Monday 10 May 2010

Should you use Indicators?

Yes!!! Kiki has gone back to using the indicators you see on my charts. I realised that you cannot transfer the experience of 30 years of watching the markets without providing the tools to substitute for that "screen time".

Indicators provide information. When I trade without indicators I am "seeing" the information that was previously provided  by my indicators - the change in momentum, the trend, where the Fib reversal point can be and so on.

Some people criticise indicators because "they lag". Well, they don't lag. An indicator tells me exactly what it is indicating at that moment in time. It is up to me to use the correct indicators correctly so that I am getting present tense information that I can process in real time to make a trading decision.

My screen is bombarding me with information as every tick unfolds. Indicators can summarise a lot of that information and point it out to me "in my face" that I may otherwise overlook. I can and do create alerts based on those indicators and the price action to make even more "in my face". I need to make this stuff as easy as possible.

As part of Kiki's progression after she achieved CP, I started removing indicators with the aim of only leaving the volume stuff. As soon as we started down this road her stress level increased and her trading suffered. At first I thought that was only a temporary step back but as the days went on I began thinking of why I was suggesting this. She was trading great with indicators. Sure she had a few issues which we worked on and resolved but overall, she was a star. Why on earth was I trying to fix what was not broken and what was obviously working so well, just to see some esoteric trading?

It wasn't one of my better decisions. Mea Culpa as they say on the Continent.

Kiki is back to trading with the range bars, EMAs, Keltner, CCIs,MomDots and Market Profile and is stress free again and making as much money as before. The correct indicators, used in the way I taught her, took her to CP and is now leading the way to her increasing her size.

Today was a harder day to trade due to the air underneath. The Gap trade was a no go. There were some VAH/VAL trades but all in all a scalpers day again.

3 comments:

  1. Hi El, after following your blog for some time, I was kind of wondering about removing the indicators. I think what you wrote today is the best statement about using/ not using indicators I read lately on the net. I don't trade indicators, but they can prevent me from doing something stupid some time, because they offer valuable information for sure. Would you allow to use your statement in a thread ? Thanks a lot for your ongoing contribution to the net.

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  2. Great! ME TOO!
    I decided not to add/move anything from your chart. I decided never stupidly try to outsmart your mature system and, of course,MR. Market. The people who lose money in the market are usually "smart" people. The "boring" procedure is the real procedure to make money.:)
    But sadly, still studying and even no time to do real-time SIM based on your system.
    Have a nice trading day.

    Jack

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  3. Hi EL,
    Just inquiring. Since you usually tweet your new blog update during regular trading hours. Why do you never give any remarks of what's happening in the market real time?? Don't make any sense to me!

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