Forex Point and Figure Buy and Sell Signals

Forex Point and Figure Buy and Sell Signals

By: Eric Stout

Traditional forms of technical analysis leave much room for interpretation and error when determining buy and sell signals. This includes the use of technical indicators, price patterns, and support and resistance lines. Point and figure charts, by contrast, are exact in calculating buy and sell signals.
Not enough traders are utilizing the benefits of point and figure charts in the forex market. I don't why that is. Maybe it's due to the relatively young nature of the forex market. Or perhaps it's due to the global nature of forex trading and the predominance of traders outside of the United States.
Point and figure charts were first applied in the U.S. by Charles Dow, of the Dow Jones Company. Dow applied point and figure charts in the late 1800's to stock price movements. Since then, the method has been used by savvy stock traders throughout the decades, but it's never caught on like other charting methods such as bar charts or candlesticks.
Even fewer in the forex trading world have used the point and figure method to trade currency pairs. There seems to be a willingness to study and adopt more complex and subjective methods such as Fibonacci retracements, Ichimoku clouds, and Gann projections to name a few. But these methods of analysis leave a lot of room for judgment and interpretation. In short, many of the technical methods in the forex market are subjective.
I encourage forex traders to start studying point and figure charts, which are the most objective and precise charts in the world. There's no room for judgment or interpretation when it comes to determining a buy or sell signal on point and figure charts. It's a "black and white" or "yes or no" type of question. Either a currency pair is on a buy signal, or it's not.
With point and figure charts, buy and sell signals are determined by examining a currency pair's movement. That's it. Time does not factor into the equation. Moreover, point and figure charts use a filtering technique to minimize the randomness that is associated with currency pairs. The filtering technique is called a three box reversal. A currency pair's movement is considered meaningful, i.e. worth charting, only if it's of a magnitude greater than three boxes. All other movements are considered too small, or too random, to be worth charting.
A buy signal is generated when the current column of X's exceeds a previous column of X's. But this buy signal can take place over many different intervals, depending on the box size of the point and figure chart that is being used. For instance, a day trader might use a very small box size chart when trading the EUR/USD, a box size on the order of five or ten pips. A long-term trend following trader, by contrast, might use a much larger box size of 100 to 200 pips.
A sell signal is generated when the current column of O's drops below a previous column of O's. But like the buy signal, a sell signal can occur across various intervals, depending on the box size in use.
Trading currency pairs with point and figure charts is an entirely unique and objective approach to profiting in the forex. I encourage you to consider learning how to apply point and figure charts to your trading. You will see how amazingly objective and precise point and figure charts really are and how you can quickly and accurately determine if a currency pair is on a buy or sell signal.

Eric is a former forex industry insider. He's been trading stocks, options, bonds, futures, and forex for over a decade. He first learned about point and figure charts in 2000 and has since become an expert in the method. He now applies point and figure charts to his forex trading. You can learn more about applying point and figure charts to your forex trading at: www.fxpnf.com

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