Ichimoku discussion thread

[kingie_d]

Hello everyone,

I am interested in getting into Forex and have been doing a bit of research. Along my travels I came upon the Ichimoku 'indicator'. I've come across it before but always blew it off because the charts just looked like a mess. But this time I decided to check it out.
For anyone who doesn't know what it is, I won't give my own explanation but here are some good descriptions:

http://www.kumotrader.com/ichimoku_wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=50287

I'd like to open up a discussion to see if anyone here uses it and what sort of success they have had with it.
Do you use it "as is" or add other indicators? Which ones and WHY?
What time frames do YOU use?
Do you use it for trend trading or jump in and out with swing trades in the direction of the Ichimoku?

I recently opened a demo account with OandA to give it a go.
I'll post some of the trades and we'll see how they turn out...

 

[kingie_d]

Here is the first....

This is the daily EUR/CHF.
Price is above the Kumo cloud.
The Chikou Span is above the price in the past.
The Tenkan-sen is above the Kijun-sen.
The Kumo cloud in the future has turned Bullish (green).
I have used the Kijun-sen as the initial stop loss (red horizontal line) but the top of the current bearish Kumo is a straight line which should be strong support so maybe I should have used that? (see the two days that tried to peirce it then got turned back up! Also looks like an area of previous resistance which has now turned into a support line...)
An earlier entry after the second bounce off the Kumo would have been better but I didn't get to it in time. This is another point that I'm interested in. If you miss the breakout of the Kumo, would you still get into the trade at a later time and how? Randomly jump in? Use Stochastics or another oscillator to get in on a pullback? I have put on a standard Parabolic SAR to look at past breakouts and they seem to present good opportunities with the cross above/below the SAR to get into a missed trade (but hindsight is always a great thing isn't it)

 

[kingie_d]

Here is the daily AUS/USD with the same setup as before.

I think I need to chuck in here that this is not financial advice and I'm not a fincancial advisor (far from it!). I'm only paper trading this with a demo account for now.

 

[kingie_d]

I think it would also be useful to post the losers too so maybe someone can help me analyse why they are losers!
Here is the EUR/GBP. I entered at the start (top) of the thin red candle (it wasn't a long red candle at the time!) I got stopped out when price dropped below the Kijun-sen.
Looking at what I probably did wrong, I entered too late after the break through the Kumo. This may answer my previous question of getting in after missing the trade. Should I have waited for a retracement then another entry after price climbed back above the Kijun-sen (or both the Kijun-sen and Tenkan sen?)?

 

[kingie_d]

And here is the EUR/JPY.
I probably got into this one too late also but took it anyway. A better entry would have been the intial break or straight after the retracement. An oscillator or SAR might have shown the late entry after the retracement?...
Another thing I'd like to point out is, notice the two previous breaks? They both would have been losers even though trade setups were good in both cases! This entry/exit method could be subject to alot of whipsaws and that is where the money management and living to trade another day thing comes in I suppose. I am using 1 % to determine my trade sizes so its $1000 losers (on the OandA demo account) hopefully there will be some big winners too!

 

[kingie_d]

Here is the EUR/JPY with a SAR and Stochastics added to it. They both provided an entry after the retracement at the same spot. Using a retracement entry might stop some false breakouts but you could also miss out completely if there is no pullback

 

[disarray]

that last chart looks like you need to be on acid to understand it

 

[kingie_d]

LOL, yeah thats why I didn't look into Ichimoku charts before. Now with two extra indicators its a TRUE mess!

 

[ithatheekret]

The indicator itself is multifaceted . it outlines trend along with support and resistance levels as well as entry signals if used correctly . The main lines are much the same as MACD , but when used in conjunction with another chart using western style indicators is where it excels . The price action and the Kumo ( cloud ) are the signals most looked at when in bull mode ( price above cloud ) etc., yet the crossings can be effective in trend reversal and position shifts , be they long term , where it again excels or for the short term movements .

 

[Kauri]

Yikes.. I've been mislead... I thought it was all about fish..

Biting
..............kauri

 

[kingie_d]

The indicator itself is multifaceted . it outlines trend along with support and resistance levels as well as entry signals if used correctly . The main lines are much the same as MACD , but when used in conjunction with another chart using western style indicators is where it excels . The price action and the Kumo ( cloud ) are the signals most looked at when in bull mode ( price above cloud ) etc., yet the crossings can be effective in trend reversal and position shifts , be they long term , where it again excels or for the short term movements .

In alot of the reading I've done about the Ichimoku, most people are against including other indicators with it. So far I'm undecided. By itself it looks great for med term trend trading, but if you were going to do more short term swing trades, then I suppose it would be ideal to use the Ichi to determine the trend, and other western indicators for exact entries and exits.
What indicators do you use with the Ichimoku?

 

[ithatheekret]

I start with all the MA's , inclusive of the 89 day MA . and proceed from there . Confirmation is the goal , not always achievable though , and it takes a little more watching and waiting for the signals to inspire action equal to the opportunities that may show themselves .

 

[arco]

.
Compare a plain chart and an Ichimoku chart.

Ickimoku gives you a road map to find your way........

I use it for short term trading on 15/30/1hr/4hr charts.

Some recent trades were outlined on the Gold threads


rgds -arco

 

[arco]

.
5M chart.
Just a quick southern ride targeting the Kumo to pick up a few pips on the KS/TS X and Chikou break. The best trade on this today was 4 hrs earlier for +200 pips

 

[arco]

.
Result of previous Loonie trade. Post #14

Maximum south move on short term scalp/day trade +142 pips.

Maximum holding with larger stop at pivot high +334 pips

GTA - arco

 

[arco]

The IchiWiki appears to be working again............

http://www.kumotrader.com/ichimoku_wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page


have fun...........

arco

 

[arco]

Loonie

Short based on 2nd rejection off bearish Kumo and TS/KS parting X

+10 locked in

GTA - arco

 

[arco]

Update

Currently +103...tightening stop at +70

arco

 

[arco]

Update.

Loonie position closed by SL at +70

arco

 

[arco]

.

Scalp trade on the 5m Yen. just completed


(Not a pair I trade much.......but was good for a quick +40 pips)

rgds - arco