Fibonacci
Fibonacci
FIBONACCI
IN FOREX
PART 0: An introduction
I am a well known trader in the Forex industry due my various webinars & analysis at:
Forex Factory: ranked 6th out of 300,000+ members + one of the most read threads ever
Image 1. Nenad listed as 6th on Forex Factory website with 324,483 members (June 2015)
So perhaps we know each other from one of these occasions You have taken the very important
first step by investing your valuable time into learning the fundamentals about trading psychology.
BUT this effort is worthless if you do not make a commitment to FULLY read and learn this eBook
from top to bottom
People have become accustomed to a constant stream of new information and are no longer capable
of focusing on 1 theme for very long before getting bored. They can no longer FOCUS.
This e-book will show you an explanation of Fibonacci and Fib trading in the Forex market. This tool
offers an excellent trading method and I am sure that you will discover this soon. But do realize that
you need proper training, knowledge and practical experience before you get the most out of
Fibonacci in the world of Forex trading. I will start with the basics and then move gradually to more
demanding topics. Enjoy!
Fibonacci was in fact a real person, who lived by the name of Leonardo Bonacci. He was born in Pisa
around 1170 as the son of a wealthy merchant. Fibonacci was an Italian mathematician, who was
considered "the most talented western mathematician of the Middle Ages. In 1202, when he was
32, he published his book Liber Abaci (Book of Calculation), where he presented the Hindu-Arabic
numeral system. He is also known for the Fibonacci number sequence, which was actually not
discovered by himself but named after him.
This line series is created very simply by adding the last two numbers together:
0 +1 = 1 + 1 = 2 + 1 = 3 + 2 = 5 etc.
The method stays the same for higher numbers as well such as:
89+144 = 233, and then 144 + 233 = 377, etc.
These numbers are used in trading stocks, commodities and on the Forex market. In fact, you can
also observe Fibonacci around you:
In crystal formations;
Played out in musical progressions;
In the growth of rabbit populations;
Even in the DNA spiral;
Whole human body itself is full of Fibonacci relationships.
For my own personal Forex trading Fibonacci is one of the most powerful tools available. I keep my
chart simple and clean but Fibonacci is often on my chart. Fibs are very handy because they can
provide a lot of information from support and resistance levels to potential entry levels, from
potential target levels to stop loss levels. All that information is provided in one simple tool so
everyone likes Fibonacci.
One interesting aspect is that it doesn't matter where we start. We can take any two numbers, like 5
and 100. Soon we're dealing with the same series we are getting the same ratios: 5, 100, 105, 205,
310, 515, 825, 1340, 2165.
The Fibonacci retracement levels are also calculated by dividing the Fibonacci sequence numbers.
34/21 = 1.618 (bigger number is divided by smaller next but one number)
8/13 = 0.618 (smaller number is divided by bigger number next to it)
34/89 = 0.382 (smaller number is divided by bigger number 2 next to it)
There are other Fib levels as well. Here is the full list which will be needed for our purposes:
The 23.6% and 38.2% are shallow Fib levels, the 50% and 61.8% are intermediate or medium Fib
levels, and the 78.6% and 88.6% Fib levels are known as deep Fib levels.
Fibs are a great method for measuring the market psychology. Simply put, who wouldnt want to get
a 50% discount?!
Imagine yourself in a store and all of a sudden the sales person says: All of our goods have 50%
discount! Guess what that does with the psychology? Yes, big discounts are great to keep the costs
low.
The same principle can be used in the world of Forex trading. In the example below there is a trend
which stalls and retraces back to 50% market. Traders are going to use this chance, just like shoppers
do.
Presence of a trend
The example above is very important because Fibonacci levels work best in trend markets. They do
NOT work well in consolidations, corrections, ranges and sideways moves, because the Fib levels are
mostly ignored and price is more responsive to different levels such as tops and bottoms.
If the currency pair, however, is indeed trending then the tool is a great asset! The Fib levels then
provide a precise indication where there is a high chance that the market could turn back in the
direction of the trend.
The Phi is a crucial element in Forex Trading. Two quantities are in the golden ratio if: the ratio of the
sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller
one.
In math this means ((A+B)/A) = PHI. The PHI is equal to 0.618. That is why the 61.8 or 61.8% Fib
retracement level is so important in Forex trading. Golden Phi is just a tad more important than the
other numbers in Forex trading.
The Fibonacci levels are also important in other ways. Besides the retracement levels they also
provide information about TARGETS!
That is the unique part of Fibonacci: they provide both entries and exits.
There are 2 main targets you want to add to your Fibonacci retracement tool:
-0.272 / -27.2%
-0.618 / -61.8%
The reasons are simple: the market respects these Fibonacci levels AND the market behaves in
repetitive patterns. That means that the targets will keep working in the future as well.
-1.618
-2.618
-1.000
-2.000
-0.786
-4.236
You can add these targets by placing the Fibonacci tool on the chart, double clicking on the tool, then
(right) clicking on it, click on properties, click add, and then adding these levels to your Fibonacci
retracement tool. The level should be -0.618 on the left and either -0.618 or -61.8 on the right.
IMPORTANT: Dont forget to put there minus sign.
The most important thing is to place the Fibonacci retracement tool correctly. That means to use the
proper top and the correct bottom. If you do this wrong then you will trade the wrong leg of a move
and get stopped out for a loss. There are 2 basic things that should be clear.
Second important thing is to place the Fib on the correct place, which is from the bottom to top in an
uptrend and from top to bottom in a down trend. This is called a swing high swing low. Here below
is an example of a downtrend where the Fib is placed from the top to the bottom and the price
retraces back to the 50/61.8% before continuing down again.
On the figure 5 below you can see Fib levels from A (100 %) till B (0%). Fibs are always placed from
lowest swing low (left A) to highest swing high (left B) in uptrend and from highest swing high (right
A) to lowest swing low (right B) if we want to trade downtrend.
Image 5. Two examples of a swing high and swing low. On the left a bullish example and on the right
a bearish one.
It is important to realize that a new Fib is preferably not placed on a new swing high swing low unless
the target has been hit. The reason why is simple: only when the targets have been hit is the
currency pair in fact confirming a trending mode.
If the currency bounces in between the top and bottom then in fact the currency is in a range and
Forex traders only want to place a new Fib once the trend is back in force.
The most important target is the -0.618. The exception is in case of the 78.6% and 88.6% Fibonacci
retracement levels because they mainly target the -0.272 target. All other 4 Fibonacci levels (23.6,
38.2, 50.0, 61.8%) mainly aim for the -0.618 target. In image 6 there is an example that shows how
price hits the -0.618 target of the first Fib (green color). Only then is the Fibonacci tool placed again
from retracement to target (blue circles) which is indicated by the pink Fibonacci.
We have introduced the name, principles of calculating the Fibonacci ratios and now we have to
explain how to place the Fibonacci tool. One part of the story is having the knowledge, but actually
implementing it is a different matter.
Entering a trade
A trader can place the Fibonacci tool on a swing high and swing low with a decent momentum. Dont
forget that traders want to see the presence of a trend as well.
Any of the Fibonacci retracement levels could be an entry spot. The main levels, once again, are:
23.6% and 38.2% (shallow), 50% and 61.8% (medium), 78.6% and 88.6% (deep) Fibonacci levels.
Not all of these Fibonacci levels will be used. Sometimes price stops at the 23.6%, at other times it
will be the 61.8% Fib. In fact, price could potentially stop at any of the 6 Fib levels, or not all and
cause a loss. It sometimes stops at each Fib level but continues to retest the other deeper Fib levels
as well (see image 7).
In general the shallower the Fibonacci level the more often it is used by the market. A rough
indication is that price reaches the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level in about 75% of the time, but
the 78.6% Fibonacci levels only 33% of the time. This is logical because each of the Fib levels could be
the bouncing spot which means that each deeper Fib is used less frequently.
Although the shallower Fibs are used more often, their distinct disadvantage is the fact that:
a) Either the stop loss is larger when placed below bottom or above top OR
b) The stop loss is placed closer to the Fib but then it is in danger of being hit too early as the
price retraces deeper
The shallow Fib levels are therefore difficult to trade with pending orders and are better approached
by waiting for:
1) Candle stick confirmations
2) Breakouts
The medium Fibonacci levels (50% and 61.8%) are better suited for pending orders. These Fibs offer a
smaller stop loss size plus there is less risk that price could retrace deeper.
The deeper Fibonacci levels (78.6% and 88.6%) have a very small stop loss but run a higher risk that
the trade could turn into a loss.
Which Fibonacci level is more used depends from case to case. There are methods that help with
identifying the most likely Fib. One of them is Elliott Wave Theory and the other is finding confluence
Last but not least, Fibonacci traders can use the targets as well for potential entries as a reversal
setup. Let us assume that price has reached the -61.8% Fibonacci target. This often creates a pullback
or sometimes even a reversal. A trader can attempt to enter a trade into the opposite direction as
they are anticipating the temporary or a long lasting change of direction.
Exiting a trade
The ideal exit depends on the market structure, the wave count and the deepness of the
retracement. Let us discuss the connection between target and retracement first of all.
1) The shallow and medium Fibonacci levels are aiming for the -61.8% Fibonacci target.
2) The deeper Fibonacci levels are aiming for the -27.2% Fibonacci target.
The shallow and medium Fibonacci levels will tend to respect the -27.2% Fibonacci target but in
some cases price continues to the higher target (see image 8). The respect could be visible in various
ways such as a deep pullback, shallow pullback or sideways move but not all the way back to a lower
Fib of the original swing high, swing low.
Image 8. Price reaches -61.8% Fibonacci target after deep retracement (pink Fib and blue circle).
In certain cases price fails to reach the -27.2% and -61.8% Fibonacci targets and makes a double top
or bottom OR price in fact accelerates past these targets to go even further (see red circles in image
8).
So if you use Fib levels either at the end of the trend or against the trend, then there is real risk that
target will not be hit. How the end of the trend is calculated or how the trend itself is defined are
again different topics which unfortunately beyond the scope of this document.
Continuation past target: price can also on occasion accelerate to better targets. This often occurs at
the beginning and in the middle section of the trend.
1) That could be for example a Fibonacci retracement and a Fibonacci target at the same level.
When a Fib target and a Fib retracement line up at the same price, then the likelihood of
price reacting to it has substantially increased.
2) Another method for confluence is using price action at important Fib levels. Waiting for a
confirmation of price reaction to a Fib level reduces risk and ensures that the Fib placement
is correct.
3) Key levels such as day and week support and resistance levels, pivot points, round numbers,
historical levels, etc can be used to increase confluence as well.
Trend lines are used as visual representation of support and resistance in any given time frame. They
are usually drawn over swing highs in downtrend or under swing lows in uptrend to show the
prevailing direction of price. If you are drawing trend lines you need to have at least 2 touches to get
the valid trend line. The more touches you have the more valid trend line becomes, although be
careful that a trend line break eventually will occur. We can recognize three types of trend lines:
Another method of finding confluence on the chart is by applying the Fibonacci tool on various time
frames. A trader can establish which levels have more Fib levels grouped together. This has the
following impact: the more Fib levels, the stronger the confluence, and the strong the support or
resistance is on average.
Look for 2 fib confluences major and minor swing. Major swing has to be always found in last 7-8
days while minor swing represents the last swing high or low intraday swing. If we cannot find 2
swings which is very rare, than we use just one, usually minor swing.
In the figure below there are two good confluence points. The 23.6% which is a very shallow level but
it does provide confluence with the smaller 61.8% Fib. We can see another confluence point at level
38.2% with the 100.0% and even between the 61.8% and 161.8% levels.
Many traders think that Fibonacci trading can only be conducting on higher time frames like a daily
chart. This is not true. The Fibonacci tool can in fact be used on all normal time frames like an hour
chart, 4 hour and daily. But it is even usable on 5 minute, 15 minute or 30 minute charts. Personally I
do not use it for 1 minute charts.
Obviously it is true that the Fibonacci retracement tool has more significance when used on a higher
time frame, such as daily chart, simply because more market participants are involved. However on a
smaller time frame it is easier for a trader to use the Fib as a pullback for an actual entry, whereas on
a higher time frame the Fib has more importance as trigger or filter.
The most difficult part of trading with Fibs is using the correct swing high swing low. If you are
Fibbing the wrong leg then ultimately there is a higher chance of getting stopped out. It is always
important to use natural tops and bottoms to place your fib.
Image 11. Price reaches -61.8% Fibonacci target after deep retracement (blue circle).
PART 8: Summary
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