The need for advanced analytics

Why do you need statistical and/or volume confirmations? We often get this question because many traders think that moving average crosses, etc., are deterministic.

Without these confirmations it is too easy to confuse the real market moves with the noise.
If you plot daily candlesticks, you can use an algorithm like a moving average cross-over. However, you might not get the same result as another trader who's using the same algorithm. The biggest problem is that the data can be corrected. If you get your number right after the close, and someone else gets his number several hours later, they will not always be the same. Listen to your favorite market show on TV any time the DOW closes close to an important technical level. They will always make a point of waiting to get official numbers before they say the DOW did or did not break the level.

If you plot intra-day candlesticks, you have the same problem only worse. For one thing, the data changes more often. If you watch closely you will see highs get lower, lows get higher, cumulative volume get lower, etc. Have you ever had your direct access software stop you out, but you couldn't find the print in the historical record? There is no official announcement when these corrections are made. And, if your strategy requires intra-day candlesticks, you probably don't want to wait around to see if something will be corrected.

Have you ever watched your indicators as candles are building in real time? The indicator can change with every print. Most systems traders will only take the value of the indicator when the candle is complete. What makes this value better than the one you saw half a second ago? Do the most interesting trades only happen on 15 minute boundaries? The distinction is arbitrary. Remember, even if your clock is that precise, the people reporting the trades may be working over the phone, so it may take several minutes to report a trade.

Trade-Ideas' proprietary statistical analysis does not give excessive weighting to any one print. It does not arbitrarily select a small subset of the prints to work on. And no one bad print can cause a significant change to the analysis.

Our alerts do not replace the trading systems, candlestick charts, etc. that you are already using. We just provide additional information to help you make your decision. Without our alerts you're just not seeing the whole picture.