Goomboo's Journal

[kinghajj]

http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#rg2zigHourlyztgSza1gEMAzm1g10za2gEMAzm2g21

Ah, I've been looking at the 15-minute interval chart. I think this may be a false crossover, unless the volume starts increasing. There also seems to be little support above $6.20.

[notme]

http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#rg2zigHourlyztgSza1gEMAzm1g10za2gEMAzm2g21

Ah, I've been looking at the 15-minute interval chart. I think this may be a false crossover, unless the volume starts increasing. There also seems to be little support above $6.20.

I don't trade this indicator, but it is the theme of this thread.  Volume is thin, but other than that this recent uptrend looks fairly healthy.

[Timbo925]

Hope it goes down again because there is still a * on bitcoinica. So no chance of going long... 

[notme]

Hope it goes down again because there is still a * on bitcoinica. So no chance of going long... 

You could always lay down some USDs.

[Timbo925]

Hope it goes down again because there is still a * on bitcoinica. So no chance of going long... 

You could always lay down some USDs.

I could but I don't want to. All the money I trade with is form mining BTC.
This way I don't risk losing my own money.

[notme]

Hope it goes down again because there is still a * on bitcoinica. So no chance of going long... 

You could always lay down some USDs.

I could but I don't want to. All the money I trade with is form mining BTC.
This way I don't risk losing my own money.

Are you saying your BTC is not money?

[Timbo925]

Hope it goes down again because there is still a * on bitcoinica. So no chance of going long... 

You could always lay down some USDs.

I could but I don't want to. All the money I trade with is form mining BTC.
This way I don't risk losing my own money.

Are you saying your BTC is not money?

Good point But I see all my BTC as my hobby money. Don't want to invest money I didn't earn within the 'system'

[notme]

Good point But I see all my BTC as my hobby money. Don't want to invest money I didn't earn within the 'system'

I get that too... it's all profit at this point .

[Bebop]

Yeah, on the long side, I typically will just straight up purchase bitcoin if it is maxed out.  Having funds at Mt. Gox for longs and Bitcoinica for short is how I play it.

This answer is open to anyone, my question is: when you want to place a long a MtGox do you (a) just press 'buy' at the default price in the text box, or (b) adjust the price down a little.

I've been adjusting down a little, and it takes quite some time to convert the $ to BTC. I usually choose a number half way between the default numbers that gox shows for 'buy' and 'sell'. Is this somewhat ineffective way to do it?


Leave these numbers as default when buy/sell, or make some adjustments?

http://i44.tinypic.com/o5dezd.jpghttp://i43.tinypic.com/sfvt7b.jpg

[nmat]

This answer is open to anyone, my question is: when you want to place a long a MtGox do you (a) just press 'buy' at the default price in the text box, or (b) adjust the price down a little.

It is up to you to decide. If you cover the sell you will get your coins instantly, but you will pay more. If you adjust the price down you will pay less, but it will take more time to fill. There is also a chance that the market moves up letting your order stuck down there for a long time.

[buck92]

Yeah, on the long side, I typically will just straight up purchase bitcoin if it is maxed out.  Having funds at Mt. Gox for longs and Bitcoinica for short is how I play it.

This answer is open to anyone, my question is: when you want to place a long a MtGox do you (a) just press 'buy' at the default price in the text box, or (b) adjust the price down a little.

I've been adjusting down a little, and it takes quite some time to convert the $ to BTC. I usually choose a number half way between the default numbers that gox shows for 'buy' and 'sell'. Is this somewhat ineffective way to do it?

One thing you can try is basing your buy price on the orders that are on the books at MtGox.  It may take a while for you to get your price, but this way you will have an idea if your price is doable for the amount of bitcoins you want to buy. Also try not to obsess yourself with the absolute lowest price point possible because IMHO that will lead to more mistakes and the possibly of getting a higher price point then you desired because of a missed window.

Check out http://bitcoin.clarkmoody.com/ for a great display of the MtGox order book.

[notme]

In other news, the market hesitated too long to hit the 10,21 crossover, so we took a nice dip.

[StewartJ]

GoomBoo (you gotta love that name !)

I noticed when charting the moving averages as per your recommendations, that the MACD, the Blue line,
very closely matches your Buy and Sell points when it crosses Divergence. Are they essentially the same
indicators, do they reinforce each other?

[Goomboo]

Yeah, on the long side, I typically will just straight up purchase bitcoin if it is maxed out.  Having funds at Mt. Gox for longs and Bitcoinica for short is how I play it.

This answer is open to anyone, my question is: when you want to place a long a MtGox do you (a) just press 'buy' at the default price in the text box, or (b) adjust the price down a little.

I've been adjusting down a little, and it takes quite some time to convert the $ to BTC. I usually choose a number half way between the default numbers that gox shows for 'buy' and 'sell'. Is this somewhat ineffective way to do it?


Leave these numbers as default when buy/sell, or make some adjustments?

I pretty much never use limit orders when I'm trading.  So if I were to buy right now, I'd type the quantity I wanted to buy and a price of like $10 / coin so that I'll get filled.  I'd rather not sit there waiting for someone to fill my order.

It really depends on the size you are trading...I'm willing to give up a few cents to enter the market when I see prices moving.

[Goomboo]

GoomBoo (you gotta love that name !)

I noticed when charting the moving averages as per your recommendations, that the MACD, the Blue line,
very closely matches your Buy and Sell points when it crosses Divergence. Are they essentially the same
indicators, do they reinforce each other?

The MACD stands for moving average convergence divergence.  For the default settings (12, 26, 9), it is just the 12 period moving average minus the 26 period moving average.  The 9 means it's then smoothed with a 9 period moving average to help give buy and sell signals.

So yeah, it's essentially the same thing except that the MACD helps anticipates crossovers because a signal can be generated when the averages start to change direction (even before they crossover).

Since we're using a 10 and 21 crossover, if you can change the settings of your MACD to (10, 21, 9), you'll see that it's pretty much the same thing.

There are several ways to trade the MACD and I prefer to keep it simple and straightforward by just using the moving averages.

Here's some readings on the basics:

http://thetradequest.com/macd.html

http://www.onlinetradingconcepts.com/TechnicalAnalysis/MACD.html

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/macd.asp#axzz1kD2pxNTG

[Goomboo]

http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#rg2zigHourlyztgSza1gEMAzm1g10za2gEMAzm2g21

Ah, I've been looking at the 15-minute interval chart. I think this may be a false crossover, unless the volume starts increasing. There also seems to be little support above $6.20.

I'm wary of looking at smaller timeframes in the BTC market.  My main issue is volume / the spread.  Much of the trading / charting that happens on the lower timeframes in BTC is really just noise and difficult to follow.  Also, if you take a trade, the spread is so large that your position may never make money, even if you were right as to the trend direction for the next few hours.

[StewartJ]

http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#rg2zigHourlyztgSza1gEMAzm1g10za2gEMAzm2g21

Ah, I've been looking at the 15-minute interval chart. I think this may be a false crossover, unless the volume starts increasing. There also seems to be little support above $6.20.

I'm wary of looking at smaller timeframes in the BTC market.  My main issue is volume / the spread.  Much of the trading / charting that happens on the lower timeframes in BTC is really just noise and difficult to follow.  Also, if you take a trade, the spread is so large that your position may never make money, even if you were right as to the trend direction for the next few hours.

I was noticing the potentially low 15 minute  interval in posters question.

Just to verify, the optimal chart your considering for viewing the moving 10/21 EMAs is a 5 Day/ 1 Hour chart, correct?

I noticed you mentioned the 10 Day / 1 hour chart, as well. Is that just as valid as the 5 Day chart? 

Sorry for the confusion.

[Goomboo]

http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#rg2zigHourlyztgSza1gEMAzm1g10za2gEMAzm2g21

Ah, I've been looking at the 15-minute interval chart. I think this may be a false crossover, unless the volume starts increasing. There also seems to be little support above $6.20.

I'm wary of looking at smaller timeframes in the BTC market.  My main issue is volume / the spread.  Much of the trading / charting that happens on the lower timeframes in BTC is really just noise and difficult to follow.  Also, if you take a trade, the spread is so large that your position may never make money, even if you were right as to the trend direction for the next few hours.

I was noticing the potentially low 15 minute  interval in posters question.

Just to verify, the optimal chart your considering for viewing the moving 10/21 EMAs is a 5 Day/ 1 Hour chart, correct?

I noticed you mentioned the 10 Day / 1 hour chart, as well. Is that just as valid as the 5 Day chart?  

Sorry for the confusion.

No worries, thanks for the questions!

The lookback period (5 / 10 day), doesn't particularly matter to me since that is just showing how much data is actually on the chart.  Personally, I like a good amount of data on the chart so that I don't get caught up in the candle-to-candle battle for dominance.  The moving averages are calculated based on the data (hourly / daily / 15-minute), so how much data you show on the chart is not terribly important.  

I prefer the 1 hour chart because it allows me to have a trade for 2-3 days.  It suits my risk appetite and my desire to participate in the trend.  I consider this intermediate term trading while anything shorter I call short-term trading.

It really depends on what you are looking for.  If you want to trade once every few weeks, then I'd use the daily chart to make your trading decisions.

[StewartJ]

No worries, thanks for the questions!

The lookback period (5 / 10 day), doesn't particularly matter to me since that is just showing how much data is actually on the chart.  Personally, I like a good amount of data on the chart so that I don't get caught up in the candle-to-candle battle for dominance.  The moving averages are calculated based on the data (hourly / daily / 15-minute), so how much data you show on the chart is not terribly important.  

I prefer the 1 hour chart because it allows me to have a trade for 2-3 days.  It suits my risk appetite and my desire to participate in the trend.  I consider this intermediate term trading while anything shorter I call short-term trading.

It really depends on what you are looking for.  If you want to trade once every few weeks, then I'd use the daily chart to make your trading decisions.

OK gotcha, thanks. 

Helps validate my trading style, looking at the bigger picture and trying not to fall into the daytrading trap of monitoring
hour to hour and minute to minute.   

[Goomboo]

Some buying pressure is starting up.  I'll probably lose on this short, some of the early traders may be scratch or slight profit though.  The cross is tightening...no action until the crossover though.