Alternative to MA Crosses

 

Hello all,

I'm fairly new around here but I'd like to know if anyone has found the same results as I have:

Trading Moving Average Crosses is not working, in any regard. Not with EMA, SMA, 1 average or 5 different averages. But I have found success with this - using a chart shift of 1 and using the 'direction' of the MA based on whether the shifted MA with the same period is above or below it's identical counterpart. This is surprising as I always thought MA crosses were a tried and true method. No matter what filter I use on them, they perform poorly. Using the direction of MA's gives me consistent profits that can then be filtered and used successfully in many different ways. happy coding folks!

lbranjord

 

LB

> always thought MA crosses were a tried and true

Maybe elsewhere but their inherent lag is a killer in Forex - if you're just using plain MA's you will be whipsawed down to broke


To be useful, you should do something extra, eg your shift idea or different combinations eg

4 period EMA compared to the 8 period Smoothed MA or

5 period EMA of the Close compared to 6 EAM of the Open, etc, etc

There are some simpler exceptions, eg 5 period Smoothed MA on the USDJPY M5 chart during the US session

And...

Lets never forget the ultimate filter - Time of Day...!

FWIW

-BB-

 

MA crosses have their place in forex just as they do in other markets such as futures and equities but just as is the case with those markets so to is the case with forex and that is the chart time frame matters!

You wouldn't attempt to use MA crosses on stocks with a 5 minute stock chart, the same is true in forex for all the reasons BarrowBoy elucidated.

MA crosses are just fine in forex if you are applying them to daily/weekly/monthly charts...the same way you would use them in equities, bonds, etc.

 
BarrowBoy:

LB

> always thought MA crosses were a tried and true

Maybe elsewhere but their inherent lag is a killer in Forex - if you're just using plain MA's you will be whipsawed down to broke


To be useful, you should do something extra, eg your shift idea or different combinations eg

4 period EMA compared to the 8 period Smoothed MA or

5 period EMA of the Close compared to 6 EAM of the Open, etc, etc

There are some simpler exceptions, eg 5 period Smoothed MA on the USDJPY M5 chart during the US session

And...

Lets never forget the ultimate filter - Time of Day...!

FWIW

-BB-


Yeah I'm thinking about tossing in the Time of Day filter again. I have to study up on that magic of filtration article and see which hours are producing best results in my scenario.
 
1005phillip:

MA crosses have their place in forex just as they do in other markets such as futures and equities but just as is the case with those markets so to is the case with forex and that is the chart time frame matters!

You wouldn't attempt to use MA crosses on stocks with a 5 minute stock chart, the same is true in forex for all the reasons BarrowBoy elucidated.

MA crosses are just fine in forex if you are applying them to daily/weekly/monthly charts...the same way you would use them in equities, bonds, etc.


I will take your wisdom and continue to consider MA crosses in the future :)


Still having trouble with those, sticking to the things I'm good at for now though.

I have found another way to follow trend that uses a single MA. I have a trend follower EA and a range follower EA, then I stick one on Cable and one on EURUSD so they hopefully do well at the opposite times due to correlation and keep me from suffering simultaneous drawdowns. That's a utopian situation though, I'm sure there are more issues that have yet to present themselves. I'm happy with my progress though so, I'm in no rush. I didn't expect to get this far in only a couple weeks. MQL basics have a swift learning curve.

Reason: