PDA

View Full Version : *Japanese Candlestick Charting - a running exposition*



abkekecifip
03-11-2016,
My intention with this thread is to investigate the predictive efficacy of Japanese candlestick charting. Many a practicioner swears by the forecasting ability of this Eastern method when employed in the hands of a skilled analyst. I make no claims at being such a skilled analyst therefore this thread will hopefully aid my development in this process as well as elucidate that it does not take a deft candlestick chartist to employ this technique.

Below I have have included six month charts in daily timeframe of the DJIA and the yield on the 10-year Treasury Note under the assumption these two can be generally viewed as proxies for the equity and fixed-income markets respectively. Over time I hope to incorporate other markets as representative of various asset classes including the US Dollar for currencies and oil or gold for commodities.

I aim to include a daily update should market activity warrant such frequency. I have included six months of price data below as a way to set the context rather than starting this project with no frame of reference.

One thing to keep in mind is that while many view Japanese candlestick charts as being unrivaled in signaling reversals and continuations the formations I hope to highlight going forward do not lend themselves well to projections or price targets. Western techniques are better for such a task. I plan to focus on candlestick patterns and as a result this will be a very short-term trend identification project. On some occassions I may incorporate Western techniques should I view them as enhancing the candlestick methods however my goal is not to focus on long-term trends but rather the day-to-day manifestations of the Japanese candlestick methods.

As with all technical analysis the following interpretations are subjective. You may see different indicators and signals than I do. I welcome constructive comments should I overlook a signal going forward.

abkoqasav
03-13-2016,
Was out of town a couple days and couldn't devote the time to analysis. The last two trading sessions were quite eventful with confirmation on Thursday of the market's suspicion that ECB president Mario Draghi would employ a bond buying program for distressed countries - the PIIGS. This was followed by a sub-par non-farm payroll report on Friday that came in at 96,000 leading to the market betting on more stimulus from the Federal Reserve. A couple of caveats to keep in mind as we look at the charts: First, the EU bond buying program is of the sterilized variety meaning no increases in the monetary base will occur as a result of the plan as it was laid out on Thursday. This does, however, have implications for US Treasuries as money flows may leave the safe-haven assets and move into the three-year-and-under maturities that will be purchased by the ECB. This of course translates to higher Treasury rates in the USA. Second, the NFP report was bearish at under 100,000 jobs and while the odds are probably greater than 50% that the Fed will initiate further easing in some form or another there is no guarantee this announcement comes at the September meeting which leaves significant downside risk to risk-on assets if the Fed disappoints those betting on stimulus.

adasowice
03-14-2016,
Going slightly off topic a bit here I think dips can be bought with relative impunity so long as you keep some hedge or stop in place to guard against the catostrophic. With the Fed's open ended quantitative easing I think it is safe to declare the Bernanke Put is on.

ajaxunos
03-15-2016,
Lacking the time today for an in depth analysis but I did want to document that the US Dollar formed a Harami today (an 'inside day' for you bar chartists). This signals equilibrium. This is further supported by the equal lengths of the upper and lower shadows on the candle giving the image of a spinning top. This could be day one of a more sideways movement in the dollar as the bear flag pattern works its course.

Aldotore
03-18-2016,
Markets seemed to find resusitation in the form of bets on a Chinese stimulus plan widely reported in financial news outlets. Rates, equities, and metals were higher while, as would be expected, the dollar was lower.