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Let's talk about leading (not lagging) indicators

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 2:19 pm
by patriotstef
Greetings all,

I'm the new guy here, thanks for letting me in :)

Hopefully I have this in the correct section....

Leading indicators, as we are probably familiar with, tend to indicate what will most likely happen in the near future with a currency pair. The most common ones I am familiar with are trading by "the news" and looking at other price charts outside of FOREX (Oil, gold, etc.) to see if the GPB, EUR, etc. will follow suit.

I haven't seen much talk about leading indicators on many FOREX sites, so I was wondering if there were any really good factors that tell us what will most likely happen in a short while.. since knowing beforehand what price will do is the real way FOREX can be traded profitably.

Thanks

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 11:17 pm
by marypipins
Hi Patriotstef..

I think you raise a valuable point..all indicators are lagging...I don't care how you gift wrap it..put a bow on it .. call it awesome or amazing..it is still just telling you what happened in the past. i'm convinced that flipping a coin.. heads buy...tails sell.. will produce no better or worse results than filling your screen with indicators. The only way to win I think in forex is money management.. cutting losses and riding a win when you connect.
I read your other post about your frustration and I can truely relate.
Men aggagerate about a lot of things...lol..so they are no different about their indicators...lol (i know i'm going to have to pay for that comment..lol)
Hang in there.
.Lisa

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 11:56 pm
by Patch
Hi Mary P

I am really glad you and MonaLisa are here and counted among the DTB Pirates. Are you any relationship to MonaL? I see you signed off above .Lisa so I guess your first or middle name isn't Mary. You and ML have the neatest handles.

if you can spell it I bet you know its meaning.

OK so what exactly does "aggagerate about a lot of things" mean? I just gotta know.

This goes on my t-shirt to be."I'd rather be aggregating than waterboarding in Hawaii with the DTB Pirates".

What really matters is how is your pip collection coming along? What is the most important lesson you've learned so far about trading? Where abouts in OH are you?

One thing occurred to me this morning reading the new posts, that the only way to read a chart and get a feel for momo and strength and direction is to have a chart with no indicators on it and spend time studying it during market hours. jb

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 12:18 am
by kc8flq
With all the recent frustration over charts and reading them I thought maybe this might help.
Price Action for the Serious Trader

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 12:37 am
by noone22
Leading indicators do exist.
And this not my opinion, Joe Di Napoli said this.

In his famous book "Trading with Di Napoli levels"
there are several leading indicators explained.

Unfortunately, he's not providing open source indicators
for MT4 or TradeStation, and without them his
Fibonacci trading startegy seems to be over-complicated
and not usable (for me).

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 1:36 am
by marypipins
Hi Patch and others..

I'm not blonde but I think I had a blonde moment..lol..the word I meant to say was exaggerate..so while trying to pick on the men here I shoot myself in the foot..oh well..I'll get ya next time...lol
To answer your question: what is the most important thing i've learned?
The thing I've learned is try to avoid all the hype and not get caught up in all the indicator madness..it can turn into a never ending quest that just leads to confusion and frustration.If no holy grail exists then where does it stop? I agree with what you said..just sit and watch price and forget all the bells and whistles. Tro started along time ago preaching learning to "see" so I'm trying to go back to that simplicity. I'm not being over critical of indicators just the over indulgence of them..
I live in the Cleveland area..Go Cavs..
My name is Lisa..marypipins is just my alias since I got out of prison...lol

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 1:52 am
by Patch
MaryPipins

You got me again. Keep the laughs coming. I just got released a few months ago also. Unfortunately they kept me in the men's section.

Pip Bomb the banks. They all got so much bailout bucks. Get it back from them Pipper.

Small world isn't it !!! jb

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 2:48 am
by monolisa
Hi Patch,

I don't think I know marypipins. Just coincidence that we both have the same first name here :)

By the way my nick is monolisa (with an "o") not monalisa...

I totally agree with marypipins. I have tried lots of indicators before and all I got from them was frustration and confusion.

Personally the only leading indicator I believe in is price action because it reflects what the smart moneys are thinking and anticipating, and what the weak moneys are doing by keeping on making the same mistakes again and again.

Imagine the price chart is a codified picture of human psychology and beahviour, then you would have a better understanding of what may happen. I also use relative volume to see where the money goes.

Throw in a few trend lines and S&R levels that's all I need (Again these lines are the "memories", or what Paul in other thread said "urine spot").

Good luck trading!

Lis

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 4:44 am
by marypipins
Hi Lisa...its Lisa...lol

I have followed your posts for awhile and you always seem to make sense. I was trying to get a womans slant on things by your posts but you leave me in the dust sometimes. lol I like your take on what a chart is.. your right on..its a snapshot of what people are doing and thinking..to me an indicator carries with it the hope of predicting the future whereas price action is telling you what is happening now. No one can predict the future but a child can tell you if a candle is moving up or down. I know its more complex than that but the key is not to over complicate things.
A big thanks to kc8..I'm downloaded and reading.
Lisa

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 3:50 pm
by monolisa
Nice to know you, Lisa.

For me studying price action is like Hansel and Gretel following the crumb trail and seeking to know what/where it will lead us.

SEEING is an important step, but KNOWING is even better.

Lis