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What Is the “Best” Indicator for a Trader to Use?

November 27, 2014 by Richard Krivo 11 Comments

A major concern of newer traders is which is the best indicator for them to use in their trading.  Also, they want to know if indicators can be broken down into beginning, intermediate and advanced trading categories.

best-choice-label

Personally, I don’t think of indicators as being in categories or this one is the best and that one is the worst.  Rather, I would suggest that you familiarize yourself with all of the major indicators and then settle on the one or two that you find make the most sense to you.  Someone else’s “ideal” indicator may not appeal to you at all and that is fine.  Use the one(s) that you understand, feel comfortable using and assists you in putting pips in your account on a regular basis.  After all, pip accumulation is the final arbiter when it comes to evaluating the success of one’s trading.

When going through your indicator evaluation process, I recommend that you put only one indicator at a time on your chart.

This will make the chart less cluttered and bring more clarity as you compare one indicator to another.  Moreover, it will be easier for you to evaluate the indicators individually as opposed to attempting to evaluate them en masse.  When you finally decide on the one or two  (keep your chart uncluttered) and begin using them as part of your trade analysis, remember to consult the price chart first and the indicator second.

Price is indicator #1

We want to focus on taking trades in the direction of the Daily trend.  The trend is the deciding factor in whether or not we will be buying or selling the pair.  Then, after that decision has been made, we check the indicator.  We are looking to see when the indicator will provide us with an entry signal that is in the direction of the longer term trend.  Don’t simply focus on the indicator to determine whether you buy or sell the pair.  If you do that you will find that you will be entering trades that have a lower probability of success – those that are against the trend – and you will be chasing the market.

Remember:  the indicator does not know the direction of the trend but the price chart does.

The price chart is where your analysis should begin.  For the record, my personal indicators of choice are the 200 SMA, Donchian Channels and Slow Stochastics.

All the best and good trading,

Richard Krivo

RKrivoFX@gmail.com

@RKrivoFX

Filed Under: Trading strategy ideas, What's happening in the current markets? Tagged With: indicator

Comments

  1. John says

    November 28, 2014 at 16:56

    Price action and trend are king
    That said I use candles, support and resistance levels, a couple of EMA’s and only use Stochastics for confirmation, not analysis.
    Simple is best – John

    Reply
    • Shaun Overton says

      November 30, 2014 at 07:52

      Well said, John.

      Reply
  2. Tomislav says

    November 29, 2014 at 04:23

    Very good article.

    Reply
    • Shaun Overton says

      November 30, 2014 at 07:53

      Thanks, Tomislav!

      Reply
    • Richard Krivo says

      February 21, 2015 at 14:27

      Hi Tomislav…glad you enjoyed it.

      Richard

      Reply
  3. VIJAY GANPATYE says

    November 30, 2014 at 12:13

    Hi,

    True, also breakouts are very useful to trade.Direction of trend with the help of breakout will help very strong.

    Reply
    • Richard Krivo says

      February 21, 2015 at 14:28

      Hi Vijay…
      I definitely agree!
      Richard

      Reply
  4. Terrance says

    December 5, 2014 at 19:40

    Very well put article! Thank-you for that Mr. Krivo as this could have not came@ a better time to open up my awareness as I am a new trader about to enter into my very 1st trade soon within these next few day’s.
    FXCM is THE best place to learn! It feels like an actual college with every teacher here being well if not, Over-qualified! Take my word for it – FXCM!
    At 1st I thought I had to learn every indicator before taking on trades until I realized that I can start trading with knowing of only 1 indicator and then start to learn more as I go along. I learned a few before feeling comfortable however. Currently I enjoy MACD/Stochastics and Bollinger Bands. I’m trying to force myself now to focus on plain ‘ol’ moving averages and the Fib-Extensions…

    Reply
    • Richard Krivo says

      February 21, 2015 at 14:29

      Hi Terrance…
      Glad you enjoyed the article and thanks for your feedback.
      Richard

      Reply
  5. Rob says

    January 23, 2015 at 19:31

    Good article. Also. Which indicator (if any) depends on what is needed from an indicator. Basic indicators can be transformed into advanced tools that few comprehend exist. The indicator is just another tool in the shed. i.e. Strength rising or falling indicator can save many poor trades.

    Reply
    • Richard Krivo says

      February 21, 2015 at 14:31

      Hi Rob…
      Yes. Identifying the trend and then taking the signal of the indicator in that direction for entry is a higher probability strategy.
      Richard

      Reply

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