Month: April 2011

A lot of issues have made some great moves yesterday. Don’t fret, though, if you missed yesterday’s ride since the one of Ayala Corporation or AC in the Philippine Stock Exchange will be coming to town soon.

As you can see from the chart above, AC looks to be very much positioned for a journey up north. AC has been on an uptrend since the start of March before it temporarily peaked at PHP 400.00 on April 4. After reaching the said high, it then consolidated into a small descending channel. At present, AC is trading right at the uptrend support. What’s nice about AC’s set-up is that its price action for the last couple of weeks (descending channel) looks to be a part of a bullish flag formation. If this is so and I think it is then AC could aim for its previous high at PHP 424.00 or even more once a breakout happens.

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Since last March 17, the New Zealand dollar against the US dollar (NZD/USD) or the Kiwi pair has been trending up as seen at its 4-hour chart above.

If you notice, it’s been heading north in an ascending channel and have gained almost a thousand pips or better said it has increased its value by more than 10% against the US dollar in a month’s duration. Personally, with the Kiwi pair’s sudden upswing, a correction might be expected if it breaks down from the ascending channel. If it does, it could head lower and find some support around the 0.7822 area before it bounces back up or continue its descend. However, as long as the uptrend remains intact, this forex pair will most likely move upward until it encounters some selling pressure at its immediate resistance at 80.38.

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It’s been awhile since I posted about the forex market. But guess what? I’m back in the FX trading arena! So as I was scanning through the charts of the major currency, the USDCAD got my attention in a snap!

USDCAD’s recent price action as can be seen in its 4-hour chart above is one of the bread and butter set-ups that I often trade. You see, the US dollar has just rallied against the Canadian dollar or the loonie as some would call it after the USDCAD pair hit a low of 0.9454 last April 21. Notice, however, that its rise was halted by the previous support at around the 0.9550 area. In my opinion, the Canadian dollar appreciate some more against the USD in the near future due to a couple of technical factors. Aside from the previous support-turned-resistance that is blocking the USD’s rise, conditions are also overbought as indicated by the stochastics. Moreover, a presence of a hidden bearish divergence, where the price registers lower lows and the stochastics mark higher highs, suggests a move lower. If it does, then it could revisit its previous low 0.9454.

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I hope everyone had a blessed Holy Week and before we end it, let’s tackle the major indices in the US stock market to provide us a technical outlook on the days ahead.

On the canvass is the chart of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), NASDAQ Composite Index (^IXIC) and the S&P500 (^GSPC). For those who do now know, these three indices are the benchmark of the US and global stock market so wherever they go, most stock markets follow. As these three indices move in a similar fashion, when one of them goes down, the other two often succeed and vice versa. Try checking their historical data to see the movement. Anyway, as of the moment, they are all moving on a 2-year uptrend and within the uptrend is an 8-month ascending channel. As we look closer, we even see something better and this is the highlight of my post. I want to emphasize the bullish chart pattern that I spotted recently on these three. Yes it’s a bullish chart pattern! The ^DJI could be forming a 2-month ascending triangle pattern while a possible 2-month symmetrical triangle for ^IXIC and ^GSPC. Whatever triangle they may be, the fact that it’s coming from an uptrend more likely means that its poised for an upside breakout. These indices are already testing the triangle’s resistance. Well actually, the ^IXIC seemed to have already broken out but I’ll only be persuaded if the ^DJI and ^GSPC follow through. If all of them convincingly breakout from the said pattern, we could see the ^DJI hit the 13,000 marker, the ^IXIC at 3,000 and the ^GSPC at 1,400. In case things don’t go well for them, the significant support could be the 8-month ascending channel. If the channel breaks down, the 2-year uptrend will be the next significant support.

Above all, as long as the uptrend remains intact, I’m bullish on these 3 indices even if they don’t breakout from the 2-month triangle pattern. In addition to that, they are currently moving above the 50, 100 and 200-day moving averages and the MACD is at the positive territory which even strengthens the bulls. Since the US stock market is often the benchmark of the global stock markets, if they perform outstandingly, our stock market will most likely too.

More on LaidTrades.com …

FX Currency Correlations 29th April

It will come as no surprise that the US dollar is the weakest currency among the majors this past week.  The dollar has had a rough ride of late and the trend has continued.

Forex market currency correlation data for this week shows the Swiss Franc riding high and the dollar dropping to new depths.

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Nick can be found writing at this Forex analysis site.

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The Japanese Yen has seen a sharp drop followed by an equally quick recovery and the Aussie dollar is smoothly trending higher.  The Canadian Dollar is potentially being dragged lower by it’s deeply intertwined relationship with the US and even the rising price of oil is not enough to drive the Canadian economy in isolation.

The Euro has seen a flat end to the week after strong start.  The bias is still to the upside though with weekly forex correlation data supporting a continuation higher.

The seventeenth trading week of the year comes to a close as investors fret about the effects of rising gas and food prices on the consumer amidst record corporate profits.

Software giant Microsoft (MSFT) reported third quarter earnings after the closing bell yesterday, of $5.2 billion, or $0.61 per share, up from $4 billion, or $0.45 per share, last year. Revenue rose 13%, to $16.4 billion.

The price of the US dollar versus a number of its primary currency rivals appears to have leveled off on Friday. The recent plummet brought about by the Federal Reserve’s latest policy statement may still have momentum, but today’s suppressed market liquidity is helping the greenback consolidate around its current price levels.

Affecting the market in today’s trading sessions primarily is the Royal Wedding in Great Britain, which has closed all banks in Britain and captivated an international audience. The result has been limited trading among European investors leading to corrective price movements in the forex market.

Also limiting in this morning’s Asian session was a major bank holiday in Japan which kicked off a week of holidays known as Golden Week in the island economy. With Japanese banks largely absent until after May 5, yen movements will likely be driven by the effects wrought by the USD in next week’s trading sessions.

The stability of the US dollar in today’s trading, however, is more likely associated with thin trading than with market fundamentals, many analysts have said. The start of next week should see the return of relatively normal liquidity which in turn will likely push back down on the greenback as the week progresses.

By Zac, CountingPips.com

Today, I am very pleased to bring you a new forex interview with Jason K, the product manager from cTrader Ltd. The cTrader is a relatively new forex trading platform that is visually stunning, state of the art and looks to have a very bright future in the forex industry.

Q: Can you briefly explain what cTrader is and who are the ideal candidates to use cTrader?

cTrader is as we say ‘Your gateway to Forex ECN’. The ideal candidates are true ECN brokers, whose main objective is to provide highest quality services to their clients. cTrader is destined for exceptional usability and its sole purpose is to become a number one preference for every broker and trader. Our goal is to provide the ideal platform to Forex traders and constantly perfecting it with their help.

Q: What can one expect when using the platform?

People will find that we have put much thought and effort in building cTrader. Besides our expert developers and designers, there are professional traders in our team. We have combined our powers to achieve the supreme results. So not only cTrader is a technological masterpiece, it will satisfy the most demanding traders. We are constantly working hard, to satisfy the needs of every user. We are receiving lots of very helpful feedback, from our dear users, who constantly propose ways how we could improve cTrader for them to enjoy it even more.

Q: On your website, there is a tongue-in-cheek thank you to your competitors for providing inspiration to create cTrader. Can you explain the reasoning behind building cTrader?

We are really grateful to our competitors, for leaving us a niche we can conquer. We have learned from their mistakes and made their weaknesses into our strengths. While observing the market and the competition, we learned that other software vendors lack interest in developing and updating their software. What has been great years ago, haven’t improved nor has it evolved. Forex traders had to accept and handle with what they were presented. None of the solutions available in the market has focused on what people need, only on what Brokers do. So we are really grateful, for our competitors staying in the ‘stone age’ state. The constant disappointment in them was the reason why cTrader was born.

Q: How do you feel cTrader stands out from your competitors?

cTrader is a user friendly trading platform, which brings transparency to Forex market. cTrader is a completely conflict free software. Not only its conflict free between brokers and traders, it is impossible to manipulate the market and alter the real-time results. We completely prevent any manipulations.

Although we have a user’s guide, barely anyone will need it. The platforms features are intuitive and built for ease of use. We have chosen the best composition of features, which are always on display. People appreciate the ‘QuickTrade’ features. We have minimized the number of clicks, which save valuable time when trader is in need of fast and accurate execution. The ‘Detachable Charts’ feature is perfect, when you want to concentrate on just the chart. Even when the chart is detached, as a standalone feature, all the trading functionality is available and comfortably placed.

As for the ‘Multiple Chart’ mode, cTrader uses the in-house developed ‘Smart-Size’ technology, which allows unlimited amount of charts being displayed in the best available manner. The technology adopts and resizes the charts, whenever there are changes to the cTraders’ window size. The ‘Expanded Symbol Display’ is a very valuable part of xTrader. In it you see all the available currency pairs for trading. In the symbol display you are able to set the ‘Limit Order’, add the currency pair to ‘Favorites’, open its chart, get detailed information about the symbol, see the spread, the daily ‘High’ and ‘Low’, choose volume and immediately buy or sell. All-in-one. Also, it is very easy and comfortable to switch between multiple accounts with the ‘Account Bar’. Select and login immediately to a preferred account. Let’s not forget the constantly updated, technical analysis tools. People will find that the available tools are easily imposed and removed and extremely easily edited.

Q: What do you feel are the best features or greatest strengths of cTrader? Is there any feature that may get overlooked?

Besides the Graphical User Interface, the strength lies behind the scenes. To make implemented features intuitive and easy to use was as much exciting as it was hard. But besides the time-consuming usability,

there was a magnificent amount of effort put in the connectivity, stability, security and execution. cTrader is excellent when it comes to these four challenges. We have numerous user compliments about the execution. It is almost instant. When the user launches cTrader, the platform chooses and selects the best available proxy settings, to achieve great connectivity. Our proxy cloud has a world-wide reach, for people to trade with confidence in almost any spot of our planet. We have done and are still doing constant back-testing, which helped us achieve immense stability of our platform. One of the core features – is safety and anonymity of every trader. Every person can feel protected when trading. We are using the most up-to-date technologies to keep everyone secure.

Q: Regarding the platform, is there any way to add custom technical indicators that may not come standard in the software?

Not yet. This possibility will be available in the future. There is so much to do and as sad as it may be, we can’t do everything at once. For time being, we ask traders to send us requests on what indicators they want to be included. We will satisfy the requests in the upcoming monthly releases.

Q: Do you offer a support platform, portal or forum for users if they run into any issues?

Yes, we do indeed. We ask people to engage us in conversation, via our social communities in ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’, by writing us an email, calling us by phone or ‘Skype’. We also answer questions in the popular Forex forums. We will come, wherever traders are in need of us. We are not hiding behind our corporate badge. In the future, as soon as we have the programming language available, we will have a forum in which users can discuss and share their observations and talk to us directly.

Q: If a trader is interested in finding out more about cTrader, testing and maybe trading on the platform, what would be your advice?

The best way to find out more about cTrader is to visit our website. We provide detailed information about the platform and it’s features. We are always ready to tell more about cTrader to everyone, who contacts us. The best way, to test it before going ‘Live’ would be either opening a ‘Practice Account’ via our website or through our client FxPro. We are very happy, that FxPro – one of the leading Forex brokers, has chosen our platform, to go with their new ECN accounts. Together we are providing, one of the best trading opportunities, for traders who want to experience true ECN Forex nature.

Q: Is there any other aspect of cTrader that you feel is important that we may have not touched on?

The most important thing for us is user feedback. We are constantly awaiting and thankful for the valuable feedback we are getting. We encourage people to engage us in conversation via our ‘Feedback Tab’ in our website, platform and Facebook page and we never ignore it. We have worked very hard, to bring cTrader and in return we only ask your kind opinion and suggestions on how we can make cTrader even better. Together with your help, we will keep on getting closer to achieve our main goal – to provide the perfect Forex trading platform. Thank You.

Thank you Jason for taking the time to share your time and information in our latest forex interview. To find out more about cTrader and to try out the platform, visit ctrader at spotware.com.

We have received a number of emails this week asking about Taipan’s trading services. A couple of readers wanted more information on my service, WaveStrength Options Weekly, so I thought I would take a couple minutes to explain what it is I do.

(You also should know that Taipan offers many different services. They specialize in different markets like commodities, futures options and stocks, but also focus on different risk tolerances and strategies. I encourage you to take a look at all we have to offer.)

A Little About Me

Before all this, my life was very different. I was a member of several stock exchanges, and it was my job to trade options and make lots of money for my company. I had huge monthly costs and even bigger expectations from my bosses to deliver serious results. At every turn, Wall Street’s best and brightest traders were breathing down my neck, waiting for me to make a mistake so they could take my place.

It was my job to make money trading any order that came into my pit. When the public was buying, I was selling and vice-versa. It was a completely different frame of mind than most investors have today. I learned techniques there that cannot be learned anywhere else.

Most people with my skill set usually end up at a hedge fund, brokerage or bank, or on some major trading desk. In my opinion, it is much easier to be a trader and work for yourself than to manage other people’s money for them. Most of my colleagues feel the same way, which is why we rarely share our knowledge with the public.

But in recent years I have become a part of CNBC’s Fast Money team and just finished a book titled Your Options Handbook.

I now bring those tactics and skills to the public with a trading service. WaveStrength Options Weekly allows you to have control over your money, while giving you the information, timing and tactics you need to be successful.

(Sign up for Smart Investing Daily and let me and fellow editor Sara Nunnally simplify the market for you with our easy-to-understand articles.)

The Markets From My Eyes

My goal is to provide you with consistent, above-average returns using options. We focus on basic option strategies (long call, long put) that anyone can trade. I keep concepts as simple and straightforward as possible, so that there is minimal confusion.

Even though the ideas are simple, the research that goes into them is not. My analysis is complex… I put each idea through the ringer before I recommend anything… Stock charts, balance sheets, earnings reports… you name it, I look at it.

But it’s not just trading ideas! The main part of the service includes a weekly brief. I break down the macro economic trends, earnings, news and charts to get to a solid idea for that week. I try to offer readers the same plain speak you find here in SID, but with specific trade details and reasoning.

You will also find a lot of education and useful information in these briefs.

For example, I call upon other industry experts to give their opinion on a stock or on economic news. We usually have a guest expert each week.

Once we have found our way through the maze of data out there, we take advantage of the current trends. I outline an entry point, trade management techniques and an exit strategy.

The investment ideas generally last one week to three months. That means you don’t have to be at your computer at all times. This is a good timeline for the investor who still works or travels a lot.

If I find an opportunity outside of the normal weekly brief, I send out a dynamic email alert so you will always know if there is action that needs to be taken.

Obviously, there are no guarantees, but expert guidance can help avoid mistakes and improve results.

Getting Involved

Getting starting is literally a click away and you will begin receiving WOW briefs and alerts in your inbox ASAP.

There is no obligation, you are welcome to come and go as you please. Follow this link to subscribe to WaveStrength Options Weekly.

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