The very beginning of the ichimoku indicator and how it was created, learn the history behind this fantastic indicator.

1. Ok I'm going to start at the very beginning, I think its just as important
to know the origin and history of this indicator as it is to learn how to
trade it, don't worry this is no boring History lesson, its actually a very
interesting and fascinating story.
Hopefully this will make you give the indicator the respect it deserves, I
think once you realise the time and effort that went into the birth of this
indicator and the dedication and time the creator put into it, it will give
you a good foundation and start you with the correct mindset.
Ok you sitting comfortably?
Good, then Ill begin.
Ichimoku - A History Lesson
[dc]I[/dc]chimoku Kinko Hyu is a purpose built trend trading chart
system that can be used in every tradeable market, if price moves up
and down and its tradable then ichimoku can be used to predict its
movement in a very unique way.
Ichimoku uses a collection of indicators that work together to create a
very visible system that enables the trader to see "at a glance" the low
probability trade set ups, from those of higher probability.
Ichimoku means: one glance, Kinko means: equilibrium (or balance),
and Hyo means: chart.
So loosely translated Ichimou Kinko Hyu means 'One glance
equilibrium chart' or 'Chart balance at a glance'
"Who came up with the idea for the ichimoku system"?
Ichimoku was developed by a Japanese journalist named Goichi

2. Hosoda, to his friends he was also known as Ichimoku Sanjin, which can
be translated as "What a man in the mountain sees".
Goichi was an extremely talented yet quiet man, he spent most of his
days locked away writing and reporting on the old rice trading markets,
he understood how price moved and how it would react around certain
areas of a chart, he soon discovered that price followed certain rules and
the "reactions" were due to what we now know today as Support and
Resistance.
Goichi's aim was to create an "all in one" indicator that would help him
view and analyse the charts in more detail but in less time.
This was of course going to be a huge and deeply complex task, but
Goichi was dedicated to his work and started the process just before the
Second World War.
Today if you were going to create a new groundbreaking
indicator/charting method, you would have an endless supply of tech
and information to draw from, the main piece of software being a highly
accurate backtesting program built into the Metatrader platform. This
lets you check back over years and years of price movements, and tweak
and adjust in a matter of minutes to your hearts content.
However this was the 1940's the first commercial computer hadn't even
been invented resources were tight.... but Goichi had an idea.
He hired a large group of students who spent over 20 years manually
backtesting the different formulas.
lets just imagine that for a minute, 20 years of studying price
movements and structure, just to create a method that may not even be
any good or not even work at all......?!?
Truth is in 1969 Hosoda finally finished the ichimoku kinko hyu
charting method and presented his book to the Japanese public, it
rapidly became the most frequently used indicator in all the Japanese
trading rooms.
Ichimoku shows you the whole story of the market, including trade
direction, all the main support and resistance lines and if traded
properly, you can find exact entry and exit points. It can also be used on
all markets and all time frames
Even though ichimoku gained such wild popularity all across Asia,
Ichimoku didn't make an appearance in the western world till the 1990's
and even then because of the lack of translation and information, it was
just seen as another weird charting method and most people just didn't

3. have the time or passion to try and learn this strange looking exotic
indicator.
Only now, in the early 21st century do westerners understand the true
power of this indicator.
Hopefully i can share the knowledge I have learn about this indicator
too and help you unlock the secret of this magical trading method.
Before I end this post I want to leave you with a small excerpt, to give
you an idea of how Goichi Hosoda thinks and the passion he held for his
charting method.
Hosoda strongly believed that the market was a direct reflection of
human group dynamics or behaviour. He felt that human behaviour
could be described in terms of a constant cyclical movement both away
from and back towards equilibrium in their lives and interactions. Each
of the five components that make up ichimoku provide its own
reflection of this equilibrium or balance.
Thanks for listening
Chris (admin).