The impulse system :
The Impulse System combines two simple but powerful indicators.
One measures market inertia, the other its momentum. When both
point in the same direction, they identify an impulse worth following.
We get an entry signal when both indicators get in gear.
The Impulse System uses an exponential moving average to find
uptrends and downtrends. When the EMA rises, it shows that inertia
favors the bulls. When EMA falls, inertia works for the bears. The sec-
ond component is MACD-Histogram, an oscillator whose slope reflects
changes of power among bulls or bears. When MACD-Histogram rises,
it shows that bulls are becoming stronger. When it falls, it shows that
bears are growing stronger.
The Impulse System flags those bars where both the inertia and the
momentum point in the same direction. When both the EMA and
MACD-Histogram rise, they show that bulls are roaring and the uptrend
is accelerating.
The SafeZone Stop :
Once in a trade, where should you put your stop? This is one of the
hardest questions in technical analysis. After answering it, you’ll face
an even harder one—when and where to move that stop with the pas-
sage of time. Put a stop too close and it’ll get whacked by some mean-
ingless intraday swing. Put it too far, and you’ll have very skimpy
protection.
The Parabolic System, described in Trading for a Living, tried to
tackle this problem by moving stops closer to the market each day,
accelerating whenever a stock or a commodity reached a new extreme.
The trouble with Parabolic was that it kept moving even if the market
stayed flat and often got hit by meaningless noise.
SafeZone trails prices with stops tight enough to protect
capital but remote enough to keep clear of most random fluctuations.
Engineers design filters to suppress noise and allow the signal to come
through. If the trend is the signal, then the countertrend motion is the
noise. When the trend is up, we can define noise as that part of each
day’s range that protrudes below the previous day’s low. When the trend
is down, we can define noise as that part of each day’s range that pro-
trudes above the previous day’s high. SafeZone measures market noise
and places stops at a multiple of noise level away from the market.
We can make our lookback period 100 days or so if we want to aver-
age long-term market behavior.
SafeZone offers an original approach to placing stops. It monitors
changes in prices and adapts stops to the current levels of activity. It
places stops at individually tailored distances rather than at obvious
support and resistance levels.