Los Angeles CA
Experience: Beginner
Platform: TradeStation
Broker: TradeStation
Trading: ES
Posts: 4 since Nov 2011
Thanks Given: 4
Thanks Received: 13
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I'll first respond to the most recent couple of posts ,and then more generally to the Better Indicators discussion.
Yes, it will not work to apply the "old" indicators to your chart and compare them with what Barry is showing on his charts in his current videos, because they are quite different indicators. A couple of years ago he switched his indicator product line to a subscription model, and also wrote new code that essentially combined all of things he used to do with multiple timeframes on different charts to one, where all timeframes are on a single chart. I also believe he changed some of the underlying logic as well.
However, what he is doing with this new platform, in my opinion, is that he has made an effort to take a step closer to "systemization" of the use of the indicators using his particular style of trading, which can only become evident by watching a small handful of certain videos he has made over the years where he explains the basis for his trading decisions. I have watched hundreds of his videos over the years, and there are only a few where he comes close to articulating a systematic way of using the indicators. In another post I will go back and search for those specific videos I'm talking about , if they are still around. Meanwhile, here is some history of my experience with the Better Indicators.
I first bought his three indicators as a package in 2011. I was particularly intrigued by the fact that he recorded his trading experience each day, posted insightful commentary while trading, and I also through that the indicators made a lot of sense. Back then he was also quite engaged with his audience. However, unfortunately, I came into futures trading too early with too much money, and despite my best efforts to emulate what Barry was essentially teaching by his daily posts, I blew up my $50,000 account in about nine months. It was a hard lesson - or I should say a hard set of many lessons. My main problem was that first, I was treating Barry's daily videos as "lessons", which they were not. And also I rushed into trading futures after many years of trading stocks without taking it nearly as seriously and methodically as I should have. Anyway - that's a story for another day, I guess. But .. back to the Better Indicators.
I continued to watch Barry's videos even after I couldn't trade anymore - after I got over the emotional loss, that is -- and I found that in agreement with what others have said in this thread, the indicators themselves are not a system, per se, and even if you were to fully absorb the way in which Barry uses those indicators, it still doesn't approach a system. That is to say, you will need to make your own rules around when to make decisions based on these indicators. And this is, of course, is best done through a lot of trial and error. In my case I actually used a live trading account to learn the fundamentals of trading and tried to emulate a style of trading that I had no business trying to emulate. Another thing that I believe that led to my own failure to use these indicators properly was that if you watch Barry actually using the indicators in many of his early videos, you will find that he is also injecting some insight into market behavior that he has in his head through his own experience about the market itself - that the indicators are not specifically indicating or otherwise providing information about. That is, Barry was and remains a discretionary trader through and through, and the thing about discretionary trading is that it is at least partly informed by things that in the head of the discretionary trader, and not in the screen.
This can be seen in glimpses in Barry's videos by listening to some of the things he is muttering about when he agonizes, in the recording, as to whether to exit a trade or not. (I imagine this is more true in the older videos. Frankly, I haven't watched one of his videos for a bit of a while.)
Thus, I believe that these indicators most definitely have value, but supplementary value to your larger trading intelligence and strategy. I think Barry might agree with that.
In a year or so, I hope to be able to return to trading in a more intentional and planned way (I have made some fitful attempts over the years - all resulting in small failures of little consequence.) When I am able to return seriously, I think that the Better Indicators will definitely have a place in my trading tool set, but only after I spend a decent amount of time understanding the way in which they are intended to be used.
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