Archives for May 2013

The CHF set up beautifully and with very light news until the US session, a trade is taken short meeting our Reward to Risk ratio minimum of 3:1 to our Target 2. Very little price movement occurs.  Price moved back down into the Asian session range and more or less retested the Asian level high without going above it.  We lock in a few pips in advance of the US traders.  With very little price movement, the US traders are less inclined to reverse the market, but we never know, so we protect some profit.

The major US economic releases work in our favour and price moves down near the .9600 figure. We had a confluence of reasons to exit just above this area, so on the first sign of a pullback, we exited happily protecting profit at Target 1.

I was under the weather yesterday, so it was nice to find a trade today.

Be very careful around the UK and US session openings and always be aware of pending major economic news releases.  Exercise prudent money management and if a trade setup is not clear to you – find one that is.  Don’t trade for the sake of trading.  My mentor always said, “master your tools and master yourself”.

Good luck with your trading!

Back tomorrow, if we can find a trade.

I love seeing a large move in the Asian session.  This very often sets up one of my favourite patterns to trade. The CHF bounced off its Asian session low and moved up convincingly.  An entry is taken long with a stop loss just below the Asian session low. This meets our minimum criteria of 3:1 Reward to Risk to our Target 2, that we strive for in the UK session.  If we cannot find a trade until the US session has begun, then we are willing to accept a minimum of 2:1 R/R because we only trade up to the first 4 hours of the US session.

Price climbs to the Asian session high – tests and retests this level before moving up to our Target 1, where we closed out for a nice run to start our trading week.  News was very light but must always be accounted for when trading.  The major economic news releases can catapult the market in either direction.

Be crystal clear that the currency markets are manipulated by some extremely large institutional traders.  If you can recognize their behaviour and follow behind them, it makes trading a lot easier.  If you can’t recognize their behaviour, you may be getting stopped out a lot.  How do I know this?  I was taught by one of them!  If you want to learn more contact me.

Good luck with your trading!

Back tomorrow…

It seems like all eyes were waiting for the US Unemployment Claims and the US Trade Balance today.  The UK session was relatively muted until the US economic releases.  After the news candle, a short entry is found with a stop above the session high.  Price plunged down near the Asian session low, but found buyers and closed up from our entry.  Price then made its way back down to the Asian session low and tested this level for over an hours before plummeting further.  We are closed just below Target 1.

This trade was a little uncomfortable after the first candle.  Fortunately, it dropped after the second candle allowing us to remove the risk altogether from the trade.  When in doubt, tighten stops or protect profits!  This can be the difference between a successful trade and a loss.

There have been a lot of big moves during the early US session of late.  If price does not move much in advance of the US session, get ready, and look for a high probability setup.

The AUD presented a nice setup earlier on in the session, but only delivered 20 pips before reversing. ( Not shown)  Still 20 pips is 20 pips and the setup was one of my favourites.

The markets are very active lately and have broadened their ranges.  There will be lots of opportunities going forward to take advantage of rewarding setups.

We are done for the week.  We do not trade NFP Fridays.

Good luck with your trading and enjoy your weekend!

Back Tuesday May 14th

Some days you get lucky even when you goof up.  Thanks to tight stops and sound money management, we will not get hurt badly if a trade goes against us.  I learned that lesson a long time ago and it was a VERY EXPENSIVE LESSON learned.

I do not recommend trading just in front of the news, but I missed the US ADP Non-Farm Employment Change item (no excuse) and could very easily have been stopped out.

On the other hand, the charts were unattractive to my eyes, and the AUD looked like the best trade of the session with it’s lower highs.  Had I not missed the Employment number, there would not have been a trade because the AUD began to run away after that – not allowing for a safe entry after the news.

Good luck with your trading –  it’s really nice to have on your side, but we need to have a system,  be focused, methodical and disciplined in trading…in other words…create our own luck!

Back tomorrow.

Michael  www,privateforexcoaching.com