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Experimenting with indicators

FXforfun

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Hi,
Not sure if this post is propriate on this forum or maybe I should hold back and go somewhere else because this isn't about Darwinex. Never mind, I'll try anyway.

The point is that from time to time I come back with the dilema to choose the best indicator of all. I know there are traders over there that despise the indicators, they only look the price, patterns or whatever. Not my case. I choose a set of indicators and program my strategies, backtest, and on and on. Maybe if I listened those who despise the indicators I would get better results 😅

With time I have been convinced that KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) works: As less indicators as possible in a strategy, as less parameters as possible, as less variables as possible... And I'm not 100% sure yet but I think it's the same with the indicators. Why looking for a fancy trend indicator when you can use a Moving Average? Why an oscillator that makes tons of calculations when you can use RSI?

As an example, a month ago I programmed, backtested, etc a new strategy on cryptos. I use a ridiculous simple strategy with Moving Average, I remember I read it on a book a lot of years ago and decided give it a try. Excelent backtest, put it on real. And guess what: It's my most profitable strategy on my entire portfolios for the last month.

Would be nice to know your thoughts about that
 
Complicate stuff just makes more easy to overfit.
I am using only stadard indicators included in mt4.
Having said that I can't exclude that some indicators could be slightly more efficient than the basic ones.
Candlestick patters make possible to create a "parameterless" strategy but up to my knowledge they are not so efficient to work without some kind of filters, and filters are usally moving averages and oscillators. ;)

When ther are strong trends every trendfollowing strategy will work, even basic ones with default parameters.
 
When ther are strong trends every trendfollowing strategy will work, even basic ones with default parameters.
Yes. You nailed it. That's the secret with cryptos. On the last months, they behave extremely trending. I supose that's why almost any strategy would work and I use a real simple one.

Regarding Candelstick. Careful, I've tried them and they are a complete waste of time at least on the Forex market
 
Indicators can't change any fundamental behavior of any market so for any profitable strategy you have to just capture the price movement (trend or countertrend). Indicators should be just aligned with market behavior.

Market behavior can be capture by any price action/ Indicator so I think trader should be focus more on market movement rather then indicator would help find profitable strategy.
 
I am for KISS but too simple and too stupid unfortunatelly doesn't work.
Indicators alone do not work just like patterns alone.
Here Ichimoku works because alone it is like a strategy with 2 or 3 simple indicators.
I think every pattern and indicator can work as a part and building block of a strategy.
 
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