fib retracement strategies

mpat89

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hi, i've been looking at the fib retracements and was wondering if anyone trades using these?
i've been looking at 5min charts for currencies, mainly gbpusd and eurusd and so far have noticed that entering at 38.2% and again at 61.8% (if the opportunity presents itself) with an S/L 10 pips away from the 61.8% level for both positions and a TP at the 0% level seems to be extremely profitable with a high hit rate. just wondering if anyone does this themselves? setup would be after any move that may indicate the start of a new trend.
 
For amusement value, let's call this the Ooh Setup. I trade off daily charts and the price does seem to react favourably off 50% fib levels. Sometimes. :D It's about confluence. If a fib level coincides with a round number and a major support level plus a major trendline, enough traders will go "Ooh!" and place a trade in the relevant direction!
 
does anyone have any input or opinions as to whether the 100% level is too low for the TP? I see many articles online using higher targets but I prefer the higher strike rate
 
Fib analysis along with price action is a good combination.
Look for Doji's, Hammers shooting stars etc that coincide by these fib numbers.
 
I use Fib levels as the backbone of my trading strategy. Many will criticize Fibs, but personally I could not trade without them. I find them exceedingly useful.
To answer your question, in generally, the odds are against you taking a trade at the 100% retracement. It depends on where in the trend the retracement occurs. As an example, I may take a trade at a 100% retracement right when a new trend is developing. An initial thrust up after a trend reversal will often breakdown and retrace 100% testing the previous low. I may take this trade if the original premise for the trade is still in place.
Another way to look at a 100% retracement, if it turns, is a trend reversal. Trend reversals can be anticipated in advance and traded effectively, many here would disagree with me on this statement, but I do trade trend reversals with enough success to continue doing so. I would recommend you focus on the 100% Fib projection until you gain more experience, ignoring the 100% retracement.
My opinion, and this is only an opinion, a single Fib is useless. Other strategies within your plan need to be implemented to use Fibs effectively.
 
I use Fib levels as the backbone of my trading strategy. Many will criticize Fibs, but personally I could not trade without them. I find them exceedingly useful.
To answer your question, in generally, the odds are against you taking a trade at the 100% retracement. It depends on where in the trend the retracement occurs. As an example, I may take a trade at a 100% retracement right when a new trend is developing. An initial thrust up after a trend reversal will often breakdown and retrace 100% testing the previous low. I may take this trade if the original premise for the trade is still in place.
Another way to look at a 100% retracement, if it turns, is a trend reversal. Trend reversals can be anticipated in advance and traded effectively, many here would disagree with me on this statement, but I do trade trend reversals with enough success to continue doing so. I would recommend you focus on the 100% Fib projection until you gain more experience, ignoring the 100% retracement.
My opinion, and this is only an opinion, a single Fib is useless. Other strategies within your plan need to be implemented to use Fibs effectively.

Hi D,
I use fibs a lot, like you the backbone to my trading.
The one thing that I have difficulty in, is establishing which fib level is relevant, at any specific time, and like any analysis this could be subjective.
I would appreciate, if you would broaden on this subject, specifically on why you would believe a fib level you use is in play at any particular time, I am sure other fib disciples will find it useful as well.
thanks.
 
Hi Gamma,

My approach is perhaps a little different than most here. It differs in 2 ways:

A. I actively look for a reason not to take a trade as opposed to looking for reasons to take a trade.
B. Many people look for a trade and then try to determine the Fib level to use. I determine the Fib level(s) I will use for a particular trade in advance and only take trades that meet that criteria.

I do a lot of filtering before I ever put a retracement on a chart. Some of the things I look for are;

1. What is a typical trend for this issue in both time and price?
2. What is the typical expected pullback for this issue?
3. Is the size of the correction consistent with/proportional to the size of the trend?
4. Does the correction take place in an area where the market is likely to be manipulated? An example of this would be a very obvious Head and Shoulders at the top of a large trend the entire world is watching.

In the above 1 and 2 guide me a bit in determining what Fibs I may wish to look at. One through four are all used as filters to eliminate potential unproductive trades. I eliminate any trading conditions not optimal for this issue or my trading plan.

Next I look at patterns within the trend. I am an abc guy. It is important to understand not all abc’s are created equal. Again, I continue the filtering process;

1. What type of abc is it? Zig Zag, Flat…..
2. Is the abc part of a larger corrective pattern or larger impulse pattern?
3. Is the abc within some other pattern many others are watching? If so how would the pattern be played according to classical technical analysis? Where are the likely orders to be filled and stops placed at?
4. Where are the trend lines and barriers used by the masses placed and how would this affect the trade?

When I look at an abc pattern I break it down as many do so it is easier to visualize. The beginning of a wave is point A, point B is the beginning of b wave, C point the beginning of wave c….

I continue to filter by looking at the internal structure of the abc. Is a wave 3 or 5 legs? Is B point harmonic? Does c wave look corrective or impulsive? I am looking for what I expect to be there and what should not be there. As an example if B point is not behaving harmonically and the length of time a wave took to form was either longer or shorter than expected I will most likely not consider the trade. I am looking to see if the issue is behaving in a predictable manner. In my opinion this helps predict if an issue will react as predicted at a future Fib level. I view abc’s much like people. Some people are stable, predictable, producing consistent results and are more trustworthy. Other people are mood swingy and unpredictable and you never know how they are going to react in a given situation.

So where are we going with all this? At his point we have;

1. Based on previous pullbacks I have an idea what fib levels the issue tends to react off.
2. I have eliminated unusual trading conditions such as an oversized correction or a noticeable area of high interest on the charts
3. I have eliminated patterns where the internal structure of the correction was not optimal.

What I am doing is standardizing the conditions I trade in. Most successful business have a standardized process that consistently yields good results. Setting myself up to consistently trade in similar conditions is very important. Standardizing also makes it much easier to see any out points that may occur.

Now I start adding Fibs building clusters paying close attention to how harmonic and tight the cluster(s) are. Harmonics are important to me. Then I evaluate the clusters using various line studies. If my lines confirm my cluster(s) as a possible trade area I am more confident in my setup. If not I may pass on the trade.

In my opinion time is important. Miner’s work is invaluable to me. Pattern confirmations on the same and multiple timeframes I did not mention but I pay very close attention to these too.

Now to picking what Fib levels to trade, I pick these in advance. Based on my analysis I may only take a trade at the 62 to 78% levels. I may have more than one Fib cluster in this area I am set up to trade. If I get a trigger I take the trade. I may get stopped out but I will reenter as long as my premise for taking the trade is still intact, maybe at the same cluster, maybe at the next cluster. If I do not get a trigger off these levels I do not take the trade. I chose an area and that is it. I don’t go chasing or randomly trying to trade every Fib or Fib cluster on the chart.

There is a little more to it than this. The process is time consuming and necessary. My trading plan is about 40 easy to follow pages set up in a checklist and template like format. I go through my checklist first when looking at a potential trade, much the same as an airplane pilot does with his plane before taking off. The template part deals primarily with trade management.
 
Thankyou D,

I hope other traders find that very well explained piece above useful as well,
I certainly will be adding it to my trade preparation list.
 
I have been investigating potential fib strategies for a good few days now by studying charts and indicators alongside historical data and I'm now looking to trade daily charts. The first reason for this is because this because I feel that trading lower time frames such as 5m,15m, will leave me feeling overwhelmed and continuously making mistakes. Daily will allow me to start slow. I also feel more comfortable carrying out technical analysis on a daily chart than a 5m chart as this is what I'm used to with my previous equities endeavours.

I feel comparing momentum and RSI trendlines to price trendlines will help me to predict what is happening in the market with regards to any current trend and its strength. Watching recent support and resistance levels from previous pullbacks will also help me to decide which fib level I anticipate using. This is something important as not knowing which fib level you expect to use can easily leave you with a few extra losing trades. Does anyone have any further advice on predicting which fib level the pullback will reach?

One problem I find myself with is stop losses. I simply cannot decide what a good level should be. I feel too low and I could find myself missing out on a winning trade, too high and my risk to reward ratio simply is dramatically reduced (though I fear this comment is equivalent to saying I am greedy). Right now I feel the best option is setting something I feel comfortable with and re-entering a trade if I feel fit should I be stopped out.

I see a lot of talk on fib clusters in "D"s very good post and this is something I've not yet looked into. I am trying to gain confidence in my own technical analysis and its use in correctly predicting movements in the forex markets. Once I feel comfortable I will try to put it into practice on my small spread betting account with the eventual aim of investing a lot more of my own funds into this strategy.

I was initially very excited to discover fib retracements and their uses in the forex markets. If done right it seems a very good strategy with high risk to rewards mixed with a high strike rate could be implemented.
 
Hi mpat89,
yes fibs are great add the daily pivots to your analysis ad throw in price action (candles) and you should come up with some good analysis.
D has done a great job above.

I would also recommend watching bbmac he does a very good analysis.



I have been investigating potential fib strategies for a good few days now by studying charts and indicators alongside historical data and I'm now looking to trade daily charts. The first reason for this is because this because I feel that trading lower time frames such as 5m,15m, will leave me feeling overwhelmed and continuously making mistakes. Daily will allow me to start slow. I also feel more comfortable carrying out technical analysis on a daily chart than a 5m chart as this is what I'm used to with my previous equities endeavours.

I feel comparing momentum and RSI trendlines to price trendlines will help me to predict what is happening in the market with regards to any current trend and its strength. Watching recent support and resistance levels from previous pullbacks will also help me to decide which fib level I anticipate using. This is something important as not knowing which fib level you expect to use can easily leave you with a few extra losing trades. Does anyone have any further advice on predicting which fib level the pullback will reach?

One problem I find myself with is stop losses. I simply cannot decide what a good level should be. I feel too low and I could find myself missing out on a winning trade, too high and my risk to reward ratio simply is dramatically reduced (though I fear this comment is equivalent to saying I am greedy). Right now I feel the best option is setting something I feel comfortable with and re-entering a trade if I feel fit should I be stopped out.

I see a lot of talk on fib clusters in "D"s very good post and this is something I've not yet looked into. I am trying to gain confidence in my own technical analysis and its use in correctly predicting movements in the forex markets. Once I feel comfortable I will try to put it into practice on my small spread betting account with the eventual aim of investing a lot more of my own funds into this strategy.

I was initially very excited to discover fib retracements and their uses in the forex markets. If done right it seems a very good strategy with high risk to rewards mixed with a high strike rate could be implemented.
 
Thank you gentlemen for complimenting my post, I appreciate it. It is nice to know I was able to contribute in a positive manner.

I made a previous post a while back on stops that may be helpful. It really does not address initial stop placements when taking a trade. Here is the thread. http://www.trade2win.com/boards/swing-position-trading/79670-placing-stops.html#post978472

As far as determining relevant fib levels mpat here are a couple things you can start with:

Mpat try this little exercise. Don’t try to trade this yet. You want to trade the daily. Put your fibs up on the daily chart. The more fibs you put up for this exercise the better. Use the following .236, .382, .5, .618, .707, .786, and .886. I would also use external retracements. The .707 is not technically a fib number but price seems to respect it at times and it fills the gap between the .618 and .786. Then (in Elliott wave terms) pick a thrust, say wave 1 of 1 or 3 of 5, it really doesn’t matter the thrust you pick on the daily. Then drop down to say the 60 minute chart. Where you see the thrust on the daily you may see a 5 wave corresponding trend representing that thrust on the 60 minute. Again put all the fibs up on the lower timeframe. Now draw these fibs on the weekly chart. When finished you want to have the fib levels from all 3 timeframes on your daily chart at the same time. Look for an area where the fibs from the different timeframes are close together or overlap concerning price. If you see a grouping of Fibs from multiple timeframes in one area, this area may be more significant. This may help you with your stop placement too. I like to place my stops above/below where a number of fib levels come together tightly when entering a trade, in other words the fibs coming together in a group would be one example of a fib cluster. The purpose of this little exercise is just to introduce you to the concept. You can investigate this further if you wish to use this technique.

Mpat you mentioned watching barriers. This is important. I always watch barriers to see if that level will or will not fall into my fib cluster, especially more major areas of support or resistance. In other words, support or resistance may coincide with and may help confirm relevant fib levels.

If you look at my previous post in this thread I described points on an abc pattern, ABCD. I am going to refer to those here. What I describe below will be in reference to a bull market.

When you see a simple abc pattern, point C is often near or at a fib level(s). (Draw your Fib from A point to B point. This is a fib drawn off the abc pattern itself.) This simple abc pattern may also be seen as a small area of consolidation in classical technical analysis. An irregular or flat abc may be easiest to visualize this. So what we may have here can be viewed as a mini range if you will, the difference in price between point A or C point whichever is higher, and points B or D, whichever is lowest. (D point would be the end of wave c.) I like to take trades off of the D point. D point (not always) will be the bottom of the range. So if you go long at D point you will typically see a reaction near C point or the Fib level(s) there or the top of the range. This reaction commonly plays out in 2 scenarios. The first, those long at D point start to take profits near C point causing price to breakdown and retest D point. This is a resistance level. This may be due to those taking profits as price rebounds higher from B point, or scalping. (Price will often recover then move up past C point.) The second is once price nears the C point level, again from going long at D point, frequently there is some hesitation, a battle between buyers and sellers, then price continues above C point. These are traders who believe the bullish trend is resuming or playing the break out of the range if you will. They are buying near C point. After the breakout, price will turn down and may retest the C point area. In this latter scenario the C point area and the fib level(s) there have now become support. This is a general guide and in reference to your question, is an area to look for relevant fib levels. This is important because it will help you set your stops, provides a good entry point and even a second opportunity to enter if you missed the entry point at point D. These scenarios are addressed differently in Elliott Wave terms. One of the ways to view it is the move up from D point could be a wave one with the pullback wave 2.
 
Another brilliant post. Thank you very much. I will go over this thoroughly when I get some time as I still need to learn about Elliot Wave Theory. No doubt I will have more questions to ask later on!
 
does anyone have any input or opinions as to whether the 100% level is too low for the TP? I see many articles online using higher targets but I prefer the higher strike rate

Mpat,

I'm a bit confused why you would think the 100% might be too low to TP? Very rarely will i let a trade retrace back 100%, generally i'm out of the trade at either 50% - 60%.
Keep in mind i'm talking from a scalpers point of view, Generally i use the 15min chart for my fib trades and trail my stops to make it a risk free trade.

cheers

Dangap
 
Hi,
I got my measurements back to front. I meant a 0% retracement (assuming entry on the pullback)
 
hey what do you guys think about putting your stop below the 0% level on a trade. I have read two or three articles on fibs and they present different points of view. 1 recommends the stop to be placed below the next fib level and the other recommend's below the 0 (i.e start of the swing)
 
hey what do you guys think about putting your stop below the 0% level on a trade. I have read two or three articles on fibs and they present different points of view. 1 recommends the stop to be placed below the next fib level and the other recommend's below the 0 (i.e start of the swing)

As soon as i get conformation that the reversal has started i place my stop just below the 0% which does sometimes gets stopped out. Most people put there stop in the same place and the BIG market movers know this, so i can see why one article said to put the stop at the next lowest fib line. I find 7 out of 10 times the retrace does go to at least the 50% level so take the bad with the good.:D

Cheers
Dan.
 
I have been investigating potential fib strategies for a good few days now by studying charts and indicators alongside historical data and I'm now looking to trade daily charts. The first reason for this is because this because I feel that trading lower time frames such as 5m,15m, will leave me feeling overwhelmed and continuously making mistakes. Daily will allow me to start slow. I also feel more comfortable carrying out technical analysis on a daily chart than a 5m chart as this is what I'm used to with my previous equities endeavours.

It's good to make mistakes, when you gain experience from it! Don't fear mistakes, love it!
 
And Yes Fibonacci clusters are powerful in context of Xabcd formations, so your are invited to my Thread about ABCDE formations and good Inziders thread search for yourself!
 
So, basically, what you are saying is that you use Elliott Wave analysis in your trading, which is a definite plus.
Gamma, if you are trading a wave 2 retracement, then the 61.8% fib is normally the turning point, unless you are trading GBP/JPY then that equates to the 76.4% fib.
Wave 4 retracement is normally at the 38.2, or the 50% on GbP/jpy.
The ABC after the entire move is dependent on which wave of 1 degree larger you are in. Elliott Wave analysis describes all of these relationships in broad detail.
Kent

Hi Gamma,

My approach is perhaps a little different than most here. It differs in 2 ways:

A. I actively look for a reason not to take a trade as opposed to looking for reasons to take a trade.
B. Many people look for a trade and then try to determine the Fib level to use. I determine the Fib level(s) I will use for a particular trade in advance and only take trades that meet that criteria.

I do a lot of filtering before I ever put a retracement on a chart. Some of the things I look for are;

1. What is a typical trend for this issue in both time and price?
2. What is the typical expected pullback for this issue?
3. Is the size of the correction consistent with/proportional to the size of the trend?
4. Does the correction take place in an area where the market is likely to be manipulated? An example of this would be a very obvious Head and Shoulders at the top of a large trend the entire world is watching.

In the above 1 and 2 guide me a bit in determining what Fibs I may wish to look at. One through four are all used as filters to eliminate potential unproductive trades. I eliminate any trading conditions not optimal for this issue or my trading plan.

Next I look at patterns within the trend. I am an abc guy. It is important to understand not all abc’s are created equal. Again, I continue the filtering process;

1. What type of abc is it? Zig Zag, Flat…..
2. Is the abc part of a larger corrective pattern or larger impulse pattern?
3. Is the abc within some other pattern many others are watching? If so how would the pattern be played according to classical technical analysis? Where are the likely orders to be filled and stops placed at?
4. Where are the trend lines and barriers used by the masses placed and how would this affect the trade?

When I look at an abc pattern I break it down as many do so it is easier to visualize. The beginning of a wave is point A, point B is the beginning of b wave, C point the beginning of wave c….

I continue to filter by looking at the internal structure of the abc. Is a wave 3 or 5 legs? Is B point harmonic? Does c wave look corrective or impulsive? I am looking for what I expect to be there and what should not be there. As an example if B point is not behaving harmonically and the length of time a wave took to form was either longer or shorter than expected I will most likely not consider the trade. I am looking to see if the issue is behaving in a predictable manner. In my opinion this helps predict if an issue will react as predicted at a future Fib level. I view abc’s much like people. Some people are stable, predictable, producing consistent results and are more trustworthy. Other people are mood swingy and unpredictable and you never know how they are going to react in a given situation.

So where are we going with all this? At his point we have;

1. Based on previous pullbacks I have an idea what fib levels the issue tends to react off.
2. I have eliminated unusual trading conditions such as an oversized correction or a noticeable area of high interest on the charts
3. I have eliminated patterns where the internal structure of the correction was not optimal.

What I am doing is standardizing the conditions I trade in. Most successful business have a standardized process that consistently yields good results. Setting myself up to consistently trade in similar conditions is very important. Standardizing also makes it much easier to see any out points that may occur.

Now I start adding Fibs building clusters paying close attention to how harmonic and tight the cluster(s) are. Harmonics are important to me. Then I evaluate the clusters using various line studies. If my lines confirm my cluster(s) as a possible trade area I am more confident in my setup. If not I may pass on the trade.

In my opinion time is important. Miner’s work is invaluable to me. Pattern confirmations on the same and multiple timeframes I did not mention but I pay very close attention to these too.

Now to picking what Fib levels to trade, I pick these in advance. Based on my analysis I may only take a trade at the 62 to 78% levels. I may have more than one Fib cluster in this area I am set up to trade. If I get a trigger I take the trade. I may get stopped out but I will reenter as long as my premise for taking the trade is still intact, maybe at the same cluster, maybe at the next cluster. If I do not get a trigger off these levels I do not take the trade. I chose an area and that is it. I don’t go chasing or randomly trying to trade every Fib or Fib cluster on the chart.

There is a little more to it than this. The process is time consuming and necessary. My trading plan is about 40 easy to follow pages set up in a checklist and template like format. I go through my checklist first when looking at a potential trade, much the same as an airplane pilot does with his plane before taking off. The template part deals primarily with trade management.
 
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