Ensign Software - Studies: Ensign Map discussion

Q: Your Ensign software is incredible!! I am informing all my associates about it, and have several that have already signed up. Can you direct me to more information about the Ensign Map, that might answer all or most of my questions below? I do have the minutes of your January 3, 2007 meeting that discussed Ensign Maps. Thank you, as those were very helpful and insightful.

A: Go to the Help page on our web site, and enter Ensign Map in the Google search tool.

Q: 1) Do you have a suggested method for using them? I use them as a time portion of my trading plan, but use Fib Ratios to define a price entry.

Q: 2) "Trust" the fit? In other words, within the parameters of higher numbers, higher number first, and higher spread indicating better fits, do I invert or not invert in order to satisfy those criteria? Would I be inverting or not inverting differently based on which part of chart/study I was horizontally scrolled to?

A: I think you are referring to the rating score shown in the upper left corner of the chart. The Map will auto invert if the inverted score would be higher. The score starts with the visible bars, so horizontally scrolling is changing the score because some of the visible is now off the screen.

A: I try to show the full day and have margin on the right for new bars to be added, but since the Map draws through the margin, I have an idea of timing and direction.

Q: 4) Your notes stated: "If you start a new day, the rating is FOR THE DAY ON THE right most part of the chart, though the chart and the map might be showing more than one day." Maybe this answers #3, but I am not clear on what it means

A: If your view shows a day boundary meaning the map is spanning 2 dates, the score resets at the day boundary. So the score is for the right side day, not both.

A: For a new day, I position chart so last bar on chart is through yesterday, recalculate, and then drag chart leftward to show the map for today based on yesterday. After an hour, ie 30 bars on 2-min chart, I might consider recalculating if the fit is not good. Recalculating before having 30 bars might be too little data or pattern to consider.

Q: 6) Recalc seems to make dramatic changes sometimes. So when should I calc, and recalc. Seems like I might make one trade evaluation, but when I later recalc, it will make me think I need to bail out of a trade.

A: Yes, this is a challenge. I try to avoid recalculation to avoid the challenge. Oft times the initial calculation may be out of phase briefly but the actual and the map are decently good, so I keep it, and the actual rejoins the Map for a great correlation. If I was too quick to recalculate, it might improve on the current phase, only to drift out of correlation in the near future.

Q: 7) Why would I want to shift study left and right? When I do this, I do often see the study better match the candles, but does that not negate the original "time" peaks provided by the
calculations?

A: Part of the genius of the Map is rhythms, or cycle widths, which measure time. If the cycle is, say 90 minutes, then aligning Map's last swing point with actual swing point, now improves on the 90 minute timing for the next swing point. The drift was in the alignment of the swing point, and not in the width of the cycle found.

Q: 8) Help file says to check Equal Weights. Not sure if that is what I need to do.

A: Different ideas get brain-stormed, implemented and tried. I find in my Map work I have that box unchecked, which gives recent patterns a higher weighting in our evaluations. Both ways work. I have settled in on using the box unchecked.

Q: 9) Not sure what Lock Shift does. Do I need it? Maybe a question for Tech support.

A: With this box checked, you will not be able to drag the Map left or right independent of the host chart. You would not be able to shift the Map to align swings as discussed in step 7).

Q: 10) Is the Pesavento Map calculation good for all pairs, or just some (or just better for maybe a suite of them)?

A: Map works with all symbols. And to my surprise, the Map is amazingly good on constant tick, constant range, and constant volume charts where the bars have a variable time period. That was an unexpected surprise. But all charts still have patterns and rhythms, and the principles still work. Idea is to have enough bars per day to have detail in the patterns. On a fixed time bar I have recommended a 2-min time period.