Support & Resistance levels , and moving averages are just meaningless lines on the chart.

[themickey]

Mickey, nobody is forcing you to use something you don't know how to use

Correct, I don't use and not forced.
Mmmmmm, what's so complicated about a lagging average indicator that one could not understand?
Oh, you use it with MACD. Now that's called digging a hole, two bad indicators doesn't equal one good one.
No one is forcing you to not use moving averages and no one is forcing you not to be sheep, please carry on.

 

[panzerman]

Same.

So much of trading is about trying to improve the math and move probabilities further in one's favor and this helps.

For your ema, try this formula, and play around with values for alpha and gain, typical values might be alpha = 0.2 and gain = 0.5:

y[0] = alpha*(x[0]+gain*(x[0]-y[1]))+(1-alpha)*y[1]

Also, read the article by John Ehlers and Ric Way, "Zero Lag" to find an algorithm to optimize gain.

 

[NoahA]

There is a BETTER WAY!
Much better and more logical way, you guys aren't thinking outside the square, you are following the road most travelled.

Ok.. I'm gonna ask... what is the better way? I myself don't like MA's, but I do love VWAP.

 

[schizo]

Ok.. I'm gonna ask... what is the better way?

I personally don't use any indicators for my discretionary trading, but I've dicked around with a few when testing my algos. In the process, I've realized that there's really no right way or the wrong way to use an indicator. For instance, more than half of the time, I tweaked the formula of the indicator to see if I could "overclock" it. You end up with something totally different from what you originally started with, but heck it's still an indicator.

 

[David's faith]

Correct, I don't use and not forced.
Mmmmmm, what's so complicated about a lagging average indicator that one could not understand?
Oh, you use it with MACD. Now that's called digging a hole, two bad indicators doesn't equal one good one.
No one is forcing you to not use moving averages and no one is forcing you not to be sheep, please carry on.

Love how this became political
Must add, I played s/r by stomach and I suck at uptrend plays, EMAs might change that

 

[themickey]

EMAs might change that

EMA's won't change anything, it's grasping at straws, the wrong approach is the wrong approach no matter how much lipstick you paint on the pig.
Think about it!!! What does averaging a price do? Nothing!
If your foundation for TA is weak / baseless, then the house can't function.
Most of the problem lays in accepting certain TA doctrine and not questioning it.

 

[themickey]

Ok.. I'm gonna ask... what is the better way?

A better way is to spend some hours, maybe days or even weeks to come up with something via thinking for yourself which is not a lagging moving averages.
For me to hand over something is too easy.
But what if I said "is a 1MA a lagging MA?".
Then you'll laugh at me and say "You're clueless, how the hell can you use a 1MA?"
And my reply will be, "You still don't get, think harder".

 

[themickey]

Love how this became political

Political???

 

[David's faith]

A better way is to spend some hours, maybe days or even weeks to come up with something via thinking for yourself which is not a lagging moving averages.
For me to hand over something is too easy.
But what if I said "is a 1MA a lagging MA?".
Then you'll laugh at me and say "You're clueless, how the hell can you use a 1MA?"
And my reply will be, "You still don't get, think harder".

Just one question. Do you mean the "the new bullish candle closes above the last candles opening thing" as "analyse PA on a candle by candle basis" or do you look at the trend (higher low, higher high)?
Were you the guy who goes candle by candle or was it someone else?

 

[themickey]

Just one question. Do you mean the "the new bullish candle closes above the last candles opening thing" as "analyse PA on a candle by candle basis" or do you look at the trend (higher low, higher high)?
Were you the guy who goes candle by candle or was it someone else?

I don't bother with candle analysis, or bar by bar analysis.
I don't bother with indicators of any sort, especially moving averages which are dead useless.
Support and resistance levels I do, but not trend lines much, ie sloping.
My main core is sentiment which is calculated.