Showing posts with label Trend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trend. Show all posts

Thursday, July 4, 2024

Structural Characteristics of Bullish & Bearish Months | D'onte Goodridge

Traders want to find trending markets but often fail to see and understand the structural characteristics of bullish and bearish months. Both move in a similar fashion but inverse to one another. Here are the characteristics for the formation of a bullish month:
 
 
The first example is a daily chart of US Dollar versus Japanese Yen (USDJPY) during February 2023. The market was trending up. It was a bullish month. Let's identify the five key factors to a bullish month:

1. Price moves below the monthly opening price.
2. A swing low forms below the month's open.
3. Price purges a previous daily low (PDL) and reverses back to a previous daily high (PDH).
4. The market creates a market structure shift (MSS) to the upside and an Imbalance or Fair Value Gap (FVG).
5. Higher swing highs and higher swing lows form.
 

Looking at the daily candles in the USDJPY chart, we see the methodical sequence of a Bullish Month developing:
 
1. Price was movesg below the monthly opening price. Price stops below it, runs up, drops below it, runs up and continues the bullish trend.
2. A swing low below the month's open forms. This is a swing low because the candle on the left has a higher low and the candle on the right has a higher low, hence the low in the middle is the lowest point. To form a swing low  only takes three bars.
3. Price purges a previous low and works back to a previous high. The following day price reverses back to the previous daily high, all happening within a three bar setup, creating a swing low, which is a purge on the previous daily low and a reversal back to a previous daily high.
4. Next the market creates a shift to the upside with speed through a previous swing high and a FVG.
5. And price created a new swing high and a higher swing low.

The next example is a daily chart of Apple during January 2023. The same five criteria for a Bullish Month were met:
 

Now let's look at the five key factors to a Bearish Month:

1. Price moves above the monthly opening price.
2. A swing high forms above the month's open.
3. Price purges a previous daily high and reverses back to a previous daily low.
4. The market creates a shift to the downside and a FVG.
5. Lower swing highs and lower swing lows form.
 

The first example is a daily chart of British Pound versus US Dollar during August 2022. The market was trending down. Identify the above listed five criteria for the formation of a Bearish Month:
 
 
The last example is a daily chart of Gold during February 2023. Gold was in a down trend. Identify the structural criteria for the formation of a Bearish Month:
 

 

Friday, June 14, 2024

The Principle of Contraction/Expansion | Toby Crabel

 
Price always moves from Consolidation to Expansion, never from Consolidation to Reversal or from Consolidation to Retracement. After an Expansion, two possible scenarios can occur: either a Retracement or a Reversal, followed by another Expansion or Consolidation. That’s it—it happens over and over again. 

» The principle of Contraction/Expansion is defined as the market phenomenon of change from a period of rest to a period of movement back to a period of rest. This interaction between the phases of motion and rest are constantly taking place, with one phase directly responsible for the others' existence. «
 
Toby Crabel, 1990
 
In his study 'Day Trading with Short Term Price Patterns and Opening Range Breakout' Toby Crabel defined the following range contraction and expansion patterns:

NR4 - The narrowest daily range relative to the previous three day’s daily ranges compared individually.
NR7 - A day with a daily range that is narrower than the previous six day’s daily ranges compared individually.
WS4 - (Widespread 4) A day with a daily range that is larger than any of the previous three day’s daily ranges.
WS7 - (Widespread 7) A day with a daily range that is larger than any of the previous six day’s daily ranges
             compared individually.

His key findings were: A cumulative total of Gross Profits for the contraction patterns vs expansion patterns on trades in the direction of the move off the open showed $710,000 for contractions on 7,313 trades and $102,000 for expansions on 7,524 trades. Profits were seven times larger for ORB (Opening Range Breakout) trades after contractions than expansions.

» Clearly something is going on here. The suggestion from these results is that one should be looking to go with a forceful move off the open after a contraction and not willing to do so after an expansion. In fact, fading price action off the open, with trend, after an expansion is a consideration. Other patterns can help with the decision on whether to fade a move off the open along with previously mentioned market context. If nothing else, one should be aware of the dangers of ORB trades the day after a big directional day. Caution is necessary after expansions. This is when the most attention is given to the market by the novice trades who invariably get caught in whipsaws and trendless markets. «  

Bitcoin - Inside Bar Narrow Range 4 (ID/NR4)
in monthly, weekly, daily and 4 hour bar charts.

» An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed 
and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. «
Isaac Newton's 'First Law of Motion', 1687
 

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Swing Points as Trend Change Indication | Larry Williams

A trend change from up to down occurs when a short-term high is exceeded on the upside, a short-term trend change from down to up is identified by price going below the most recent short-term low. Figure 8.1 depicts such trend changes in a classic manner, study it well because reality comes next! Here are a couple of pointers on this technique. Although the penetration of one of these short-term highs, in a declining market, indicates a trend reversal to the upside, some penetrations are better than others.

 Figure 8.1 — Classic patterns of trend change.

» There are only two ways a short-term high or low is broken. «
 Figure 8.2 — Breaking a short-term high or low.

There are only two ways a short-term high or low is broken. In an up trending market, the low that is violated or fallen below will be either a low prior to making a new rally high, as shown at (A) in Figure 8.2, or a low that occurs after decline of a high that then rallies making a lower short-term high; it then declines below the low prior to the rally that failed to make a new high, as shown at (B). The better indication of a real trend change is the violation of the low shown at (A). By the same token, a trend reversal to the upside will occur in one of the two following patterns: In (A), the rally peak prior to a new low is violated to the upside, or in (B), the market makes a higher low, then rallies above the short-term high between those two lows. In this case, again, the (A) pattern is the better indication of a real trend reversal.

Figure 8.3 — T-bonds (15-minute bars)

With that in mind, look at Figure 8.3, which shows a 15-minute bar chart of the September Bonds in 1989. The major trend moves were adequately captured by this technique. [...] You can use this technique two ways. Some traders may simply buy long and sell short on these changes in trend. That's a basic simplistic approach.

Sunday, May 28, 2023

Trading the Pump & Dump Pattern | Cameron Benson

I'm going to show you that pattern that I use every single day on every single trade, whether I'm going long or short. The pattern that I'm referring to is the pump & dump and the dump & pump pattern. Every single market movement is either a pump & dump or a dump & pump pattern, and all trade setups are based on these two patterns.
 
 
Markets are fractal, and this pattern is going to occur on the weekly and the daily time frame, on the 4 hour, the 15-minute, the 30 second chart, etc. It doesn't matter: whatever you're looking at, this pattern is going to occur.


I use larger setups and then I start to break things down: I look at the date and day in the month, I look at the three-week cycle, at the three-day cycle, at what day are we in the week, and I look at the weekly range, what is the high and the low of the week. Are we working the low, are we working the high? 
 

Any unidirectional move – up or down - ends with a consolidation, followed by a break in market structure and a continuation to anther pivot level and/or it is followed by a reversal.
 
 
Three pushes to a high, a sideways consolidation, a break in market structure to the downside, then the dump. A lot of times the market will return down at least to the 50% retracement level or down to the level where the pump started or even below.


See also:

Thursday, April 27, 2023

The 3 Day Cycle | Cameron Benson

 
The 3 Day Cycle  is a recurring market cycle, that when identified, can be the groundwork of a trade setup. It consists of 3 days, and begins with a false break at the current weeks high or low. In his Best Trade Setups Playbook Stacey Burke described the 3 Day Cycle setups as either pump and dumps, or dump and pumps: "They [the market makers] pump, pump, pump, go sideways and drop a bit, one more small pump, then a dump. The dump can go straight down, fast. The pump up, may often be hard to trade on the first day, the price action can be choppy, and back and forth, a slow grinding auction. Other times, you are forced to "chase the move."  

 
Finding Day 1:
Look for a false break above or below a previous day's high or low AT THE HIGH OR LOW OF THE WEEK.

Attributes of Day 1:
1. Breaks Below/Above Previous Days High or Low at the high of the week, and the day closes back inside of previous days range.
a. Sub Variation: Breaks through previous days level and days closes above/below that level. 
The following day, price comes back inside of the the range from 2 days ago and closes.
2. Can become a First Green Day or First Red Day (Signal for following day).
3. Day 3 sometimes turns into Day 1 at the close of the day.


 
 Attributes of Day 2 of the 3 Day Cycle:

Day 2 can be either
1. Continuation in direction of false break; or:
2. It can turn into ...
    a.) a First Red Day (FGD)
    b.) a First Green Day (FRD)
    c.) an Inside Day
    d.) a Trend Day

Areas of Interest:
1. High of the Day/Low of the Day (HOD/LOD)
2. High of the Session/Low of the Session (HOS/LOS)
3. Outside Day/Inside Day (Was there a false break?) (Act as Support/Resistance)
4. Low Bear/High Bull (Support/Resistance)

Day 2 Trade Setups:
- Long/Short Squeeze
- Parabolic Trend Trade
- High of the Session/Low of the Session (HOD/LOD) Trade
- High of the Day/Low of the Day (HOD/LOD)
- Low Hanging Fruit (LHF) Continuation (Trend Trade)

Method:
1. Support/Resistance References:
a. Low Bear/High Bull
b. Previous Days High/Low
c. HOD/LOD
2. Measure 3 Levels of rise/fall from Low/High of day for potential strike zone.
3. Use Support/Resistance References as additional confluence.
 
 
Attributes of Day 3 of the 3 Day Cycle:

1. Day 3 is the last day of the 3 Day Cycle.
2. A lot of times Day 3 can turn into Day 1, either on the current day or the next day 
(Reset of the Day Count).
3. Day 3 can either become a blow off trend continuation day (in the direction of the trend) or a reversal day.

Trade Setups:
1. Parabolic/Capitulation Trend
2. Reversal HOW/LOW
3. LHF Continuation (Trend Trade)

Areas of Interest:
1. Low/High of week
2. Previous Days High/Low (Support/Resistance/Trapped Volume)
3. High/Low of Day
4. High Bull/Low Bear (Support/Resistance)
5. OD/ID (Outside Day/Inside Day)

Reference:
 
See also:

The 3 Week Cycle | Cameron Benson

 
There are multiple ways of Week 1 taking place: 

1.) Price breaks out and fails at the High/Low of the month above or below a previous weeks high/low.
2.) A 3 Week Cycle has completed (gone through week 1,2,3), but has not reversed on week 3. 
I refer to this as a "revolving door" style a.k.a. Trending Model of the 3 week cycle.
3.) A breakout occurs above/below previous weeks level, and on the following week reverses back above/below that level.
4.) On week 3 the market reverses BUT on the following week the market continues in the previous direction (a.k.a. Reset). 
 
 
 
See also:

Sunday, February 19, 2023

Point & Line | Charles Drummond

Charles Drummond (1979)- And, with succinct regularity, it became obvious that all of the input for several days, weeks and months gave birth to each day's high/low/close in a constant manner and this expression when analyzed, signaled the story in relation to its past history - the mathematical dot, and the movement of prices around it.  
 

 
Gracious me, there were constants all over the place:
  • prices each day moved a maximum of "x" mm away from the ‘dot' line.
  • prices each day, moved a maximum of "x" cents up or down from the dot itself.
  • prices eventually stop moving above the main line in an up market into an area or channel just under the line, and in an up moving market, prices are topping.
  • the dots started to move closer and closer together in an upmarket and the market was topping.
  • dots swung off the main dot line - bells ringing left and right - market is topping.
  • the dot is swinging more, it's falling under or above. The dot didn't swing under or above. And since it didn't, and not doing what it's supposed to do, the opposite is happening.
  • instead of the dot going up exactly in a straight line, or down in a straight line, they are "snaking" very close to each other, horizontally - we're in a congestion.
Often I can tell, two days into a congestion that we're into a congestion.

Quoted from:
Charles Drummond (1979) - How to make Money in the Futures Market ... and lots of it.
 
 
See also:
Ted Hearne (2022) - Drummond Geometry: Uncover Hidden Market Structure.
Ted Hearne (2007) - Drummond Geometry: Picking Yearly Highs and Lows in Interbank Forex Trading.  
In: David Keller (2007) - Breakthroughs in Technical Analysis.

Friday, December 16, 2022

The Four Guiding Principles of Market Behavior | Momentum & Trend

Principle 1:     Trend is More Likely to Continue its Direction than to Reverse
With price established in a clearly defined trend of higher highs and higher lows, certain key strategies and probabilities begin to take shape. Once a trend is established, it takes considerable force and capitalization to turn the tide. Fading a trend is generally a low-probability endeavor and the greatest profits can be made by entering reactions or retracements following a counter trend move and playing for either the most recent swing high or a certain target just beyond the most recent swing high. An absence of chart patterns or swings implies trend continuation until both a higher high and a higher low (vice versa for uptrend changes) form and price takes out the most recent higher high.

Be aware that recent statistical analysis of market action (from intraday to 20 day periods) over the last five years shows that mean reversion, rather than trend continuation is more probable in many equities/indices (as shown by more up days followed by down days than continuation upwards). For the current market environment, until volatility returns (as it may be doing now), this rule may be restated, “Trends with strong momentum show favorable odds for continuation.”
 
Principle 2:     Trends End in Climax (Euphoria/Capitulation)
Trends continue in push/pull fashion until some external force exerts convincing pressure on the system, be it in the form of sharply increased volume or volatility. This typically occurs when we experience extreme continuity of thought and euphoria of the mass public (that price will continue upwards forever). However, price action – because of extreme emotions – tends to carry further than most traders anticipate, and anticipating reversals still can be financially dangerous. In fact, some price action becomes so parabolic in the end stage that up to 70% of the gains come in the final 20% of the move. Markets also rarely change trends overnight; rather, a sideways trend or consolidation is more likely to occur before rolling over into a new downtrend.
 
Three Things Markets do:
1. Breakout and Trend.
2. Breakout and Reverse (False Breakout).
3. Trading Range (High and Low).
 
 
Principle 3:     Momentum Precedes Price
Momentum – force of buying/selling pressure – leads price in that new momentum highs have higher probability of resulting in a new price high following the next reaction against that momentum high. Stated differently, expect a new price high following a new momentum high reading on momentum indicators (including MACD, momentum, rate of change). A gap may also serve as a momentum indicator. Some of the highest probability trades occur after the first reaction following a new momentum high in a freshly confirmed trend. Also, be aware that momentum highs following a trend exhaustion point are invalidated by principle #2. Never establish a position in the direction of the original trend following a clear exhaustion point.
 
Principle 4:     Price Alternates Between Range Expansion and Range Contraction
Price tends to consolidate (trend sideways) much more frequently than it expands (breakouts). Consolidation indicates equilibrium points where buyers and sellers are satisfied (efficiency) and expansion indicates disequilibrium and imbalance (inefficiency) between buyers and sellers. It is much easier to predict volatility changes than price, as price-directional prediction (breakout) following a low-volatility environment is almost impossible. Though low volatility environments are difficult to predict, they provide some of the best risk/reward trades possible (when you play for a very large target when your initial stop is very small – think NR-7 Bars).

Various strategies can be developed that take advantages of these principles. In fact, almost all sensible trades base their origin in at least one of these market principles: breakout strategies, retracement strategies, trend trading, momentum trading, swing trading, etc. across all timeframes.
 
Concept Credit for arranging the four principles
 
See also: