What are the most useful indicators for you?

[Joseph Trader]

Hello Folks,

Would like to ask a question which is important to me.
What are the most useful (or at least little bit useful lol) indicators for you?

For example those that you use always or would like to use, like the one that shows Spread on a chart or timer, or Pivot lines?

What are those ?

 

[Traderallen]

Only price

In my opinion the only thing worth having on the chart is the price whether you use candles, open high low close, its up to you. If you ever watch the Business News Channel where they interview millionaire traders. Look at their charts which are usually on computers behind them you won't see any indicators other than maybe a moving average or two. Indicators are gimmicks sold to amatures.

 

[malaguti]

Price, what price
Trying to tell me you cant see price action from this chart

 

[Jason Rogers]

Hello Folks,

Would like to ask a question which is important to me.
What are the most useful (or at least little bit useful lol) indicators for you?

For example those that you use always or would like to use, like the one that shows Spread on a chart or timer, or Pivot lines?

What are those ?

I like to keep it fairly simple when it comes to indicators: trend lines, classic support/resistance and trader sentiment. I will use other indicators from time to time such as Fibonacci retracements/extensions or pivot lines but usually only to determine profit targets.

 

[Jason101]

I like ATR for short term perspective and some MA's for medium to long term perspective.

 

[Rockfeller]

I don`t use any indicators just pure price action. Sometimes I also watch fibonacci 50-61.8 zone (range must be at least 100 pips)

 

[timsk]

. . . What are the most useful (or at least little bit useful lol) indicators for you?

Hi Joseph,
Indicators are a tool and must be used appropriately - just like any conventional tool. A hammer won't help you saw a piece of wood - just as a saw won't drive a nail home. So, to answer your own question, I suggest you go back a step and ask 'what do I want to show that I can't see from looking at price, time and volume alone?' Suppose the answer to that question is 'I want to see an objective measure of volatility to enable me to gauge where best to place my stop loss orders and work out my position size'. Then, as someone else has mentioned - ATR is an obvious starting point. An indicator like MACD won't help much with that particular goal - it'll be akin to attempting to cut wood with a hammer! For more on indicators and how to get the most out of them - check out this Sticky: Essentials Of Technical Analysis

The other point to make about indicators is that there are so many of them and they can be used in so many different ways - that how I use indicators may be completely inappropriate for you. For example, I trade US equity indices and my main indicator is a market breadth indicator (as opposed to a technical indicator) called $Tick. This shows me how many stocks in the NYSE are ticking up or down at any given time. That's very useful and relevant information for me, but it's unlikely to be of any interest at all to a Forex trader.

If you say what you're trading and what you're wanting to show, I'm sure members will suggest some indicators that may, possibly, be of use to you.
Tim.

 

[NVP]

hey its not the indicator...... its the trader looking at it thats the main reason why (95% ?) of traders lose money over time ....

so a simple MA is all I need generally ..........

N

 

[Giovan]

A 20 EMA and zoom *2 does it for me....
Had more EMA's during my training days, but now I find it easier to have the one only
Gio

 

[StockIdeas]

I keep it simple for equities: support and resistance, candlesticks and volume and for futures: tick charts, trend lines, support and resistance, and 21 EMA, no volume on futures

 

[elisab]

In my opinion : Ichimoku cloud, ADX e ROC.

 

[Purple Brain]

Price action around higher highs and higher lows, lower highs lower lows. Especially around support and resistance levels.

Price crossing one moving average and for additional probability bouncing off another moving average to assist me in making the decision to enter a position.

For exits: price action around support and resistance levels. If there is more wick than body and the wick is inclined towards the SR level, I'll exit. Dojis too are often effective around these levels for presaging either a reversal or a temporary end of momentum to the prior move.

If there's more wick than body and the wick is inclined away from the SR level I'll stay in. As I will if the bar has no wick at all and of course if it just passes right through the SR level.

There are far more ways I'm likely to stay in a trade than exit it. The reverse used to be the case and I didn't do as well.

 

[elisab]

Since I have discovered the use of the Ichimoku cloud in Forex, I must say that I completely abandoned the classical technical analysis based on static supports and resistances.

 

[cablemonster]

i like the vwap but just use it is a guide not to trade off.

 

[Tent trader]

A 20 EMA and zoom *2 does it for me....
Had more EMA's during my training days, but now I find it easier to have the one only
Gio

Please forgive my not knowing...but what is zoom *2. ( or is it simply 2x zoom on your 20 EMA)?

 

[Purple Brain]

Since I have discovered the use of the Ichimoku cloud in Forex, I must say that I completely abandoned the classical technical analysis based on static supports and resistances.

Forgive my lack of knowledge, but my current understanding is that ichimoku is about as classic a technical analysis of dynamic support and resistance as you can get. Past price action projected, via moving averages, into the 'future'.

If you replaced the upper and lower boundaries of the cloud with horizontal lines they'd be a close match for the SR levels derived from the more traditional western techniques.

I'm not saying better or worse: simply that ichimoku is from entirely the same camp as all other technical indicators regardless of its seemingly exotic heritage.

 

[elisab]

Forgive my lack of knowledge, but my current understanding is that ichimoku is about as classic a technical analysis of dynamic support and resistance as you can get. Past price action projected, via moving averages, into the 'future'.

If you replaced the upper and lower boundaries of the cloud with horizontal lines they'd be a close match for the SR levels derived from the more traditional western techniques.

I'm not saying better or worse: simply that ichimoku is from entirely the same camp as all other technical indicators regardless of its seemingly exotic heritage.

Yes, it's true, the Ichimoku technique is similar to the crossover of moving averages, but if you enter different indicators with various phases and especially in determining support and resistance, or providing signals to trade, then it takes into account the volatility, by filtering out many false signals.

 

[rsh01]

price behaviour

 

[FDateTrader]

MACD Stochastic MA and %R

In the order of my personal preferences, as far as canned indicators go, I prefer the MACD, Stochastic, Moving Averages and %R.

My trading decisions are not based on any packaged indicator. However, I do use them often and regularly to add confirmation.

If I had to only pick one, it would be the MACD.

The reason for the MACD choice is because it incorporates the cyclic element (oscillator), the moving average element, the overbought/oversold element and the crossover indication.

Spend enough time studying the MACD and you will come to find nuances that can tip you off to a short-term trend change in any time frame.

Quite useful.

 

[NVP]

the MACD influence is heavily built into my own FXCorrelator

I like MACD ....and again as I may have said early in these discussions most indicators have their ancestry in MA's

N