Identifying Start of W3

[ACM]

eblaster

Being primarily an Elliott wave trader I tend to use targets set by wave counts as those are usually what determine the initial risk/reward evaluation. MOBs and Ellipses are also part of the strategy depending on the circumstance of the trade.
Having said that I normally use XTL as a trend identifier rather than a tool to time entries as I prefer to enter a trade on an Ellipse, hence on a retracement within a trend rather than on a breakout.
An example of this modus operandi is shown in this thread where the entries were executed on Ellipses and the exits on MOBs.
The XTL in this case was simply used to confirm that the market had (and was maintaining) a strong directional bias thus presumably in a wave3.
While under almost all conditions I use the standard setting for XTL, on the shorter time frames I will switch to a longer lookback period than the default which tends to further the concept of accuracy over timeliness brought up by Tom.
From a personal standpoint the edge is provided by entering on a pullback rather than on an early breakout.

The question arises when a trade falls short of the intended target. In my case I also use envelopes or Donchian channels to define a trend so I may revert to those for an exit signal. More often than not it will be an Ellipse that is taken out that will provide the trigger.
As you may have noticed the Ellipse is a primary tool for me as it accomplishes a number of tasks besides providing entry signal.

As I have mentioned in other messages these variations on a strategy are not necessarily what is recommended by Advanced GET and are the result of personal experience and trading style.

Alex

[Momentum]

XTL

Originally posted by geronimo
Alex,

In your SPY example the second trade would not have been initiated had one followed the rules in the built-in help for the AG software. The help specifies that the entry bar needs to be the same color as the break-out bar. In your example, the entry bar is black instead of red.

I'm not quite clear what the "rule" is in relation to XTL breakouts in the event that, say, there is a BLUE breakout, then a BLACK bar which does not take out the low of the BLUE previous bar, then the next bar is BLUE and is higher tahn the 150% length of the first BLUE bar: Is this a valid entry or is it that becsause of the intervening BLACK bar you have to start again. It is clear that the signal is invalidated of the BLUE is followed by a RED but the BLACK may be just a minor slowing down.

What is the best approach?

Tx

TomB

[fabrizio]

Hold a sec

I see thre is Mr. Tom Joseph in the forum.

Would be nice to excahnge some words with him!

[TomJoseph]

XTL Breakout

When a first break out bar is followed by a black bar, I personally
consider the XTL breakout as still in progress.

For example, we have a first breakout Blue bar. It is followed by
a black bar that does not trade below the low of the Blue break
out bar. I would continue to look for the 50% break above the
first Blue break out bar.

Thanks
Tom Joseph
eSignal - Advanced GET