Thread: Harmonic Journal

hi drapi, if i remember correctly the bat pattern is when AB is 38 fib level of XA, in the chart that you have attached it seems to me that AB is over 50 fib level, so it should be a gartley bullish, and the best entry level was 78 fib, the first entry you have taken... So re entering in a pattern that has already reach the first target isn 100% safe... Or am i mistaking and the bat pattern is good until AB retracement reach 50 fib of XA?

i consider bat patter when retXB is 38.2-50.0 (+- small delta).
If you did not take a trade at 78.6 that is good, for bat is better to wait till 88.6
why 88.6 failed? Often fails, it's normal. This is actually not so much important that pattern fails as anyway in long run R:R is on your side.
i would probably take the trade in exactly same place.

drapi, do you mind sharing your "and have write myself strict rules which I follow"? This could be intersting to see/review and maybe guys from the forum would suggest improvements.

I also consider Bat pattern with B point at range 38.2-50.0

Here are my rules:

Basic
TF: M15 to H4
Trading Pairs: EURUSD, GBPUSD, AUDUSD, EURJPY, USDCHF, USDCAD
Patterns: Gartley, Butterfly, Bat

Money Management
RR 1:3
1% deposit on each transaction
BE after price reach 38,2 retracement of whole pattern

Check list
-do pattern looks nice?
-is it symmetrical?
-is there other pattern on higher TF? is it confirming or denying direction
-is there good S/D zone
-is price is exceeding TMA(2.5 dev) bands

Entry levels and Stop Loss
Bat (B point at 38,2) - entry at 88.6XA, SL 1 pips after X point
Bat (B point at 50.0) - 2 entries, first at 1.27AB second at 88.6XA,SL 1 pips after X point
Gartley - entry at AB=CD, SL at 1.27AB
Butterfly - 2 entries, first at 1.27XA second near 1.618XA, SL 3pips after 1.618XA

Position can be closed only in 3 cases:
-when it hit SL
-when it hit BE
-when it hit TP

thats mostly all, I've decided to narrow patterns to only 3, because they make more sense for me than the others, maybe later when i master those 3 i will try add next ones to my trading. I also narrowed to only 6 pairs because they have low spread and I dont use any indicator for spotting patterns, I do it by myself. I have korHarmonics but I not fully happy about his functionality so i dont use it.
About Bat(50.0) and Butterfly I've decided to use 2 entry levels, I wanted to balanced between not losing too many good patterns and improving RR. I split position in way that bigger half is on further level, for example i want to use 0.26 lot for Bat (B point at 50.0) so i set 0.10 lots on 1.27AB and 0.16 lots on 88.6XA

I know it is not perfect, already Iam starting seeing that 1.27XA entry gives poor RR for butterfly, so feel free to comment and make suggestions

EDIT 17.04.2012 : my rules has been changed so following rulles are no longer valid for me

Great you have it written. Many traders would never put the effort to write such plan.

-do pattern looks nice?
-is it symmetrical?

yes, it's very important for myself as well. Harmonic pattern i call one that looks nice to the eyes and not necessary the one that matches dozens of Fibo relations.

-is there good S/D zone

i love Sam Seiden approach for definition of the S/D zones --> http://tradingarsenal.com/f61/supply...am-seiden.html

-is price is exceeding TMA(2.5 dev) bands

yes, this also nicely filters the patterns from wrong/different TFs

For me it looks like good setup of confirmations.

Originally Posted by drapichrust

I also consider Bat pattern with B point at range 38.2-50.0

Here are my rules:

-is price is exceeding TMA(2.5 dev) bands

Hi, first of all thanks for sharing with us! I do wonder which TMA version you use since there multiple out there.

Originally Posted by wickedwin

I do wonder which TMA version you use since there multiple out there.

I have download it from one of topics on this forum, I dont know which version it is

Originally Posted by kor4x

i love Sam Seiden approach for definition of the S/D zones

I have watched all his vids, i understand overall concept of S/D, that if price is on extremum and makes new high and falls immediately without staying long on this level it can be good S/D zone but still i dont know how to spot S/D zones in middle of swings

yesterdays trade, bearish Bat on GBPUSD H1, it wasnt best looking pattern, i was confused which high use as X point, first one gives butterfly, second gives Bat with B point on 50.0 but togheter they make PRZ at same level, price has stop nicely on this level, and it was 61.8 retracement of H4 swing, so i've entered on 88.6XA and got stopped, oh yeah and i got slippage of 9 pips on demo account, lol

I am having a challange with the butterfly too.... Extension patterns are harder to trade. Entry points are hard to identify.