Ichimoku Charts: An introduction to Ichimoku Kinko Clouds
$17.26
Ichimoku Charts: An Introduction to Ichimoku Kinko Clouds by Nicole Elliott is one of the most authoritative English-language guides to one of Japan’s most innovative charting systems. Ichimoku Kinko Hyo, literally “one glance equilibrium chart,” is a comprehensive technical method developed in Japan in the 1930s. Rather than relying on a single indicator, Ichimoku weaves price, time, and momentum into a dynamic “cloud” structure that instantly reveals trend direction, strength, and potential reversals.
Nicole Elliott, a renowned financial analyst with decades of trading experience in London and Tokyo, offers readers a practical pathway into mastering this powerful tool. She begins by tracing the historical origins of Ichimoku during Japan’s Edo period and explains how candlestick charting and calligraphic principles influenced its design . The book then moves into the mechanics of constructing Ichimoku charts, detailing the calculation of moving averages, the formation of the Kumo (cloud), and the critical role of the Chikou Span .
Beyond the technical foundation, Elliott demonstrates how to interpret the clouds in practice—identifying support and resistance levels, gauging trend strength, evaluating cloud thickness, and using price–cloud distance as a measure of momentum . She dedicates a full section to the “Three Principles” of Ichimoku: the Wave Principle, Price Targets, and the Timespan Principle, which together provide traders with a unique framework for analyzing market cycles .
Real-world case studies—from the FTSE 100 to gold, currencies, and interest rate futures—show how Ichimoku charts can be applied across different markets . The book concludes with a pioneering chapter on using Ichimoku for option trading, highlighting how cloud analysis can enhance both buying and writing strategies in derivatives markets .
Written in an accessible style but backed by deep expertise, this book is an essential resource for traders who want to expand their technical toolkit with a method that goes far beyond traditional Western indicators. Whether you’re a beginner intrigued by Japanese charting or an experienced trader seeking new ways to anticipate price action, Ichimoku Charts provides the clarity, structure, and practical insights needed to trade with confidence.
Contents:
- Constructing the Cloud Charts
- Interpretation of the Clouds
- The Three Principles
- Case Studies
- Option Trading with Clouds
Ichimoku Charts: An introduction to Ichimoku Kinko Clouds By Nicole Elliott pdf
| Author(s) | |
|---|---|
| Format | |
| Pages | 153 |
| Publication Year | 2007 |
25 reviews for Ichimoku Charts: An introduction to Ichimoku Kinko Clouds
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Related products
Josie Dejesus (verified owner) –
There a an obvious error at the start of this book regarding the calculations of the tenkan sen and the kijun sen. Which leads me to doubt the validity of everything else I am reading. Is really destracting. You are better of reading; ichimoku in Sacred Traders website.
Vivienne Larsen (verified owner) –
The author announces it right from the start, ichimoku does not work on units that are lower than the day. This remark is surprising when you have a little experience with ichimoku. The rest will be the same story, the author does more analysis than trading, at the end of the book you will not know how to trade at worst it will have confused you. Another author who talks about a subject without applying it on a daily basis…
Jake Dean (verified owner) –
great value..
Rio Stanton (verified owner) –
🙂
Junior Padilla (verified owner) –
Disclaimer presentation. It’s not helpful. On the Internet there is more information. There are better books.
Kimberly Wade (verified owner) –
The concept is excellent. However the book lacks the analytical depth and detailing required of such a concept.
Reign Aguilar (verified owner) –
What an enjoyable reading experience. The structure of the book, the style of writing, what was explained and more importantly what was left out makes this IMHO the best written book on investing that I have ever come across. A true joy to read.
An introduction to ichimoku charts is exactly what the title says it is. An excellent introduction to the Japanese system of technical analysis using the cloud charts,wave counts and trailing chikou span.
If you’re looking for a simple book to tell you when and what to buy this isn’t the book for you. However, if you enjoy learning and thinking and want to learn more about how the Japanese traders trade this is the book for you.
Actually, I consider this is more of a thank-you note to the author (Nicole Elliott) than it is a recommendation for you to buy or not to buy.
Ezequiel Cochran (verified owner) –
Where is Steve Nison when you need him??
Nicole Elliot’s book on Ichimoku Charts (aka Cloud Charts) completely fails at methodically building up the reader’s knowledge of the theory, practical application, and utility of each component of the chart. Without a thorough grounding in the building blocks of Cloud charts it becomes impossible to interpret these charts and extract their value.
I was drawn to Cloud charts because of my great desire to find a chart that would incorporate extremely powerful Japanese Candle Stick analysis, but also “supposedly” have built in moving averages and even make use of Fibonacci number sequences. The former combination seems like it would make for a robust technical tool if only it could be explained / decoded using a modicum of plain english.
As someone who developed a real passion for technical analysis from reading the extremely well written works of Steve Nison and John Murphy, Nicole Elliot’s book completely fails to transmit any meaningful knowledge of Cloud charts to the reader.
I don’t even think the books title is appropriate as one could get the same depth of Nicole Elliot’s “introduction” or “pamphlet” on Ichimoku charts through a Google search of free articles on the web.
I still believe these charts hold real promise if the right author comes along to unlock their value for interested readers.
Jaycee Hale (verified owner) –
Best book on the Ichimoku clouds. A lot of practical tips from a professional trader. Very practical if you understand what Nicole is saying and you use your creativity to combine the tools. You can use Ichimoku clouds together with averages and other indicators to lower your risk and increase your profits. With the help of Nicole you have a chance to get positive results in a tough market.
Amber Leach (verified owner) –
I think the book is a good introduction of the technical analysis using Ichimoku Kinko charts. Charts in colour are pretty good and clear. However I consider that it is just an introduction and not a profound analysis of this kind of study. What I consider more relevant and interesting in this book are the tips and explanation of the personal way the author analyse the markets. Her experience in the markets is of great value for any trader.
Anyway it is worthy reading this book since there is not enough material regarding Ichimoku.
Julianna Sullivan (verified owner) –
Good book. Easy to read
Clara Clark (verified owner) –
great book, lots of useful info
Messiah Tyler (verified owner) –
Great! Readable.
Maggie Lara (verified owner) –
waste of time!
Caiden Schmidt (verified owner) –
Didn’t really cover trading with Ichimoku charts in any detail. The book was more about candlesticks and wave patterns. The wave patterns I found very subjective and of no use. You can learn as much about trading Ichimoku free on various websites.
Helena Hodge (verified owner) –
A bit too brief regarding the various indicators that make up the Ichimoku; clouds are just a part. Plus not many ‘experts’ tie in waves and bar patterns but I concede that some might find that useful. The ichiwiki web site is far more informational.
Santos Singh (verified owner) –
As per the other reviewers, I will echo that the introduction given here is very limited. While the information is consise, the reader is left wanting much more. The wave method as presented, is a bit of a rehash from other sources, not really a part of the Ichimoku Charts.
Brycen Salas (verified owner) –
Little info about Ichimoku, rather somewhat undigested ramblings about other technical indicatora that by and large have nothing to do with that system. A total loss. Poorly executed. The charts not even consistent in format. Sloppy work.
Milana Stevens (verified owner) –
a good book on Ichimoku charts
Evan Perry (verified owner) –
the best of the ichimoku books.
Anika Lugo (verified owner) –
learning these charts can be challenging. This book really goes into to details about the Ichimoko charts. Its very helpful
Bristol Stephens (verified owner) –
I bought this book after being disappointed with Manesh Patel’s book on the subject: Trading with Ichimoku Clouds: The Essential Guide to Ichimoku Kinko Hyo Technical Analysis. See my review there for an overview of Ichimoku Clouds.
Elliott’s book is much better, but it is not for everyone. This book is written for a very specific audience — professional technical analysts who want to understand what their Japanese competitors are doing. If that’s your situation, this is the book for you; otherwise look elsewhere.
Because of the book’s intended audience, it has almost no discussion of trading. It simply discusses the indicator and how a Japanese analyst would interpret it. If you work at the forex desk of a bank, this information will help. If you are the typical trader, it won’t.
Regrettably, there are no truly outstanding English books on the subject. If you can read Japanese or work with someone who does, you should just get Hidenobu Sasaki’s Ichimoku Kinko Studies (Toshi Raider Publishing 1996). Otherwise, as of 2010, this seems to be the best book on the subject available.
I’ll provide a brief overview of the book’s contents for those considering it:
After a brief historical overview in Chapter 1, the book spends Chapter 2 explaining how the charts are constructed. The information available on the internet is probably better, but one important difference this chapter brings out is that the Tenkan-sen and Kijun-sen lines are constructed as moving averages of daily midpoints (halfway between the daily high and low). Most websites and other books will tell you to construct them like you construct the Senkou Span — by taking the midpoint between the highest high and lowest low over the look-back period.
Chapter 3 covers the conventional Japanese interpretations of the cloud chart, leaving out newer approaches Westerners have added. Although you could get this information from many internet sites, it will generally not be clear which methods are the typical Japanese ones and which ones are more recent innovations. The book here stays on point and focuses on explaining how a Japanese analyst will look at the chart.
Chapter 4 is probably the most important and most useful chapter of the book. Unfortunately, it is somewhat lacking in detail. This chapter covers the Wave, Price, and Time principles. These principles are the Japanese versions of wave analysis, price projections, and time retracements. The coverage here is substantially better than anything I’ve found elsewhere, but the level of detail is only enough to understand what a Japanese analyst would do. I don’t feel confident that I could actively use these methods with just the information in this chapter.
Chapter 5 provides six longish examples of performing a technical analysis using Ichimoku techniques. Sticking with the book’s goal of teaching you how a Japanese analyst would approach a chart, each example is a single snapshot. The book does not show you how things turned out nor does it show you how an analysis would be changed after new bars were added.
Chapter 6 builds on Chapter 5 and focuses on analysis of volatility for option strategies. This chapter contains information that isn’t available elsewhere, but outside of a handful of professionals, I can’t see it being generally useful. Very few retail traders use vanilla options in spread strategies; even fewer will make use of the exotic knock-in/knock-out options that Elliot references in several examples.
Zachary Waters (verified owner) –
Very informative,
Alma English (verified owner) –
A beautifully presented book. Not sure how effective the clouds are at generating profitable trades. I suspect these are similar to other strategies which fail the profitability test.
John Gregory (verified owner) –
This is my first book on Ichimoku charts. Nicole always impressed me with her opinion. After reading I feel like she missed a lot of information that is somewhere between the lines. I believe she should add a lot more specific information on how and why she analyzes charts. It is good for the introductory information about Ichmoku charts.