Semaphors and zig zags

I would like to discuss the ZZ semafor and why it is so disliked. I am thinking about starting a thread about one way to use the semafor, but first I would like to hear from some of you FF vets as to what is so wrong with this indicator. I find it to be quite handy.

Your thoughts?

I am still learning the culture here. I am not a new trader, but new to MT4. While learning the platform I came across the semaphor. Every thread I have seen seems to have issues with repainting indicators.

The Semaphor is SUPPOSED TO REPAINT. I don't understand why people have an issue with this.

All it is is a breakout indicator. Thanks, for your reply! It is appreciated.

So, why not when the semaphor makes a new high or low on the chart, just trade the breakout? Dredding has a great template that I added a compatible indicator to. This clearly shows the price action.

Ohhh. I see. Well I have done some studying and digging. The template alone that I use will probably bring a firestorm. I wanted to start this thread to try to diffuse some of it before I put up a system. And, since this is really more of a discussion, I thought that my first thread should start here. There are a bazillion systems here, but it seems they are all variations on a theme, which I have tried to distill into one clear picture. Since pipEasy and Peter Crowns has the whole FF world stacking, I thought that the sema was the perfect way to stack with the trend.

I live in the states, so I would have to have two different accounts in a TE to really show the concept. I am not trying to prove anything, just have a discussion. You are helping to facilitate that and I am grateful.

Edit: No, don't worry, it is an open discussion. All are welcome!

Everything anyone would ever need to know about price action is on this chart. We already know what our next two trades are going to be. Does this make sense?

The red dots at the top and the blue dots at the bottom show where a semaphor would have been. Why not just trade with the semaphor?

@jmn5611:

You ask why folk dislike ZZ semafor (sic).

Here is an objective way of gauging the extent to which any indicator repaints:

1. Open a blank chart, and attach only ZZ semafor to the chart. Then save the chart as a template named tester.tpl

2. Press Ctrl-R to open MT4’s strategy tester. Then enter the settings exactly as in the screenshot below, i.e.

Expert Advisor: MACD Sample (we are simply using this factory supplied EA as a ‘dummy’ EA. We are not interested in the test results; we merely want to see the extent to which ZZ semafor repaints)
Symbol: EURAUD
Period: Daily
Optimization: check this OFF
Model: Open prices only
Use date: check this ON, and select a date range from 2013.04.04 to 2013.06.16
Visual mode: check this ON. Move the slider to about speed 12 (the speed is shown in the little help bubble that pops up).
The Skip to date is irrelevant.

3. Click the ‘Start’ button to start the process. You can click the pause/play button (next to the speed slider) to pause/continue the chart video.


The whole walk-through takes less than 60 seconds. Watch what happens after the level 3 semaphore dot gets displayed above the candles. As price continues to trend upward, the semaphore dot continues to repaint with every new candle high. If you were using ZZ semafor to attempt to pick the swing high point, you would have had more than 20 false signals.

Obviously I’ve cherry picked a strongly trending pair to highlight the reason behind my personal dislike for repainting indicators. But of course you must decide how you will use the indicator, and build your own entry/exit strategy around it; and then test it over a large enough data sample to satisfy yourself that the results are on-balance profitable. (Obviously that’s true for any system).

The main purpose of this post is to illustrate how it’s possible to build a template around any indicator, and then use MT4's Strategy Tester to provide a walk-through demonstrating the indicator’s behavior. Strategy Tester uses the template tester.tpl as its default template, for visual mode.


Programming has been my career since 1979. Over the last 5 years, I have written more than 400 MT4 indicators and EAs. I would challenge mmaker to explain how the lack of my posting a Trade Explorer invalidates any of the information in this post. LOL.

Thanks for the post hanover. You saved me a lot of time with giving me instructions on how to run a simple backtest. I have not dedicated a weekend to sit down and dig into the mt4 manual yet, as this place is chock FULL of coders. Again, thank you very much. I will have to dig into your work this weekend and see what I can learn.

Tomthepop, I found the indie you were looking for.

Make sure you compile it in a build 500 of MT4

Thanks for this.

should work now on the higher builds

regards thodie

Wow Thodie, I didn't know you were a coder! Thanks!

Edit: Now I can compare side by side and begin to learn the new language.

very easy just a minor problem, new build does not allow to separate one variable with a dot. remove the dot or replace by an
_ and done.

if you make a doubleclick on the compiling error the cursor will be placed i the right line

Dredding posted a strategy quite some time ago that successfully uses the semaphor as a "guide", but not the exact entry point.

I trade using ZZ Semaphores so subscribed

Repaint? It updates in real time.

Hello Hanover,

It has reference to your detailed reply on 16th June, which also reflects your technical expertise in this field.
I agree with you that the indicator Semafor repaints. But I believe, once it is stabilized and a new candle is opened, the indicator will not change its position.
So my request to you is, please build an EA for MT4 platform by using the following indicators and strategy.

Indicators: 3_Level_ZZ_ Semafor and Stoch (21,5,3).

The entry is based on the following criteria, for any currency pair and time frame:

1. Wait for the 3_Level_ZZ_Semafor indicator #3 to appear (Period 1 = 0, Period 2 = 0, Period 3 = 34).

2. Wait for a new can candle is opened, after seeing the Semafor indicator #3.

3. Wait for the Stoch fast line >20 for a long and <80 for a short.

4. Stop = use the low of the 3_Level_ZZ_ Semafor candle for a long, minus 10 pips, and use the high of the candle for a short, plus 10 pips. Also, the ability to move the stop to breakeven after a +25 pip move.

5. Target = the opposite 3_Level_ZZ_ Semafor appearing.


Hope you will consider my request.
Thanks and regards,
mavilakandy
Attached Image (click to enlarge)
https://www.forexfactory.com/attachm...1&d=1520396584

There may be versions of the Semafor indicator that don't repaint. But the one I used when I did my test in post #7 repainted in the way that I described.

I am sorry but I'm no longer doing any custom programming requests; please see the 'MT4 programming' section here for more options.

I find it incredible , but why no one using it ????/

Hello Terminator12,
Could you please briefly explain, how to trigger trades by looking at this signal.
Thanks in advance.