DislikedCanuck,
The default setting for Mac-d on my platform is 12,26,9 and I think that is very good for the 15 and larger time frames. For the 5 min, the 12,20,9 works well, as it reflects more recent history. Other smaller numbers may work, but I try to use mac-d to find divergence, so you want a sampling of many recent candles. The stoch will and should initially be somewhat opposite of mac-d when you first think of entering. The mac-d used in conjunction with the stoch helps to find duration of a move and shows when momentum is with you or changing. The stoch is definitely the lead indicator and can be used all by itself (IMHO) for trading on the 5 min chart. However, if you read the post from The LFB, during trending markets, when the stoch tends to stay ob/s for longer periods of time, it loses some amount of accuracy and that is where the mac-d really becomes valuable for duration. I think trading the 5 min is still risky and the s/l should remain tight, but as you noted and as Spud pointed out, there are literally a hundred opportunities a day. To get 10-20 pips a day seems almost too easy. I plan to keep doing the demo trading with it this week, but I plan to use it in my live account next week, unless I find a flaw.
Update as of 2 pm est.
2 trades today, using the 5 min chart and 5,3,3 stoch. +36 pips and +18 pips. both as sell.Ignored
Nice trades today PIP and all you are using is the 5.3.3 stoch? Are you looking at the upper time frames for direction?
T4K