As I said in the email, most of you are having great success with the LMT (Low Maintenance Forex Trading Formula), simply by following the rules. Being disciplined & using strict money management. If you are happy with that, and more importantly you are making money, stick with it !
I tend to be more cautious, but I have on occasion questioned the LMT for example on a trend. My experience has told me that a pair was heading up, but the LMT has said down. I haven’t taken the trade and guess what the LMT was right more times than I care to remember !
If you just want to trade it “like it says on the box” the best advice I can give you is stick to pairs that are trending in the same direction on the daily and 4 hour charts.
Still caution is not a bad attitude with forex. This week I am a little wary with the gbp, euro & gbp/yen and a few other pairs. If you look on the daily charts there are quite a few pairs that have broken daily trend lines going back many months.
This is usually an indication of a change of trend direction. My best advice again is stick to pairs that are trending in the same direction on both the 4 hour charts as well as the daily and be a little wary of the aforementioned pairs if price is close to strong support and resistance lines.
The gbp especially leads me to believe that it may be on the way down for a few days at least. Take a look at Fig 1, price has clearly broken down through a strong daily trend line that has been in place since March
Fig 1
Price broke through, but failed to stay above the 1.6600 area, as per last weeks analysis. There was a very strong reversal candle on the 4 hour and price is currently at a 78.6 fib area. If it breaks down here it could be on its way back down to the 1.6200 area and even as low as 1.6000 area.
I have checked the daily charts on Forex Meta & Alpari UK and I can not see any daily trades that are going to trade at market open tonight. The euro/$ looks like we will have a sell signal on the 4 hour. Wait for market open before entering any trades to avoid gaps.
Many pairs are moving sideways on the daily as well eg euro/cad. Get in the habit of looking for trend lines as well as support and resistance.
Lots of you had an awesome week last week. Some of you not so well, but judging by the emails I get nearly all of you who are not achieving the same results are not sticking to the rules, Deans and my advanced.
Oh no here he goes again ! This system is extremely successful when the market is trending and if you follow the rules.
Here are a cross section of some of the emails I have had last week;
- Member lost a trade because he put the stop loss 25 pips from where he entered. Wrong. Every trade allows for spread, BUT you need to calculate the stop loss from the CLOSE of the candle that gives the signal NOT from where you enter or even the open of the new candle. Sometimes there is a slight difference between closing price of one and open of another.
- Member lost because he was trading Gbp/chf. This is not a recommended pair, therefore it is not an lmt trade.
- Member lost who was trading off the 1 hour charts ” I have been getting reasonable results with it so I went for it on 3 pairs, they all lost”. Trading off a 1 hour chart is Not an lmt trade.
- Member placed a trade late New York session late friday. Deans rules and my advanced specifically say do not enter trades late on a friday. I had also emailed you all on wednesday recommending not to trade nfp thursday and I explained that friday was likely to be thin due to the USA holidays (most pairs went sideways within small support & resistance lines).
- Member placed a trade where the preceding candle was more than 1.5 times the stop
Guys, you have in your possession an awesome piece of software. Follow the rules and listen to the advice of myself and some of the other experienced traders who regularly post here on the blog and you WILL win.




Thanks for another helpful post, but I am confused about the stop loss. Page 32 of the manual reads:
“The stop loss value in pips is calculated from your entry point. So for example if
you had a great setup indicating a buy trade and you got in at 1.5000, say the
recommended stop value was 50 pips your stop would be placed at 1.4950 50
pips back from your entry point.”
Thanks.
That’s correct. What is the question?
Sorry for messing up, I missed the explanations bellow – the page did not load completely when I answered.
I agree with Rich.
This is what is published on FAQ of the LMT site:
“How do I calculate my stop loss from the figure on the chart?
You simply add or subtract the amount of pips from your entry price.
Here is an example. Stop = 150 First target = 50
If our entry was a buy signal and we entered at 1.5000 our stop loss would be set at 1.4850 which is 150 pips below our entry and our first target would be 1.5050 which is 50 pips above our entry.
If our entry was a sell signal and we entered at 1.5000 our stop loss would be set at 1.5150 which is 150 pips above our entry and our first target would be a 1.4950 which is 50 pips below our entry.”
Clarification is needed, Paulo
Paulo & Rich. Paulo your maths is correct. the book may be a little confusing BUT the important bit is the trigger is given from the candle close price. If you get in 20 pips too late you are
a) too late
b) will probably be at the 1st profit target
c) the lmt has calculated the stop based on the close of the candle. The lmt has no idea where you have entered and therefore you can not adjust it.
All signals work on you getting filled where they say and with stated profit target, marc
I use the next candle Open as a reference actually. In other words, when the alert comes, I use the current bar Open to calculate stops. Just because it’s the open bar I can trade, the closed one is history.
On another hand, the two levels differ only by just couple of pips. And since I add couple extra pips to the SL it doesn’t really matter Close[1] or Open[0]. LMT doesn’t allow gaps I believe. I haven’t seen any on the signals yet. At least on last 230 signals…
Marc,
Your logic is sound. I can’t believe I missed this (oh wait–yes I can!)
Therefore, the manual is VERY confusing.
Thanks for the important clarification! What do I owe you?
ps. maybe you should add this to your advanced rules???
guys since i trade with LMT and stick to it now my little acount growth 320% from april to juny.i dont know about when enter,but i enter daily timeframe,and have a good result
Hey gang,
What time of the day are you finding the most successful 4 hour signals. I am in the US., EST. so I think I am -4 GMT as we observe day light savings time.
Also, Marc you mention that you had 9 LMT signals this A.M., did you get 9 signals as I only got 1 on the GBP/$ but didn’t take it because I got to the computer late.
Thanks, Tim
Hi Tim,
In general the best time to start is 01:00-02:00 GMT – Japan afternoon after usual reversal. But then you’d leave open trades overnight when Europe starts trading and does a lot of action between 06:00 and 12:00 GMT.
For EST I believe good time to start looking for opportunities is 8:30 – after Europe has done and the morning newsbreak. If you get signals before the time, don’t trade after the news. But also be careful at 9:30 Opening drive – it is the time when market pulls back quite often driven by big money guys trying to take best positions. Don’t get caught. Then you have something called 10:30 Reversal – this is the time when financial institutions start to trade on 30 min charts. This is good time to take a trade. Short after that market moves considerably and enters lunch time. At this time you should rather trail stop than take a trade.
There is often a pullback or reversal during the lunch time. If you see price puling back after a big move and get signal to enter you may take it at reduced stake and don’t try to make it more than the Initial target. It is good to wait a little to complete the pullback to get it at better price. Or you may take it immediately and if the price retraces but not violate Stop Loss, add another lot at better price and lower risk. But this depends on your money management. But be careful and not greedy – the end of the day is very close. After 16:30 it’s time to go home.
“If you get signals before the time, don’t trade after the news.”
It should read:
“If you get signals before the time, don’t trade until at least 5 minutes after the news”.
Hi Alex,
I bought LMT through Marc and Marc said you has a private site that you write about LMT? Can I gain access to it?
Thanks,
Ryan
But saying all that, the evening signals today have been good.
So, today’s results…two daily signals, still struggling, but likely to be stopped (given we have an H4 in the opposite direction).
31 H4 signals:
1 still running (USDJPY from 2000, though candle was large)
6 not taken (due to size of trigger candle–3 might have been successful)
2 stopped out (USDCAD at 0800; USDCHF at 1000)
8 went to first (Dean’s) target
14 went to at least (alex’s) second target
That’s a 92% success rate. And a lot of points.
Also shows that evening signals are just as good as morning ones. Lesson from today might be ‘just take the damn signal and forget about the conservatism’
However, words of warning–today has been a strong trending day in the indices (I made 150+ points on the Dow from pre-open today), which means safe haven currencies like the Yen and Dollar trend extremely well. GBP still looking shaky though.
Hi Gally,
nice hundreds of pips on overnight YEN and AUD crosses. Over 300 on GBPJPY alone! Did you catch any of them?
Didn’t I say stay away from Asia session? Yes I did. And I missed these rare big moves.
But I feel no sorry. I lost so many times overnight I don’t trade anything while sleeping anymore. I’d rather wait for another occasion. There is nothing more frustrating to wake up in a morning only to see your winning trade turned into loser while you were asleep.
Fortunately I did some nice profits on the pairs before 22:00 GMT yesterday. All targets filled
Hi Gally, you’re right. I also took them despite US lunch time warning. Why? Because I took a chance from two facts:
- we had a wide sideway range movement today, and the US session was driving USD to the other side very strongly,
- if the move is strong enough, there is a big chance for a pullback during US lunch time then nice continuation which happened,
And apart from the above, somehow I knew the price action was “right”. The pattern fit to what I saw on so many occasions when I was on a wrong side of a trade by that time
See, even if you get beating from the market, you can turn it into profit on other day…
Alx and Gally,
Thanks for the info but I only had 7 – 4 hour signals and no daily signals on my demo acct with Alpari US but I don’t have all the charts loaded that Dean recommends, can’t get all of them on demo.
Your also talking some technical stuff over my head as I’m fairly new, but learning!
I appreciate your responses and your help, I think I’ll try some other companies demo accts. and see if I get different signals due to their server locations.
Thanks again!!
Tim,
forget the daily signals for the time being. Lucky you didn’t get it today, you’d be praying to get out.
Get the H4 only until Marc says Daily is OK. You may be surprised we get so many signals, but as Marc said we “cheat” – we use three different timezone brokers so they trigger signals almost every hour on H4. It’s OK if you know how to handle it. If not, better stay with one broker until you build practice and confidence. Set your alarm clock to notify you about signal time and don’t hang on the computer waiting for it. Follow the rules and be sure you check the Marc’s free Forex course – you definitely need it.
The language we speak may sound strange. But if you really want to make some money, you need to know what all the mumbo jumbo means. It’s like car driving knowledge – you must know what is what. Soon you’ll speak it as we do.
Besides, it’s much easier than learning Swahili… or my native language for example
Is there any worthwhile iinformation to be gleaned from having a peek at the trendlines of the financial futures, traded at the IMM? I know that in FOREX , we are trading a relationship between a pair, but is there anything we can use by looking at these charts?
Thanks
Gally, you said that 14 trades went to alex’s second target. Do you mean our own alx or another alex, and, what second target are you referring to?
I have been placing all of my trades “ultra-conservative”–one lot set to the first target. I was hitting break even often and making less money than my current method, however, recently I am watching potential profits flitter away. I know Marc splits his lots, which Dean still calls “conservative.” Is it Marc, alx’s and other’s opinion that splitting your lots is definitely superior? (Another reason for my method is so I don’t have to continually watch the H4 charts, full-time job and all.) Thanks!!!
Hey Marc,
Thanks so much for all of this valuable information! It has opened my eyes.
I purchased LMT prior to learning about your site and understand you have created some advanced rules for it. Is there some way I could obtain these rules without having to pay for the system again via your link? It would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
Kent
Hi kent, I sent you an email for you to join the list for support & advice. No need to pay anything, marc
Hi Rich,
“alex’s second target” is my secondary target I calculate on Initial Target: TP2 = TP1*1.618 where TP1 is the Initial Target.
Yes we do split lots. One lot is set to exit at Initial Target. The second depends on preferences. I set my second lot to Secondary Target or let it run beyond only if I can see the market could do it. This is very efficient in choppy channels. Not that long ago I did over 850 pips within just 6 hours trading this way.
You may be observing YEN pairs doing fantastic profits now ~700 pips on GBPJPY alone. The Initial Target and my 2nd target would cut a trade with only 100 pips all together. But the YEN move is extraordinary. Nobody could expect it this way. If you could sit and trail these trades for the last 20 hours you’d be more than happy but terribly tired as well. And I guess you’d be off in a middle by the Trailing Stop.
The LMT stands for “Low Maintenance Trading” meaning it is to absorb your attention as low as possible. In trending market I would leave the trade open and check every 4 hours or less. In troubled markets as we see today, it is simply too risky or doesn’t produce much more profits.
So leave the extra profits for someone else. Everybody has his day. If you follow the rules, you’ll get your day
I can tell you a short story: there was a Forex Challenge, 30 days long. The first day top 10 traders did marvelous results from 300% up to 1500% on account balance. At the end NONE of them was listed in the best 30. Other traders were collecting much smaller but constant profits every day and outperformed them couple of times.
alx, awesome post, especially the FX challenge story! Do you have a story where the guy repeatedly screws up and then turns things around? (I guess that would be Marc, or every trader who eventually becomes successful. Right now I am still in screw up mode, but gaining more confidence every day.)
Just to clarify your second target…
Is your asterisk a multiply sign?
TP2 = TP1 (1.618)??
Where did you get the 1.618 from?
A secondary TP would be helpful for me to stay LMT, however, if I am only checking trades every 4 hours as you suggest, I would be OK with that as well.
Yes Rich, I have a lot of stories. Here is another one:
do you know how did I come to the Marc’s place? I broke my forex account, I had lost of questions and I was looking for answers. One day I found this:
http://forex-fxtrader.com/blog/5-phases-of-a-forex-trader/
This is a “must read” lecture, believe me. And find my comment there. Doesn’t it sound familiar?
I found other places as well. They were all repeating the same about discipline and other factors.
And yes, this is Initial Target times 1.618 – the first Fibonacci extension level. The “golden ratio”. Whatever you call it, it works only because all other traders use it to estimate price levels
Just an FYI – If the URL alx shared above doesn’t render in Internet Explorer, try Firefox.
Hello all,
Newbie here and just signed up for twitter. I am new to forex and twitter. Not sure what needs to do but I have add Marc to my following. I don’t know all of you experts here but please let me know if you would like me to add you or add me to your followers.. ( not sure how this work)…
Anyway, I have started trading on demo and so far I am getting good result. Mostly winning but a few losing. I am happy with it and also learning from mistakes. =)
Hi Alx,
You mentioned that “I lost so many times overnight I don’t trade anything while sleeping anymore. I’d rather wait for another occasion. There is nothing more frustrating to wake up in a morning only to see your winning trade turned into loser while you were asleep.” and I totally understand your point because I had a few trade similar to that. But if I took a trade on the daily chart, don’t I suppose to leave it open for days to see the long term profit? Sorry, that mind sounds like a dumb question, but I am new to this so I think I better get the information right. Thanks.
Janet,
when markets are in string trends I would allow leaving open trade overnight under the conditions:
- it has to be secured – I mean it must on profit side and some of the profit locked by Stop Loss at least at breakeven plus say 10-20 pips
- it has to be well promising trade – overnight and the next day morning moves should compensate at least 22:00 GMT swap and give better results than a trade opened next day morning.
- there are no any big news during the night and the next day morning.
The markets cannot grant the three conditions nowadays.
Welcome Janet,
Twitter is just a social service good for sending short messages around. Marc uses it as a kind of pager and advert screen as well
The followers are accounts getting automatic updates from the one they follow. I don’t get the idea why having bunches of followers is so important there. I personally locked free follower access as almost immediately I got spammers spoiling my updates list.
Good to know you practice on demo – lot’s of people just can’t wait to trade live and lose lots of money without practice.
Good trading Janet.
Just got the powerband tehcnique email from Dean Saunders. Looks very interesting to be used as confirmation and in conjunction with the LMT system. I put them right on my LMT charts. Comments? Has anyone trades using the powerband technique?
JulieG,
I would not recommend mixing two trading systems, even if they seem to agree.
They were crafted by different people with different ideas in mind.
If you want to use any other system simultaneously, trade it separately.
Alx,
While I do usually agree with that thought process, the powerbands technique was created by Dean Saunders, creator of the LMT technique to be used on 4 hour charts. By putting them on the same 4 hour charts and doing some manual backtesting I can see how they might keep you out of a bad trade and also give you confirmation on a good one. An example is the nzd/usd sell at 16::00 on the Alpari platform. If I had the powerbands on the platform I would not have taken the trade and would not have lost the 34 pips. Same could be said for the uj trade at the same time on the same platform for a 33 pips loss. Fortunately, I am still demoing LMT but by putting on Dean Saunder’s powerbands I can see how I would have filtered out those trades.
Julie, Did you get this directly from Dean? When, may I ask? I did not receive this. Thank you.
Rich, ask Dean couple of technical questions and he will sent it you. Sorry, just could not resist the joke
Anyway, ask him you didn’t get it while other customers did. It is called Power Band Forex Swing Trading System.
JulieG, if you find it useful now – use it. But keep in mind that while they correlate at the moment, it’s not granted for future.
Bollinger bands trading is not that easy as it looks on examples you found in the Deans pdf. Besides, I don’t think it’s Deans original concept – you can find a lot of the system variations here or there.
The main reason he sent it to you is to equip you with another tool. When one system does not perform, the other may nicely fit. Bollinger based systems is not performing too good in strong trending markets (price constantly presses on a band, Stochastic is either overbought either oversold most of the times) while LMT does. And vice versa – in choppy channels or wide sideways action, Bollinger bands will give better results if used with caution.
And since markets are in sideways action for more than two weeks, the two system can be played simultaneously. Until new trends finally settle.
Rich-I was sent the email with the Powerband technique from Dean Saunders today…I think I got the LMT system just 1 week ago so maybe this is something that he sends out 1 week after you order the LMT. It is a Bollinger Band with a Stochastic Oscillator technique.
Alx…Thanks for the explanation on times that one system will work better than the other..I will certainly keep that in mind as we go through the choppy summer markets. Your advice has been welcomed, thank you.
@Marc – Got it! Thank you sir!
Kent
The Powerband system looks great when applied to the past. However, as with most systems its a darned sight harder to trade in real time. I use bolly bands along with RSI, Stoch and especially ADX/DMI on the indices. One of the issues with bbs, as with MAs is they obviously move with each new transaction. There ARE very simple and effective systems just using ‘closed above 10ma, buy’ or, of course, the golden cross. Just they’re harder to apply than to demonstrate retrospectively.
Agree Gally.
As many other indicator based systems, it looks nice on pictures. But when the patter is unfolding its just a puzzle. When it finally does something you can recognize – it’s too late.
I was never successful with systems based on Bollinger and Stochatics. There are lots of better tools to reveal price action.
And most people do one big mistake about the indicators: they think the indicator controls the price. NOT AT ALL. It is the price controlling the indicator.
If you see the price bumping Bollinger band at high velocity and think the BB has to stop it, it’s completely wrong. Why should it?
Same with Stoch – if you see it in the overbought zone for very long time you think it should get out soon. Again wrong.
That’s why I suggest get rid of all the indicators and starts with static support&resistance levels. Once mastered, one can start to add some selected indicators. One at time and master, master and master…
One of the best performing strategies I found on Sunfire doesn’t use ANY indicator. Just two parallel lines on a chart anyone can put with ease
Julie, alx, thanks for responding.
To experienced traders: With all of the sideways movement lately AND given the fact that LMT is still fairing well in the absence of strong trends, would you expect that it will do even better with stronger trends?
(alx, btw, I split my lots on a trade and doubled my profit!)
Rich, sooner or latter, you’re going to be rich
Just stick to the rules. Especially when you smell big money around – it’s easy to break everything with just a small stupid action.
“would you expect that it will do even better with stronger trends”?
Definitely. That’s what the system is designed for.
I’m amazed it performs so well in sideways. I don’t know how Dean did it so flexible, but it really does it.
Its not dissimilar in style to the HOly Grail technique (basically, when ADX=>30, wait for pullbacks on to the 20 SMA and then buy or sell depending on direction. And, yes, in a trending market, zooooommm…
Rich, re your question about lmts current performance in non trending markets. the fact that it is still making pips in the current markets is simply awesome.
I read the following on bloomberg July 6 (Bloomberg) — FX Concepts Inc., the world’s largest currency hedge fund, says it lost 5.4 percent in this year’s first five months. John W. Henry & Co.’s foreign-exchange fund told investors it lost 2 percent, Both use computer models to spot currency trends and, along with other momentum chasers, are getting hammered by this year’s lack of clear direction as the markets are pulled in opposing directions” full article here:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aLYQxd8ffxck
I would strongly suggest to their shareholders that they buy a copy of the LMT forex formula (a few $million less than their “trend following computer models”)!
In the same period the lmt made 3000 pips on the gbp/$ alone !! have a look back on the daily charts on the gbp. between march and late may it trended straight up 3000 pips ! (you would have been taken out & re.entered 3 times with deans rules). Marc
good night! we’re stompin’ on the big guys!
Great post, Marc!
Some Comments:
I have a MXDD meta Trader. It seems that I have to ‘refresh’ my screens and the LMT template needs to be activated . Is this usual? This was the way this morning early.
Gold signals on the 4hour are not reliable. Recent signals all ended being stopped out.
Kevin
Hi Kevin, strange indeed. But I guess this is something you should sort out either with Dean, either with the MXDD support.
Please DON”T try to trade Gold. Unless you can afford high spreads, huge drawdowns and have your guts to do it.
Believe me, I traded Gold, and I’m happy not doing this anymore.
LMT does not perform too good with Gold as it’s crafted for something definitely smoother.
Kevin. If you turn off or go off the lmt profile you have to click “expert advisers” button at the top of the metatrader page. Gold is NOT a recommended pair for the LMT. This system works brilliantly if you follow the rules. ie 4 hour & daily charts & ONLY the 10 recommended pairs. Gold is highly volatile at the best of times. Marc
Hi Marc,
Can you help me on this. I got a LMT day signal for a down move in the USDCHF yesterday ( 15th.) and the position is now in profit. However I now see that the day chart is showing an up day signal! Is there any way to check this?
Also note in your recent twitter that you are expecting signals in 5 hours and six hours. As it is either a 1 hour signal or a 4 hour signal…how can you have a potential signal in the 1 hour so far away from now?
Kevin
Hi kevin. The problem is that so many pairs at the moment are moving sideways that they are only just trending one way or the other. At the moment it is very risky to stay in any daily trade long term as the trend keeps evapourating. I recommended in the latest update to only take trades when the trend is the same on the 4 hour chart and the daily at the same time.
I also said it was best to take smaller profits. The motto is “if in doubt stay out.” If I had a trade where I was in profit but the trend changed I would either get out or move the stop to entry to prevent a winning trade becoming a losing one.
Re the twitter thing. By looking at the trigger bar you can see in advance if we have had the 3 qualifying bars, followed by an opposite eg, 3 or more green followed by 1 red, we can predict from current candle position that if the next trigger is a red we will have a trade. I always look at least 30 minutes before a candle close to see what may develop.
The one you just referred to we had 6 signals all at once. So, you need to plan BEFORE they arrive, which to take and which to leave (again this is all in my advanced rules) The only charts we use are the 4 hour and the daily.
Do NOT use the LMT on a 1 hour chart. AS per my advanced rules if you trade on the 1 hour it is NOT an LMT trade.
That clears up a bunch for me. Hate to think I was missing out on something as a result of a tech problem.
Last week was so good during my first few days before the actual trades…and this week all is evaporating beford my eyes as I move into real trades…I’ll get the hang of this eventually.
Hi Marc,
Just sign up w your subscription. Cool stuff you have here.
: )
Marc, which of your MT4 platforms give you signals at 1-5-9-13-17-21 GMT, please? I use Alpari UK on a demo and I know that their H4 candles begin an hour later than that. I also use another broker based in Cyprus (Tadawul) and they have the same candle hour as Alpari, altough I would have thought they would be earlier…
Thank you!
Hi sandra, forex meta gives you the hour earlier than alpari. its deans recommended broker & we seem to get more trades from it, marc
Hi Marc, thank you for your answer. are you actually trading with forex meta or are you just taking the signals from them and placing them on a live account with Dukascopy ? I’m asking mainly because forex meta’s spreads seem quite big – about 20-30% larger than alpari’s or other brokers’ this side of the pond… A more general way to formulate the same question would be if one can place a trade based on a LMT signal received from a different platform?? If the answer is yes, then the whole matter becomes very interesting, because it doesn’t matter what broker one has a LIVE account with or even if LMT is attached to ANY chart on the platform associated with the live account; all that matters is to have several platforms with LMT attached and with different beginning hour for the candles… Am I wrong? sandra
Your’re right, of course you can. Just take the signal and use it however. I Spread Bet for tax reasons, so use IGI, ODL (sometimes) and a couple of other providers. But run FM and Alpari, and get the signals form Alx.
Hi Marc,
It’s been a tough week for LMT. 7 signals on the 4H yesterday all going the wrong way on top of a pretty bad signals week. Its a great pity as this type of week makes all the future signals suspect and therefore untradable. …and I had such great hopes!
Kevin
Kevin,
for a week or so Marc and me post here or twitter to stay away from LMT trading.
This is a TRENDING system. Markets ARE NOT trending. They are in SIDEWAYS and CHOPPY action. They will remain like this till the end of August.
Once they find new trends, the LMT will get back to its marvelous 80+% winning ratio.
Stay away and you’ll be safe.
ALX