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Has any one else noticed the the "Daily Gain/Loss" (same as Daily P&L) column is calculated incorrectly? It calculates from the open price to the last price, when it should be calculating from the BASE price to the last price!
Does anyone know how to get in there and change the calculation for the column (before I descend upon customer support)?
TIA!
Hey Tony...I saw that MA was 177.50 at the open on 6/1...just curious...did you sell off your position before it pulled back?
Under Watch List Manager, if you click "Add" you should be able to choose a previously created symbol list. Unless there's a way to do it and I just haven't figured it out! .
Plus, SD should be able to pull a watch list from the website...
"...you can also multiply the Red formula by -1 to have it tick down and the green formula tick up."
That is a really great idea!
So my new thing is to use the demark setup as an early warning indicator and wait for further confirmation (the formula I posted works great as confirmation). Every time I wait, I get a winner. If I pull the trigger just based on the demark, I get burned sometimes...
I never pulled the trigger on MA...sorry it didn't work out so far...but, I agree...it does have the potential to make $175.
But, I did dump a ton of cash into NEM (as pointed out a week or so ago) and it's been one of my best trades...it never showed up on the demark screener, but did go green on 4/27 using a variation of the formula i just posted and I bought it on 5/4. Sold 75% of my position yesterday...
This market is pretty crazy...just look at yesterday and today...every day I seriously think about taking a breather, but who wants to miss a day like yesterday?
I saw an idea on a different forum and I have kicked it up another level...simple, but very powerful...
Create a new study with the following formula (change the parms to be whatever you like...these are what I like to use). Name it Buy Signal (or whatever you like).
Bar[Close,D] > MovingAverage[MA,Close,10,0,D]
AND
Stochastic[StocK,8,3,3,D] > Stochastic[StocD,8,3,3,D]
AND
MACD[Diff,Close,8,12,9,D] > 0
Add the study to a chart and make the color green, thickness 2, uncheck "override formula with chart interval" and check "display as histogram".
Now create a new study with the following formula (make sure the parms match the first one).
Name it Sell Signal or other such name.
Bar[Close,D] < MovingAverage[MA,Close,10,0,D]
AND
Stochastic[StocK,8,3,3,D] < Stochastic[StocD,8,3,3,D]
AND
MACD[Diff,Close,8,12,9,D] < 0
Overlay this study on top of the previous study and make the color red, thickness 2, uncheck "override formula with chart interval" and check "display as histogram".
You now have a quick visual green/red signal light of stacked/combined indicators. There's no limit to how many or what indicators may be combined into a single visual signal....of course some would make more sense to combine than others...
Have fun...and if you come up with other ideas of stacked indicators and interesting ways to display them, please share!
Looking good Tony! Darn...I'm almost fully invested...so I might only be able to go after one...hmmmm...wihch one...enee, meeny... Also have a look at CMS, NI, NU, T and WEC...all looking to turn soon...just waiting for the MACD, Sto and MA to go positive...
Hey, BTW, I created a Level 1 screen that I drop all the stocks that that have a DeMark count going into so that I can easily monitor them. I call it "DeMark Radar".
Also, I still have to get the book out to you...maybe Saturday...I'll tweet you...
Yes, the VIX ($vix.x) is key! But, don't forget to also monitor the VXN ($vxn.x) right along side of it!
Please offer opinions: are the pre market futures a waste of time? Do they have value?
They are not a waste of time for early session trading, but by 11:00AM I find them pretty worthless. By mid-morning, the various sectors have pretty much set-up for the day...the futures usually don't give you a a good enough clue as how that is going to break. Also, how many late day sell-offs or rallys do you see, regardless of what the futures were? Tons.
Variation on the Tony G DeMark Indicator...
Tony made it so that there are lines above and below a center line to differentiate between buyer and seller exhaustion. Since to me seller exhaustion is a buy signal and buyer exhaustion is a sell signal, I made it so that the count is represented in red and green bars...for instant identification. I did this by breaking up Tony's study into two parts and creating a buy study and a sell study. I simply make the bars of the buy study green, then overlay the sell study and make those bars red. I think it's pretty neat! Example below.
I like to buy quality...although I fully realize that limits the upside. The irony is if I had more capital I'd take more risks, but to get more capital I have to take more risks!
Debt to capital ratio is something that I look at. Also price to earnings ratio. And...the cash flow statement. But I really go over the whole balance sheet for a select handful of companies that I plan to hold for an intermediate time frame.
BTW, I was nicely up today (even though DJI was down 52.80) ...thanks in large part to SD.
Sorry...hit submit twice!
Reply to Question of The Week - Fundamental Analysis
I currently have 110 stocks that I have done the full fundamental research on which are in my active watch list about 5 stocks fall off and 5 get added each week. Of those in the list, for about 10, I additionally listen to conference calls. read all the news and follow very closely. I keep my total number of active of positions relatively small...10 to 15...with usually anywhere from 100 to 1000 shares of each depending on the stock. I read all the sites like The Street and the others. I also cruise the forums looking for confirmation of my ideas. I NEVER listen to the "analysts" that work for the big firms...in my experience they're rarely right, late to the party or selfishly motivated.
When it comes time to trade, I very rarely am in and and out in a day. Usually 3 days minimum...but usually no longer than a couple of weeks. I tend to sell and re-buy some of the same stocks repeatedly rather than buy and hold (some could argue that this is inefficient, but I'd rather see real money in my pocket than see unrealized gains disappear into the ether...this is also why I'm a firm believer in stops). A few stocks, like GS and AAPL I've held on to and harvest profits periodically. For all positions, I review the charts several times a day. Every night I run several screens and hunt for targets. For watch list stocks, I review the fundamentals about twice a month just to keep them all straight. And, some stocks I let the computer trade, like Sprint, for which using a simple Stochastic trigger has made me some money. What I have learned is that for confirming candidates for the watch list, fundamental research pays off...but it doesn't really do much to help you decide when to enter or exit a position. For that, as far as I'm concerned, technical analysis can't be beat.
BTW, I pulled the trigger on ORCL today...I know Tony already executed based on the DeMark setup...but I waited for confirmation (which to me means also waiting for the MACD, Sto and 10 DMA to all be positive in addition to a green light from the DeMark).
Now I'm in chart Nirvana!
Finally, thanks to SD (and this forum and especially Tony G), I have all the tools I want and need in one place to trade...and it's free!
Here's my NEW preferred chart setup:
Uppers:
Colored candles
50 day SMA
200 day SMA
Current price line
Pivot point line
Keltner channel
Lowers:
Sto 14,3,3 (Intervals work for me. Anyone have a better suggestion?)
MACD 12,26,9 (Intervals work for me. Anyone have a better suggestion?)
The Amazing Tony G DeMark Indicator (Aces!)
Volume
Hey Tony & Mattie!
I'm using Tony's DeMark study (the best new invention of the 21st century)for the first time for some trades. I'm testing it on 50 shares of CLX, LOW and AMT. I let you know how it goes...
I can't believe that I don't have to print out charts one at a time and manually count bars and mark them off anymore. That was really close to impossible.
This forum is the best.
"Demark Weekly - how to trick the computers"
Very clever! I am going to wait till after the correction to try this. Did I say correction?
I don't use the Bollinger bands either. The Keltner Bands are a much better indicator for a swinging swing trader like me...
They are a great measure of volatility and really easy to use as a trend analysis shortcut...
Try 'em...you might like 'em...beats the purple pen for me (I'm way too lazy!).
Mattie wrote: "I am not going to put that sort of content restrictions on the board at this time. There may be some participants that aren't comfortable posting their code and some that don't even know how to code, but that doesn't mean they won't have valuable input. I am here to give as much or more than I receive, and I would like to attract members of like mind. If that requires that you move to a different venue, then feel free to do so."
Thank you Mattie! I am one of those who couldn't code to save my life. I came with someone else's strategy and no idea how to code it. And, I think we're all happy with what Tony G did with it. So, while I myself had little to offer, the result of my question definitely added value so I indirectly added value. A more dogmatic approach (as suggested by the poster you responded to) would have never allowed that to happen . And anyway, some people are going to come here just looking for some help or a quick answer. It's your open approach that will make this site succeed, not whether people post code or not. Good for you!
OK, I will try to answer...but I am far, far, far from being a "guru".
1. Well, as you know, for example in a "perfection buy" the low of either bar 9 or 8 must be lower than BOTH the lows for of bars 6 and 7. I find it helps to actually see the bars on a chart (ideally with the count number...but that's really not necessary with your very imaginative color coding). But do you really need the raw count number or do you just need the buy/sell points? Hmmm...never thought about that until you asked. Your idea seems MUCH more efficient. You can now call it the TonyG indicator!
2. Maybe. A perfection buy carries less risk so maybe you might be willing to commit more capital.
3. Theoretically, I guess that's true, but I've seen the "9" pattern quite a few times and I have to believe that there are underlying market forces and and price relationships that cause this to happen. But what I THINK you are suggesting could be a potential improvement on Tom DeMark's strategy...if you can create a method that easily identifies picks that have the POTENTIAL to move higher than the established pattern.
You know, there's another variation on using DeMark indicators that also seems to work fairly well. That is to use it as a weekly indicator looking at the Friday close and finding stocks with the 9/4 weekly pattern. Using it in this manner has caught some major reversals since early March. Does the concept make sense to you?
Before I comment on the code, I have to use it for a while. I have had no time at all (May always blows...for trading and everything else). I've used your first iteration screener and of course got the same results the you did.
As far as submitting it to TDA when we are convinced it good to go...that's a great idea. Of course, they couldn't use DeMark's name without paying him a boatload of cash...but they could call it 9-Bar Setup and 13-Bar Countdown or something of the sort.
The best thing to do is to read this book by Tom DeMark:
http://www.amazon.com/New-Market-Timing-Techniques-Innovative/dp/0471149780/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242278511&sr=8-3
Its a tough read (for me at least), but you certainly seem like the type who could more easily handle it. It's also fairly expensive, so I will send it to you if you'd like...shoot me a PM...
Seriously...thank you again.
Tony...what can I say?
I'm gone for a few days and come back and you've created DeMark formulas that rival what some people are paying thousands of dollars to get. You are an amazing person to do this and I can't thank you enough except to maybe pass along a tip or two since i SUCK at coding. I want to offer my sincerest thanks and appreciation.
By the way, even though I own JNJ and a few other of the scant winners over the past few days...by and large, I got hammered. Maybe its time to reconsider my reluctance to short!
Nothing to do with DeMark...but...have look at Con Ed (ED). A possible breakout in the making. NEM also looks interesting...
And Mattie...thank you for this site...it's already special and looks to become even more so...
Wow...thanks Tony! Now for the real question....did you make the buys? ;-}
I had major run ups on Lily and JNJ this week using the old fashioned chart methods. Plus I bailed on AMZN and RIMM on Wed. taking profits ahead of the sell-off (now I can buy back in Friday or Monday!).
Strategy Desk has made it very easy to quickly screen and chart (I added resistance and support lines and a pivot line and it's been a great help). I'm up a couple of thousand since I got it. And it's free. That's an advertisement if if ever heard one...
This weekend, I'll post my chart setup. I think it might be interesting for members to compare their charting choices...
I want to say thank you again for taking the time to create the DeMark Screener.
Hi Tony.
Thanks, really. You made the coding look easy. I guess some day I need to open my mind a little and understand how to use procedural programming languages...
I've never used the 13-bar countdown. As far as the 9-bar TD Setup buy/sell triggers, in its simplest form, I would look for high and low "9s" and buy and sell on them...but...I don't think I'd ever use it for programmed trading, especially short selling (which I don't really do), without a lot of testing. I generally have a price/percentage target/goal and and once it's reached, take my chips off regardless. If a stock goes up after I sell, I don't fret about it...I've booked my profits and move on to the next targets(s). But, like a lot of us, my timing is usually a little off. I'm hoping that if the DeMark indicators can easily be used, my timing accuracy will increase. That's the plan anyway!
I don't think any strategy is perfect...but this one seems very interesting. It's just a monster to do manually, so it's been hard to employ. If your code works...I think it will be a great new tool for Strategy Desk users...
I won't be able to try your code (or revisit the forum) till Wednesday evening...so please don't think I've disappeared if I don't respond for a day or so.
Thanks again!
Thanks Mattie!
I look at Tom DeMark as almost a god. His theories have broken new ground in technical analysis regarding turnarounds/breakouts/timing. And, so far, his seem theories to consistently work.
The most important one is the one in the table from my first link labeled "TD Setup". Looking at the chart on that page gives you an idea how it should look (if that's even possible to do in Strategy Desk).
If it can be done, we're going to have lots of very happy Strategy Desk users making some nice pickups using the latest in technical analysis!
Thanks again!
Hello everyone! First time poster!
I have recently switched over to Ameritrade and have been using Strategy Desk fairly extensively for the past month...even doing many successful program trades using some of the built-in strategies..
My question is...has anyone attempted to created a strategy in Strategy Desk that mimics a Tom DeMark Sequential chart? I have tons of info on DeMark charts, even info on how one was programmed for Ensign Charts. But, I am a total idiot when it comes to trying to program anything...even with the Strategy Desk Formula Guide sitting in front of me and can use all the help I can get. Anyway, I'm sure if someone is smart enough to be able to create the formula for one and publish it, the entire community would benefit. Here's a link on the strategy...
http://www.researchlabtrading.com/public/382.cfm
Here's how someone created it in Ensign...
http://ensign.editme.com/tdsequential
Anyone care to give it a go? Thanks...it's great to know there's a forum for Strategy Desk users!