Website : Black Dog Website
Publisher : Dave Atkinson
Cost : $297
Review Date : December 2010 - January 2011

WHAT IT SAYS ON THE WEBSITE

"Black Dog Is Slaying The Markets Using The Hottest System Around Today" is the headline. There are "three excellent methods within the program"; "the superb Black dog", "the excellent MTF1", "the killer MTF2".

The "average number of trades per month is between 60 - 70 with a hit rate of around 75%". But the Black Dog program can be used on "any timeframe, any currency, any chart; Forex, Stocks, E-mini's, Gold ...". If there is a chart around you can "put the Black Dogs on and watch for profits", "no matter what timeframe you trade you do not have to stare at the screen all day. An audio alarm calls you to the screen".

Some FAQ's cover common queries - "NOTHING beats the simple methods of approaching the markets (as Black Dog)", "it's simple and easy to understand, it can be learned and applied in two short hours". The vendor trades the London open using the 15 minutes time-frame looking for 20 PIPs per trade, set up across 10 Currency pairs. Support is offered by email, Skype, phone and a dedicated forum.

The "Black Dogs" are simple arrows that paint on the trading screen (Meta Trader 4 required) and also have visual/audible alerts built in. This is "the standard method of entry" but there are also three others to "ensure that no trades are missed and the profits keep rolling in". Additionally there are "five exit strategies to maximise profits".

The Black Dog system promises "no fluff, filling, vegetables or whatever you like to call it. It's all meat, a real treat".

No money back guarantee is offered with this system.

THE MATERIAL

All Black dog material is accessed via their password protected forum. First port of call is the "Manuals (Start Here)". The "Basics" section covers the base (original) Black Dogs system, loosely speaking there are 3 additional variants, Mini-Trend Finder (MTF1, MTF2 and MTF3). We believe these were introduced because the trades were so infrequent using just the base method - But don’t hold us to this!

The original Black Dogs system does lay down some ground rules including; trading between London open and London close is best with the 15 minute chart seemingly the time-frame of choice. Here we also get introduced to some of the chart set-ups:
• Long term EMAH/L (Exponential Moving Average High/Low) channels
• Black Dogs (Black Up/Down arrows)
• SES (Standard Entry Signals - Red/Blue arrows)
• MACD

Up to 3 different Entry strategies are documented. Stop strategies offered are Fixed, High/Low of Entry bar, a Disaster stop and a Trailing stop, the choice being down to the individual. For Exit, price reversal into the Long term EMAH/L channel, MACD based, on close of a "Long" bar or a Fixed target are suggested, again a matter of preference.

Onto MTF1 - This variant introduces the XPMA indicator (an enhancement to the original Black Dogs (arrows)), a Short and Long term SES and finally the RSI indicator.

MTF2 follows up with a MACD variation and MTF3 introduces a No Trade Zone (NTZ).

There is a lot of reading (and we mean a lot) just to get to the stage of what's available, it takes well over 2 hours. So perhaps you may be up and running "in two short hours" if you just opt for the plain vanilla Black dogs system but we did not. Our curiosity meant we first wanted to discover the additional options available and thus were not even looking at a chart within 4 hours of reading.

After a lot of reading, week's of chart observation and discussion in regard to the various options available to us we finally came up with a plan. The process was a little like a Woolies Pick'n'Mix (remember them!) - Have a look at everything, select what you think will suit your style of trading, what looks clearest, what seems to work best on your instruments and time-frame, etc.

What we ended up with in the end was following a version of the system closely related to the "A scalpers tale" approach which we found in the depths of the Black Dog forum. This method meant we were not reliant on the Black Dogs or SES indicators. We wanted to avoid these because after weeks of screen time trying various options we observed on a number of occasions "repainting" of these indicators.

THE SYSTEM

After trawling through the forum and the various options we did manage to define our approach - See above. As mentioned it took us (two of us) a lot of reading, a lot of screen time, much discussion and weeks to agree this. Of course others may get there much quicker than us, we can be pedantic at times!

In the end though we did adhere to all the original Black Dog base rules (plus "A scalpers tale" variant). We traded the 15 minute time-frame from 07:00 - 12:30 UK time, as best we could, occasionally taking trades in the afternoon too if we were around.

We chose to trade EUR/USD, GBP/USD, AUD/USD, USD/JPY and EUR/JPY with a fixed Stop/Target of 20 PIPs and risked 2% of our account balance per trade.

CAN IT WORK

We traded, as best possible, the times, time-frame and Currency pairs mentioned above on Smart Live Markets (an MT4 (required for the indicators) Spread betting account).

Our performance figures are based on trading January this year only are as follows:

EUR/USD - 6 winning trades and 4 losing trades, Net loss -4%
GBP/USD - 5 winning trades and 2 losing trades, Net profit +6%
AUD/USD - 7 winning trades and 5 losing trades, Net loss -4%
USD/JPY - 6 losing trades, Net loss -12%
EUR/JPY - 3 winning trades and 2 losing trades, Net profit +2%

All trades are based on 2% risk per trade, a fixed Stop of 20 PIPs and a fixed Target of 20 PIPs.

So, it was a mixed bag for us across the different currencies with a net loss of -12%. We managed a hit rate of just over 30% which is significantly less than the 75% mentioned on the website.

Please note: It is absolutely impossible to compare these results against a benchmark. It is probably fair to say no-one else would have traded with our exact rule-set and that no-one probably ever will. However after weeks of reading and debate we had to go with something measurable and we did.

The whole Black Dogs venture in our experience was time consuming, not just in terms of what we dedicated to trading but also to reading through the vast amount of material. Our hit rate too was disappointing.

We did have an internal comment on the "All meat a real treat" promise - First you need to hunt the animal, then skin it, carve it up before finally deciding how to cook it - It seems apt.

SUPPORT

All queries were answered promptly and were to the point. The live Chat-room is useful too, experienced Black Dog traders on hand to offer support and general help through the Black Dog experience.

CONCLUSION

PRO's
• Lots of good support.
CON's
• The sheer volume of material - Too much information, too many variants/views/opinions/nuances.
• Lots of currency pairs and screen time - No alerts for us, we didn't use the indicators as we evidenced repainting.

Do remember, your comments are important, if you decide to purchase this system, please support us by using our link and by reporting back your findings, both are valuable to us and the service.

Wow - thanks for putting the effort into this, Reviewteam. Four hours? Sounds a lot but at least you got into some trades. I found myself in 'analysis paralysis' - but just of the forum rather than the charts. The system could really use a single updated PDF or something to say 'start with this setup then hit the forums once you're comfy'. I believe there are people out there using this system to trade profitably - I'd just love to hear from them. I haven't done a 'deep dive' on this myself. I have got the system but just don't have the time to invest in 'cracking' it. Also I found their support forums to be rather faithful.

....and there was me thinking it was just me! I'm sort of glad it didn't work that well for you RT - like zorba, I bought this, studied it, studied some more and ended up in the notorious analysis-paralysis state too. Where I've stayed for about 10 months or so.

As z says, it needs some kind of quick start guide because otherwise the quagmire of approaches, interpretations, opinions and counter-opinions on the forum is just overload. Ironically the motto of the originator - the admittedly unfailingly-helpful Dave Atkinson - is Keep It Bloody Simple.

I just wish they had.

Well Ive been trading Black Dog and it took me a whole weekend just to get to the end of MTF3 in perspective. It starts off well, concise instructions for MTF1 & 2 and then for some reason Dave thinks its a good idea to explain how to trade MTF3 by talking through it as a type of journal instead of just posting up some guidelines to keep it simple. There's just far too much unecessary waffle to wade through just to exctract what is a very straightforward method of trading. They do have a very good 'free stuff' section though and a live trading room ...which costs $20. Also very helpful senior members if you have any queries.

Agreed sc, the free stuff section is good. Didn't realise there was cost attached to the trading room now, though.

How has your trading been? I get the impression a fair proportion of the indicators appear well after the market has started to move in a given direction - is that something you've noticed or just me imaging things?

Hi Fatchance - apologies..would have replied earlier but have only just seen your post.

Actually, I think the free stuff section is better than good.

They have just opened a new trading room which is a one off payment of $20. I haven't paid to join so I can't comment on what goes on in there Im afraid.

As for the indicators and alerts - I found the audio alert quite good. Not for alerting you to a trade necessarily but just for reminding you to check the charts. I tried to trade using the MTF3 entry indicator and actually found it to be so unreliable - it would signal a trade, I'd get my ticket up all ready to go in, look back at the chart before pulling the trigger and the signal had often just disappeared. I had never experienced (or even heard of) repainting before Black Dog so I started to question my sanity for a while! As you say, I too found that the entry indicator in particular often only appeared after the market had moved quite a bit so it meant that you entered at the top or bottom of the recent move. The black dogs and SES's also repaint - there is a post by Dubai somewhere saying that this happens during a ranging market I believe. Whatever the reason, it makes trading BD tricky at times. I do know someone who trades Black Dog successfully but they say they use an extra indicator. He wouldn't tell me what that indicator was (fair enough). I've stopped trading it for now as it just hasnt worked for me, but if I were to revisit it I would try a higher time frame.

Thanks sc, I'm thinking about looking at Black Dog again in the future on perhaps 4 Hour charts.

In the meantime I'm tempted to go onto the BD forum and suggest a Dave or whoever posts up a Quick-start section or guide.......

hey all,

I also buy this system now 4 weeks ago and can say, the Author Dave say you need time to trade this system, you cant start after buy.
that's totally right. take your time to understand the system, I still try and after 1 month, every day 3hours study, I still in the basis learning process.

and one big rules is: we don't trade the signals, we trade the situation.

the signals are only a weak-up call, to check the charts.

it's a hard work to trade this system, but I not see an other easy system that's work

cheers

.....which for someone simple like me makes it all a bit confusing.

If we don't trade the signals, maybe the signals/system could be better then?

Originally Posted by harry__

hey all,

I also buy this system now 4 weeks ago and can say, the Author Dave say you need time to trade this system, you cant start after buy.
that's totally right. take your time to understand the system, I still try and after 1 month, every day 3hours study, I still in the basis learning process.

and one big rules is: we don't trade the signals, we trade the situation.

the signals are only a weak-up call, to check the charts.

it's a hard work to trade this system, but I not see an other easy system that's work

cheers

Hi Harry

I traded black dog for 3 months, two weeks of which were spent just setting up the charts and reading as much as I could in the forum. I'm not sure how long Dave feels one should devote to something that is not working for you but that was long enough for me. I am not saying that it does not work, I am however saying that trading Black Dog on the 15 min charts, using a couple of different methods did not work for me. I can't comment on the alternative methods used by others or longer timeframes. After 3 months I decided it was time to move on.