New Year Stress-free trading system for traders with patience

Types of Volatility

Volatility is one of the factors that investors in the financial markets analyze when making trading decisions. There are two key approaches to volatility, each with its pros and cons:

1. Implied Volatility:
   The term implied volatility describes the estimated or forecasted volatility of an asset and it is a common feature of options trading. Implied volatility reflects how the marketplace views where volatility should be in the future, but it does not forecast the direction that the asset’s price will move. Generally, an asset’s implied volatility rises in a bear market (Put buying increases) because most investors predict that its price will continue to drop over time. It decreases in a bull market since traders believe that the price is bound to rise over time. This is down to the common belief that bear markets are inherently riskier compared to bullish markets. Implied Volatility is one of the measures that traders use to estimate future fluctuations of an asset price on the basis of several predictive factors.
2. Realised / Historical Volatility:
3. 
   Realised volatility, also known as historical volatility (HV), is a way of statistically measuring how the returns from a particular asset or market index are dispersed when analyzed over a given timeframe. Normally, historical volatility is measured by establishing the average deviation of a financial instrument from its average price over a given period of time. Standard deviation tends to be the most common measure of realized volatility, though there are other methods used to calculate this metric. Risky security is one that has a high historical volatility value though, in certain types of trades, it is not necessarily a negative factor since both bullish and bearish conditions could be risky. In relation to these two metrics, historical volatility (backward-looking) serves as a baseline measure, with implied volatility (forward-looking) defining the relative values of asset prices.

If the two metrics show similar values, then an asset is considered to be fairly priced on the basis of historical norms. For this reason, traders look for deviations from this equilibrium to establish if assets are overvalued or undervalued.

The Standard Deviation Model of Assessing Financial Volatility

Standard deviation is a measure used to statistically determine the level of dispersion or variability around the average price of a financial asset, making it a suitable way to measure market volatility. In general terms, dispersion is the differential between an asset’s average value and its actual value. The higher the dispersion or variability, the higher the standard deviation is. The lower the variation is, the lower the standard deviation. Analysts often use standard deviation as a means of measuring expected risk and determining how significant a price movement is.

When calculating the standard deviation of volatility, the variance of a data set of prices of an underlying asset must be derived. The standard deviation is the square root of variance. For purposes of illustration, we will consider the price of an underlying asset that has rallied uniformly from $1 to $10 in 10 trading periods. Standard deviation will be derived in the following steps:

1. Calculate the mean for the 10 trading days. This is done by adding the prices together ($1, $2….to $10) and then dividing it by 10 (in this case, the total number of prices). The sum of 55 divided by 10 will be $5.5.
2. Determine the deviation from the mean at each period. This is the difference between the closing price and the mean. For instance, on the 7th day, the price of $7 deviates from the $5.5 mean by 2.5.
3. Square the deviation of each period. All the periods with negative deviations will be eliminated by squaring them.
4. Sum the squared deviations. As per our example, the sum is $82.5
5. Divide the sum by the number of periods, in this case, 10. This will be $8.25.
6. The standard deviation is the square root of this number. In this case, the standard deviation is $2.75 which reflects how values are spread out around the average price, giving traders insight as to how far the asset price may deviate from the average.

As the calculation above shows, standard deviation as a measure of risk assumes that the data set follows a normal distribution, or what is referred to as a bell curve. In such a scenario, as above, 68% of data will fall within one standard deviation; 95% will fall within two standard deviations, and 99.7% of data will fall within three standard deviations.

But there are a few limitations to using standard deviation as a measure of volatility. To start with, prices or returns are never uniform, and they are punctuated by periods of sharp spikes in either direction. This will mean that the standard deviation itself may experience fluctuations depending on the periods that are taken into consideration during the calculation. There is also the beta (β) method for measuring or calculating volatility. In this method, an underlying asset’s volatility is measured against other related assets. For instance, the volatility of Apple stock can be measured against the overall volatility of other technology sector stocks or even an entire benchmark stock index. Learn more about how this model of volatility assessment is calculated as well as its significance in risk management.

Why Volatility Matters?

Volatility Affects Trader Sentiment

Analysing market sentiment is an essential part of financial data analysis. Prices of assets traded on the financial markets will usually move up and down on a daily basis – a natural effect of the stochastic behavior of the financial market. In spite of these price movements, hundreds of millions of investors worldwide continue to risk their money in the financial market, hoping to make returns in the future.

The volatility of the financial markets is of interest to investors since high levels of volatility often come with the chance of huge profits or significant losses at the expense of higher uncertainty. If volatility is extremely high, investors may choose to stay away from the markets in fear of losing their funds. Others might engage in riskier trading in the hope of earning higher profits.

Volatility Affects Trading Costs

Volatility is a fact of investing life, and it guides or affects various decisions that investors have to make in the market. In general, high volatility implies high inherent risk, but it also means high reward opportunity. Money is made out of price changes in the markets, but high volatility carries additional risks as well.

In CFD markets, high volatility typically widens the spreads of underlying assets. This can directly impact overall profit potential or investing goals. The high volatility witnessed during the release of major economic news and events of underlying assets is a testament to this.

In options trading, high volatility has the effect of increasing premiums (which is essentially the cost of an option contract). This is because of the perceived higher likelihood that a highly volatile asset has of hitting any relevant strike price and thus, expire in the money. Additionally, volatility can influence decisions on capital allocation and portfolio rebalancing.

Typically, less volatile assets will be allocated a higher proportion of capital than more volatile ones. This can trickle down to position sizes with investors likely to trade more volatile assets with smaller lot sizes. Volatile assets can also skew the performance of an overall portfolio, and this may prompt investors to rebalance to achieve stability.

Volatility Indicators

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To determine the optimal entry and exit points for trades, one can track volatility in the markets. This can be done using a choice of tools including:

1. VIX (CBOE Volatility Index),
2. Volatility Indexes - Cboe Global Markets
   https://ww2.cboe.com › products › vix-index-volatility
3. CBOE Euro Currency Volatility Index (EVZ)
4. ETFs are also available
5. ATR (average true range),
6. and Bollinger Band

The volatility index is often referred to as the fear index or fear gauge.

This index measures the stock market’s expectation of volatility based on the S&P 500 index options. Generally, when VIX values are in their low teens, this indicates low volatility whereas a reading of higher than 30 indicates increased volatility in the market.

Developed by J. Welles Wilder Jr., the ATR indicator can be applied to any forex pair, ETF, stock, commodity, or futures contract. This indicator calculates the ‘true range’ and creates the ATR as a 14-day EMA of the true range. To calculate the true range, the highest value generated by one of three equations is used:

1. True range = Previous day’s close minus the current day’s low
2. True range = Current day’s high minus the current day’s low
3. True range = Current day’s high minus the previous day’s close

Low readings from the ATR indicate a ranging market with low volatility whereas a larger ATR indicates increased volatility.

Bollinger Bands, created by John Bollinger, are also a helpful indicator to track volatility in the markets and that can be applied to any commodities or stock chart. It consists of 2 bands or lines which are 2 standard deviations above and below the 20-day moving average. The 20-day MA appears as a line in between the two bands. With increased volatility, the bands will widen and in periods of low volatility, the space between the bands will narrow.

Derivatives Based On Volatility

Besides investments in stocks, currencies, or commodities, some traders opt to invest in the concept of volatility itself through a number of
derivatives. These include exchange-traded notes (ETNs), which are similar to ETFs but are actually unsecured debt notes. One of these derivatives is VIX, the ticker symbol for the Chicago Board Options Exchange Market Volatility Index. This index serves as a measure of how much traders are willing to invest in buying or selling of the S & P 500 index options. The biggest and most popular VIX-related investments are the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX) which has long positions in futures contracts.

If you would want to trade on financial market volatility or use it as a hedge, then the VIX-related ETNs are acceptable instruments.

How to trade volatility?

Known Economic News releases
Data releases staggered over more than a single number of events
Earning Reports
Earnings conference calls
Analysts reports
Black Swan news caused by sudden sensational news like terror attacks or the breakout of war disrupting supply of goods and service
Motivated rumors or market noise
Pre-public holidays
Market holidays


There are a number of methods used to trade volatile markets, but perhaps one of the most popular is the straddle method. This straddle strategy uses pending orders to take advantage of the volatility that often follows important news releases such as earnings reports from companies, or economic reports from governments. In it, a trader places a pending long and a pending short on either side of a consolidating price ahead of the anticipated news event. This allows the trader to capture the resulting move in the asset no matter which direction it takes following the news.

What causes market volatility?

There are a number of theories regarding the origins of volatility in markets and it’s likely that each of them has some grain of truth. It’s been noted before that economic releases and company news cause volatility, as do analyst notes and earnings results. Some have noted that while this is true, the underlying reason for the volatility is coming from short-sellers and automated trading robots. One approach claims that volatility is the result of psychological forces or market sentiment driving the market, where volatility comes about when there is a massive shift in investor sentiment and/or perception.

No matter what causes volatility it is certain that it does exist and traders must find a way to successfully deal with it.

Is it possible to benefit from market volatility?

It is possible to benefit from any type of market if you know how to and you have patience. Experienced traders that have dealt with volatility can tell you there are a number of strategies that can help generate good returns during periods of volatility. One is to start small, and a compliment to that is to be choosy with your trades. Because volatility can cause whipsaws in markets it is also important not to be overconfident, and to be willing to adapt and rapidly change direction if necessary. Take the emotions out of your trading, remain focused, track your trades, and if all you can get are small profits be content with that.

The Final Word

Although some people have a negative view of volatility within the financial markets, it can actually increase the potential for profit if short-term trades are correctly predicted. Cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile, but this is exactly what made trading them so profitable over the last few years. Once you understand volatility and how it impacts asset prices, you are then able to benefit from these price movements.

My Business model for Speculation

In order to have some business logic for indulging in speculation, I view Trading Assets as my machines working in different shifts (cash market, futures market) employing different sets of workers in the form of Spot futures and Options.

The factory is modelled on Speculation as the raw material, producing products for an auction market fraught with uncertainty and producing final goods of pips after accounting for wastages (losses).

Essentially, it is Speculating in an auction market fraught with uncertainty

Assets (symbols) are the machines that work for me. I have a choice of selecting from 1 machine to 10 machines if I can supervise their working well.

By trial and error, I have understood Rotational way of trade works well with no stress, no pre-analysis of any kind done, not even analyzing the news.
It is good that as a manager my time is utilized in increasing the productivity rather than worrying about other matters.

Basics (prior to start of trading for the day) are: I must know today's number of known news triggers and how they are lined up time wise. No need to guess what will be the data and how it will impact the economy. Though I am a trained economist, I don't use that knowledge for speculation.



Why? The machines have been equipped with scanners having previous data fed in but has to know for today which times can trigger rotational bidding.

If any symbol has 4 events, then the chances of rotational trades or volatility and range-trading happening is bright. I am happy for it .
The symbols know the market makers' bidding tactics are unique but how long can they remain unique. Market noise is the main weapon of the market makers. Misinformation takes various shapes of transmission. It could be in the form of forecasts, spreading lagging news, analysts reports, floating rumours,, dump and pump tactics, spoofing, and fakeouts.

My selection of machines (symbols) is diversified based on their probability of helping me reduce drawdown and managing margins in such a way that my machines keep working . Some times, losses are covered rapidly. Some times it takes a week. But the production should not come to a halt.
Two sets of workers (options and futures) work for me. This is another way I employ to ensure production continues.

It makes my life less stressful as the supervisor of the factory . The best thing is my brain is allowed to observe the rotational movements in real-time and push the machines to work or not and choose which type of worker to be put on the job and at what times.

My selection of machines is based on the portfolio allocation based on positive and negative correlation.

I do it all for fun and money is never on the mind. My big advantage is remaining patient without ever giving up on the regular practice of it.

My broker does not offer DowJones and German Dax indices symbol on MT4.

You can download demo of Darwinex.

Bid rotation, spoofing and collusion in repeated auctions is the name of the game.

I have simplified my trading methods and have given the charge of making decisions on entry and exits to my brain, rather than to any indicators or robots (EA)
After all, my brain has to cope with taking part repeatedly in repeated auctions on a daily basis. by constant practice, the brain is able to send me signals on what to do and when.

You can find out about the auction bidding process, the appointment of official market makers in most of the advanced trading markets and the non-existence of designated markets makers in countries like India, replaced by big local and financial institutions, running the show.

What triggers the liquidity is known to the insiders and therefore considered random action.
By trial and error methods I have to guess on the number of triggers that could be used on a daily basis and when should I bet.
It is like a game of chance initiated by the market makers in Germany or by big institutions in India.
I have to acquire skills similar to those practised by a casino card counting punters or a poker player .

Having been a financial journalist, I know not to get entrapped by market noise. Most of the time I succeed and sometimes noise makers succeed. It is an ongoing battle between the two.

Margin preservation is my answer to Stop Loss.

At the moment, I am sourcing symbols which can help me in reducing load on the margin capital.

For this I am sourcing an indicator like Currency Strength dashboard for lining up all CFDs, be it currencies, commodities, indices, stocks or interest rates with the following information


The objective is to find on demand symbols that can be put in a basket either with negative or positive intermarket correlationship (either negative or positive or both) to avoid putting pressure on margin capital

I have been employing the traditional methods of protecting capital depending on the situation but at the end of the day I believe in day trading. So I am now not making much use of the following techniques.

(a) Hedging. Applying locks on a hedging platform. Releasing the locks. Re-apply the locks. Re-apply the release. It is time-consuming and does not really give relief to the brain to continue trading .I have done it for years and I would advise against this kind of risk management. Honestly, it was a work of art to give me pleasure. But it has little utility for others to follow. I can't even pass the knowledge to anyone easily.

(b) Buffer capital: It is MUST. A capital of 10,000 pips is ideal . Pip value can be from 1 cents, 10 cents, $1, $5 to $250 per pip.
Which means you can trade even with $100 capital. Exception being buying a lottery ticket in the form of a martingale.

(c) Realistic TP size: I always trade with a TP of nett 3 pips (after meeting brokerage) to 10 pips - depending on the volatility of the symbol. I don't use Stop Loss so I have no idea of what size to be used.

(d) Stop Hunt Zone : I never enter trades impulsively mainly on the previous 1,2, 3 or 4 daily lines of High or Low . Avoid Buying at Highs and selling at Lows. It has been a big help in exercising mind control. I have patience and I now re-think before entering.

(e) Averaging : Since I start with deep pockets, I plan to hold for long if trades of certain symbols that have strong mean reversion tendencies don't favour me. Averaging has worked for me. I count 15 days pip size of previous high and low distance and then slice it in 12 portions. I set up grids on both sides of the boundary. Whether I am winning or losing, I trade with two positions in tow. This will help lower the breakeven point. Most of the time, it has not only lowered the breakeven point but delivered more profit that I had planned for by using one trade. My experience is only with EURUSD. Commodities currencies don't work with a fast mean reversion . I have seen NZD taking 2 years to turn back. Aud, Cad are also is capable of giving you heart attack.

(f) Suicidal tendancies: I never increase portion size. Whenever I have done it out of greed or with a feeling of euphoria, I have landed in trouble.

(g) Martingale: If you love martingales, then you trade it as if you are buying a lottrey ticket or an Option capping your risk to the amount of money put in the account. Mentally, you are willing to lose it all. Once you have told you brain to become brave, you go on martingale spree. No holds barred. Like you do at casinos. Don't allow greed to take over your brain if you are doing good. Withdraw money and don't go after doubling or trebling winnings.

Could it be easier to do by using the vwap indi, to see if current price is at a discount for with premium?

Diversification drive continues...

The idea is to put money management on a sound footing instead of counting on gut feelings.

Presently I select assets based on intuition but after looking up to a blogger discussing the inter-market relationship I realized that I must stick to my earthly ways of defining them rather than getting technical. I am now going to streamline the sourcing of assets.

I trade HSI, Dax, and Dow Jones because of the 2% average high low range. The three have positive correlations varying from 40% TO 100%
I choose one Forex pair which I think is negatively correlated by 80%. Still, it can't match the indices volatility.
I used indices and currency futures, currency options - the assets I know well to trade - to complete the picture.
I am doing this intuitively and it has helped me manage the margin well.
It is like I have put margin management on autopilot by having assets that pull in opposite direction. It is a mix of symbols that have positive, flat, or negative bilateral relations.

Previously, if the drawdown went high I had to stop trading further or get out without extracting the gains I would have had but for my getting carried away by euphoria and over-confidence.

The informal diversification is working fine as overshooting of drawdown is not happening.

I am glad that my margin capital is not getting choked and drawdown is not disturbing me any more. I have not used Stop Loss and somehow have been able to survive without ever using it so far.

It is like me trading 5% volatility, the sum of 3 indices having a positive correlation but not any negative correlation.
For negative correlation symbols, I would have to turn to commodities and stocks, that may be high-volatility alternatives to low volatility Forex.

Gold, oil, gas are the ones that fit the bills. Others may be agricultural commodities like soybean or wheat

Websites recording volatility by High-Low, ATR, and Standard Deviation cover only forex pairs. I can't find any website that gives a one-stop side-by-side coverage of assets volatility.

https://www.mataf.net/en/forex/tools/volatility
https://www.myfxbook.com/forex-market/correlation
https://www.barchart.com/forex/market-map
https://www.investing.com/tools/fore...ity-calculator
https://old.fx.co/volatility




I have not found any site where I can find the volatility statistics for all CFD assets (except stocks).
So I am now designing one.

It is actually going to be basket trading matching the magnitude of volatility and momentum.

Why not lend me help if you have spare time?

A scanner to select cfds based on correlation has been developed. DC open.

Amplifying on my approach towards financial trading.

I can share my experience on how I grew with tiny pockets.

I started trading with pips as my capital which means I can start with a $1,000 capital and have 0.10 contract value 10,000 pips.

I treat financial trading as another stock lot auction goods market I had taken part in 30 years ago as a flea market part-time trader. In the auctions, bidding is made by voice, and where groups (cartels) try to have prices in their favour by adopting mostly informal manipulative tactics.
.
Foremost condition to understand the market was to be present on the spot, find out who is active and try to make friends with them so that you also become a member of a cartel.

This is akin to observing the financial markets in action. I observe price action (for futures trading) and time action (for futures options) on the chart using my eyes and informational indicators. I don't inflict injuries on my eyes by watching colorful indicators/oscillators, dynamic moving DOMs, etc., and refused to neglect the brain's power to register the changes of price action on the chart.

None of the usual goods auction markets want you to forecast in advance, read the analysis. Like goods market auction, tactics and strategies do have to be worked out. The importance of having a business plan for any kind of money-making activity has to be drawn in advance.

The participants in any auction market use tactics to manipulate the price by forming groups and pretending to be making bidding so that the threshold price fixed by the auctioneers is lowered.

As a financial trader, my foremost priority is to have this information which is available only in the form of known news events happening every day in addition to unknown surprises) events.

Three FF coders (all of whom are not active) helped me by providing indicators that produced raw data and CSV spreadsheets, which helped me a lot in conducting probability studies in spite of me lacking any knowledge of Excel or MQL or any high-level programming. It was sheerly because of my intense real-time trading practice and experience I could roughly design the dataset's structure needed for probability studies, indicators, and EAs. I owe all three a debt of gratitude and keep them in my prayers.

Trade entry triggers

If a symbol (for instance GBP) has four data release or officials talk events, you can expect on the same day consolidation, breakout, reversal, or range trading, all happening in cycles and on a single day as well.

Actually, being a financial journalist in the 1980s, I felt comfort in starting as a news trader trading straddles with 50 pips pending orders and winning all the time. FXCM canceled my account in 2003 and the liquidity providers started making ask bid spreads wider by 70 to 90 pips (pre-trade as well as post-trade) making it impossible to trade a job data report.

Auctioneers (market makers) use consolidation, breakouts, and reversals to time with the known as well as surprise news events as a manipulative bidding activity.
Regulators have already set up circuit breakers. Designated market makers have set up ADRs. Frequent and yearly sudden repricing or adjustments happen.
The increase or decrease can't be for an infinite time.

Market makers have all information of the traders' exposure to spot and derivatives transactions computed in a centralized manner by so-called research institutes. It is the job of the institutes to alert their sponsors if books are getting imbalanced hugely. It is up to the liquidity providers cartels to engineer repricing through severe price adjustments or flash crashes termed as mini Black Swan events.

Only a manufactured so-called "major" currency like NZD that is controlled by a single Central Bank cowboy chief, is used to inflict flash crashes to reprice the markets. All-flash crashes have been triggered by NZD in the forex markets.

LAST RESORT IS ENGINEERING MARKET CRASHES (ask Goldman Sachs and their appointees as Treasury secretary) that involved taking on board Central Banks. Central Banks' role is now publicly and commonly known how they can use helicopter money to hold falling markets and rejuvenate all kinds of markets. It is a coordinated effort involving liquidity providers, economic policy administrators, big financial institutions, and all those who have a BIG stake in preserving capitalism.

It's nothing new for me. It is all happening in my day-to-day life anyway. Pain, gain, Ecstacy, turbulence, depression... happening all the time in anyone's life except a few people like me who strongly believe in destiny. If money is part of my destiny, so be it. If it's not, so what? That's how I have been indoctrinated to think.

If I want to be a speculator and having lean pockets, I do want to make money from the opportunities provided by the capitalistic (or casino) way of life, I have to accept market crashes, flash crashes, repricing adjustments as legitimate bidding tactics as I did when bidding as a flea market trader.

Caveat emptor is a Latin term that means "let the buyer beware. After the GBP flash crashes (that benefitted me) now I never leave an unhedged short or long position if I have to keep it overnight.

I have grown my balance, slowly and steadily from pennies to pounds using Pips as my capital. I used Averaging, Scaling up and down, and always use hedging instead of stop-loss while keep looking for quick entry and quick exit points. Exhaustion points appear many a time on a daily basis, your eyeballs can detect them easily. I have done this but now I mostly trade with pending trades, all hedged with a few pips of profit locked so that when I slide on a skateboard by releasing the hedged lock it must be with a feeling of psychological comfort.

Location of exhaustion points (where the probability of a faster and substantial move happens) is a job my brain ( a massive hard disk fed with data) handles efficiently while working in coordination with my eyeballs. Obviously, it does guesswork only based on the vast trading experienced accumulated.

Thinking of counting the Price Reward Ratio in a speculation market amuses me. I take any profit but quickly. I hedge positions with no procrastination.
I treat Profit like a fresh vegetable that has a limited life span. Can R/R extend the life span? I don't think so.

Name of the game is Less working hours, using 80/20 Pareto principle, patience, persistence, perseverance, 100% open mind to learning, humbleness, avoiding bragging (bragging for what, money earned is for your benefit and not for others), refusing to take myself seriously, deriving enjoyment by making fun of self, and amused by verbal or word assault inflicted on me that can't cause even a single scratch on my body, remembering my teachers and mentors in my prayers is typical of me to practise on a daily basis. I strongly believe in God and Destiny. I was destined to grow from pennies to pounds.

I must concede it took me around 20 years of online trading (plus 16 years of offline investing) to go through all this. Essentially I am a conservative business person, more or less risk-averse and having no particular need for money. Trading for me is actually a funful activity that keeps my brain worked out.

I have come to a stage where it is possible to generate 400% returns in a year by manual trading, but the social environment has changed so much that youngsters, that includes my grandkids, (adults eligible for trading), want effortless quick solutions or returns that Bitcoin can provide. Kids of a prosperous family are pampered enough not to realize that money is collected by drops filling a glass.

I have shared all of my actual trading experience knowing very well that not even 0.001 per cent of readers will take it seriously. I have to do it and respond to the call of the God.

Only a manufactured so-called "major" currency like NZD that is controlled by a single Central Bank cowboy chief, is used to inflict flash crashes to reprice the markets. All-flash crashes have been triggered by NZD in the forex markets.

patience, persistence, perseverance, 100% open mind to learning,

Hi Simnz,

i find your reading materials very informative and true....thanks for sharing......

I qouted this phrases because i come to observe the price manipulation of NZD news specially to the cross pairs EURNZD and GBPNZD.... that creates and very big moves 150-200 pips.

to the second prase... PATIENCE is my weakness a the other 2 is my strongest......i still believe i can recuperate my losses.......

I started my trading life with no knowledge and experienced of the market structure.....( how the market works)... just relying on my gut instinct...haha...that causes the loss of my hard earned money......but after ten years of perseverance and perssistence.... learning from youtube....forexfactory...now i started to understand how the market works.

The market.... works in TRANSFERRING the money of the many tothe WEALTHY FEW. ....haha ... but that is not the end .... all we need is to learn to become friends of the crooks.....thats is understanding the price behavior.....reading the market through price patterns.

Next time i will share my observstion of price manipulation through the chart specially the NZD news.

Hi simnz,

just sharing my personal observation.....i might be wrong......

my observation is based on 16 hours per day watching the price movement and starting to see how the patterns are formed....
that is herding the cows and slaughtering them.......crazy but a real truth.....

You can't look at markets with conspiracy blinkers on.
You have to accept auctions of any kind are manipulated at all levels. That includes financial trading auctions.
Either embrace the reality or don't get involved.

CJA has developed a multi-symbol dashboard to help the diversification of portfolio or setting up of a basket.

https://www.forexfactory.com/thread/...6#post13636156

Random EA can work with or without any directional bias as long as you have selected the times of trading when fresh liquidity is injected with gusto.
I don't use any technical indicators to forecast price and my emphasis is on getting right on the selection of TP and exit either by SL, TF, or hedging and as quickly as possible.

Index trading provides a rationale of entering in hot hours unmindful of which direction the trade will go.
The main criteria is that the TP target for whole day is met in the opening hour and it should be between 10% to 20% of daily average range of last 5 days.

That kind of profit is available when entering during Open Time of Cash markets of German equity index (3 pm CET) , Close time (11.35 pm CET) or convergence with Data Release times (8.30 EST) and US Floor (cash) market open (9.30 EST).

Futures open and close hours too matter for post- weekends open hours mainly.

Hi there
I have tried backtesting the EA shared on #Post 97
It seems that there is a problem I can't figure out. Please check the attachments. When I start to test there is only one day of testing and no more. The historical data is complete and reliable. No matter which day is the starting day of testing. Only that first day is being traded. Do you have any idea?

Starting 21-07-15
Starting 21-08-10