/ES Futures Trading Strategy on ThinkorSwim

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Ben's Swing Trading Strategy + Indicator

I wouldn't call this a course. My goal is zero fluff. I will jump right into my current watchlist, tell you the ThinkorSwim indicator that I'm using, and past trade setups to help you understand my swing trading strategy.

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@blakecmathis So I just used the script posted by @skynetgen above...for comparisons can you mark your entry points and exits? I'd like to see how that compares to MTF TMO with MTF Trend Magic and SuperTrend indicator that I am testing now...I think you use tick charts...can you use perhaps a 3 or 5 min instead since MTF does not work with tick charts? I want to see how my setup stacks up against what you guys are testing...
 
Here is SPY on 5 and 15 min time frame...both the dots and triangles on #1 part of the study need to match...as well as first instance of TMO for an entry...A more guaranteed entry is when the dots and triangles from #1 match with dots and triangles of #3...along with 1st and 2nd instance of TMO...#2 is just an MTF of the dots in confluence between higher aggregations of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 min...when all of those timeframes are in agreement #2 section of the indicator dots display either GREEN or RED dots...BLACK dots mean no confluence but you can still trade...

Very curious how my setup would do compared to what is discussed here...I know you guys are using tick charts...unfortunately I can't verify as no MTF works on tick charts...

eM4GE5p.png
 
Here is SPY on 5 and 15 min time frame...both the dots and triangles on #1 part of the study need to match...as well as first instance of TMO for an entry...A more guaranteed entry is when the dots and triangles from #1 match with dots and triangles of #3...along with 1st and 2nd instance of TMO...#2 is just an MTF of the dots in confluence between higher aggregations of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 min...when all of those timeframes are in agreement #2 section of the indicator dots display either GREEN or RED dots...BLACK dots mean no confluence but you can still trade...

Very curious how my setup would do compared to what is discussed here...I know you guys are using tick charts...unfortunately I can't verify as no MTF works on tick charts...

eM4GE5p.png
Would you be willing to share the chart for a test drive? Thanks...
 
So i modified RSILFE study to make that signal I am talking about clearer. can change .4 to whatever you want (.5 would be mid)

Here it is https://tos.mx/u7TLJYZ

@skynetgen , I had a chance to monkey around with the setup today and now I've got a few questions for you.

1. What is the significance of the cyan, plum and yellow parts of the wavetrend line?

2. when you say "can change .4 to whatever..." , do you mean changing the code?

3. When you said "Personally the way I use FE now is crossing underneath and recrossing back up of 0.4 line. Which compared to your approach is most of the time delayed and I use it mostly for reversals plays ", I just want to be clear, is the "0.4 line" that you refer to the 40% line that is represented by the bottom of your gray cloud? (oops...now I see that the gray cloud moves up and down, just like FEh and FEI in the RSILE_FE indicator)

4. And, how exactly do you use it for reversal plays? I see that it shows divergences pretty well...is that it?

5. Last, an odd thing happened when I modified the settings and I hope you might have some insight on it. On a 1000t chart, I setup 2 instances of our RSILE_FE/Wavetrend study combos. On the 2nd one I only changed the glength (which is basically the RSI line) from 13 to 9...just to see what the RSIleguerre part might produce. When I did that, it completely changed the display of the wavetrend line. It ended up being less smooth and the colors (cyan, plum, yellow) displayed differently. Any thoughts?

Thanks man!
 
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1. What is the significance of the cyan, plum and yellow parts of the wavetrend line?
Its not wavetrend its RSILFE. The plum is gamma (aka FE=fractal engergy)

2. when you say "can change .4 to whatever..." , do you mean changing the code?
no need - just in settings it is the "gammathresh" input

3. When you said "Personally the way I use FE now is crossing underneath and recrossing back up of 0.4 line. Which compared to your approach is most of the time delayed and I use it mostly for reversals plays ", I just want to be clear, is the "0.4 line" that you refer to the 40% line that is represented by the bottom of your gray cloud?
It is roughly there - because that line is 0.382. But I mean gammathresh (which can be anything you set it to)

4. And, how exactly do you use it for reversal plays? I see that it shows divergences pretty well...is that it?
yeah the rough idea is this - after extended run of trend when you see that signal its a good time for me to look for reversal play. Or at least take profit if already in position.its not the only signal but I like it as confirmation of trend exhaustion

5. Last, an odd thing happened when I modified the settings and I hope you might have some insight on it. On a 1000t chart, I setup 2 instances of our RSILE_FE/Wavetrend study combos. On the 2nd one I only changed the glength (which is basically the RSI line) from 13 to 9...just to see what the RSIleguerre part might produce. When I did that, it completely changed the display of the wavetrend line. It ended up being less smooth and the colors (cyan, plum, yellow) displayed differently. Any thoughts?
Againt dont confuse WT and RSI . Two separate indicators. And yeah you can play with settings. I dont touch first one (8) but for /ES on 1k I personally use 21/34. can use 13/21 etc. Longer it is smoother it is - but it generally needs to be tuned around your main instrument
 
Its not wavetrend its RSILFE. The plum is gamma (aka FE=fractal engergy)


no need - just in settings it is the "gammathresh" input


It is roughly there - because that line is 0.382. But I mean gammathresh (which can be anything you set it to)


yeah the rough idea is this - after extended run of trend when you see that signal its a good time for me to look for reversal play. Or at least take profit if already in position.its not the only signal but I like it as confirmation of trend exhaustion


Againt dont confuse WT and RSI . Two separate indicators. And yeah you can play with settings. I dont touch first one (8) but for /ES on 1k I personally use 21/34. can use 13/21 etc. Longer it is smoother it is - but it generally needs to be tuned around your main instrument


@skynetgen ...Thanks man. Yeah, I got confused on the signal line. I did know that it was the gamma from the RSILE. That definitely clears things up.
 
@blakecmathis , @skynetgen , @HighBredCloud ...... here is the link to the document. If the images are too small, increase zoom to 200% or I can post them here. Thanks! Looking forward to any feedback.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Sa_cG681UWzEhWVcdBtMWRM_qFElxInpZa81zlxipR0/edit?usp=sharing


A new caveat.... the range has been crap over the last couple of days and this strategy has been very difficult to achieve enough handles. I suggest putting the ATR study on your 1000t chart to see where the current candles are trading (on the screen, just look at the number that is right next to where it says "ATR (14, WILDERS). For example. right now it is 1:30pm CST and the current candle's ATR is 2.46. I'm not saying that your trade needs to be completed successfully on the next candle after opening the trade, but the system would obviously be more effective if the candle ATR is 4.5 - 5.5.

Anyone have any good advice on how to trade rangebound (choppy) markets.....other than don't trade?
 
A new caveat.... the range has been crap over the last couple of days and this strategy has been very difficult to achieve enough handles. I suggest putting the ATR study on your 1000t chart to see where the current candles are trading (on the screen, just look at the number that is right next to where it says "ATR (14, WILDERS). For example. right now it is 1:30pm CST and the current candle's ATR is 2.46. I'm not saying that your trade needs to be completed successfully on the next candle after opening the trade, but the system would obviously be more effective if the candle ATR is 4.5 - 5.5.

Anyone have any good advice on how to trade rangebound (choppy) markets.....other than don't trade?

Not trading. Extremely tight range - I am very bad at scalping, so working on other things
 
Here's a little something that some of you might find handy if you have multiple monitors. It's a 6 panel flexible grid with /NQ & QQQ, /ES &SPY and /RTY & IWM to include the RSILE_FE study modified by @skynetgen. At a glance, it helps to see if one market is moving where the other is not , so you can jump to the moving market. NOTE: the charts are set to the 1 minute timeframe.

(You might need to actually 'copy' the "Learning Center" URL below (to paste into TOS) because clicking on it from your browser only takes you to the learning center webpage.)
https://tos.mx/CcJ6RCz
 
@blakecmathis

Can you possibly re-post the flexible grid? thanks

I believe so downloaded it yesterday and accidentally deleted some things today it was named watchlist or worksheet?

Just found it thanks for such a great thread.
 
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It never ceases to amaze me how well the /NQ and /ES respect the pivot points....including the mid-pivots. Highly recommend laying this indicator over the top of your charts and just observe for a week. It's called PivotPointsFull.

https://tos.mx/OUD8wpZ
 
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