Trend detector?

pkfryer

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What are good timely indicators for quickly detecting when a price is trending and not?
 
Weekly, Daily, 60min and 15min chart will give you a visual indication of trend.

If you want a real short-term trend then net price (current price - previous day's close) and opening price (current price - opening price) will give you that.

If you mean trending as opposed to ranging/oscillating I hope the above has helped in pointing out it's all relative, depending upon your timeframe.

Of course, there are no end of indicators that will give you an approximation - MAs being the simplest (and probably most indicative of prior trend), but again, they are all dependent upon the timeframe you're using.
 
I was just wondering whether there was something more responsive than MAs in there various flavours. If the MA is too sensitive it whips around confusing a system, if its too smoothed out it gets you in to a trend near the middle or end.
 
Adx/dmi?

PK, you might find the following of some use....no Holy Grail and not quite so straight forward as a good 'ole MA :)


pkfryer said:
I was just wondering whether there was something more responsive than MAs in there various flavours. If the MA is too sensitive it whips around confusing a system, if its too smoothed out it gets you in to a trend near the middle or end.
 

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That's the difference between using a trend for trend detection purposes and using it as a systematic element of a trading system.

As a systematic element of a trading system, trend detection can only ever be 'in the past' and needs to be used accordingly. Like MAs (and all MA based inds) they are lagging indicators and are quite good at accurately predicting the past.

I'm only being slightly humorous here - knowing the past action and trend is important, but to use it as an element of a systematic procedure for trade timing IN ANY TIMEFREAME isn't going to work over the long haul.

Just pick your instrument of choice and look at the 'trend' on monthly, weekly, daily, 60min, 15min and 5min charts. If they're all going in the same direction - that's a trend! Typically they wont and you'll need to weight the (a) the most recent smallest timeframe appropriately and (b) the timeframe you're trading.
 
If you know when things are trending and when sideways then it makes it pretty easy to clean up. This is the skill of the trend follower, no simple answer to your question and certainly no indicator that is going to tell you all, despite what some dodgy websites might claim.
 
I know that you dont like indicators any more, but I do believe that if the trend signal is strong it gives a good indication for the immediate future. The amount of times I've seen I price dip to the MA (in a strong trend) and rally off again. Its is profitable to follow it. But my main concern is to try and detect a channel and a trend earlier than the lagging moving average. A more immediately, leading indicator.. or at least a sensitive indicator that gets you in earlier but isnt effected by whipsaw.
 
Thanks ChowClown I've heard some interesting things about that particular method. Excellent document!

Now, I agree with you bramble, the best thing to do is follow the trend confirmed by different time frames, but I dont agree that all the time frames have to be going in the same direction at once for there to be a clear trend. I believe the next time frame up gives enough clarification, trading in the direction of that time frame. However, I was just making a query to see if there were any indicators that I wasn't familiar with that gave more immediate, yet accurate signals of trend or channeling.
 
Tricks

pkfryer said:
I was just wondering whether there was something more responsive than MAs in there various flavours. If the MA is too sensitive it whips around confusing a system, if its too smoothed out it gets you in to a trend near the middle or end.

There is a thing called TRIX (Triple eXponential) which its adherents claim is smoother than a short term moving average, but more responsive than a longer term average. I forget the exact definition (and it would probably depend on the software vendor) but the idea is to take a moving average of the differences between moving averages thus causing the indicator to behave as an oscillator that gives early indications of trend.

Does it work? You would need to embed it in a trading methodology and either backtest it or trade it.
 
pkfryer said:
I was just wondering whether there was something more responsive than MAs in there various flavours. If the MA is too sensitive it whips around confusing a system, if its too smoothed out it gets you in to a trend near the middle or end.

Have you tried looking at a Renko chart? I like it , but it is all very personal and others will like something else.

Split
 
3 day swing....is the one I use.....

High of the last 3 days & the low of the last 3 days ...50% of the range (ie between the 3 day/3day low) is the balance point... Above the Balance point ..bias is up...Below Balance point ..bias is down....Strong Buy signal if it break's above the 3day high ...Strong sell if it goes below the 3 day low..... :D
 
re: 3-day high and 3-day low.
Reminiscent of Donchian Channels, but in a much shorter time-frame.

I like the "balance point" idea.

An extra element of refinement,
 
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