Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
By
Steve Copan
Copyright @ 1997-2009 Steve Gopan. All rights reserved.
It was not long before I had discovered a way to do this and over
the next few years I developed this into a structured logical
method and called it the Market Matrix. I then released this
method to the general public on a video cd set in 2004.
had regarded as easy might not be the case for the average
trader. let alone someone who is totally new to trading.
I suggest you read this book slowly and thoroughly from the
beginning regardless of how mundane some things may seem as
the way I use the indicators and tools is totally different to what
some other traders would expect.
These people will never succeed because they do not have the
patience or discipline to follow a method and wait for the next
proper set-up. Please do not be one of these people or it will cost
you dearly. Take your time with every trade you are going to
place and consider all possibilities before you place it.
Steve Copan.
Gontents
Page
The Basics 1
Fibonacci 5
Retracements I
Extensions 11
Stochastics 13
Setup Patterns 19
Buy set-up 24, 42
Buy divergence pnce 25, 43
Buy divergence Stochastic 31, 44
Sell set-up 27, 45
Sell divergence price 30, 46
Sell divergence Stochastic 34, 47
Recap 41
ISD - Triangles 49
Recap 72
Final words 73
Ghapterl-TheBasics
Throughout this book I will be showing and using various bar
charts that almost every typical charting package uses or has
available in its chart display mode.
Bar charts are very common and this type of chart is available
from many brokers as well as on the Internet for free, so there is
no need for you to purchase any special or expensive software to
initially start trading.
As time goes on and you start trading more markets then you will
most likely want to purchase a professional charting software
package so that you can keep all your charts in one location on
your computer. This will also enable you to display multiple charts
at the same time and allow you to apply the analysis tools and
indicators in this book to your charts with ease.
OHLG stands for Open, High, Low and Glose, and represents
the main four parts of a days trading.
Page 1
GBP-USD D-D
1.4900
1.4800
1.4736
| .rt I vt
1.4600
1.4500
1.4400
1.4300
1.4200
Looking at any single bar covering a single day you will notice a
little notc to the left side of the bar and also a notch to the right
side of t e bar.
The notch to the left of the bar represents the opening price of
the day (Open).
The top of the bar is the highest price that market traded at
during the day so represents the (High)
The bottom of the bar is the lowest price that market traded at
during t e day so represents the (Low)
The notch to the right of the bar represents the closing price of
the day (Close) making one complete OHLC daily bar as shown
in the chart (Chart-2).
Page 2
High
Open
Low
(Chart-2)
Bar charts are not only used to represent a singe day's traded
range, they are also used for any time range, and are often used
in hourly bar format for intra-day charts as well as bigger time
frames like weeks, months and years, some of which I will be
showing later.
Page 3
ng ofthe day
Iltr 1.4700
1.4650
1.4550
rll 1.4500
2t 3f
Chart created bv Dvnamic Trader (c) 1995-2009
(Ghart-3)
Page 4
Fibonacci
The sequence of numbers 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144,
and so on to infinity is known today as the Fibonacci sequence.
The sum of any two adjacent numbers in this sequence forms the
next higher number in the sequence, 1 plus 1 equals 2, 1 plus 2
equals 3, 2 plus 3 equals 5, 3 plus 5 equals 8, and so on to
infinity.
For example if you look at the sequence you will note that these
numbers relate to you as follows. You have 5 limbs on each of
your 2 hands and each hand has 4 fingers and 1 thumb. That
makes 8 fingers and 2 thumbs and each finger has 3 joints and
each thumb has 2 joints
Golden Mean. Nature uses the Golden Ratio in its most intimate
building blocks and in its most advanced patterns, in forms as
minuscule as atomic structure and DNA molecules to those as
large as planetary orbits and galaxies. lt is involved in such
diverse phenomena as quasi crystal arrangements, planetary
distances and periods, reflections of light beams on glass, the
brain and neryous system, musical arrangement, and the
structures of plants and animals.
Page 5
Not only do you have the various limbs of your body in exact
Fibonacci amounts but also your entire body is built upon the
Fibonacci sequence and the ratios of these numbers, specifically
the 0.618 Golden Ratio.
0.618ryo
(Picture-l)
The stock Market also has this same Mathematical base at its
core and all movements in both price and time are based on the
Fibonacci number sequence and I or Fibonacci percentage
ratios.
Page 6
By taking the Fibonacci percentage 0.6 and multiplying it by
itself we get 0.382 and any Fibonacci number from the number
sequence multiplied by .382 will give you another Fibonacci
number two places before it in the Fibonacci sequence.
(Picture-2)
You can start with any Fibonacci number but for the example
here I have started with the Fibonacci number 233. We divide
233 by 987 to get the ratio of 0.236. Divide 233 by 377 and you
get 0.618 being the Golden ratio, this is because 377 is the next
Fibonacci number up in the sequence from the number 233 we
started with.
Page 7
There are four other Fibonacci percentage ratios to take into
account and these are 0.50 being a half or 50o/o, 0.786, 0.886
and 0.941. 0.786. 0.886 and 0.941 are derived from taking the
square root of the Fibonacci 0.382 and then square rooting that
number. The square root of 0.382 = 0.618, the square root of
0.618 = 0.786, the square root of 0.7 6 = 0.886 and the square
root of 0.886 = 0.94
The 0.886 and 0.941 Numbers are very special and we will be
spending some time on these later as, if used correctly, these
numbers can provide you with some incredible trading
opportunities
3.6%
38.2%
50% Square Root numbers
61.8%
8.6% 0.382 Square root = 0.618
(Picture-3)
Page I
Fi bonacci Retracements
When a market has moved up or down over whatever time period
be it a few hours, days, weeks or months it will eventually retrace
some of that initial move. Once a move has occurred we can use
Fibonacci retracement percentages to work out levels at which
the market could retrace to.
HIGH 1400.00
1390.00
1380.00
1366.24 Ret 0.236
You can see all the Fibonacci retracement percentages that are
normally used on the right of the chart from the 0. to the
0.941 from the table in (Picture-3).
Page 9
In the next chart (Chart-s) we are using the same Fibonacci
retracement levels as used in (Chart-4) but measuring in reverse
as this time we are measuring a retracement of the market
moving down instead of up.
HIGH
.00
.00
913.99 Ret 0.786
.00
ff9t1.54 Ret tI.618
.00
874.07 Ret 0.500
LOW
12 19 26 Jan I 16 23 30
Chart created 1996-2009
(Chart-s)
You can see the market moved down from the HIGH at the top ot
the chart to the LOW at the bottom middle of the chart, it then
retraced back up to the 0. 00 position or 50% of that initial down
move, efore then starting to drop down again.
Throu hout, this book will only require one of these retrac,?
numbers and that will be the 0.618 Fibonacci retrace so as to
make i as simple as possible for you.
This 0.618 will be used for one purpose and that is a trading
Stop. A trading Stop is very important and every trade we enter
into will always have a Stop.
Page 10
Fibonacci Extensions
Fibonacci retracements are used for measuring a retracement of
a market move, while Fibonacci extensions are measurements of
how far the market should extend to on its next move.
7[ .[0
SEtl.57 LHexp 0.61S fi[ .ill
Extensions 50 .00
S44.63 LHexp 0.382
40 .00
30 .00
H{l GH
20 .00
1[ .00
.0[
I I .00
.00
l"ll .00
.[0
LOW .00
12 19 26 Jan
Charl created Trader {c 1996-2009
(Chart-6)
Page 11
We will be using the same Fibonacci extension process but in
reverse when measuring a Fibonacci extension of a market that
is moving down.
ln the next chart (Ghart-7) you can see the market is moving
down overall and I have measured from the HIGH to the LOW of
the initial down move.
900.00
s5[.00
I
800.00
LOW
.75rl nn
Extenr
700.00
0S Feh
Chart created by Dynamic Trader (c) 1996-20[9
(Chart-7)
Page 12
Stochastics
Stochastics is an indicator we will be using to give an idea of
when a top or bottom in a market is likely to occur. A Stochastic
is a simple mathematical formula of 100 times (last close price
less the lowest price over a set period of time) divided by the
(highest price over the period less the lowest price over the
period). You do not need to understand the maths to use this.
.0[
.00
.00
.00
.0[
.ilI
780.0[
760.00
10%
Chart created by Dynamic Trader (c) 1996-2009
(Ghart-8)
Page 13
We do not need to be concerned about the settings or the
construct of the Stochastic only the position of the actual two %K
and %D lines relative to the high and low 10% and 90%
horizontal lines.
Looking at the chart (Chart-9) you can see marked with the
BLUE arrows that when one of the two Stochastics lines reaches
the bottom horizontal line, being the 10% line, it tends to mark a
bottom in the market. The same in reverse when one of the
Stochastics two lines reach the top horizontal line being the 90%
it tends to mark a top in the market.
.00
.00
.00
1./ .00
.[0
.00
18[.00
750.00
3 (90?o-l0o/"
You will also notice the RED arrows marking a high and low i,r
the market, but this time without the two Stochastic lines reaching
the high or low. What the Stochastics did do was change
direction as the market itself changed direction and I will explain
a little more about this later.
Page 14
The way we will use the Stochastics here is different to the way
most other people will use them. Most traders will only be
concerned when one of the two o/oD or %K lines cross over the
other which is the most common use, while here we are only
looking at the position the lines are compared to the upper and
lower 10o/o and 90o/o horizontal lines.
From the first RED arrow marked with a letter A the market
turned down from a high point as the Stochastics hit the 90% line,
then the price went slightly higher at point B but the Stochastics
did not go as high as they did at point A. That is a divergence.
Page 15
.00
A B .00
.0lr
.0[
.00
.00
780.00
760.00
A Stoc astic can also make a new high or low without the market
price doing so.This is also a divergence and again can result in
large moves as shown in (Chart-11).
Page 16
.00
.0[
.00
.00
.00
Ilft .0[
.[[
7BIl.00
The Stochastic was at the low 10% line and then started to move
up in line with the price to point A on the chart.
After a few days the price retraced down part of the up move
from point A and then moved up again to point B. Although
point B was not as high as point A in price as shown by the
line, the Stochastic went a lot higher than it did as point A.
As you can see the resulting move back down from point B was
indeed quite large and is common from this type of divergence.
This is exactly the same but in reverse, again most of the time
resulting in a large move. Later I will be showing you ways you
can take advantage of this pattern even though the Stochastic is
not at the 10% or 90% position.
Page 17
Stochastic Set-up Patterns
The first thing I am going to start with is the Stochastic and
simple set-ups that will enable you to enter a trade with
confidence as well as a high probability of success. The
Stochastic is one of the easiest indicators to use as you can see
with your eyes if a set-up to trade is available.
Regardless of where you think the market will move to once you
are in the trade, it is very hard to be exact unless you are
prepared to spend a lot of time analysing the market using other
analytical tools and methods. So the easy way to look at this is to
ask the question (what is the minimum the market should move)?
This is where the Fibonacci Extensions come into play.
lf you remember, the golden ratio number was 61.8% and the
difference between 100% and 61.8To is 38.2%. So for any
change in direction in the market we will be looking for a
minimum movement of 38.2o/o of the prior move.
Page 19
38.2% of the bar is displayed on the chart as 0.382 and 61.8% is
displayed as 0.618 because instead of a percentage of 100%
most software use percentages in relation to 1, so 0.618 of the
bar we measured is in reality 61.8% of it.
30.00
20.00
813.44 LHexp{1.618
10.00
00.00
market moves a lot higher we have still hit our first price target.
Page 20
The reason we are using both .382 and 0.618 targets is
because we are going to place 2 trades each time we trade with
this Stochastic set-up method, one for the 0.382 target and one
for the 0.618 target, but both will have a Stop at the -0.618
position. The whole idea of these 2 trades is if the market hits the
0.382 target and then turns and hits our Stop without hitting our
0.618 target then we will have only made a small loss overall.
|-1100.0[
fl050.0[
f10[0.[[
p50.00
lonn nn
866.50
lnoo:m
i750.00
r00.00
We will start by zooming in to the start at the far left of the chart
(Ghart-13) in October 2008 where the Stochastics are below the
bottom 10% line. (Chart-14)
Page 21
You need to allow a little movement on the 10o/o and 90% lines
depending on the direction of the main trend the market is in.
For example the market was moving down overall to the lows in
October so we look for the Stochastic to hit the 10% line, but if
the market is moving up over all then for a Buy set-up we would
be looking for the Stochastic to be within 4% of the 10% line.
Because the overall market was down and the Stochastic has hit
the 10% line then we place a B Y trade on the market just abov,;
Page 22
The reason we place the entry for any trade just above the high
getting falsely triggered into a trade when the market matches the
high or low and does not breach it.
market in RED (Ghart-14) with the RED arrow, but we will never
point of the day and in reverse we never place a Sell trade if the
bar closes at the lowest point of the day. So on this occasion we
would wait for another day or trade set-up.
t 12m.0[
I'l r 1t50.0[
1100.ilr
1050.00
lUZg.4$ LHexp{1.618
10[[.00
.00
912.75
As you can see the market continued down to new lows so the
trade was not triggered. What you now do is delete the trade and
Page 23
Every time the market goes down to new lows you will delete the
old Buy trade and place a new Buy trade again on the new low
day until you are triggered into the trade.
After 3 more days of new lows and moving your Buy trades the
market finally activates the Buy trades (Ghart-16).
s&p-500 D-D
13,3,3 {90%-10%)-
You can see the result of what happened as the market not only
put you in both Buy trades but the market hit both price targetr
without hitting your stop making you a good profit on both trades.
Now you do nothing until there is another set-up trade.
Page 24
You can see the divergence clearly, as the price went lower than
the last low that we had our last uy trade from and the
Stochastic was not as low as it was back then.
we place the Buy trades for this divergence trade on the lowest
bar in the same way as before.
1050.00
I 1000.00
Irl .00
.00
otn nfi
835.50
lf the market goes lower again than we wiil derete the Buy trade
and place a new Buy trade on the new low daily bar.
As you can see in (Ghart-18) the market put us into both the Buy
trades the very next day and again hit both the 0.3g2 and 0.61b
price targets for another nice profit.
There was no set-up trade for another week until the stochastics
got to within 4o/o of the 90% line where we praced a sell trade on
the highest daily bar (Ghart-l9) because the main trend was
overall still down.
Page 25
1050.00
t 10u0.00
Il q5n.nn
927.50
lt fi51.36 LHexp{1.6lff
l€00.m
l{50.00
s&p-500 D-D
100u.50
- SSll..tZ HLexp{1.818
80.00
60.ilt
I 40.0[
20.00
00.ilI
80.0[
60.00
40.ilI
Page 26
The result from the Sell trade was the market went down putting
us in to the Sell trades and the same day hit our first price target
of 0.382 but then stopped. At this point the market could have
reversed and hit our -0.618 Stop but if it did the loss would not be
so bad because the first trade, the 0.382, had completed
correctly making a profit, thus off-setting part of the possible loss
on the other 0.618 target trade
As you can see there was no reason to worry because the very
next day the market went down and hit the 0. 18 price target
closing that trade for yet another nice profit.
Now I hope you can see why we trade using two trades. lf you
wish only to trade with one trade at a time then it has to be the
0.618 target trade as with the stop also at -0.618 then one loss
target would require you to make 2 profits for 1 loss so would put
the odds of making profit totally against you.
Page 27
The next trade set-up occurred a few weeks later as a Buy trade
when the Stochastics hit the 10% line (Chart-21).
Again we placed the Buy trades. This Buy trade did not get
triggered as the market made another new low the next day, so
we deleted the trade and placed a new Buy trade on the new
lower daily bar.
s&p-500 D-D
t+fzu.uI
1400.00
l{B[.00
Lrnan nn
- 841.34 LHexn 0.618 g{l,gg
- 826..11 LHex jr 0.382 l{2[.00
It00.00
F780.00
- 783.16 LHexp{} 6lfi F760.00
t-740.00
and on the same day hitting both our 0.382 and 0.618 targets for
yet another nice profit.
Page 28
This time the market spent the next few days going sideways
until eventually going down putting us into the Sell trades and
again hitting the 0.382 and 0.618 targets for yet another profit.
t-{t1[.00
8g$.4fi HLexp{.818 t-900.00
I{ 885.50
Iur^r.uu
t€70.00
t{60.00
B4I.I3 Hlexp 0.382 t{50.00
835.52 Hlexp tl.618 F4o.oo
ls30.00
t{20.00
13,3,3 (90%-10%)
Here you can also see that once the market had hit the 0.618
target and went a little through it the market then turned and ran
all the way back up to close at the high of the day. So although
the market closed higher than the close of the previous day, you
had still taken your profit.
Looking back at the high around the 28th you may have been
thinking it would have been nice to have also caught the big drop
that occurred there as well. Listen carefully and note that the
Stochastics were not within 4oh of the 90% line so you did not get
a Sell trade so there was no trade. You cannot get every move
on every market so only concern yourself with a proper set-up,
because rules are there to be followed and to protect you.
Page 29
The next trade was again a Sell trade but it was on a price
divergence Sell set-up (Chart-23).
S&P-sOO D-D
8r1.50
After the last Sell trade the market then went all the way back up
to make an exact match in price with our last Sell trade but the
Stochastics did not go as high, making a divergence.
The Sell trades were placed on the low of the daily bar as shown
and as you can see yet again the market entered us into the Se I
trades and after 2 days hit both our 0.382 and 0.618 price targets
for another nice profit.
Page 30
it in position until either the price target is hit or your Stop is
triggered unless a new higher or lower daily bar occurs for you to
The next trade set-up (Chart-24) was immediately after the last
10.00
.00
1r .0[
80.0[
BEI.55 Ll-lexp{1.81fi 70.00
.00
.ilI
.00
.ilt
.[0
Page 31
Both the Sell and uy Stochastic divergence trades are a lot
harder to spot than the normal Buy and Sell price divergence
because your eyes are drawn to the Daily bars or the 10% and
90% lines while the Stochastic divergence can only be spotted
by looking at the Stochastic lines themselves.
s&p-500 D-D
[- si5.4tl HLexu{l.BtB E{'qq
iuJU.uu
p20.00
-fllt:f;f, Htsn H:Etfr talttt ala'l
905.00
TJUu.uu
Ir90.00
Irro.oo
1s70.00
F50.0r
After the market moved down from our last Sell trade the market
then decide to move back up again to a new high (Chart-25) anu
the Stochastics to within 4oh of the 90% line giving us yet anothe"
Sell trade set-up opportunity.
Once again as you can see the market then dropped down belor,v
the entry point putting us in the Sell trade and yet again hitting
the 0.382 and 0.61 price targets for another nice profit.
Page 32
At this point you see that we have had 14 trades from
7 set-ups
with all of them hitting our price targets and making profit,
but as I
have said, life is not perfect, as the-next chart snoris (Ghart-26).
S&P-sOO D-D
.00
.00
rl**l,th[tt .00
.0[
fiEH:$8 lilEIIifl:5fr$
.00
.00
BlE.Stl LHexp{l.litB 825.75
E;;:;;
131313 (90o/q-1OYo
The market made a low around the 1Sth but the stochastics
did
not hit the 10o/o line. Remember the main market trend
overall
was down so we need to see a hit of the 10% rine before
we
place a Bu trade.
The market then came down lower around the 20rh and
although
technically the stochastics again did not hit the 10% line
we will
not be picky here as they were as near as you can get
so no one
could blame you for placing a Buy trade there.
Page 33
out one of the trades for a loss. As I have already said and will
say again that's life, you cannot win them all.
.00
Blis.2E HLexp{l.li1S
.00
.00
fi$f,:ll HLg*]l fl:ttfr .00
I 826 .75
.UU
fnzu
I fn10
.[0
lB00 .[0
The market then entered us into the Sell trade and on the same:
day again hit both our 0.382 and 0.618 price targets for another
nice profit.
Page 34
I hope by now you are grasping this simpre method and can see
how easy it is to implement.
From time to time you will find the highest price of the last
3
months has not gone higher than the highest price of the
previous 3 months and the lowest price for the last i months
has
also not gone lower than the prior 3 months meaning it is in a
sideways market.
The next set-up was a totar failure (Ghart-2g) as the price did not
of our price targets and crosed both trades out on the
for a loss. Again you need to understand that a ross
now and then is part of trading so accept it.
The next trade was the very next day (chart-29) and was a
set-up that resulted with the price hitting both the target
another good profit again.
Page 35
Il{:51 IHEUF H:$flE
658.BI LHexp{l.ti18
688.50
H?il:ilil
Chart created
(Chart-28)
s&p-soo D-D
.00
.00
:fft
.00
:[ff
715 .75
f?du :uil
tf90 .00
67fi.55 LHexpJl.61fi
Ftfi :flfl
5toch 13,3,3 (900/"-10%) - *- -
Chart created
(Chart-29)
Page 36
The next set-up (Ghart-30) was a Sell trade that was very close
to not being a Sell at all because the bar closed very close to the
bottom of the day. Again this trade resulted in both our price
targets being hit for another profit.
[00 .00
.00
ruo
Stoch 13,3,3 (90%-1tl%
On occasions like this where the close is within 1% of the low for
a Sef l trade or 1o/o of a high for a Buy trade it is better to be
cautious than make a trade for the sake of trading unless the
Stochastics are up higher than the 90% or lower than the 10%
After the last Sell trade the market went back up again to new
highs but so did the Stochastics so another Sell trade set-up was
available (Ghart-31). Again the Sell trade was triggered and the
market hit both price targets for a profit.
The next Sell trade (Chart-32) again hit both price targets for
another profit but the next Sell trade (Chart-33) only hit the 0.3 2
price target and failed with the 0.618 for a small loss.
Page 37
fr22.18 HLexp{1.818 .00
l fB10
fB00
.00
.t10
L7{ln nn
785 .0[
ou .uu
fl
.00
ir70
F60 .00
---'a-
s&P-500 D-D
.00
fi3ti.l9 HLexp{} ElB
.00
II 8Z?
f-;;
'II
.[0
ffi00 .00
frso
.ill
.00
i7B0
Chart created
(Ghart-32)
Page 38
861.25
853.71 HLe*p{1.618
|s50.00
F40.00
F30.00
Ir20.00
f8r0.0r
5t
.00
tr
865.03 HLexp{1.61S
.00
.0[
.00
833 :T9
ffi; .0[
.00
F'o
5t
Page 39
Finally the last trade for the past 6 months (Ghart-34) was a Sell
trade that yet again resulted in both price targets being met for
another profit.
The results for the last 6 and a half months was a total of 16
trade set-ups making a total of 32 trades of which, 28 were
winning trades and 4losing trades.
Page 40
Recap Stochastic Set-up trades
The Buy set-up is: when the Stochastic reaches the 10% line you
place a Bu trade on the high of the daily bar unless the close of
that bar is within 1o/o of the highest point - Page 42
The Buy divergence with price at new low set-up is: when the
price goes lower than the last low but the Stochastics do not go
lower than the they were at the last low - Page 43
The Sell set-up is: when the Stochastics reach the 90% line you
place the Sell trade on the low of the daily bar unless the close of
that bar is within 1o/o of the lowest point - Page 45
The Sell divergence with price at new high set-up is: when the
price goes higher than the last high but the Stochastics do not go
higher than they were at the last high - Page 46
Both a Buy and a Sell trade require you to place two trades, one
Page 41
The Buy Stochastic set-up
When the Stochastic reaches the 10% line you place two Bu
trades on the high of the daily bar unless the close of that bar is
within 1% of the highest point.
You need to measure from the bottom of the daily bar to the high
of the daily bar and add 38.2% of that bar to the top of that bar to
get the target price for the first trade, which is 983.49 in this
example on the chart below. Then place a Stop at61.8% retrace
of that bar which is 877.49 on the chart below.
Then measure again from the bottom of the bar to the top of the
bar and add 61. of that bar to the top of that bar to get the
target price for the second trade, which 1008. 1 in this
is
example on the chart below. Then place a Stop at 61.8o/o retrace
of that bar which is 877.49 on the chart below.
s&P-500 D-D
I l-1r50.0[
ltl fl100.0r
t-1050.00
I
1016.25
r rruu,uu
F50.00
87I.4$ LHexp{l.ElS P00.00
F50.00
Page 42
The Buy divergence - price set-up
When the price goes lower than the last low but the Stochastics
do not go lower than they were at the last low then you place two
Buy trades on the high of the daily bar.
You need to measure from the bottom of the daily bar to the high
of the daily bar and add 3 .2% of that bar to the top of that bar to
get the target price for the first trade, which is 20.36 in this
example on the chart below. Then place a Stop at 61.8% retrace
of that barwhich is 851.36 on the chart below.
Then measure again from the bottom of the bar to the top of the
target price for the second trade, which is 936.64 in this example
on the chart below. Then place a Stop at 61.87o retrace of that
bar which is 851.36 on the chart below.
105[.00
t 1000.00
Ilr .00
.00
otal alal
835.50
Page 43
The Buy divergence - Stochastic set-up
When the Stochastic goes lower than the last low but the price
does not go lower than it was at the last low then you place two
uy trades on the high of the daily bar.
You need to measure from the bottom of the daily bar to the high
of the daily bar and add 38.2% of that bar to the top of that bar to
get the target price for the first trade, which is 90 .30 in this
example on the chart below. Then place a Stop at61.8o/o retrace
of that bar which is 867.55 on the chart below.
Then measure again from the bottom of the bar to the top of the
bar and add 61. of that bar to the top of that bar to get the
target price for the second trade, which is 915.45 in this example
on the chart below. Then place a Stop at 61.8% retrace of that
bar which is 867.55 on the chart below.
I tl BEL55 LHexp{1.618
10 .[[
.00
.m
.[0
.[[
.0[
.00
.[0
.00
.[0
Page 44
The Sell Stochastic set-up
When the Stochastics reach the 90% line you place two Sell
trades on the low of the daily bar unless the close of that bar is
within 1o/o of the lowest point.
You need to measure from the high of the daily bar to the low of
the daily bar and subtract 38. Yo of that bar from the bottom of
that bar to get the target price for the first trade, which is 947.67
in this example on the chart below. Then place a Stop at61.8%
retrace of that bar which is 990.42 on the chart below.
Then measure again from the top of the bar to the bottom of the
bar and subtract 61.8% of that bar from the bottom of that bar to
Page 45
The Sell divergence - price set-up
When the price goes higher than the last high but the Stochastics
do not go higher than they were at the last high then you place
two Sell trades on the low of the daily bar.
You need to measure from the high of the daily bar to the low of
Then measure again from the top of the bar to the bottom of the
s&p-500 D-D
5toch 13,3p{80%-10%}
Page 46
The Sell divergence - Stochastic set-up
When the Stochastic goes higher than the last high but the price
does not go higher than it was at the last high then you place two
Sell trades on the low of the daily bar.
You need to measure from the high of the daily bar to the low of
the daily bar and subtract 38.2% of that bar from the bottom of
that bar to get the target price for the first trade, which is 845.01
in this example on the chart below. Then place a Stop at 61.8%
retrace of that bar which is 865.26 on the chart below.
Then measure again from the top of the bar to the bottom of the
bar and subtract 61.8 of that bar from the bottom of that bar to
.00
81i5.26 HLexp-tl.618
.00
.00
l 826 .75
.00
.UU
fszu
I fB10 .00
fnoo .00
Page 47
ISD - Triangle Bar Set-up
ISD stands for In Side Day. What this means is the high of a
daily bar did not go higher than the high of the bar the day before
and the low of the daily bar did not go lower than the low of the
day before. You can see this ISD bar in (Chart-35) that I have
coloured in RED and will be coloured RED on all charts from here
on. The daily bar before the ISD bar I shall call the triangle bar
and it will be coloured in BLUE on the charts from here on.
This ISD bar with the triangle bar before it in BLUE forms a
triangle shape or arrow head as marked with the RED lines and
is also referred to as a consolidation pattern, as the market is
neither going up, nor is it going down at that point.
.00
.00
.[0
.00
.00
.00
.ill
10.00
5f Bm $r lllw
Chart created Trader (c 1996-2009
(Chart-35)
Page 49
At some point in time the market will eventually move either
higher or lower than the triangle bar and that is referred to as a
break out.
1000.00
.00
.00
.00
750.0[
700.00
We can trade these bars even though we do not know for certain
which way the market will break out from this triangle.
Page 50
ln the chart (Chart-37) | have measured from the low of the ISD
bar marked with a letter A to the high of the previous triangle bar
marked with a letter B and added 38.2% and 61.8% of that
distance to the high of the bar at point B making two target prices
of 27.19 and 834.56 at the BLUE horizontal lines.
The Stop point for this trade is in exactly the same place as
before at the -0.618 position.
.00
.00
795.94 LHexp{}.618
[lI nn
786 .75
.00
['-'
z7 Apr
Chart created by Dynamic Trader (c) 1996-2009
(Ghart-37)
You then need to do the same process but to the down side of
this triangle by measuring from the high of the ISD to the low of
the triangle bar using the same setting.
Page 51
Again the Stop position for this trade is at the -0.618 position.
Because the ISD was almost perfectly central to the previous day
then the -0.618 for both up and down trades are almost in
exactly the same place, so they look a bit messy on the chart.
.00
827.19 LHexp 0.382
.0[
10.0[
.[0
7nn nar
786.75
780.[[
770.00
763.47 Hlexp tl.3BZ
760.00
158.03 Hlexp 0.618
Now this all looks simple enough but as would be expected there
are a couple of rules to make this work as effectively as possible.
Page 52
lf the market was moving down into the triangle then the Sell
trade has a greater probability of working so we would then
lf the market was moving up into the triangle then the Buy trade
has the greater probability of working so we would then remove
the 0.6 8 target Sell trade.
We only need to consider the bar that enters the triangle and not
the bigger market trend. To some people this will seem strange
but this method works well on trading small time frames.
In the following chart (Ghart-39) you can see the bar that entered
the ISD triangle being the daily bar marked with a letter B.
AB .00
827.19 LHexp tl.3Bl
.00
10.00
.00
lgfl,Ft HHcxp{l,B'lB
Tarn fiar
786.75
780.00
770.00
7fi3.47Hlexp tl.3BZ
760.00
756.03 Hlexp 0.618
2[ 2t Anr
fhart created by D Trader [c 1996-2009
(Chart-39)
As the price for the daily bar B moved down from a higher point
than the triangle bar C then the market was moving down into the
triangle so the Sell trade has the greater probability of working,
Page 53
therefore I have removed from the chart the .618 price target
from the Buy trade leaving 2 Sell trades and 1 Buy trade in place
and of course their appropriate Stops. Whenever we place a
Moving on you can see in (Ghart-4O) that after another day the
otn nn
836.75
30.00
827.19 LHexp 0.382
20.00
10.00
00.00
790.00
780.00
770.00
783.47 HLexp tl.3B2
760.00
756.03 Hlexp 0.618
27 Anr
Chart created 1996-2009
(Chart-40)
Once a trade has been executed and the day has finished then
you will need to delete the trades in the opposite direction. Sc
here for example once the market had hit our Buy targets and
the day has finished then we need to delete the Sell trades.
At the end of the traded day if any trade had been entered into
and had not hit target so it was still active, then we leave that
trade alone until it either hits target or hits the Stop but you stili
delete all the opposite trades.
Page 54
Now we have the logic to the ISD triangle set-up we shall now go
through each of the trades individually that we highlighted from
the chart (Chart-36) over the past 6 months.
To make things clearer on the charts I have coloured the ISD bar
in RED and the triangle bar in BLU
Sell trade.
s&p-500 D-D
998.75 1000.00
s88.25
.00
966.50
{$,fg trfrerF{,81fr .;;
.00
31 Hov
Chart created Trader (c 1996-2009
(Chart-41)
As you can see the market opened and came down during the
day and then broke the triangle upwards and triggered us into
both the two Buy trades. At the end of the traded day we are now
in the two uy trades so we need to delete the Sell trades.
The next day the market produced yet another ISD bar as shown
in (Chart-421 and so again we need to look at the direction the
market was going into the new triangle.
Page 55
Because the market was moving up into the new triangle this
time from the first triangle again coloured BL then again we
need to place both the 0.382 and 0.618 Buy trades but only the
0.382 Sell trade.
s&p-500 D-D
1000.00
9flfl$$1ffif;H'H$Ff;-
HRn.nn
$Hl, 969.50
.UU
s.t3.75 LHexp{}.618 .0[
92.1.82 Hlexp 0.382 .00
.00
.00
.00
.0[
31 Hov
Chart created Trader {c 1996-2[09
(Ghart-42)
The chart is getting a bit messy here with all these lines but we
now have 4 Buy trades in place. 2 Buy trades we have already
been triggered into from the previous day and waiting for them to
hit target with another 2 Bu trades waiting to be triggered.
The next day the market broke out of the second triangle
upwards and triggered us into the other 2 Buy trades.
Page 56
As you can see from the chart (Chart-43) not only did the next
day trigger us into the other 2 Bu trades but the market then
went a lot higher during that day and hit all 4 Buy trade price
targets making a very nice profit on all 4 trades.
S&P-SOO D-D
1002.50
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
943.75 LHexpJl.6lB
.00
.0u
g2.l.BZ Hlexp tl.3BZ
.ill
Hov
Chart created Trader fc) 1996-2009
(Ghart-43)
Now the Bu trades have triggered and hit target you need to
delete the Sell trade that was still there from the second triangle
Sell trade.
The only time the Sell trade for the second triangle would not
have been deleted was if the market had not triggered the
second triangle Buy trades. A trade once placed is left alone
Page 57
The next ISD triangle trade was just a couple of days after the
last one as shown on (Chart-44).
1000.00
.[0
+ .[0
937.25
SlZ.tlS l-lLexpJl.6lS
fszo.nn
fsoo.oo
Pnr.0r
Pnr.r0
r4r.0r
?.4 31 Hov
Charl created Trader (c 1996-2009
(Ghart-44)
market was moving into the triangle, there is one exception to this
rule as follows:-
!
trade on a trianqle that opens at the lowest point of the dav.
As the market was moving down into the triangle bar then we
would still place both Sell trades as shown on the chart.
Page 58
As you can see from what happened in chart (Ghart-45) the
market moved up the day after the RED ISD bar and would have
triggered us into a Buy trade if a Buy trade was there then it
would have dropped and hit our -0.618 Stop for a loss.
There was no Buy trade there because we had not placed it, due
to the fact the triangle bar in B UE opened at the high of the day.
922.03 HLexpJl.6lB
(Ghart-45)
The next day the market went down and entered us into the two
The next available trade was a few weeks later around the 28th in
(Chart-46) but did nothing because the triangle bar as shown in
BLUE on the chart opened at the high of the day so no Buy trade
could be placed.
Page 59
Even though a Sell trade was placed it was deleted by us a few
days later because as the market went higher than the triangle
bar it would have triggered us into a
uy if one was there and we
would then have deleted the Sell trade, so we deleted it.
The next available trade is marked on the chart on the right. The
bar before the triangle bar was moving up into this triangle so we
placed a Bu trade for both 0.382 and 0.618 target prices but
only a single .382 Sell trade.
s&p-500 D-D
94t1.73 LHer+p 0.618
No Trade 932.52 LHexp tl.3BZ
897.[l HHexp{l.lil8
ZB Dec
Charl created Trader [cJ 1996-2009
(Chart-46)
lf you look closely, the day after the RED ISD bar the market
again had an ISD but this time I have not placed any Buy or Sell
trade. Why?
Page 60
lf you remember back from earlier in (Ghart-43) we had a new
ISD triangle form while we were already in an existing ISD
89I.EX HHexp{1.fi18
(Ghart-47)
Page 61
You will find this happens a lot because once a market has
broken out of a triangle it will tend to have a good move in that
direction even if it then returns back to its original direction.
.00
926.60 LHexp tI.382
.00
.00
lsr0
.00
fe00
$$6,9$ HfrexFf,El$ .00
lBs0
|-8ff0 .00
871 .50
865.84 Hlexp 0.382
859.41 Hlexp 0.618 f*ro .00
.00
fB50
.00
f840
lB30 .00
12 1g
Chart created Trader (c 1996-?009
(Ghart-48)
You can see the market moved down into the triangle bar so we
Buy trade.
The next day after the ISD bar the market dropped and hit both
our price targets, closing them for another nice profit. Do not
forget to delete the Buy trade.
The next trade was only two days later (Ghart-4g) and was one
of those patterns that you need to remember the rules for.
Page 62
We had a normal ISD bar triangle formation where the market
had moved
Sell trades
s&p-500 D-D
1[.[0
905.35 LHexp 0.382
.0[
.00
.00
.ilI
.0[
B43.1ll HLexp tl.3BZ
837.15 Hlexp 0.618
.[0
19 ZE Jan
Charl created by Dynamic Trader (c) 199r5-Zrl09
(Chart-a9)
The next day after the ISD bar the market made another ISD bar.
Remember this happened earlier, in (Chart-46), and the rule: lf a
new ISD triangle pattern occurs after an existing triangle that you
already have trades in place for and none of those trades you
have in place have been triggered yet, then you do not place any
new trades on the new ISD triangle.
As the market had not triggered us into any of the original triangle
The market then bounced around for another 2 days and almost
put us into the Sell trade, but then a few more days later went up
Page 63
The next available trade with the ISD triangle was a few weeks
later on 21"t January 2009. Again the market moved down into
The market messed around again for a few days like the last
trade we had on (Ghart-49) but eventually broke out of the
Bl8.3fi LHexpJLfilB
16 23
Chart created Trader (c) 1996-2009
(Chart-50)
As the market had moved up into the new ISD triangle then we
Page 64
So we now have a similar situation as we had with (Ghart-42)
where we now have multiple trades together, being 3 Buy trades
and 1 Sell trade on the market at the same time.
s&p-500 D-D
871.50
.00
.tl0
.00
$3$:iE hlsl[]f:Hl$
.00
10.00
16 23
Chart created Trader (c) 1996-2009
(Chart-s1)
The very next day the market made another lsD triangle for us to
place a trade on (Chart-52).
Page 65
The next day the market moved down breaking out of the triangle
and putting us into the Sell trade. On the same day the market
for yet
another profit.
10.00
.00
2f 3[
Chart created Trader (c 1996-2009
(Ghart-52)
The next available ISD triangle trade was about 2 weeks later
(Chart-S3). The market, although going up overall, still entered
into the triangle going down as you can see by the bar just before
the triangle bar.
Because it was down into the triangle then we place both the
The very next day, after the RED lSD, bar the market dropped
down through the triangle bottom triggering us into both the Sell
another profit.
Page 66
ft83.I6 LHexp tl.3SZ
.[0
.[[
.00
.ilI
.nn
B3I.IE LHexpJl.6'lB .00
fi29.85 HLer*pJ.l$1fi .00
.m
.00
The next ISD triangle trade was about another 2 weeks later
(Chart-54) on February 24th, so you can see these ISD triangle
trades are available on average 2 to 3 times every month and this
is common on most markets.
This time the bar before the triangle bar was not higher or
lower than the triangle bar, so we have to look at the bar before
that bar to determine the direction into the triangle.
As you can see the bar was moving down into the triangle so we
trade.
The market then went sideways for two more days before
dropping down through the bottom of the triangle and entering us
into the 2 Sell trades.
Page 67
s&p-500 D-D
803.02 LHexp 0.382 .00
790.Itl
I 780.ilr
770.0[
lli$,flfl HHexp{,ElH 760.00
750.00
740.[0
726.38 HLexp 0.382 730.ffI
718.12 Hlexp 0.618 720.00
7l al flfl
705.50
fruu.uu
20 27
fhart created Trader (c) 1996-2009
(Chart-Sa)
At the end of the traded day, since the Sell trades have been
triggered then remember that you need to delete the Buy trade.
The next day the market then dropped down again and hit both
The next available ISD triangle trade was once again about two
weeks later on March gth lGtrart-ss;.
As you can see the market moved down into the LUE triangle
bar so we need to place the 0.382 and 0.618 Sell trades on the
market but only the 0.382 Buy trade.
This was a nice and clean trade as the very next day after the
RED ISD bar the market shot up entering us into the Buy trade
and hitting our 0.382 price target at the same time for another
profit. Again you need to remember to delete the Sell trades.
Page 68
S&P-SOO D-D
.[0
.00
.[0
654.6I Hlexp tl.3BZ
li4T.B3 HLexn 0.61fi .0[
3r 4w 5t 6f 9m ltlt
Chart created Trader (c] 1996-2009
(Chart-s5)
It may all seem great up to this point with no losing trades but as I
have said before you can never win them all and that is exactly
what happened to our next ISD triangle trade (Ghart-56).
Sell trade.
The very next day the market moved up breaking out of the
the same day and came all the way back down hitting the Stop
the very next day the market went back up and hit the point were
Page 69
.00
fitl8.7g LHexp{1.618 10.ilI
79S.18 HLexp{l.GlB .[[
7s0.00
r80.00
770.00
760.00
r50.[0
744.6fi Hlexp tl.3SZ
20 ZT
Charl created Trader fcJ 1996-2009
(Chart-56)
Stops are there for a reason. The reason is to protect you from
losing large amounts of money. Always use these stops on every
trade regardless of what you think.
The last ISD triangle trade for the last 6 months was 31"t March
as shown in the next chart (Chart-57).
The market moved down into the triangle so we placed both the
Page 70
5&p-500 D-D
As you can see the market went sideways the next day after the
ISD bar, then the following day moved up breaking out of the
triangle and entering us into the
moved up far enough to hit our
good profit.
Page 71
Recap ISD Triangle Trade Rules
trades and two Sell trades with Stops at the 0.618 retrace
position.
highest point of the day and we will not place any Sell trade on a
triangle that opens at the lowest point of the day.
We only need to consider the bar that enters the triangle for the
direction and not the bigger market trend.
lf the market was moving down into the triangle then we remove
lf the market was moving up into the triangle then we remove the
Once a trade has been executed and the day has finished then
you need to delete the trades in the opposite direction, so if the
At the end of the traded day if any trade had been entered into
and had not hit target so it was still active, then we leave that
trade alone until it either hits target or hits the Stop but you still
delete all the opposite trades.
Page 72
Final Words
You now have two simple, logical and easy to follow trading
strategies for the S&P with the ability to make very good profits
for you to use to trade the markets with.
Please follow the rules for each of the strategies fully and do not
try to bend these rules as they were designed to make the
probability of a profitable trade as high as possible.
lf you try to modify or bend the rules then it is likely you will end
up losing more trades than the techniques would otheru,uise do.
Best wishes.
Steve.
Page 73