Elder Impulse System + ATR Bands
Disregard the above chart, I am not sure why it isn't showing the one I want, which is linked below:
This is as far as I can tell the closest representation to Dr. Alexander Elder's updated "Elder Impulse System" that has added ATR-volatility bands up to 3x deviations from price. I got the idea from watching this recent video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=6exUoqJJ...) of Dr. Elder reviewing some recent trades and noticed he had updated his system from his original books. The Impulse System colour coding was inspired by AstralLoverFlow and LazyBear. ATR Bands are pre-programmed Keltner Channels with some modifications such as filing in the ATR Zones with user-selected colour bands and modifying the ATR value to better suit the volatility of the market being traded.
The script has several components, which I will detail below:
Exponential Moving Averages:
1) A 13-period EMA that is used as a staple in all of Dr. Elder's technical analysis. He uses this EMA as the basis for all of his indicators and why it is included here.
2) A 26-period EMA which can be used as a base-line of sorts to filter when to go long or when to go short. For instance, price over the 26-EMA, price is strong and the rally upwards is likely to continue, underneath it, price is weak and likely to continue downwards for a time.
Volatility Bands:
By definition these are nothing more than 3 separate Keltner Channels of a 13-period EMA each set to one additional multiplier from the moving average. This gives us a 1x, 2x, and 3x multiplier of average volatility from the 13-period EMA based on a 14-period Average True Range (ATR) reading. The ATR was chosen as it accommodates price gaps and also is the standard formula calculation in TradingView. The values of the bands cannot be adjusted but the colour coding of them can be.
Elder Impulse System:
These colour-coded bars show you the strength and direction of the current chart resolution, calculated by the slope of a 13-period EMA and the slope of a MACD histogram. These are used not as a buying or selling recommendation alone but as trend filters, as per Dr. Elder's own description of them.
Green Bars = The 13-period EMA is sloping positively and the MACD histogram is rising compared to previous bars. The trader should only consider buying/long opportunities when a green bar is most recent.
Red Bars = The 13-period EMA is sloping negatively and the MACD histogram is falling compared to previous bars. The trader should only consider selling/short opportunities when a red bar is most recent.
Blue Bars = The 13-period EMA and the MACD histogram are not aligned. One of the indicators is sloping opposite to the other indicator. These are known as indecision bars and are typically seen near the end of a previously established trend. The trader can choose to wait for either a green or red bar to shape their trading bias if they are more risk-averse while a counter-trend trader may decide to try opening a position against the currently-established trend.
How To Trade the System:
This system is unique in that it is so versatile and will fit the styles of many traders, be it trend following traders (generally the original Elder Impulse System design) or mean-reversion/counter-trend trading (the original Keltner Channel design). None of the examples below or in the chart above are financial advice and are just there for demonstration purposes only.
1) The most basic signal given would be the moving average cross up or down. A cross of the 13-EMA over the 26-EMA signals upward trend strength and the trader could look for buying opportunities. Conversely, the 13-EMA under the 26-EMA shows downward trend strength and the trader could look for selling opportunities.
2) Following the Elder Impulse system in conjunction with the EMAs. Look for long opportunities when a green bar is printed and price is over both of the 13- and 26-period EMAs. Look for short opportunities when a red bar is printed and price is below both of the 13- and 26-period EMAs. Keep in mind this does not necessarily need a moving average cross to be viable, a green or red bar over both EMAs is a valid signal in this system, usually. Examine price more closely for better entry signals when a blue bar is printed and price is either above or below both EMAs if you are a trend trader. This is how Dr. Elder originally intended the system to be used in conjunction with his famous Triple Screen Trading System. I am not going into detail here as it is a deep subject but I would suggest an interested trader to examine this Triple Screen System further as it is widely accepted as a strong strategy.
3) Mean Reversion and Counter-Trend Trading. Dr. Elder mentions that the zone between the two EMAs is called the Value Zone. A mean reversion trader could look for buying opportunities if price has generally been in an uptrend and falls back to value, conversely, they could look for shorting opportunities if price has generally been in a downtrend and rises back to value. These are your very basic pull backs found in trends that create your higher lows in an uptrend or your lower highs in a downtrend. A mean reversion/scalper trader may also look to use the upper and lower most ATR bands as an indication of price being overbought or oversold and could look to enter a counter-trend trade here once a blue indecision bar is printed and to ride that move back down to the Value Zone.
Taking Profits and Risk Management
This system again is very versatile and will fit a wide range of trading styles. It has built in take profit levels and risk management depending on your style of trading.
1a) In original Triple Screen Trading (and the original Elder Impulse system), a trader was to place a buy order one tick above a newly printed green bar with a stop loss one tick below the most recent 2-day low, and vice-versa for red bars on short selling. as long as other criteria were met, that I will not go into. It is all over YouTube and in his books and on Investopedia if you want more information. The general idea is to continue the trend in the direction if price is strong and you are bought into that move with a close stop, or if price falls back a little bit, you can get in at a better price. This would be a system typically better suited to a scalper.
1b) The updated risk management according to the above video is to place a stop loss at least 2ATR away from price. These bands already have calculated these values so a trader can place a stop one tick below the 2 or even 3ATR zones depending on their risk appetite. This is assuming you have already received a strong buy signal based on the system you follow. This would be a system typically better suited to a trend-trader.
2a) Taking profits if you are a trend trader has several possibilities. The first, as Dr. Elder suggests, is to place a price target 2ATR values away from your entry giving you approximately a 1:1 risk-reward ratio.
2b) The second possibility if the trade is successful is to ride the trend upwards until a blue bar is printed, suggesting indecision in the market. A modified version of this that could let a winning trade run longer is to wait for the price to close under the 13-EMA in fast markets, or close under the 26-EMA in slightly slower markets to maximize potential winnings.
2c) A scalper trader may wish to have a target at either the value zone if they are playing an extended buy/short back to the mean, or if they are being at the mean, to sell or cover when price extends back out to the 2x or 3x zone.
3) Trend traders can additionally use the ATR zones as a sort of safety guidelines for entering a trade. Anything within the 1ATR zone is typically a safer entry as the market is less volatile at this time. Entering when price has gone into the 2ATR zone is signaled as a strong momentum move and can signal a stronger move in the direction of the current closing bar. While not always the case, it is suggested by Dr. Elder to not enter trend trades at the 3ATR zone as this is where you will be likely looking for a counter-trend retracement back to value and a trader entering here in the direction of the trade has a higher chance of being stopped out or not getting in at the best possible price.
This is as far as I can tell the closest representation to Dr. Alexander Elder's updated "Elder Impulse System" that has added ATR-volatility bands up to 3x deviations from price. I got the idea from watching this recent video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=6exUoqJJ...) of Dr. Elder reviewing some recent trades and noticed he had updated his system from his original books. The Impulse System colour coding was inspired by AstralLoverFlow and LazyBear. ATR Bands are pre-programmed Keltner Channels with some modifications such as filing in the ATR Zones with user-selected colour bands and modifying the ATR value to better suit the volatility of the market being traded.
The script has several components, which I will detail below:
Exponential Moving Averages:
1) A 13-period EMA that is used as a staple in all of Dr. Elder's technical analysis. He uses this EMA as the basis for all of his indicators and why it is included here.
2) A 26-period EMA which can be used as a base-line of sorts to filter when to go long or when to go short. For instance, price over the 26-EMA, price is strong and the rally upwards is likely to continue, underneath it, price is weak and likely to continue downwards for a time.
Volatility Bands:
By definition these are nothing more than 3 separate Keltner Channels of a 13-period EMA each set to one additional multiplier from the moving average. This gives us a 1x, 2x, and 3x multiplier of average volatility from the 13-period EMA based on a 14-period Average True Range (ATR) reading. The ATR was chosen as it accommodates price gaps and also is the standard formula calculation in TradingView. The values of the bands cannot be adjusted but the colour coding of them can be.
Elder Impulse System:
These colour-coded bars show you the strength and direction of the current chart resolution, calculated by the slope of a 13-period EMA and the slope of a MACD histogram. These are used not as a buying or selling recommendation alone but as trend filters, as per Dr. Elder's own description of them.
Green Bars = The 13-period EMA is sloping positively and the MACD histogram is rising compared to previous bars. The trader should only consider buying/long opportunities when a green bar is most recent.
Red Bars = The 13-period EMA is sloping negatively and the MACD histogram is falling compared to previous bars. The trader should only consider selling/short opportunities when a red bar is most recent.
Blue Bars = The 13-period EMA and the MACD histogram are not aligned. One of the indicators is sloping opposite to the other indicator. These are known as indecision bars and are typically seen near the end of a previously established trend. The trader can choose to wait for either a green or red bar to shape their trading bias if they are more risk-averse while a counter-trend trader may decide to try opening a position against the currently-established trend.
How To Trade the System:
This system is unique in that it is so versatile and will fit the styles of many traders, be it trend following traders (generally the original Elder Impulse System design) or mean-reversion/counter-trend trading (the original Keltner Channel design). None of the examples below or in the chart above are financial advice and are just there for demonstration purposes only.
1) The most basic signal given would be the moving average cross up or down. A cross of the 13-EMA over the 26-EMA signals upward trend strength and the trader could look for buying opportunities. Conversely, the 13-EMA under the 26-EMA shows downward trend strength and the trader could look for selling opportunities.
2) Following the Elder Impulse system in conjunction with the EMAs. Look for long opportunities when a green bar is printed and price is over both of the 13- and 26-period EMAs. Look for short opportunities when a red bar is printed and price is below both of the 13- and 26-period EMAs. Keep in mind this does not necessarily need a moving average cross to be viable, a green or red bar over both EMAs is a valid signal in this system, usually. Examine price more closely for better entry signals when a blue bar is printed and price is either above or below both EMAs if you are a trend trader. This is how Dr. Elder originally intended the system to be used in conjunction with his famous Triple Screen Trading System. I am not going into detail here as it is a deep subject but I would suggest an interested trader to examine this Triple Screen System further as it is widely accepted as a strong strategy.
3) Mean Reversion and Counter-Trend Trading. Dr. Elder mentions that the zone between the two EMAs is called the Value Zone. A mean reversion trader could look for buying opportunities if price has generally been in an uptrend and falls back to value, conversely, they could look for shorting opportunities if price has generally been in a downtrend and rises back to value. These are your very basic pull backs found in trends that create your higher lows in an uptrend or your lower highs in a downtrend. A mean reversion/scalper trader may also look to use the upper and lower most ATR bands as an indication of price being overbought or oversold and could look to enter a counter-trend trade here once a blue indecision bar is printed and to ride that move back down to the Value Zone.
Taking Profits and Risk Management
This system again is very versatile and will fit a wide range of trading styles. It has built in take profit levels and risk management depending on your style of trading.
1a) In original Triple Screen Trading (and the original Elder Impulse system), a trader was to place a buy order one tick above a newly printed green bar with a stop loss one tick below the most recent 2-day low, and vice-versa for red bars on short selling. as long as other criteria were met, that I will not go into. It is all over YouTube and in his books and on Investopedia if you want more information. The general idea is to continue the trend in the direction if price is strong and you are bought into that move with a close stop, or if price falls back a little bit, you can get in at a better price. This would be a system typically better suited to a scalper.
1b) The updated risk management according to the above video is to place a stop loss at least 2ATR away from price. These bands already have calculated these values so a trader can place a stop one tick below the 2 or even 3ATR zones depending on their risk appetite. This is assuming you have already received a strong buy signal based on the system you follow. This would be a system typically better suited to a trend-trader.
2a) Taking profits if you are a trend trader has several possibilities. The first, as Dr. Elder suggests, is to place a price target 2ATR values away from your entry giving you approximately a 1:1 risk-reward ratio.
2b) The second possibility if the trade is successful is to ride the trend upwards until a blue bar is printed, suggesting indecision in the market. A modified version of this that could let a winning trade run longer is to wait for the price to close under the 13-EMA in fast markets, or close under the 26-EMA in slightly slower markets to maximize potential winnings.
2c) A scalper trader may wish to have a target at either the value zone if they are playing an extended buy/short back to the mean, or if they are being at the mean, to sell or cover when price extends back out to the 2x or 3x zone.
3) Trend traders can additionally use the ATR zones as a sort of safety guidelines for entering a trade. Anything within the 1ATR zone is typically a safer entry as the market is less volatile at this time. Entering when price has gone into the 2ATR zone is signaled as a strong momentum move and can signal a stronger move in the direction of the current closing bar. While not always the case, it is suggested by Dr. Elder to not enter trend trades at the 3ATR zone as this is where you will be likely looking for a counter-trend retracement back to value and a trader entering here in the direction of the trade has a higher chance of being stopped out or not getting in at the best possible price.