Formation Age
marketDirection Monitor will keep displaying formations for up to a maximum of 15 bars after they are first introduced, but only if no new formations are discovered. So, for example, let's say a Chevron Bull formation is displayed on the 10:00am bar (and let's assume you are on a 1-min chart). As of the 10:01am bar, price goes flat so the Chevron formation is no longer active. However, as long as no other new formations are found (i.e., Incline, Consolidation, Cycle, Top/Bot, etc.) then it will continue to show the Chevron Bull in the watchlist and in the chart for up to 15 bars. The Age column in the watchlist and the Age field displayed in the Info Dialog will increment as each new bar comes in and this indicates how 'old' this formation is.
9-bar old Chevron Bear formation. Formation is drawn in grey to differentiate it from an active formation.
This is a very useful feature and it allows you to keep an eye on formations that do not immediately move in one direction or another. The Maximum Age field for each formation can be adjusted independently from 1 to 15 bars. So, for example, if you do not want to track old Consolidation formations then you could set the Maximum Age for the Consolidation formation to 1.
When you first load marketDirection Monitor into a watchlist, as well as whenever you change to a new bar interval, the age of all of the formations displayed will be 1. The age of the formations will increase as new bars come in.
In the chart component, 'Aged' formations can be drawn in a different color, line thickness, and line-type than current formations. You can adjust these cosmetics in the parameters menu. (See Settings).
marketDirection Monitor also has a "lock" feature that allows you to lock or freeze a formation in place. See the discussion of the Lock button in the Chart Operation section.
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Note: Since you can sort on the Age column in the watchlist, a good approach is to have a primary sort on Age (in ascending order) and a secondary sort on Rank (in descending order). |
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