This simple indicator takes information from Ichimoku Kinko Hyo to establish strong and weak currencies to pair together for ideal trending situations. It also generates buy or sell signals based on the standard deviation of returns together with currency strength.

A currency is said to be strong or weak depending on where the price is in relation to two factors: if the price is above the daily kumo and above the 26 day Kijun-sen, it is said to be strong. Likewise, when trading below the daily kumo and below the Kijun-sen it is weak, and by matching a strong and a weak pair together there is a better chance of capturing a trend or a strong move.

In certain situations when the price is strong or weak and a large daily return occurs, it generates a buy or sell signal with a suggested entry price. These large moves are traditionally called Ichimoku Raiden, or "Lightning Strike" because of the visual artifact that is created by the Ichimoku kinko hyo indicator. The visual my be just an artifact but the spike in returns is not. In currencies (as opposed to equities), when there is a return greater than 1.5 times the standard deviation of returns, the price tends to continue rather than revert to the mean, giving an opportunity to trade the continuation. The signal is calculated by taking the prior days returns, adjusting for volatility of the returns of the last twenty days, and dividing by the standard deviation. This gives a ratio of the returns to standard deviation and anything over 1.5 generates the trade signal. The indicator is coded to use daily values, so you can put it on any timeframe and it will still use daily values.

The best way to use the indicator is by attaching it to multiple currencies trading against a common currency, such as EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY, USDCHF, USDCAD, AUDUSD, NZDUSD... By using the same base currency, you can see which currency is strong or weak relative to USD. Then you can take a strong and weak pair to trade the cross. After choosing strong/weak pairs, you can then use Ichimoku trading to establish and manage your trades. The Green Dragon EA and the Black Dragon EA are excellent EAs to use with the Jade Dragon indicator. You can attach them on all the charts you use the Jade Dragon on and activate them when a signal is generated.