Need Help with Pivot Points

As I am learning Forex, I am finding my preference of trading is with Pivot Points and 2 simple MAE's. I like the KISS principle and have been using the 'Classic' way to calculate a Pivot Point. That is H+L+C/3.

However, I do see some interest in learning other ways to calculate a Pivot Point, naming Woodie's Pivot Point to be exact.

However, that formula as far as I know calculates a PP using H+L+O+O/4, where O = Open

Now my question, how do you determine the Open price? Is it the same value as the close?

say I use a period of 16:00pm edt as my close, and determine the High and Low from the previous day. Would the Open price be the same as the close price at 16:00pm edt?

Hopefully that did not sound too confusing, but thank you if you can help.

Caesu

Yes the open and close would be the same with in a pip or two. It would be close enough to establish the pivot point.

Tom

Attached is a daily pivot point calculator, which also calculates mid points. It is the same that Peter Baine uses at Forexmentor.com & won't give out.
Hope that is of help.

Use the search feature on this forum. You will find mega answers to your questions in reference to pivot points. Good Luck

hello, can anybody tell me what time i should plot my pivot points considering in live in the uk. i have done some research and there seems to be differing views, like 5pm to 5pm or 10pm to 10pm, i use oanda platform to trade. thank you

The end of the trading day is regarded as the end of the US session at 5pm EST. In the UK this time would be 10 pm, being UK is 5 hours ahead of the US.

Most pivot indicators work off Midnight to Midnight Chart time, so in the UK is helpful if your chart has GMT+2 time.

shabs19, thank you for prompt reply, apolergies for delay in my reply.

i have another question. i read somewhere on FF that the 10pm GMT is used for 4 months of the year only when DST "NOT" in effect, and for the rest of the year when DST "IS" in effect (from 2nd sunday in march through to 1st sunday in nov) i would use 21.00 GMT. Is this true, and would the one hour difference really have a significant impact on plotting pivot points.

regards
sansar

Shabs19, your status on FF is, "Commonsensical Member", what does this mean?


Regards
sansar

Check out this site, it will list the dates when DST changes happen across the world. I take note of the date USA & UK changes occur, so that I can adjust pivots if necessary. Usually though I find it will only be slight differences to the pivots anyway.

http://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/2011b.html

hi, do search for acumen's posts on pivot point trading, i found a few useful ones

my take on it is, that it is helpful to visualize potential range for the day, as
the central pivot gives you what the average trading price was of the previous day, and if nothing else it gives you structure as far as potential Range,high, low. It is not predictive as price doesn't really pivot.

However the concept is not ipsofacto moot, it is actually useful to spot potential exhaustion points, and as i said before, it assists in structuring your chart according to expected range. I would add some high and lows from previous price, and a knowledge of ATR. However identify the prevalence in order flow, if market is trending down, just because it hit S1 it means nothing in and of itself.
price action, a way to understand "trend" or market sentiment, first and foremost.

then develop a money management strategy "as if" the market was purely random. Believe you are wrong in every entrance unless proven right. and you should have a good system

I have heard daily Pivots can be massively important when trading intraday, and there are automated systems based on the pivot points.

I have heard different things about using pivots, some even suggest moving the pivots as the different sessions open (or is it close?).

One of the long list of things I need to get into.