Here is a step-by-step example of Time & Timing
[click to enlarge] Using Time & Timing is just a matter of describing
the information that you want to find. When you start the Time & Timing
web application, you will find a list and description
of studies currently available.
[click to enlarge]For an example of T&T's power, click on "Seasonal Futures Studies."
A form, which we call the "query form," will appear.
Suppose today is June 1, and you're interested in locating seasonal trading ideas in COMEX Gold and NYBOT Sugar #11. Suppose also that, for your own reasons, you believe that any seasonal tendency is only valid if it has persisted for 12 years or more. The first thing to do is to select which T&T databases you want to search. Two of the 5 futures databases, as shown, contain seasonal trading ideas having durations of longer than 12 years, and these will be selected to be searched when you click on their associated checkboxes.
Now, let's tell T&T in which markets to look for trades. First,scroll down to show the list of markets. Time and Timing's list of markets is organized by market sector, and is always set to Grains when you begin a query form. Gold is of course a metal market, so just select Metals and a list of the various metals futures markets will appear. Then select Gold as a market for which to find trading ideas.
To add your other desired market, select Soft Markets in the sector list, then select Sugar.
The next step, completely optional but very useful, is to tell Time and Timing which contract months of these two markets to examine. Time and Timing starts off with all months of the year selected, and you're free to leave that selection in place if you like. It will generally save some time, though, if you make this selection narrower. Given that today is June 1 in this example, and given that nearby contract months are usually easier to trade and more liquid, let's restrict the set of contract months to just July through October. Now, you could certainly click on all the other months' boxes if you like, in order to deselect them, but there's a faster way: click on the 'Deselect All' button, then select each month from July through October.
To continue, scroll down. More possible search parameters will appear.
You can choose the range of starting dates for trading ideas here. This is probably a good idea, because, if it's June 1, you likely aren't too interested in a trading idea that starts next February. To set the first start date for trading ideas, click on its month (it is set by default to January at the start of a query). The list of the months of the year will appear, and you can select your preferred starting month.
The next search parameter, "Best Only?," is useful if you find that your chosen search yields too many results. To see what clicking on "Best Only?" will do, click on the "More Info" label to its right. An advice window will appear, which contains (we sincerely hope) some information pertinent to the topic and useful to you.
The remaining parameters are all useful in their own right, but are in no way necessary to a query. They're used for refining your query after you see what T&T has found in the way of trading ideas. At this point — for a first search — it's time to find your trading ideas. Simply scroll to the top or bottom of the form and click on the "Find Trading Ideas" button. You'll see what T&T found.
[click to enlarge]Trading ideas found are displayed
10 to a page. Each trade is itself "clickable",
and clicking on a trade will display a detailed history
of the trade in
a new window. The "buy/sell" and "exit" dates
mean exactly what they say, with the exception of weekends
and holidays. If one
or the other of these dates happen to be on a weekend
or on
a market holiday this year, these dates should
be read as "Buy Oct Sugar on 06-01 or the next business
day." Please
note that all of Time and Timing's databases are built
based on entering
a trade at the close of the market on
the date indicated.
Browse through the trades found at your leisure, scrolling and/or using the page display at the top and bottom of each page of trading ideas to facilitate your browsing. When you find a trading idea that looks interesting, just click on it.
[click to enlarge]Just for example's sake, click
on the first trading idea. You'll see a screen that
looks like the image to the left.
The trading history page has all sorts of information for you. In addition to the price history of the trading idea during the named period, maximum price movement in either direction is highlighted, as well as the years in which the market made its contract highs and lows (if any). The contract highs and lows are displayed at the right of each year's line, to allow you to compare these with the relative level of this market when the trade was entered and exited.
[click to enlarge]More information about this trading idea is easily gotten,
too. Click on the link at lower left and you will see a screen that looks like the one to the left.
The right side of each line now displays average and maximum moves as a percentage of the entry price. These figures are more useful than just raw market point movement in many cases.
Here, you can if you wish exclude years featuring radical price movement by just clicking on the exclude link at the far right of that year's line that you want to (temporarily) discard. The total figures that appear in yellow below the table will be recalculated to reflect the change.
[click to enlarge]As an example,
exclude the years with the largest moves up and down (1993
and 2000 here).
To restore an excluded year's data, simply click on include on that year's line.
We hope to be able, shortly, to make the entry dates 'clickable' too, and display the appropriate historical chart for the year. Stay tuned!
When you've finished looking over the historical data of the trading idea you selected, close the window and you'll be right back to the list of ideas found by Time and Timing. Examine the histories of as many as you like, at your convenience.
When you've checked out as many of these as you want, or indeed at any point, you can modify your query by clicking on return to query page, which appears at the top of each page of trading ideas. Change your query around in any way you like, and click on the 'Find Trading Ideas' button again to see what ideas turn up.
OR, to see when during the year the markets
you've selected tend to have lots of trading possibilities,
you could click on the "Show Distribution of Trades"
button.
This is especially useful if your original query turned
up no trading ideas at all, or turned up too many
to analyze. 'Show Distribution' ignores any starting date
or dates
you may have specified, but does follow your other
query
parameters,
and then displays the distribution of trading ideas
[click to enlarge]found as they occur throughout
the year, both by contract month
and by date of entry. For the example query, click
on the image to the right.
Just as when you're viewing a trading history, click on the "X" at top right (or press Alt-F4) to close the trade distribution window. You'll be returned to the query page, which you can modify as you like in order to obtain more trading ideas.
When you're at the query page and you want to do something other than look up more trading ideas, click on either the "Return to T&T Index" button or, to look up spreading ideas, click on "Go To Spreads."
All the power of Time and Timing can be right at your fingertips. Just try it — register for the completely free trial — and you'll see what we mean, immediately.
Good trading to you!