Harmonic Trading is a methodology that utilizes the recognition of specific price patterns and the alignment of exact Fibonacci ratios to determine highly probable reversal points in the financial markets.
This methodology assumes that trading patterns or cycles, like many patterns and cycles in life, repeat themselves. The key is to identify these patterns, and to enter or to exit a position based upon a high degree of probability that the same historic price action will occur. Although these patterns are not 100% accurate, these situations have been historically proven. If these set-ups are identified correctly, it is possible to identify significant opportunities with a very limited risk.
One of the most comprehensive references to Harmonic Trading was outlined by J.M. Hurst in his cycles course from the early 1970s. His Principle of Harmonicity states:
“The periods of neighboring waves in price action tend to be related by a small whole number.” (Hurst, J.M., J.M. Hurst Cycles Course, Greenville, S.C.: Traders Press, 1973.) |
The important concept to grasp is that price waves or distinct price moves are related to each other. Futhermore, price patterns that are quantified by the alignment of precise ratios manifest these relationships, and provide a means to determine where the turning points will occur.
When these turning points are identified correctly, trades are executed at a price level where the cycle is changing. Essentially, this type of trading is respecting the natural ebb and flow of buying and selling. In doing so, these trades are executed “in harmony” with the market. For example, when a stock is bought at this turning point, the majority of the selling that has driven the price down is very close to ending. Quite often, the harmonic techniques identify trades at or very close to the exact reversal point.
It is important to note that Harmonic Trading works on any time frame – intra-day, daily, weekly or monthly charts. I believe the clearest trade opportunities, or “set-ups,” appear on daily charts for position or swing trades. However, hourly charts provide excellent set-ups for shorter-term or day trades. It is also amazing that these methods work on longer-term charts, as well. Weekly or monthly charts are excellent measures of historically critical areas in the financial markets.
The most important principle inherent within the Harmonic Trading approach is the ability to differentiate various types of cyclical price action that adheres to specific structural and ratio conditions. Price fluctuations represent cycles of growth (rally) and decline (sell-off). Similar to many of life’s cyclical growth processes, these movements can be quantified by their relative Fibonacci ratio relationships and analyzed to define unique technical situations.
In doing so, trades are executed at those areas where the natural rhythm of the market is changing.
If the term "harmonic patterns" sounds a bit exotic or otherwise non-mainstream, don't be fooled. Harmonic patterns are based on very mainstream concepts such as support, resistance, retracements, and extensions which have been actively used by traders for decades. The patterns themselves are simply a method of packaging a sequence of events that tend to repeat in the financial markets, and tend to be profitable.
The Harmonic Pattern Collection is the result of a close collaboration between Scott Carney, the inventor of Harmonic Patterns and Harmonic Trading, and Divergence Software, Inc., and it consists of the Harmonic Patterns Indicator, the Harmonic Strength Index (HSI), Amplified RSI, RSI Bamm, and Pi Phi Bands. This version of the Harmonic Pattern Collection was developed specifically for the Sierra Chart platform.
The product is ready to use right out of the box. Other than selecting your own list of symbols and intervals, no tweaking is required. This user guide is provided primarily as a reference for those who want to customize the operation of the system or for those who simply want more information on how it works....it is not required reading!
If you want to get up and running quickly, just jump to the Quick Start topic and follow the instructions for obtaining and installing the most current version of the software, and for loading one or more of the HPC indicators into a chart. Once you are up and running you can refer back to this user guide for information on settings, etc. as needed.
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Note: In the documentation that follows all images/thumbnails are "clickable". So if a particular image is too small for you to see clearly, just click on it and a larger version will be displayed. You can adjust the font size and/or print individual sections of this documentation by clicking on the () icon that you see at the top-right of every page. Keyword index and topic search features are available as well. Just click on the tabs that you see above the table of contents that is displayed to the left. While best viewed in a desktop browser, this documentation is in a responsive format and can also be viewed on phones and tablets. |
If you have comments, questions, or suggestions on how we can improve our product, please send an email to hpc@sr-analyst.com and reference Harmonic Pattern Collection for Sierra Chart in the subject line.
