"Matrix profile: Using Weakly Labeled Time Series to Predict Outcomes" Paper

Back in May of this year I posted about how I had intended to use Matrix Profile (MP) to somehow cluster the "initial balance" of Market Profile charts with a view to getting a heads up on immediately following price action. Since then, my thinking has evolved due to my learning about the paper "Matrix profile: Using Weakly Labeled Time Series to Predict Outcomes" and its companion website. This very much seems to accomplish the same end I had envisaged with my clustering of initial balances, so I am going to try and use this approach instead.

As a preliminary, I have decided to "weakly label" my time series data using the simple code loop shown below.

for ii = 1 : numel( ix )
  
y_values = train_data( ix( ii ) + 1 : ix( ii ) + 19 , 1 ) ;
london_session_ret = y_values( end ) - y_values( 1 ) ;

[ max_y , max_ix ] = max( y_values ) ;
max_long_ex = max_y - y_values( 1 ) ;

[ min_y , min_ix ] = min( y_values ) ;
max_short_ex = min_y - y_values( 1 ) ;

if ( london_session_ret > 0 && ( max_long_ex / ( -1 * max_short_ex ) ) >= 3 && max_ix > min_ix )
 labels( ix( ii ) - 11 : ix( ii ) , 1 ) = 1 ; 
elseif ( london_session_ret < 0 && ( max_short_ex / max_long_ex ) <= -3 && max_ix < min_ix )
  labels( ix( ii ) - 11 : ix( ii ) , 1 ) = -1 ;
endif
 
endfor

What this essentially does (for the long side) is ensure that price is higher at the end of y_values than at the beginning and there is a reward/risk opportunity of at least 3:1 for at least 1 trade during the period covered by the time range of y_values (either the London a.m. session or the combined New York a.m./London p.m. session) following a 7a.m. to 8.50a.m. (local time) formation of an opening Market profile/initial balance and the maximum adverse excursion occurs before the maximum favourable excursion. A typical chart on the long side looks like this.

This would have the "weak" label for a long trade, and the label would be applied to the Market Profile data that immediately precedes this price action. On the other side, a short labelled chart typically looks like this.

As can be seen, trading "against the label" offers few opportunities for profitable entries/exits. My hope is that a "dictionary" of long/short biased Market Profile patterns can be discovered using the ideas/code in the links above. For completeness, the following chart is typical of price action which does not meet the looped code bias for either long or short.

It is easy to envisage trading this type of price action by fading moves that go outside the "value area" of a Market Profile chart.

More in due course.