Systemized profit-taking?

Quote from hypostomus:

..thanks for the lead. That's one I was not aware of. I'll check it out. Need help big time with some really fundamental questions on assessing the goodness of a system. - Mike
PM me if you wish.
 
Quote from Girlpower:



There are indeed rules based upon shapes, the problem is trying to define those shapes in a way that is loose enough for a computer to understand involves concepts that are sadly beyond me. shapes all based around lines, triangles, boxes and momentum. While they are easily identified visually, it is much more of a problem when it comes to all the variations that look pretty much the same, but actually aren't identical.


Girlpower,

I don't know what kind of testing software you're using, but have you tried using slope of the regression line of highs & lows for the last N periods in a higher timeframe to define boxes and triangles?

I've attached a chart that's a start in that direction

'Is Horizontal Channel (boolean)' requires that the slopes of the 60min regressions of 15 min highs and lows are within some narrow band around zero. (+/.25)

Just my $.02

Edit: Furthermore, you can describe Grob's up and down channels in the same way by focusing on the spread between the slopes.


Best Regards,
Laz
 

Attachments

Quote from laziz314159:



Girlpower,

I don't know what kind of testing software you're using, but have you tried using slope of the regression line of highs & lows for the last N periods in a higher timeframe to define boxes and triangles?

I've attached a chart that's a start in that direction

'Is Horizontal Channel (boolean)' requires that the slopes of the 60min regressions of 15 min highs and lows are within some narrow band around zero. (+/.25)

Just my $.02

Edit: Furthermore, you can describe Grob's up and down channels in the same way by focusing on the spread between the slopes.


Best Regards,
Laz

I've not tried that idea although slopes and angles are on my list when I get time to figure them out.

Your solution there looks quite elegant although I'm not sure I would know how to implement it. but deffinitely brainfood. :)

Many thanks

Natalie
 
Quote from hypostomus:

In my experience attempting to develop mechanical trading systems for intraday, most of them benefitted significantly from the addition of a "take profit" rule. Admittedly, most of them are mediocre at best (not worth the trouble to trade). However, from contemplation of those few which are a little better (they make minimum wage), I have a working hypothesis that the very best systems are optimized with a "time in trade" exit rule and are degraded by a "take profit" rule. (All this is independent of consideration of stops, the optimization of which typically must be determined iteratively with the other exit rules.)

i, for one, have to agree here. 'time in trade' is what you should focus on. there are internal rhythms in the market during the day that you need to be more aware of. capture the essence of what is happening and you will not worry about the size of the move.
 
Quote from Girlpower:

I've tried both targetted exits and time-expiry exits and I found neither to be satisfactory.

The only satisfactory approach I've found is to identify the failure point for a trade, and exit there, which can be either an exit or a reverse depending on the signal. I've yet to find a way of automating it unfortunately...

Best

Natalie

well said natalie. definitely something that you must experience over and over to fully understand the 'failure point'. don't expect anything. just put the position on when you should and pull it off when the trade is done.
 
Quote from Girlpower:


The vexing question that I am grappling with right now is how to identify/quantify the failure points in mechanical terms.

Kind regards

Natalie

do you trade with pivot #'s in mind? i personally find these #'s to be great signposts -- mechanical points that separate moves. very often you will buy bottoms or sell tops when you are aware of the #'s. you can take low risk positions countertrend at these points in the morning (9:45am), and get in on the very beginning of a move. the failure point is purely mechanical -- it's when you see a pivot level fail, after it has ALREADY previously held that level (this usually coincides @ 10:30am). this is the time to identify the next pivot level and take a position. ride it into the afternoon, who knows?! who cares? maybe it will only last 2 minutes and then you're done. anywhoo......good trading :)
 
Quote from Grob109:



to reinforce the commentary made so far, their areways to define this arena of failure.

Giving specific consideration to trend failure is a very important and far reaching set of considerations.

It is like backing up in a trade from the condition of going out on stops. This is a bad way to exit; you give up so much. If you continue to back up you get to the trend boundary type exit. Channel breakouts and that genre. You preserve more profits by doing this. Backing up further you get to what girlpowers susgests: looking atformations and stuff within the trend profit movement.

The two branches of this consideration focus on the channel characteristics. The primary characteristic is the the nature of the money velocity of the trade. Fast channel accumulate profits continually, medium channels are "on/off" channels; slow channels are "on/pullback (loss)" channels.

This gets you far enough back to focus on the channel "traverses that cause the two parts of the profit characterization. It is hard to get people to become conscious of opportunities on this level of discussion. Most of it is foreign and almost always does not incite questions.

The key "failure" that logic and software may be applied to is the "failure to traverse". What makes this such a deep and rich place to mine is that there are two directional traverse subsets in any money making channel.

A person could superficially conclude that "fast" channels make the most money. If you continue to read and engage, you will find out thatthings are very different than quick looks and intuitive judgements provide.

By knowing about the channel traverses in a "failure" context you get to some major stratigical break throughs. This stuff also puts nail after nail in the macro coffin. At some point in strategic financial industry practices, the pendulum is going to swing to a point of really pulling down all the potential profits the market proferrs.

Fialure with regard to traversing channels takes you to a new level of analysis that is a level finer and more precise than the first two levels of analysis. The gross level which provides perspective keeps a person on point for dealling with the contorlling side of sentiment (the "buyer/seller market stuff); the middle level deals with trend analysis; channel land so to speak.

What you and girlpower are bantering about, and it is significant, is the essential ingrediant for moving to continuous profit extraction form the market's potential. It is breath taking to evolve into this territory. It is the last part of the trilogy of trading to make money.

I live in this space and you will get that in a few years. Failure to traverse, either way in the channel is where it is at. This consideration drives you as far away from stops and risk as you will ever find yourself.

You read girlpower composing pictures of it. Magnificent. what builds in this space after it is first available to see. The usual. Optimizing the opportunity at all times.

The surly unruly ogre that prevents one fomr getting focused is uncomplex but has everything to do with the clarity of thinking and the emotions of decision making.

The fact is, that you cannot mix levels in analysis. Doing the Dr seus "biggering" often mixes levels into a stew of ingredients.

I insist that you deal with the gross. confidently define it without question. Set it in place. Set your channel considerations in place as well by a complete characterization.

Then , and only then, can you monitor and view the bar at hand, the NOW bar. You examine it in one context only: the context of the prior bar. Your view is a single measure of a single consideration. It is this: IS this bar continuing to keep me on the right side of the trade? YES or NO. Yes means there is no failure. You continue your strategy. There is no causal factor inducing change. None at all.

The alternative answer leads you to a selection of possible actions. It places you at choice and as always the choices are defined and you go with the flow.

wehere you are is in a plce where singular signals popping up from some half ass strategy to get an edge are not in the picture whatsoever. That stuff is how stew is made which continually mixes levels and fogs the possibility of making money. Until we get to where this thread got us, there is no opportunity to consider what I am typing. ET does not deal in ideas at all. It deals in responses when and only when an opportunity appears.

Today's trading was in a context that ocurs once every two years. That is a rare thing. It is a context where a person states unequivacably that their construct is not functional.

So here we get to NO. What NO means is that you are no longer in the trade in a correct orientation. You must change orientation immediately and repeat an assessment on the thrid level only. In effect, all you can do is reorient (reverse in trading terms) and test. You either get a YES or a NO. Viola! No one inET get to think like this, ever. Unless it is put before you for your benefit or for you to exercise Power and reject.

The YES means that you have taken profits and completed an action to stop all risks of uncertainty and, then, continue to make another slug of profits. what I am saying is that I have taken you to a new place and you made all the money that was available to make by answering one question twice. Once from each side of the market phenomena present. No one could ask for anything more simple, comprehensive and 100% successful all the time.

Let me say again what you did. you exited a trade, took profits and took on another trade.

Lastly, in the retest you could get a NO after reversing. you exit and sideline. WHY? Because you have just proven their is not trend at present. NO money to be made and only risk to endure until something new happens.

Et has not seen elegance often. By reading this you get to see elegance..

You get to see ONE MAJOR COCEPT that no one uses here at all. The concept is that to optimize making money you have to operate on several levels, and at no time can you mix the levels and perform analysis.

The market is a synthesis of levels. I pry them apart correctly and deal completely and independantly with each levels. By doing this it is possible to be continuously successful.

The neat news is that this kind of stuff can be done in many ways. and all of the resultinf approaches are mecahnical and can be put into software as well.

I am providing wake up calls to a lot of people on a lot of levels.
the pragmatic ones like provideing graphs in advance of the actions that do follow is more or less a wake up call using a blunt force insturment.

This post is one where some people really get to enjoy a really positive "eureka" moment. If a person gets to the point of enquiry on how ot optimize taking profits on trend endings, then they are sitting in a place for a magnificent and major breakthrough. Enjoy. And have a nice look at something pervasive and elegant.

gosh...you make it sound so complex or something ;)
 
...Please delete your post. You are giving away the farm here. For the record, Funky is full of it. There are NO temporal predictabilities in the market, intraday, daily, or monthly. Maybe Kondratieff waves work, but we'll all be on social security by then. Trust me. Stick to MA's, stochs, SAR's, etc. They WORK. Isn't that what all the books say? Funky, what were you thinking? Don't you want people to take the other side of your trades?
 
Quote from hypostomus:

...Please delete your post. You are giving away the farm here. For the record, Funky is full of it. There are NO temporal predictabilities in the market, intraday, daily, or monthly. Maybe Kondratieff waves work, but we'll all be on social security by then. Trust me. Stick to MA's, stochs, SAR's, etc. They WORK. Isn't that what all the books say? Funky, what were you thinking? Don't you want people to take the other side of your trades?

come on, i could shout it in their faces and they'd still lose money.
 
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