So I looked at CRM and understand why you bought based on SS3, the arc and the red bar.
I will be watching BBLN tomorrow. It is green on the SS4 and supertrend 1 month charts with an arc and a red bar on the 5 day chart (60 minutes). If it goes green tomorrow I will do a short term trade in it and see how we do…doc
Dear Quill,
Thank you for taking the time to reply and for your suggestions. I have never done TA previously but am now following this thread and will see if I have the mental capabilities to follow your guidance. I’m really terrible at maths. Didn’t want to not thank you, apologies for the delay in replying. I’ll be following you and the other generous contributors on TA Traders Sanctuary. Wishing all a good weekend
Guessing we have about 6-hour difference of time. Which is good what we do in the daytime you can do your studies and crack the books and take lots of notes.
10:07 am EST and your clock should say 4:07pm.
LD,
Now the fun begins;
Q1 - Do you have a broker where you can buy and sell stocks online such as Fidelity , Firsttrade, TD Ameritrade.
Q2 - How many stocks do you currently own. Don’t want to the dollar amount.
10 Best Stock Brokers in South Africa ☑️ ( Updated 2023 ) peruse the list of brokers or keep your current online broker that can purchase stocks on the NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX exchanges.
The only math skills is 9th grade math, no Algebra, Trig, or Calc. Just basic math skills are required.
when buying a stock we look the best ASKed price possible. Then place an order for xx amount shares at the Asked price.
when selling a stock, we punch the ticket to Sell xx Quantity of shares, Ticker symbol, order type (limit)- at what price you want to sell the stock at and a time frame with GTC (good til cancel). They then give you a time limit before it expires.
or if you are in a hurry to sell the stock, then place a market order and then finally Review the Order that you want to sell at.
Be very careful when Buying and Selling, make sure you want to choose the correct order. I have made many mistakes and did what I didn’t want to do.
Now the fun begins. You can read other traders’ point of view so you may understand how trading is done.
Okay, LD it is now homework time.
I would like you to read various Simon Sez projects, be it Simon Sez II - Simon Sez III.
I would like you to start off with Simon Sez III first, the money maker and or CASH COW. Now on a 3x5 index card write the two (2) rules in RED GREEN BLUE ink for BUYING and SELLING.
Now, go back to the top and then kruz your way down the pile and find “Simon Sez III in review”
Charts to be used are from Stockcharts and Barchart. I’ll have to find my notes on how to build a model chart for each.
In the meantime going to show a model or two of each for the following from the Tetter Totter list.
re: DDM / DXD
Next , find Simon Sez II in review. If you click on a chart to be viewed for the first time it may go into default mode of black and white with OHLC bars (Open-High-Low-Close). Again, going have to find the notes on how to create a viewable chart in living colour.
Again, a 3x5 card for the two (2) simple rules. we will be talking about ARCs and Smiley faces, jamming the chart to the left at times to see only at least two(2) ARCs to be viewed which then will tell you what to do.
After a while it will be Stir-rinse- and repeat over and over in your head to where it becomes routine.
You can at your leisure, read the Simon Sez IV in review with some models about jamming to the left.
Tyme has come today in beating the market is the olde way of finding stocks to buy. Within the charts are hidden price labels that are used with Simon Sez III. The theory was to trade using the 13 ema crossing up and over the 50 ema as a buy signal and the inverse for selling a stock.
Once the charts have been built correctly, I would like to practice on your favourite stock symbols to get acclimated.
In the mean tyme, I am going to work on an olde olde project but using todays Simon Sez III rules that nobody will understand.
If you have any question, please do not hesitate to ask. I am sure there will be others to help as well. They are all learning as well before they are all on there own
I wish you the best, stay Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.
Quill -
A Tetter Totter pattern of when to buy or to sell.
Luis,
Math isn’t need to do Technical Analysis (TA), but ‘pattern recognition’ is, which humans are good at, far better than computers, never mind the current bruhaha over ‘Artificial Intelligence’.
Despite the tendency on the part of many to add unneeded complexity to the task of making bets on the direction of prices, the game really is simple. “Buy it if it’s going to go up. Don’t buy it if it’s going to go down (or sideways).”
To make an informed guess about future price direction, all that’s needed is a simple line chart. (That, and a basic understanding of what the fundamental factors are that drive prices.)
You live in SA, right? In your country, gold is a big creeping deal. So pick a company or two and dig into them. If fundamentals look good and if the chart seems timely, then make a one-share bet. If the market confirms that your entry was correct, add to the position. Else, yank it and look for something else.
Wash. Rinse, Repeat.
Morning Quill, yes you are correct on the 6 hours time difference.
I use IBKR as my broker.
I currently hold 22 stocks, I subscribed to Stock Advisor and RB in the MF, but to be honest it has not been a great return, to put it mildly, especially after the latest correction.
Which chart service would you recommend I subscribe to?
I shall be doing the reading you suggest and if you don’t mind will post questions as and when things get complicated.
Thank you again for taking the time to assist this old dog (I’m 57), hoping I can still learn a new trick 
Please be advised that SA is currently experiencing what the govt euphemistically calls load-shedding, so for example today we will all experience 8 hours without electricity. As you can imagine, this delays a lot of things, and my reading and homework might not happen as quickly as I’d like due to even the cell phone towers that we rely on for internet going down as their batteries deplete.
Morning Arindam, and thank you for the vote of confidence.
Due to the way this country is being governed I prefer to invest in US stocks, as I have most of my savings in this country and need hard assets. A lot of people in SA expect a total grid collapse due to the total incompetence at utility and govt level, so one can only imagine what will happen to local stocks if that were to occur.
Appreciate the words and the support.
Quill, your instructions to luis on simon sez a few posts up is hard to follow and I know what you are referring to now. You might consider to sit down and write up notes that you save on your computer. Then when you are teaching about the different SimonSez, you have the notes saved in word or whatever text program you use.
Arindam, you and Quill are so smart. Quill says this is easy - you just need to know math. You say you just have to have pattern recognition. You are both right, but honestly if someone can’t do math and is going to do this, they are at a severe disadvantage.
I bought MARA this week (using SimonSez and supertrend) for a covered call and will profit just a tad over 10% in 3 days. I got the notice last night that my MARA got called out. I’ve been waiting to buy PERI (swing trade) and got a buy this week Thursday I think. Friday at the close PERI is up just a tad over $1. I bought HAL (investment) this week on a signal and it has stayed horizontal this week.
Monday, I will be watching for the charts to let me know when to buy CVNA, MARA, RIOT, for covered calls. I use optiondash (FREE)
Also, I am watching MARA RIOT HUT for swing trading since the bitcoin has gotten hot. The trend in crude prices is distinctly up so I will be watching UCO this week for an opportunity to buy and hold. I think if we post what we are watching and doing we can all learn. I just added DXD and DDM to my teeter totter list because of Quill. I watch SOXL and SOXS because of Andy. I watch CVGW because of Arindam. Just to name a few of course
The one thing we don’t talk a lot about is research. I don’t just casually buy stocks. i check the trends, financials, news, earning reports/dates. All those things play a role in my trades. Sites that i use from following Quill and Arindam - Tipranks, SimplyWallStreet, Zacks, MarketBeat for reading and analysis. These give you a lot of information for free. The paid for stuff is good too.
I’m no financial advisor nor CPA, just a doctor who’s been investing since the early 90’s. The above is just my opinion…doc
“Quill says this [trading stuff] is easy - you just need to know math. You say you just need to know pattern recognition. You are both right. But honestly, if someone can’t do math and is going to trade, they are at a severe disadvantage.”
Doc,
Quill probably didn’t say that “math is necessary”, nor could he say it believably so.
Quill’s ‘Simon Says’ methods are a math-free, pictorial way for beginners to vet stock tips for their timeliness, aka, to say when a stock (or ETF or mutual fund) could be bought and when it should be sold. But Quill’s methods fail to provide a better edge than dozens of other trend-following systems. He has never done the needed back-testing, for not knowing how to. Hence, his performance claims cannot be distinguished from random chance, no matter the claimed longevity of his track record.
Also, ‘Simon’ is only one-third of a full trading system for not speaking to ' What? could/should be bought/sold, given one’s means, needs, interests, goals, and opportunities which includes, not just stocks, but individual bonds, commodity futures, currencies, options, derivatives, etc., where success does depend on math, often at a high level, nor does ‘Simon’ speak to How much? should be bought/sold, where math again comes in, else one risks ruin or isn’t optimizing one’s opportunities.
Math-free investing is possible, and that’s how most people do it. Not my choice. Not yours. But that’s why I made the pitch to Luis I did about ‘pattern-recognition’. Most people are math phobes. So why put another road block in their way? Why not suggest a graphic, picture-based work-around? In time, if Luis sticks with the investing/trading game, he’ll come to see the need for math and appreciate the power it gives. Or, maybe he won’t. And that’s OK, too.
Arindam
Welcome, Luis! I’m a beginner to short-term trading too. Lots of great information here! Different opinions, different methods to experiment with. I’m just starting out small until I get the hang of it.
Sorry to hear about your ‘load-shedding’. That can’t be fun. Our government has its share of incompetence also. I hope they do give you advance notice each time.
Good Luck!
luisfili,
I wouldn’t give up so soon on the investment possibilities in SA.
Yeah, the country is a mess due to the ANC, just as this country is a mess due to the DNC. But in chaos, there is opportunity. If you have a brokerage account there, then why not trade what’s offered on the JSE and try to offset some of the decline the Rand has suffered against the $US, and esp. against the Euro? Not a big chunk of money, maybe just 10% of AUM.
For being a citizen of SA, you have access to the stocks of many companies us Americans don’t except the few that trade as ADRs. And some of that seven have quite decent fundamentals. E.g., I’ve made serious money from buying AU’s bonds when they were cheap.
Lastly, though US markets --stocks and bond-- are broad and deep, that doesn’t mean that they won’t crash soon and hard. So think carefully about the macro trends facing all of us and position yourself defensively.
Thank you for your thoughts Doc. I’ve read what Quill suggested and I feel that there is still so much to learn, or maybe I’m really not too bright. I’ve decided to sign up for an online TA course that IBKR offers, to see if I can understand the basics before I decide to try to follow Quill. Thanks again, and I’ll continue to lurk on this chat, may not understand all or most of it, but there is something to be said for the quality of the contributors on this thread. Thanks to All
Thank you Lisa, and the very best to your on your journey.
Thanks for your thoughts Arindam.
From the little I know of you, you’re a person with a very deep well of wisdom and it’s very kind of you to share it with others so selflessly.
Will be reading your thoughts on here, thanks in advance for your contributions.
luisfili,
There’s a diff between ‘wisdom’ and ‘being able to speak from experience’. The later I will claim, for having bought my first stock when I was ten, but not the former.
Wisdom is a goal we all strive for, but rarely attain. However, a good workaround is to borrow from the writings of others. For that reason, I’d suggest you work your way through Ben Graham’s The Intelligent Investor. And to that short reading list, add Justin Mamis’, The Nature of Risk.
Luisfil,
Don’t know if you can get your hands on one of the following in your area.
In order for us to be on the same page, I would suggest Stockcharts.com using very simple charts as you may have seen. I am under the Most Popular plan.
We are to be using Simon Sez III two (2) simple rules for now and Simon Sez II, and III rules on Barchaat at a later date.
Do you use a Laptop with a mouse or do you use a PC with a single monitor or two monitors.
The journey starts here: Simon Sez III in review
On a 3x5 card write down as a kwik reference the rules in RED - GREEN - BLUE ink if you forget the rules.
The chart shown I review every day from my SPDR’s portfolio on the right hand side and look at the 4th ICON down (globe). It only takes about 3 minutes.
To call up a chart like XLE as an example. Simon III shows you exactly WHEN to buy and WHEN exactly to Sell the stock per the two (2) simple wait - one- day rules. It is impossible to blow it.
=
How to build the above chart.
Quill,
Kudos for that write up. It prompted me to explore the ACP charts, whose features --frankly-- aren’t intuitive. Here’s a chart for BUD, stripped to its basics.
And one for ENPH where the selling is even more obvious.
By contrast, this is a chart for the ETF that tracks sugar.
Glad your following the Itchy’s. (Ichimoku Cloud)
I have about 6 scanning tools related to the Itchy’s for daily’s and weekly’s. Some have found a few, while one found over 400 + stocks.
https://school.stockcharts.com/doku.php?id=trading_strategies:ichimoku_cloud#trading_example
Have fun on this project.
Quill-
re: CANE
Perfect charts to have for Swing Trading. Ca - Ching
You can single or double click on the chart for a better view.
Quill -
Quill,
You and Arindam are some of the best out there in terms of being so kind and generous to share your knowledge. Thank you!
Charlie
Hi Quill,
Thanks for the suggestions, I do have an inverter and a generator as sometimes the power is out for 4 hours and a half and the batteries don’t always last that long. The biggest problem is the infrastructure we have to rely on. The cell towers, run out of power, the water pumping stations, the sewerage treatment plants… it’s a mess, and was reading today that in winter we may be going to stage 10… currently our utility only has 6 stages of blackout where stage 6 is 8 hours and 30 minutes without power in every 24 hour cycle. Who knows what stage 10 will entail?
Thank you for the very detailed breakdown of the charting process, I’ll starting working on it tomorrow. Am in your debt for the time and effort you are giving to educating this ignoramus. Getting late here, it’s amazing what a city looks like with no lights on at night… doesn’t help the crime situation one bit either. Wish you all a good afternoon.
