eminiviper.com

If you want to try to compare Viper to other garden variety indicators, you could argue its paint bar study is very similiar to Heiken Ashi.

That leaves the pivots and these can be found from a variety of sources including most data provider platforms.

Now, assuming you have the Hull MA (color modified), Heiken Ashi and the correct pivot settings, all that leaves is the hard part--your ability as a trader to take a high probability entries and manage the trade thereafter.

Paying for Viper at a cost of $2000 or using the free indicators which admitttedly won't be exactly like Viper but damn near close, is irrelevant if you don't have ability to read what the market is telling you.

I've spent much time evaluating Viper and although there are some merits to it, I have some serious reservations if the indicator (it is an indicator, not a system) has enough value to justify $99/month. When one can PURCHASE, not lease, Ninja Trader for life at a single payment of $995 with all its functionality, I scratch my head at Viper's cost.

Viper is a good indicator to tell one when the market is trending or simply directionless. There are other indicators on the market that do this equally as good and either cost less or are free. What's nice about Viper is it is very clean and easy to understand, leaving little room for confusion. What's not nice about Viper is what it doesn't do; namely, give the trader a clear signal when to enter and when to exit. This is up to the trader to decide based on his ability to see a breakout pattern setup in realtime. The entry rules that are taught by the developers require pattern recognition skills. Exit rules, on the other hand, are straightforward and easy to understand. Hell, even I understood them.

The developers have a done a masterful job of producing daily videos after the fact of all the winning trades that Viper caught with annotated charts. It is important to note that although the developers say the videos are shot live with the market trading, the so-called trades were "taken" before, not durng that time. One must also understand that Viper DID NOT signal these trades in realtime (Viper doesn't do that). The trades that are used for marketing purposes are strictly hypothetical in the truest sense of the word. Whether you, me, the developers, or anyone else could replicate those trades as they are depicted in the videos is questionable.

I would submit that if the developers want to really prove that Viper is a value-added trading tool, they should shoot their marketing videos daily LIVE, AS THE TRADE SETS UP, clearly pointing out where they enter and exit in REALTIME, not after the fact. This would truly seperate them from 99% of the other vendors who are selling trading tools and systems. I challenge them to do this. And if they consistently demonstrate profitable trades in sim or cash mode (I don't care which) LIVE, then they deserve all the business they can get their hands on.

Viper offers a free 2 week trial. I encourage any prospective purchaser to take that trial and evaluate Viper thoroughly before purchasing.

Thanks phantasma, your summary is greatly appreciated. Exactly what I had expected.

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Originally posted by pookster

Thanks Phantasma,

Could you explain what you mean by "its an indicator, not a system" please. The company calls themselves Viper Trading Systems. So I am a little unclear on what the real definition of a system would be.

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To me, a trading system gives signals when to enter and when to exit. Left to its own devices, it gets you in and out requiring no decision-making or discretion on your part.

Indicators, on the other hand, are tools used by the trader to help understand price action and when to possibly enter and exit. Some traders use scores of indicators in many configurations before deciding to take a trade. Here is a list of some of the more common ones.

http://www.surefirething.com/day-trading-indicators.html

Don't be misled by the company's name. The sole product it sells is an indicator.

Hope that helps.

More musings on Viper.

The developers have created a new script to track the price swings to make it easier to identify where a trade might be taken. I think it's a useful addition to visualize where the breakout levels may occur, but it is not a clear entry signal. Viper does not give entry signals, but this is better than nothing.

A bigger issue for Viper traders is to decide what size range bars to employ for the trading and guidance charts. Again, it's very easy, with the benefit of hindsight, to play around with the settings until the trade looks picture perfect to shoot a marketing video and show all the hypothetical winners that setup. But when trading live, how is one supposed to know what the best setting are? Viper does not tell you. If you examine the marketing videos, you'll note that the settings change daily on the different instruments depending on, I think, volatilty.

http://eminiviper.com/emini/