Ichimoku

Ichimoku Kinko Hyo (一目均衡表, Ichimoku Kinkō Hyō) usually just called ichimoku is a technical analysis method that builds on candlestick charting to improve the accuracy of forecast price moves. It was developed in the late 1930s by Goichi Hosoda (細田悟一, Hosoda Goichi), a Japanese journalist who used to be known as Ichimoku Sanjin, which can be translated as "what a man in the mountain sees". He spent 30 years perfecting the technique before releasing his findings to the general public in the late 1960s.

Ichimoku Kinko Hyo translates to one glance equilibrium chart or instant look at the balance chart and is sometimes referred to as "one glance cloud chart" based on the unique "clouds" that feature in ichimoku charting.

Ichimoku is a moving average-based trend identification system and because it contains more data points than standard candlestick charts, it provides a clearer picture of potential price action. The main difference between how moving averages are plotted in ichimoku as opposed to other methods is that ichimoku's lines are constructed using the 50% point of the highs and lows as opposed to the candle's closing price.

Ichimoku factors in time as an additional element along with the price action, similar to William Delbert Gann's trading ideas.

In the Western World is solely known for its “Graphic Environment” due to the authors that have translated the original manual into English, German nor Spanish. However Ichimoku is also integrated by three other theories that improve and enhance the indicator:

Time Theory

Wave Movement Theory

Target Price Theory

Tenkan-sen () calculation: (highest high + lowest low)/2 for the last 9 periods.

It is primarily used as a signal line and a minor support/resistance line.Tenkan Sen (red line): This is also known as the turning line and is derived by averaging the highest high and the lowest low for the past nine periods. The Tenkan Sen is an indicator of the market trend. If the red line is moving up or down, it indicates that the market is trending. If it moves horizontally, it signals that the market is ranging.

Kijun-sen (線) calculation: (highest high + lowest low)/2 for the past 26 periods.

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Wikipedia