boldness. I didn't think I knew knew you well enough to point out, what may be considered by some, your stupidity. Because, over all, I admire your action. Of course, they would get rid of the post ASAP. And, your relations with them are now different. And, you may be blackballed. But, you performed a service. And, hopefully, some people there took notice. We're all learning together. And your contribution (even though J and H might not like it) helps the greater community. And, in the end, that's what matters most. Whew. Long-winded response, huh? Take care. Bryan